Regular Expressions 101

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  • All Tokens
  • Common Tokens
  • General Tokens
  • Anchors
  • Meta Sequences
  • Quantifiers
  • Group Constructs
  • Character Classes
  • Flags/Modifiers
  • Substitution
  • A single character of: a, b or c
    [abc]
  • A character except: a, b or c
    [^abc]
  • A character in the range: a-z
    [a-z]
  • A character not in the range: a-z
    [^a-z]
  • A character in the range: a-z or A-Z
    [a-zA-Z]
  • Any single character
    .
  • Alternate - match either a or b
    a|b
  • Any whitespace character
    \s
  • Any non-whitespace character
    \S
  • Any digit
    \d
  • Any non-digit
    \D
  • Any word character
    \w
  • Any non-word character
    \W
  • Non-capturing group
    (?:...)
  • Capturing group
    (...)
  • Zero or one of a
    a?
  • Zero or more of a
    a*
  • One or more of a
    a+
  • Exactly 3 of a
    a{3}
  • 3 or more of a
    a{3,}
  • Between 3 and 6 of a
    a{3,6}
  • Start of string
    ^
  • End of string
    $
  • A word boundary
    \b
  • Non-word boundary
    \B

Regular Expression
No Match

/
/
gm

Test String

Code Generator

Language

Generated Code

package main import ( "regexp" "fmt" ) func main() { var re = regexp.MustCompile(`(?m)“(?:[^“”‘’]|’\w)*?(?>“)|”(?:[^“”‘’]|’\w)*?(?>”)|‘(?:[^“”‘’]|’\w)*?(?>‘)|'|"`) var str = `English: unfoldingWord® Literal Text Genesis Chapter 1 How God Created Everything 1:1-2:3 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, and darkness {was} over the surface of the deep {waters}, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that {it was} good. Then God separated between the light and the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. Then there was evening, and there was morning, one day. 6 Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 So God made the expanse and separated between the waters that {were} under the expanse and the waters that {were} above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heavens. Then there was evening, and there was morning, the second day. 9 Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered to one place, and let the dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 And God called the dry ground Land, and the gathered waters he called Seas. And God saw that {it was} good. 11 Then God said, “Let the land sprout vegetation: {every} plant yielding seed, {every} fruit tree bearing fruit according to its kind, that {has} its seed inside it, on the earth.” And it was so: 12 So the land brought out vegetation: {every} plant yielding seed according to its kind, and {every} tree bearing fruit that {has} its seed inside it, according to its kind. And God saw that {it was} good. 13 Then there was evening, and there was morning, the third day. 14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate between the day and the night. And let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years. 15 And let them be as lights in the expanse of the heavens to shine on the earth.” And it was so. 16 So God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to shine on the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate between the light and the darkness. And God saw that {it was} good. 19 Then there was evening, and there was morning, the fourth day. 20 Then God said, “Let the waters swarm {with} swarm{s} of living creature{s}, and let bird{s} fly above the earth across the face of the expanse of the sky.” 21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves which the waters swarm with according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that {it was} good. 22 Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let the bird{s} multiply on the earth.” 23 Then there was evening, and there was morning, the fifth day. 24 Then God said, “Let the land bring forth {every} living creature according to its kind: livestock and {every} crawling creature and {every} living thing of the earth, {each} according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 So God made {every} creature of the earth according to its kind, and the livestock according to its kind, and every crawling creature of the ground according to its kind. And God saw that {it was} good. 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the bird{s} of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every moving creature moving on the earth.” 27 Then God created man in his own image. In the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it. And rule over the fish of the sea and over the bird{s} of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 Then God said, “Behold, I have given to you every plant {that} yields seed that {is} on the surface of the whole earth and every tree that {has} tree fruit {that} yields seed inside it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to every living thing of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to every{thing} moving on the earth that {has} living breath in it, {I have given} every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 Then God saw all that he had made, and behold, {it was} very good. Then there was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day. Chapter 2 1 So the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. 2 And by the seventh day God had completed his work that he had done, so he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it he rested from all his work of creating that God had done. Adam And Eve And The Garden Of Eden 2:4-25 4 These {are} the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day when Yahweh God made the earth and the heavens, 5 and every shrub of the field had not yet appeared on the earth, and every plant of the field had not yet sprung up, because Yahweh God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to work the ground. 6 But mist came up from the earth and watered all of the surface of the ground. 7 Then Yahweh God formed the man {out of} dust from the ground, and he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 8 Now Yahweh God had planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And Yahweh God had made to grow from the ground every tree {that} is pleasant to the sight and good for food, and the tree of life {was} in the middle of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10 And a river was going out from Eden to water the garden, and from there it divided and became four headwaters. 11 The name of the first {is} Pishon. It winds through all of the land of Havilah, where gold {is}. 12 And the gold of that land {is} good. Bdellium and onyx stones {are} there. 13 And the name of the second river {is} Gihon. It winds through all of the land of Cush. 14 And the name of the third river {is} Tigris. It goes east of Asshur. And the fourth river {is} Euphrates. 15 And Yahweh God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and tend it. 16 Then Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “From every tree of the garden you may freely eat, 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because on the day you eat from it you will surely die.” 18 Then Yahweh God said, “It {is} not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable helper for him.” 19 Now Yahweh God had formed from the ground every living thing of the field and every bird of the sky. So he brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and whatever the man called a living creature, that {was} its name. 20 And the man gave names to all the livestock and to the bird{s} of the sky and to every living thing of the field, but for the man a suitable helper was not found. 21 So Yahweh God caused a deep sleep to fall on the man. And {while} he was sleeping, then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place {with} flesh. 22 Then Yahweh God built the rib which he had taken from the man into a woman, and he brought her to the man. 23 And the man said, “This {one} now {is} bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because {it was} from a man that she was taken.” 24 For that {reason} a man will leave his father and his mother, and he will cling to his wife, and they will become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked, but they were not ashamed. Chapter 3 The First Sin And God’s Judgment 3:1-3:24 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than every living thing of the field that Yahweh God had made. And he said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the garden’?” 2 Then the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat from the fruit of the trees of the garden, 3 except from the fruit of the tree that {is} in the middle of the garden. God said, ‘You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it, or else you will die!’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that on the day you eat from it, then your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God in knowing good and evil.” 6 And the woman saw that the tree {was} good for food, and that it {was} pleasant to the eyes, and {that} the tree was desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate {it}. Then she also gave {some} to her husband with her, and he ate {it}. 7 Then the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they {were} naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and made aprons for themselves. 8 Then they heard the sound of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the breeze of the day, but the man and his wife hid from the presence of Yahweh God among the trees of the garden. 9 So Yahweh God called to the man and said to him, “Where {are} you?” 10 And he said, “I heard your sound in the garden, but I was afraid because I {was} naked, so I hid.” 11 Then he said, “Who told you that you {were} naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 12 Then the man said, “The woman whom you gave {to be} with me, she gave me {fruit} from the tree, and I ate {it}.” 13 Then Yahweh God said to the woman, “What {is} this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, so I ate {it}.” 14 Then Yahweh God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed above all the livestock and above every living thing of the field. You will move on your belly, and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 I will also put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike you {on} the head, and you will strike him {on} the heel.” 16 To the woman he said, “I will greatly multiply your pain and your childbearing; in pain you will bear children. Yet your desire {will be} for your husband, and he will rule over you.” 17 Then to the man he said, “Since you listened to the voice of your wife and ate from the tree that I commanded you, saying, ‘You must not eat from it,’ the ground is cursed because of you. By painful toil you will eat {from} it all the days of your life. 18 And it will produce thorn{s} and thistle{s} for you, and you will eat the plant{s} of the field{s}. 19 By the sweat of your nose you will eat bread, until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken. For you {are} dust, and to dust you will return.” 20 Then the man called the name of his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. 21 Then Yahweh God made garments of {animal} skins for Adam and his wife, and he clothed them. 22 Then Yahweh God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. And now he must not be allowed to reach out his hand and also take {fruit} from the tree of life and eat it and live forever!” 23 So Yahweh God sent him out of the Garden of Eden to work the ground which he had been taken from. 24 And after he drove the man out, then he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim {angels} and a flaming sword that was turning in every direction to guard the way of the tree of life. Chapter 4 Cain And Abel — The First Murder 4:1-16 1 Then the man knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain. And she said, “I have obtained a man with Yahweh!” 2 Then she continued on to bear his brother Abel. Now Abel became a keeper of flock{s}, and Cain became a worker of the ground. 3 And it happened in the course of days that Cain brought some of the fruit of the ground {as} an offering to Yahweh. 4 And Abel also brought some of the firstborn of his flock{s} and some of their fat. And Yahweh looked favorably on Abel and his offering. 5 But he did not look favorably on Cain and his offering. So Cain burned with intense anger, and his face fell. 6 Then Yahweh said to Cain, “Why are you burning with anger? And why is your face fallen? 7 If you do right, will {you} not {be} accepted? But if you do not do right, sin is crouching at the door, and its desire {is} for you, but you must rule over it.” 8 Then Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And it happened while they were in the field, then Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. 9 Then Yahweh said to Cain, “Where {is} Abel your brother?” And he replied, “I do not know. Am I my brother“s keeper?” 10 Then he said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground! 11 So now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother“s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will not continue to yield its strength for you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” 13 Then Cain said to Yahweh, “My punishment {is} greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, today you are driving me from the surface of the ground, and I will be hidden from your presence. And I will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and it will be {that} everyone who finds me will kill me!” 15 Then Yahweh said to him, “For that {reason}, anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over!” Then Yahweh put a mark on Cain so that everyone who found him would not strike him. 16 Then Cain went out from the presence of Yahweh and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Cain’s Descendants 4:17-24 17 Then Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he was building a city, so he called the name of the city after the name of his son Enoch. 18 Then to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. 19 Then Lamech took two wives for himself. The name of the one {was} Adah, and the name of the second {was} Zillah. 20 And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of {those} who live {in} tents and own livestock. 21 And the name of his brother {was} Jubal. He was the father of all who play harps and flutes. 22 And Zillah also bore Tubal Cain, who forged all {kinds} of tools out of bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal Cain {was} Naamah. 23 And Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, listen to my voice. Wives of Lamech, hear my words: For I killed a man for my wound, even a young man for my bruise. 24 If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech {is avenged} seventy-seven times!” Seth And His Son Enosh 4:25-26 25 Then Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son, and she called his name Seth, because {she had said}, “God has appointed for me another offspring in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.” 26 And to Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. Then {people} began to call on the name of Yahweh. Chapter 5 The Descendants Of Adam To Noah 5:1-32 1 Chronicles 1:1-4 1 This {is} the written account of the generations of Adam: On the day God created man{kind}, he made him in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female, and he blessed them and called their name “mankind” on the day they were created. 3 And Adam lived 130 years, then he fathered {a son} in his own likeness, according to his image, and he called his name Seth. 4 And the days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years, and he fathered {other} sons and daughters. 5 So all the days of Adam that he lived were 930 years, and he died. 6 And Seth lived 105 years, then he fathered Enosh. 7 Then after he fathered Enosh, Seth lived 807 years, and he fathered {other} sons and daughters. 8 So all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died. 9 And Enosh lived 90 years, then he fathered Kenan. 10 Then after he fathered Kenan, Enosh lived 807 years, and he fathered {other} sons and daughters. 11 So all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died. 12 And Kenan lived 70 years, then he fathered Mahalalel. 13 Then after he fathered Mahalalel, Kenan lived 840 years, and he fathered {other} sons and daughters. 14 So all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died. 15 And Mahalalel lived 65 years, then he fathered Jared. 16 Then after he fathered Jared, Mahalalel lived 830 years, and he fathered {other} sons and daughters. 17 So all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died. 18 And Jared lived 162 years, then he fathered Enoch. 19 Then after he fathered Enoch, Jared lived 800 years, and he fathered {other} sons and daughters. 20 So all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died. 21 And Enoch lived 65 years, then he fathered Methuselah. 22 Then after he fathered Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years, and he fathered {other} sons and daughters. 23 So all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24 And Enoch walked with God, and {then} he was not {there}, because God took him away. 25 And Methuselah lived 187 years, then he fathered Lamech. 26 Then after he fathered Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years, and he fathered {other} sons and daughters. 27 So all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died. 28 And Lamech lived 182 years, then he fathered a son, 29 and he called his name Noah, saying, “This {one} will comfort us from our labors and from the toil of our hands because of the ground which Yahweh has cursed.” 30 Then after he fathered Noah, Lamech lived 595 years, and he fathered {other} sons and daughters. 31 So all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died. 32 And Noah was a son of 500 years, then Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Chapter 6 The Worldwide Flood chapters 6:1-9:29 Evil Increases On the Earth 6:1-8 1 And it happened when mankind began to multiply on the surface of the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 then the sons of God saw the daughters of mankind, that they {were} beautiful, so they took wives for themselves from any {of them} that they chose. 3 Then Yahweh said, “My Spirit will not strive with mankind forever, because they {are} indeed flesh. Therefore their days will be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days and also after that, when the sons of God went to the daughters of mankind, and they bore children for them. They {were} the mighty {ones} who {were} from long ago, the men of renown. 5 And Yahweh saw that the wickedness of mankind {was} great on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts {was} only evil all day long. 6 So Yahweh was sorry that he had made mankind on the earth, and he was grieved in his heart. 7 Then Yahweh said, “I will wipe away mankind whom I created off the surface of the ground, both mankind and animals, and crawling creatures and the birds of the sky, because I am sorry that I made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of Yahweh. Noah Prepares For The Flood 6:9-22 9 These {are} the generations of Noah: Noah {was} a righteous man. He was without blemish in his generation. Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 Now the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled {with} violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, because all flesh on the earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before me, because the earth is filled {with} violence because of them, so behold, I am destroying them with the earth. 14 Make an ark for yourself out of gopher wood. Make the ark {with} rooms, and cover it inside and outside with a covering. 15 And this {is} how you must make it: the length of the ark {must be} 300 cubits, its width 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. 16 Make a window for the ark and finish it to within one cubit from the top. And put the door of the ark in its side. Make a lower, a second, and a third deck. 17 And behold, I am bringing floodwaters on the earth to destroy all flesh that {has} the breath of life in it from under the heavens. Everything that {is} on the earth will expire! 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, so you must go into the ark, you and your sons and your wife and the wives of your sons with you. 19 And from every living {creature}, from all flesh, you must bring two from each {kind} into the ark to keep alive with you. They must be male and female. 20 From the birds according to their kinds, and from the animals according to their kinds, from every moving creature of the ground according to its kind, two from every {kind} will come to you to keep alive. 21 And you must take with you some of every food that is eaten and store it with you, and it will be food for you and for them.” 22 And Noah did {that}; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did. Chapter 7 Yahweh Sends The Flood 7:1-23 1 Then Yahweh said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you {are} righteous before me in this generation. 2 From every clean animal take with you seven pairs, a male and its female, and from {every} animal that {is} not clean {take} two, a male and its female, 3 also from {every} bird of the sky {take} seven pairs, male and female, to keep {their} offspring alive on the surface of the whole earth, 4 because in seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth {for} forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe away every living thing that I have made off the surface of the ground.” 5 Then Noah did all that Yahweh had commanded him. 6 Now Noah {was} a son of 600 years when the floodwaters came on the earth. 7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and the wives of his sons went with him into the ark from the presence of the waters of the flood. 8 {Pairs} from the clean animal{s} and from the animal{s} that are not clean and from the bird{s} and everything that moves on the ground 9 went two {by} two to Noah into the ark, male and female, just as God had commanded Noah. 10 And it happened, after the seven days, then the waters of the flood came on the earth. 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the windows of the heavens were opened, 12 so that the rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights. 13 On that same day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and the wife of Noah and the three wives of his sons with them, went into the ark, 14 they and every living thing according to its kind, and every livestock according to its kind, and every moving creature moving on the earth according to its kind, and every bird according to its kind, every bird of every wing. 15 So they went to Noah into the ark, two {by} two from all flesh which {has} in it the breath of life. 16 And those that went in {were} male and female from all flesh; they went in just as God had commanded him. Then Yahweh shut him in. 17 Then the flood came on the earth {for} forty days, and the waters increased and lifted the ark so that it rose up off the earth. 18 And the waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark went on the surface of the waters. 19 And the waters rose very greatly on the earth, so that all the high mountains that {were} under the entire heavens were covered. 20 The waters rose fifteen cubits above {them}, so that the mountains were covered. 21 Then all flesh that moved on the earth expired, including the birds and the livestock and the living things and all the swarming things swarming on the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything that {had} the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils, everything that {lived} on dry land, died. 23 So he wiped away every living thing that {was} on the surface of the ground, including mankind and livestock and crawling creatures and also the birds of the sky. They were wiped off the earth, and only Noah was left and those who {were} with him in the ark. God Ends The Flood 7:24-8:19 24 And the waters prevailed over the earth {for} 150 days. Chapter 8 1 But God remembered Noah and all the living thing{s} and all the livestock that {were} with him in the ark, and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided. 2 And the fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, and the rain from the heavens was stopped. 3 Then the waters receded steadily from the earth, and {at} the end of the 150 days the waters had decreased, 4 so that in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat. 5 And the waters continued to decrease until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first of the month, the tops of the mountains could be seen. 6 Then it happened {at} the end of forty days that Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made, 7 and he sent out the raven, and it kept flying out and returning until the waters dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent out the dove from him to see if the waters had subsided from the surface of the ground. 9 But the dove did not find a resting place for the sole of its feet, so it returned to him in the ark, because the waters {were} over the surface of the entire earth. And he reached out his hand and took it and brought it to him into the ark. 10 Then he waited another seven days and again sent out the dove from the ark. 11 Then the dove returned to him in the evening, and behold, {there was} a freshly picked olive leaf in its mouth. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. 12 Then he waited another seven days, and he sent out the dove, but it did not return to him again. 13 So it happened in the six hundred and first year, in the first {month}, on the first of the month, the waters were drying up from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the surface of the ground was drying. 14 Then in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. 15 Then God said to Noah, saying, 16 “Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and the wives of your sons with you. 17 Bring out with you every living thing that {is} with you, all flesh, including the birds and the livestock and every moving creature moving on the earth, so that they will abound on the earth and be fruitful and multiply over the earth.” 18 Then Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and the wives of his sons with him. 19 Every living thing, every crawling thing and every bird, everything moving on the earth, went out of the ark by their families. Yahweh Establishes His Covenant With Noah And His Descendants 8:20-9:17 20 Then Noah built an altar to Yahweh, and he took from every clean animal and from every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And Yahweh smelled the pleasant aroma, and Yahweh said in his heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of mankind, though the inclination of mankind’s hearts {is} evil from their youth. And never again will I strike every living {thing} as I have done. 22 While all of the days of the earth continue, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.” Chapter 9 1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2 And the fear of you and the dread of you will be on every living thing of the earth, including on every bird of the sky, on everything that moves on the ground, and on all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are given. 3 Every moving creature that lives will be for you for food. Just as the green plants, I give you everything. 4 But you must not eat flesh with its life, {that is,} its blood. 5 And surely I will demand your blood for your lives. From the hand of every living thing I will demand it, and from the hand of mankind; from the hand of a man {who kills} his brother, I will demand the life of the man. 6 The one shedding the blood of a man, by mankind his blood must be shed, because in the image of God he made mankind. 7 “And you, be fruitful and multiply. Abound on the earth and multiply on it.” 8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, 9 “And I, behold I am establishing my covenant with you and with your offspring after you, 10 and with every living creature that {is} with you: with the birds, with the livestock, and with every living thing of the earth with you, from all that came out of the ark to every living thing of the earth. 11 And I am establishing my covenant with you that never again will all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 Then God said, “This {is} the sign of the covenant that I am making between me and you and every living creature that {is} with you, for generations forever: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 And it will be when I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow is seen in the clouds, 15 then I will remember my covenant that {is} between me and you and every living creature of all flesh, that never again will waters become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 So the rainbow will be in the clouds, and I will see it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature, with all flesh that {is} on the earth.” 17 Then God said to Noah, “That {is} the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that {is} on the earth.” Noah And His Three Sons After The Flood 9:18-29 18 And the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem and Ham and Japheth; and Ham, he {was} the father of Canaan. 19 Those three {were} the sons of Noah, and from them the whole earth was overspread. 20 Now Noah, a man of the soil, began and planted a vineyard. 21 Then he drank some of the wine, and he became drunk, and he uncovered himself inside his tent. 22 Then Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and he told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it across the shoulders of the two of them and walked backward and covered their father’s nakedness. And their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father’s nakedness. 24 Then Noah woke up from his wine, and he learned what his youngest son had done to him, 25 and he said, “Cursed be Canaan! He will be a slave of slaves for his brothers.” 26 Then he said, “Praised be Yahweh, the God of Shem! And may Canaan be a slave for him. 27 May God enlarge Japheth, and may he live in Shem’s tents. And may Canaan be a slave for him.” 28 And after the flood, Noah lived 350 years. 29 So all the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died. Chapter 10 A List Of The Seventy People Groups In The World 10:1-32 1 Chronicles 1:4-23 1 Now these {are} the generations of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth; and sons were born to them after the flood. Japheth’s Descendants 2 The sons of Japheth {were} Gomer and Magog and Madai and Javan and Tubal and Meshech and Tiras. 3 And the sons of Gomer {were} Ashkenaz and Riphath and Togarmah. 4 And the sons of Javan {were} Elishah and Tarshish, the Kittim and the Dodanim. 5 From those the coastland peoples spread out into their lands, each with its own language, according to their clans, in their nations. Ham’s Descendants 6 And the sons of Ham {were} Cush and Mizraim and Put and Canaan. 7 And the sons of Cush {were} Seba and Havilah and Sabtah and Raamah and Sabteca. And the sons of Raamah {were} Sheba and Dedan. 8 Cush also fathered Nimrod, who began to be mighty on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before Yahweh. For that reason it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before Yahweh.” 10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Akkad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11 From that land he went to Asshur, and he built Nineveh and Rehoboth-Ir and Calah 12 and Resen, between Nineveh and Calah, which {is} the great city. 13 And Mizraim fathered the Ludim and the Anamim and the Lehabim and the Naphtuhim 14 and the Pathrusim and the Casluhim (whom the Philistim came from) and the Caphtorim. 15 And Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn, then Heth 16 and the Jebusites and the Amorites and the Girgashites 17 and the Hivites and the Arkites and the Sinites 18 and the Arvadites and the Zemarites and the Hamathites. And afterward the clans of the Canaanites scattered, 19 so the border{s} of the Canaanites were from Sidon, {then} you go toward Gerar as far as Gaza, {then} you go to Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 20 Those {are} the sons of Ham according to their clans, according to their languages, in their lands, in their nations. Shem’s Descendants 21 And sons were also born to Shem; he {was} the father of all the sons of Eber and the brother of Japheth the elder. 22 The sons of Shem {were} Elam and Asshur and Arpachshad and Lud and Aram. 23 And the sons of Aram {were} Uz and Hul and Gether and Mash. 24 And Arpachshad fathered Shelah, then Shelah fathered Eber. 25 Then two sons were born to Eber. The name of the one {was} Peleg, because in his days the earth was divided. And the name of his brother {was} Joktan. 26 And Joktan fathered Almodad and Sheleph and Hazarmaveth and Jerah 27 and Hadoram and Uzal and Diklah 28 and Obal and Abimael and Sheba 29 and Ophir and Havilah and Jobab. All those {were} the sons of Joktan. 30 And their dwelling was from Mesha, {then} you go to Sephar, the mountain{s} of the east. 31 Those {are} the sons of Shem according to their clans, according to their languages, in their lands, according to their nations. 32 Those {are} the clans of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations. And from those the nations spread out on the earth after the flood. Chapter 11 The Tower Of Babel 11:1-9 1 Now the whole earth was one language and the same words. 2 And it happened as they migrated from the east, then they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 Then they said to each other, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them with fire.” And they had bricks for stones, and they had tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build a city for ourselves and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, so that we are not scattered over the face of the whole earth.” 5 Then Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of mankind had built. 6 And Yahweh said, “Behold, {they are} one people, and they all have one language. So this {is} what they have begun to do, and now everything that they plan to do will not be withheld from them. 7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand each other’s language.” 8 Then Yahweh scattered them from there over the face of the whole earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 For that {reason} they called its name Babel, because there Yahweh confused the language of the whole earth, and from there Yahweh scattered them over the face of the whole earth. The History Of Abraham chapters 11:10-25:18 Shem’s Descendants Down To Abram 11:10-26 1 Chronicles 1:24-27 10 These {are} the generations of Shem: Shem {was} the son of 100 years, then he fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood. 11 Then after he fathered Arpachshad, Shem lived 500 years, and he fathered {other} sons and daughters. 12 And Arpachshad lived 35 years, then he fathered Shelah. 13 Then after he fathered Shelah, Arpachshad lived 403 years, and he fathered {other} sons and daughters. 14 And Shelah lived 30 years, then he fathered Eber. 15 Then after he fathered Eber, Shelah lived 403 years, and he fathered {other} sons and daughters. 16 And Eber lived 34 years, then he fathered Peleg. 17 Then after he fathered Peleg, Eber lived 430 years, and he fathered {other} sons and daughters. 18 And Peleg lived 30 years, then he fathered Reu. 19 Then after he fathered Reu, Peleg lived 209 years, and he fathered {other} sons and daughters. 20 And Reu lived 32 years, then he fathered Serug. 21 Then after he fathered Serug, Reu lived 207 years, and he fathered {other} sons and daughters. 22 And Serug lived 30 years, then he fathered Nahor. 23 Then after he fathered Nahor, Serug lived 200 years, and he fathered {other} sons and daughters. 24 And Nahor lived 29 years, then he fathered Terah. 25 Then after he fathered Terah, Nahor lived 119 years, and he fathered {other} sons and daughters. 26 And Terah lived 70 years, then he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Terah’s Children, Including Abram 11:27-32 27 Now these {are} the generations of Terah: Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. 28 Later Haran died in the presence of Terah his father, in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Kasdim. 29 And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife {was} Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife {was} Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah. 30 But Sarai was barren; she did not have a child. 31 Then Terah took Abram his son and Lot, Haran’s son, his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, the wife of his son Abram, and they went out together from Ur of the Kasdim to go to the land of Canaan. But they came to Haran, and they settled there. 32 And the days of Terah were 205 years, then Terah died in Haran. Chapter 12 God Calls Abram 12:1-9 1 Then Yahweh said to Abram, “You yourself must go from your land and from your relatives and from the house of your father, to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 And I will bless those who bless you, but whoever curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” 4 Then Abram went, just as Yahweh had told him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was the son of 75 years when he departed from Haran. 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot the son of his brother, and all their possessions that they had accumulated and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. Then they came to the land of Canaan. 6 then Abram passed through the land as far as the place of Shechem, to the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites {were} in the land at that time. 7 Then Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to Yahweh, who had appeared to him. 8 Then from there he went on to the mountains to the east of Bethel and pitched his tents, {with} Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to Yahweh, and he called on the name of Yahweh. 9 Then Abram set out and continued to travel toward the Negev. Abram And Sarai Go To Egypt 12:10-20 10 Then there was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there because the famine {was} heavy in the land. 11 And it happened that as he was about to enter Egypt, then he said to Sarai his wife, “Behold please, I know that you {are} a woman beautiful in appearance. 12 So it will happen when the Egyptians see you, then they will say, ‘This {is} his wife,’ and they will kill me but let you live. 13 Please say {that} you {are} my sister, so that it will go well for me for your sake and my life will live because of you.” 14 Then it happened, when Abram came into Egypt, then the Egyptians saw the woman that she {was} very beautiful. 15 And the officials of Pharaoh saw her, so they praised her to Pharaoh, and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. 16 Then he treated Abram well for her sake, so that he had flock{s} and herd{s} and male donkeys and male slaves and female slaves and female donkeys and camels. 17 But Yahweh struck Pharaoh and his house {with} great plagues on account of Sarai the wife of Abram. 18 So Pharaoh called for Abram and said, “What {is} this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she {was} your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She {is} my sister,’ so that I took her to me as a wife? Now then, behold your wife. Take {her} and go!” 20 Then Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and they sent him away and his wife and everything that {belonged} to him. Chapter 13 Abram And Lot Go Separate Ways 13:1-13 1 Then Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, he and his wife and everything that {belonged} to him, and Lot with him. 2 And Abram {was} very wealthy in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 3 Then from the Negev he went on his journey as far as Bethel, to the place where his tents had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place of the altar that he had made there at first, and there Abram called on the name of Yahweh. 5 Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had sheep and cattle and tents. 6 But the land could not support them while they stayed together, because their possessions were great so that they were not able to stay together. 7 Then there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. And the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land then. 8 So Abram said to Lot, “Please do not let there be strife between me and you, or between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, because we {are} men, brothers. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If {you go to} the left, then I will go right, or if {you go to} the right, then I will go left.” 10 Then Lot lifted his eyes and saw the entire plain of the Jordan as you go {to} Zoar, that all of it {was} well-watered, like the garden of Yahweh, like the land of Egypt, before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. 11 So Lot chose for himself the entire Plain of the Jordan, and Lot traveled to the east, and they separated from each other. 12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, and Lot settled in the cities of the plain and moved his tents as far as Sodom. 13 Now the men of Sodom {were} exceedingly wicked and sinful against Yahweh. God Blesses Abram Again 13:14-18 14 Then Yahweh said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes now from the place where you {are}, and look to the north and to the south and to the east and to the west, 15 because all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. 16 And I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, which if anyone were able to count the dust of the earth, your offspring could also be counted. 17 Get up and walk through the land, through its length and through its width, because I am giving it to you.” 18 So Abram moved his tents and went and settled near the terebinth trees of Mamre that {were} near Hebron, and there he built an altar to Yahweh. Chapter 14 Abram Rescues Lot From Four Kings 14:1-16 1 Now it happened in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of the Goiim, 2 they made war against Bera king of Sodom, and against Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which {is} Zoar. 3 All these joined together in the Siddim Valley, which {is} {now} the Salt Sea. 4 {For} twelve years they had served Kedorlaomer, but the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5 Then in the fourteenth year Kedorlaomer and the kings who {were} with him went and struck the Rephaim in Ashteroth-Karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh-Kiriathaim, 6 and the Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as El Paran, which {is} by the wilderness. 7 Then they turned back and came to En Mishpat, which {is} Kadesh, and they struck the entire territory of the Amalekites and also the Amorites who were living in Hazezon Tamar. 8 Then the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which {is} Zoar, went out into the Siddim Valley and arranged themselves for battle 9 against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar, four kings against the five. 10 Now the Siddim Valley {had} many tar pits, and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell there, and those who remained fled to the hill country. 11 Then they took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food and left. 12 And they took Lot and his possessions, the son of Abram’s brother, when they left, since he was living in Sodom. 13 Then someone who escaped came and reported to Abram the Hebrew. And he was living by the terebinth trees of Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol and the brother of Aner, and they {were} owners of a covenant with Abram. 14 And when Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, then he led out his 318 trained men who had been born in his house, and he pursued his enemies as far as Dan. 15 Then he divided against them during the night, he and his servants, and struck them and pursued them to Hobah, which {is} north of Damascus. 16 And he brought back all the possessions, and he also brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, and also the women and the {other} people. Melchizedek Blesses Abram 14:17-24 17 Then the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Shaveh Valley, which {is} the King’s Valley, after he returned from striking Kedorlaomer and the kings who {were} with him. 18 Then Melchizedek the king of Salem brought out bread and wine. And he {was} a priest to God Most High, 19 and he blessed him and said, “May Abram be blessed by God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth! 20 And praised be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand!” Then he gave to him a tenth of everything. 21 Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give to me the people, but the possessions take for yourself.” 22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to Yahweh, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I will not take from a thread even to the strap of a sandal, and I will not take from anything that {belongs} to you, so that you will not say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ 24 I {will take} nothing, except what the young men have eaten and the share of the other men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol and Mamre. Let them take their share.” Chapter 15 God Promises Abram A Son, Many Descendants and Land 15:1-21 1 After those things, the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram! I {am} a shield for you, your reward will be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “My Lord, Yahweh, what will you give to me, since I go childless, and the son of the inheritance of my house {is} Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 Then Abram said, “Behold, you have not given a child to me, so that behold, a servant of my house will inherit what {is} mine!” 4 Then behold, the word of Yahweh {came} to him, saying, “That {man} will not be your heir, but rather a son who comes from your bowels, he will be your heir.” 5 Then he brought him outside and said, “Look now at the heavens and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So will your offspring be.” 6 And he trusted in Yahweh, and he counted it to him {as} righteousness. 7 Then he said to him, “I {am} Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Kasdim to give to you this land to possess it.” 8 Then he said, “My Lord, Yahweh, how will I know that I will possess it?” 9 Then he said to him, “Bring to me a three-year-old heifer and a three-year-old she-goat and a three-year-old ram and a turtledove and a young pigeon.” 10 So he brought all those to him. Then he cut them in two down the middle and laid the halves opposite to each other, but the birds he did not cut in two. 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. 12 Then it happened, the sun was setting and a deep sleep fell on Abram, and behold, terror, great darkness fell on him. 13 Then he said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be strangers in a land {that} {does} not {belong} to them, and they will serve them, and they will afflict them 400 years. 14 But also, the nation that they serve I will judge, and after that they will come out with great possessions. 15 And you, you will go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. 16 Then in the fourth generation they will come back here, because the sin of the Amorites {will} not {be} complete until then.” 17 Then it happened, the sun went down and darkness came, and behold, {there was} a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch that passed between those pieces. 18 On that day Yahweh cut a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River, 19 {the land of} the Kenites and the Kenizzites and the Kadmonites 20 and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Rephaim 21 and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Girgashites and the Jebusites.” Chapter 16 Abram And Hagar Have Ishmael 16:1-16 1 Now Sarai, the wife of Abram, had not born {children} for him, but she had an Egyptian maidservant, and her name {was} Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Behold, Yahweh has prevented me from bearing {children}. Please go to my maidservant. Perhaps I can be built up from her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3 So Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar, her Egyptian maidservant, at the end of ten years that Abram had lived in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife for him. 4 Then he went to Hagar, and she conceived. And she saw that she had conceived, and her mistress was despised in her eyes. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “My wrong {is} on you! I myself put my maidservant into your arms, but she sees that she has conceived, and I am despised in her eyes! May Yahweh judge between me and you!” 6 Then Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your maidservant {is} in your hand. Do to her what {is} good in your eyes.” Then Sarai afflicted her, and she fled from her presence. 7 Then an angel of Yahweh found her at a spring of water in the wilderness, at the spring beside the road of Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, maidservant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the face of my mistress Sarai.” 9 Then the angel of Yahweh said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit under her hands.” 10 Then the angel of Yahweh said to her, “I will greatly increase your offspring, so that they cannot be counted because of their abundance.” 11 Then the angel of Yahweh said to her, “Behold, {you are} pregnant, and you will bear a son, and you must call his name Ishmael, because Yahweh has listened to your misery. 12 And he will be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in the face of all of his brothers.” 13 Then she called the name of Yahweh who had spoken to her, “You {are} El Roi,” because she said, “Have I really seen here the back of {the One who} sees me?” 14 For that {reason} they call the well Beer Lahai Roi. Behold, {it is} between Kadesh and Bered. 15 Then Hagar bore a son for Abram, and Abram called the name of his son whom Hagar bore Ishmael. 16 And Abram {was} a son of 86 years when Hagar bore Ishmael for Abram. Chapter 17 More Details About God's Covenant With Abram, Including Circumcision 17:1-27 1 Then Abram was a son of 99 years, and Yahweh appeared to Abram and said to him, “I {am} God Almighty. Walk before me and be without blemish. 2 And I will make my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you very greatly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face, and God spoke with him saying, 4 “I, behold, my covenant with you {is} that you will be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 So your name will not be called Abram any more, rather your name will be Abraham, because I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 So I will make you very, very fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings will come from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations as an eternal covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, as an eternal possession, and I will be God to them.” 9 Then God said to Abraham, “And you, you must keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This {is} my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you which you must keep: Every male among you must be circumcised. 11 Indeed you must be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 So a son of eight days must be circumcised, every male among you throughout your generations, those born in {your} house and those bought with money from any sons of foreigners, who {are} not your offspring. 13 They must surely be circumcised, whether those born in your house or those bought with your money. So my covenant will be in your flesh as an eternal covenant. 14 And {as for} an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, indeed that person must be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.” 15 Then God said to Abraham, “Sarai your wife, do not call her name Sarai, rather her name {will be} Sarah. 16 And I will bless her, and I will also give to you a son from her. Indeed I will bless her and she will become nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” 17 Then Abraham fell on his face, and he laughed and said in his heart, “Will {a child} be born to a son of 100 years? And will Sarah who is a daughter of 90 years bear {a child}?” 18 Then Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live before you!” 19 Then God said, “No, Sarah your wife will bear a son for you, and you must call his name Isaac. And I will establish my covenant with him as an eternal covenant for his offspring after him. 20 “And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I will bless him and I will make him fruitful and will multiply him very greatly. He will father twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 However, my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear for you by this time in the next year.” 22 Then he finished speaking with him, and God went up from Abraham. 23 Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born of his house and all those bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins on that very day, just as God had told him. 24 And Abraham {was} a son of 99 years when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, 25 and Ishmael his son {was} a son of thirteen years when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26 On that very day Abraham was circumcised, and Ishmael his son. 27 And all the males of his house, those born of his house and those bought {with} money from sons of foreigners, were circumcised with him. Chapter 18 Yahweh Announces To Abraham And Sarah That They Will Have A Son 18:1-15 1 Then Yahweh appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, and he was sitting {at} the entrance of the tent in the heat of the day. 2 And he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing nearby him. And {when} he saw {them}, then he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them. Then he bowed to the ground, 3 and he said, “My lords, if I have found favor in your eyes, please do not pass by your servant. 4 Please let a little water be brought, then you can wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. 5 And I will bring a morsel of bread, then you can refresh your hearts before you go away, since you have come to your servant.” And they said, “Very well, do as you have said.” 6 Then Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, “Hurry! Knead three seahs of fine flour, and make loaves.” 7 Then Abraham ran to the herd and selected a tender and choice calf. Then he gave it to a servant and he hurried to prepare it. 8 Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and he set it before them. Then he stood by them under the tree and they ate. 9 Then they said to him, “Where {is} Sarah your wife?” And he said, “Behold, in the tent.” 10 Then he said, “I will surely return to you at the time of life, and behold, your wife Sarah will have a son.” Now Sarah was listening {at} the entrance of the tent, and it {was} behind him. 11 And Abraham and Sarah {were} old, advanced in days; the way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. 12 So Sarah laughed within herself and said, “After I am worn out, will I have pleasure? And my lord {is} old!” 13 But Yahweh said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Will I really bear {a child} when I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for Yahweh? At the appointed time I will return to you, at the time of life, and Sarah will have a son.” 15 But Sarah denied it by saying, “I did not laugh,” because she was afraid. But he said, “No, but you did laugh.” Abraham Intercedes With Yahweh For The City of Sodom 18:16-33 16 Then the men got up from there and looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them off. 17 And Yahweh said, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am doing? 18 And Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed. 19 For I have known him so that he will command his children and his house after him, and they will keep the way of Yahweh by doing righteousness and justice, so that Yahweh will bring about for Abraham what he said to him.” 20 Then Yahweh said, “Because the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and because their sin is very grievous, 21 I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to its outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.” 22 Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, and Abraham was still standing before Yahweh. 23 Then Abraham approached {him} and said, “Will you really sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there are 50 righteous in the city? Will you really sweep away and not spare the place for the sake of the 50 righteous who {are} in it? 25 Far be it from you to do something like that, killing the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous are like the wicked! Far be it from you! Will not the One who judges all the earth do justice?” 26 Then Yahweh said, “If I find in Sodom 50 righteous in the city, then I will spare the whole place for their sake.” 27 Then Abraham spoke up and said, “Behold please, I have taken it upon myself to speak to my Lord, although I {am} dust and ashes. 28 Suppose the 50 righteous lack five? Will you destroy the whole city because of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it, if I find 45 there.” 29 Then he continued again to speak to him and said, “Suppose 40 are found there?” And he said, “I will not do it for the sake of the 40.” 30 Then he said, “Please do not let my Lord be angry, and let me speak: Suppose 30 are found there?” And he said, “I will not do it, if I find 30 there.” 31 Then he said, “Behold please, I have taken it upon myself to speak to my Lord: Suppose 20 are found there?” And he said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the 20.” 32 Then he said, “Please do not let my Lord be angry, and let me speak just once more: Suppose ten are found there?” And he said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.” 33 Then Yahweh left as soon as he finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place. Chapter 19 Yahweh Destroys The Cities Of Sodom And Gomorrah 19:1-29 1 Then the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. And Lot saw them, and he got up to meet them and bowed his nose to the ground. 2 Then he said, “Behold please, my lords. Please turn aside to the house of your servant and spend the night, and wash your feet, then you can get up early and go on your way.” But they said, “No, rather we will spend the night in the street.” 3 But he urged them strongly, so that they turned aside with him and entered into his house. Then he prepared a feast for them, and he baked unleavened bread, and they ate. 4 Before they lay down, then the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, from the young and to the old, all the people from the edges. 5 Then they called to Lot and said to him, “Where {are} the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can know them!” 6 Then Lot went out to them at the entrance and shut the door behind him, 7 and he said, “Please, my brothers, do not do evil! 8 Behold please, I have two daughters who have not known a man. Please let me bring them out to you, and you do to them as {is} good in your eyes. But do not do anything to these men, because for that {reason} they have come under the shadow of my rafters.” 9 But they said, “Get back!” Then they said, “This one came to sojourn, and now he is judging {us}! We will treat you worse than them!” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot and came near to break down the door. 10 But the men reached out {their} hands and brought Lot into the house to them and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the entrance of the house with blindness, from the small and to the great, so that they became weary {trying} to find the door. 12 Then the men said to Lot, “Who else {is} here with you? Sons-in-law and your sons and your daughters and anyone who {is} with you in the city, take them out from this place, 13 because we are destroying this place. For their outcry before Yahweh {is} great, so Yahweh has sent us to destroy it.” 14 Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were to take his daughters, and he said, “Get up, get out of this place, because Yahweh is destroying the city!” But it seemed like he was joking in the eyes of his sons-in-law. 15 Then when the dawn came, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Get up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, so that you are not swept away in the punishment of the city.” 16 But he lingered, so the men grabbed his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, because of Yahweh’s mercy for him, and brought him out and set him outside the city. 17 And it happened when they had brought them out to the outside, then he said, “Flee for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stop anywhere in the plain! Escape to the mountains, so that you are not swept away!” 18 Then Lot said to them, “Please, no, my lords! 19 Behold please, your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have magnified your mercy that you have shown to me by saving my life. But I am not able to escape to the mountains because the disaster will overtake me and I will die. 20 Behold please, that town there {is} near to flee to, and it {is} a little one. Please let me escape there. Isn’t it a little one? Then my life will live.” 21 Then he said to him, “Behold, I have also lifted up your face concerning this thing, so I will not overthrow the town that you are talking about. 22 Hurry up, escape there, because I am not able to do a thing until you go there.” For that {reason} he called the name of the town Zoar. 23 The sun rose over the land and Lot came to Zoar. 24 Then Yahweh rained down on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Yahweh out of the heavens, 25 and he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation of the ground. 26 But his wife from behind him looked back and she became a pillar of salt. 27 Abraham got up early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before Yahweh, 28 and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the surface of the land of the plain, and he looked and behold, smoke was rising from the land like smoke from a furnace. 29 So it was when God destroyed the cities of the plain that God remembered Abraham, and he sent Lot out of the middle of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities which Lot had lived in. Lot's Descendants From His Daughters 19:30-38 30 Then Lot went up from Zoar and settled in the mountains, and his two daughters {were} with him, because he was afraid to settle in Zoar. So he lived in a cave, he and his two daughters. 31 Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father {is} old and there is not a man on the earth to come to us as {is} the way of all the earth. 32 Come on, let us get our father to drink wine, then let us lie with him so that we will give life to offspring through our father.” 33 So they got their father to drink wine on that night, and the firstborn went and lay with her father, but he did not know when she lay down or when she got up. 34 Then it happened on the next day that the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, last night I lay with my father. Let us get him to drink wine again tonight, then you go lie with him, so that we will give life to offspring through our father.” 35 So on that night also they got their father to drink wine. Then the younger went and lay with him, but he did not know when she lay down or when she got up. 36 So both of the daughters of Lot conceived from their father. 37 Then the firstborn bore a son, and she called his name Moab. He {is} the father of the Moabites to this day. 38 Then the younger, she also bore a son, and she called his name Ben-Ammi. He {is} the father of the sons of Ammon to this day. Chapter 20 King Abimelech Takes Sarah To Be His Wife 20:1-18 1 Then Abraham traveled from there to the land of the Negev, and he settled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar. 2 And Abraham said about Sarah his wife, “She {is} my sister.” So Abimelech the king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her. 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream that night and said to him, “Behold, you are dead because of the woman whom you have taken, because she is married to a husband!” 4 Now Abimelech had not gone near to her, so he said, “My Lord, will you kill a nation even though {it is} righteous? 5 Did not he himself say to me, ‘She {is} my sister’? And she herself also said, ‘He {is} my brother’. I did this in the integrity of my heart and in the innocence of my hands!” 6 Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you did this, and indeed I kept you from sinning against me. For that {reason} I did not allow you to touch her. 7 So now you must return the wife of the man, because he {is} a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live. But if you do not return her, know that you will surely die, you and all who {belong} to you!” 8 So Abimelech got up early in the morning and called for all of his servants, and he told all those things in their ears, and the men were very afraid. 9 Then Abimelech called for Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you so that you brought a great sin on me and on my kingdom? You have done deeds to me that should not be done!” 10 Then Abimelech said to Abraham, “What were you looking for when you did this thing?” 11 And Abraham answered, “Because I said, ‘Surely there is no fear of God in this place, so they will kill me because of my wife.’ 12 And also she truly {is} my sister, the daughter of my father but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. 13 And it happened when God caused me to wander from the house of my father, then I said to her, ‘This {is} your kindness that you can do for me: At every place where we go, say about me, “He {is} my brother.” ’ ” 14 Then Abimelech brought flocks and herds and men slaves and women slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him. 15 Then Abimelech said, “Behold, my land {is} before your face. Settle wherever {is} good in your eyes.” 16 And to Sarah he said, “Behold, I am giving 1, 000 shekels of silver to your brother. Behold, that {is} for you a covering of the eyes before all who {are} with you, so that you are vindicated for everything.” 17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his slave women, so that they bore children, 18 because Yahweh had completely closed up every womb in the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, the wife of Abraham. Chapter 21 Isaac's Birth And Circumcision 21:1-7 1 Then Yahweh visited Sarah just as he had said, and Yahweh did for Sarah just as he had said, 2 so that Sarah conceived and bore a son for Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time which God had told him. 3 And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore for him, Isaac. 4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac, a son of eight days, just as God had commanded him. 5 And Abraham {was} a son of 100 years when Isaac his son was born to him. 6 And Sarah said, “God has brought laughter to me! Everyone who hears will laugh with me!” 7 And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham {that} Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have born a son in his old age!” Sarah Has Abraham Send Hagar And Ishmael Away 21:8-21 8 Then the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned. 9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had born for Abraham, was mocking, 10 so she said to Abraham, “Drive away that slave woman and her son, because the son of that slave woman will not inherit with my son, with Isaac!” 11 And the matter was very distressing in the eyes of Abraham on account of his son. 12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed in your eyes because of the boy and because of your slave woman. All that Sarah says to you, listen to her voice, because in Isaac offspring will be called yours. 13 And I will also make the son of the slave woman into a nation, because he {is} your offspring.” 14 Then Abraham got up early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder. Then with the child he sent her away, and she left and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. 15 And when the water from the skin was gone, then she threw the child under one of the bushes, 16 and she went and sat down by herself at a distance, as far away as they shoot a bow, because she said, “Do not let me look on the death of the child.” And {as} she sat at a distance, then she lifted her voice and sobbed. 17 And God heard the voice of the boy, so the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What {troubles} you, Hagar? Do not be afraid, because God has listened to the voice of the boy where he {is} there. 18 Get up, lift the boy and hold on to him with your hand, because I will make him into a great nation.” 19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin {with} water, and gave the boy a drink. 20 And God was with the boy. And he grew up, and he lived in the wilderness and he became a bow shooter. 21 And {while} he was living in the wilderness of Paran, then his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt. King Abimelech Makes A Covenant With Abraham 21:22-34 22 And it happened at that time that Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, saying, “God {is} with you in all that you do. 23 So now swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my children or with my descendants. According to the kindness that I have done to you, do to me and to the land which you are sojourning in.” 24 And Abraham said, “I swear.” 25 Then Abraham complained to Abimelech on account of the well of water that the servants of Abimelech had seized. 26 Then Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing. And also you did not tell me, and also I have not heard about it until today.” 27 Then Abraham took sheep and cattle, and he gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them cut a covenant. 28 Then Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. 29 So Abimelech said to Abraham, “What {are} they, these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart by themselves?” 30 And he said, “Because you must accept the seven ewe lambs from my hand, so that it can be a witness for me that I dug this well.” 31 For that {reason} he called that place Beersheba, because there the two of them swore an oath. 32 So they cut the covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, got up and returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 Then he planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there he called on the name of Yahweh, the Eternal God. 34 Then Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days. Chapter 22 God Tests Abraham's Faith 22:1-19 1 Then it happened after those things that God tested Abraham. And he said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Behold me.” 2 Then he said, “Please take your son, your only {son} whom you love, Isaac, and go yourself to the land of Moriah and sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I will tell to you.” 3 So Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey. And he took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son, and he cut wood for the burnt offering. Then he got up and left for the place that God had told to him. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and he saw the place from a distance. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here by yourselves with the donkey, and I and the boy will go over there and bow down, then we will come back to you.” 6 Then Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put {it} on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand{s} the fire and the knife. Then the two of them went on together, 7 and Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father?” And he said, “Behold me, my son.” Then he said, “Behold the fire and the wood, but where {is} the lamb for the burnt offering?” 8 And Abraham said, “God will see for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Then the two of them went on together. 9 Then they came to the place that God had told to him, and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. Then he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. 11 But an angel of Yahweh called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham! Abraham!” And he said, “Behold me.” 12 Then he said, “Do not reach out your hand against the boy! And {do} not do anything to him, because now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only {son}, from me.” 13 Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and behold a ram {was} behind {him}, caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called the name of that place “Yahweh-Yireh,” as it is said {to} this day, “On the mountain of Yahweh it will be seen.” 15 Then the angel of Yahweh called to Abraham a second {time} from heaven 16 and said, “I swear by myself, a declaration of Yahweh, that it is because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only {son}, 17 that I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your offspring as the stars of the heavens and as the sand that {is} on the shore of the sea, and your offspring will possess the gates of their enemies. 18 And in your offspring all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you listened to my voice.” 19 Then Abraham returned to his young men, and they got up and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham stayed at Beersheba. Abraham's Brother Nahor's Twelve Sons 22:20-24 20 Then it happened after those things that it was told to Abraham, saying, “Behold, Milcah, she too, has born sons for Nahor your brother: 21 Uz his firstborn and Buz his brother and Kemuel, the father of Aram, 22 and Kesed and Hazo and Pildash and Jidlaph and Bethuel.” 23 And Bethuel fathered Rebekah. Those {are} the eight {sons} Milcah bore for Nahor, the brother of Abraham. 24 And his concubine, and her name {was} Reumah, and she also bore Tebah and Gaham and Tahash and Maacah. Chapter 23 Sarah Dies And Abraham Buys A Cave To Bury Her 23:1-20 1 Now the life of Sarah was 127 years; the years of the life of Sarah. 2 Then Sarah died in Kiriath Arba, that {is}, Hebron, in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. 3 Then Abraham got up from beside his dead one and he spoke to the sons of Heth, saying, 4 “I {am} a foreigner and a sojourner among you. Give to me property for a burial place among you, so that I can bury my dead from before me.” 5 Then the sons of Heth replied to Abraham, saying to him, 6 “Listen to us, my lord. You {are} a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places. Each of us will not refuse from you his burial place to bury your dead.” 7 Then Abraham got up and bowed before the people of the land, before the sons of Heth, 8 and he said to them, saying, “If it is your will to bury my dead from before me, listen to me and intercede for me with Ephron, the son of Zohar, 9 so that he will give to me the cave of Machpelah, which {belongs} to him, which {is} at the end of his field. For full price let him give it to me among you as property for a burial place.” 10 Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth, so Ephron the Hittite responded to Abraham in the ears of the sons of Heth, for everyone {who} had come to the gate of his city, saying, 11 “No, my lord. Listen to me: I give to you the field, and I give to you the cave that {is} in it. I give it to you before the eyes of the sons of my people. Bury your dead.” 12 Then Abraham bowed before the people of the land, 13 and he spoke to Ephron in the ears of the people of the land, saying, “Rather if you would, please listen to me. I will give the price of the field. Take it from me, then I will bury my dead there.” 14 Then Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, 15 “My lord, listen to me. Land {worth} 400 shekels of silver, between me and you, what {is} that? So bury your dead.” 16 So Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out to Ephron the price that he had mentioned in the ears of the sons of Heth, 400 shekels of silver, the currency among the merchants. 17 So the field of Ephron that {was} in Machpelah which {was} before Mamre, the field and the cave that {was} in it, and every tree that {was} in the field, that {was} within all of its surrounding borders, was deeded 18 to Abraham as his possession before the eyes of the sons of Heth, before everyone who had come to the gate of his city. 19 Then after that, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre, that {is}, Hebron, in the land of Canaan. 20 So the field and the cave that {was} in it were deeded to Abraham as property for a burial place from the sons of Heth. Chapter 24 Abraham Gets A Wife For Isaac 24:1-67 1 Now Abraham was old, advanced in days, and Yahweh had blessed Abraham in everything. 2 Then Abraham said to his oldest servant of his house who was in charge of everything that {belonged} to him, “Please put your hand under my thigh, 3 and I will have you swear by Yahweh, the God of the heavens and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites whom I am living among, 4 but you will go to my country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son, for Isaac.” 5 Then the servant said to him, “Suppose the woman is not willing to come with me to this land? Should I take your son back to the country that you came from?” 6 Then Abraham said to him, “Be sure that you do not take my son back there. 7 Yahweh, the God of the heavens, who took me from the house of my father and from the land of my relatives and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land,’ he will send his angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there. 8 But if the woman is not willing to come with you, then you are clear from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there!” 9 Then the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter. 10 Then the servant took ten camels from the camels of his master and left, and all {kinds of} good {things} from his master {were} in his hand, and he got up and went to Aram Naharaim, to the city of Nahor. 11 Then he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at evening time, at the time the women who draw water come out. 12 Then he said, “Yahweh, God of my master Abraham, please cause it to happen before me today that you show kindness toward my master Abraham. 13 Behold, I am standing by {this} spring of water, and the daughters of the people of the city are coming out to draw water. 14 And let it be {that} the young woman whom I say to her, ‘Please let down your jar so that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink and I will also water your camels,’ {let} her {be the one} you have appointed for your servant, for Isaac. And by her I will know that you have shown kindness toward my master.” 15 Then it happened before he had finished speaking, then behold, Rebekah was coming out, who was born to Bethuel, the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, the brother of Abraham. And her water jar {was} on her shoulder. 16 And the young woman {was} a very beautiful-looking virgin, and a man had not known her. And she went down to the spring, and filled her jar and came up. 17 Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar.” 18 And she said, “Drink, my lord.” Then she hurried and lowered her jar to her hand{s} and gave him a drink. 19 And {after} she finished giving him a drink, then she said, “I will also draw water for your camels until they have finished drinking.” 20 Then she hurried and emptied her jar into the trough, and ran back to the well to draw water, and she drew water for all his camels. 21 And the man watched her silently to know whether Yahweh had made his journey succeed or not. 22 Then it happened, when the camels had finished drinking, then the man took out a gold nose ring, its weight {was} a beka, and two gold bracelets for her arms, their weight {was} ten shekels. 23 And he said, “Whose daughter {are} you? Please tell me. Is there a place at the house of your father for us to lodge?” 24 Then she said to him, “I {am} the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore for Nahor.” 25 Then she said to him, “Plenty of both straw and fodder {are} with us. {There is} also a place to lodge.” 26 Then the man bowed down and prostrated himself before Yahweh, 27 and said, “Praised be Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and his faithfulness toward my master. {As for} me, Yahweh has led me on the road {to} the home of the relatives of my master!” 28 Then the young woman ran and told the household of her mother about those things. 29 Now Rebekah had a brother and his name {was} Laban, and Laban ran to the man outside at the spring. 30 And it was when he had seen the nose ring, and the bracelets on the arms of his sister, and when he had heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, ‘This {is} what the man said to me,’ then he went to the man, and behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring. 31 Then he said, “Come, blessed of Yahweh. Why are you standing out here? For I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.” 32 So the man went to the house. Then he unloaded the camels and gave straw and fodder to the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who {were} with him. 33 Then food was set before him to eat, but he said, “I will not eat until I have spoken my words.” So he said, “Speak.” 34 Then he said, “I {am} a servant of Abraham. 35 And Yahweh has greatly blessed my master so that he has become great. And he has given him flock{s} and herd{s}, and silver and gold, and men slaves and women slaves, and camels and donkeys. 36 And Sarah, the wife of my master, bore a son for my master after her old age, and he has given to him everything that {belongs} to him. 37 And my master made me swear by saying, ‘You must not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites whose land I am living in, 38 but rather you must go to the house of my father, and to my clan, and take a wife for my son.’ 39 Then I said to my master, ‘Suppose the woman will not come with me?’ 40 And he said to me, ‘Yahweh, whom I walk before, will send his angel with you and make your journey succeed, so that you will take a wife for my son from my clan, and from the house of my father. 41 Then you will be clear from my oath: When you go to my clan, and if they will not give her to you, then you will be clear from my oath.’ 42 “Then today I came to the spring, and I said, ‘Yahweh, God of my master Abraham, if it is your will, please make my journey succeed that I have come on. 43 Behold, I am standing by {this} spring of water. And let it be {that} the young woman who comes out to draw water and I say to her, “Please give me a little water to drink from your jar,” 44 and she says to me, “Both you drink and I will also draw water for your camels,” {let} her {be} the wife whom Yahweh has chosen for the son of my master.’ 45 “Before I had finished speaking in my heart, then behold Rebekah was coming out and her jar {was} on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. Then I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’ 46 And she hurried and lowered her jar from her and said, ‘Drink and I will also water your camels.’ So I drank, and she also watered the camels. 47 Then I asked her and said, ‘Whose daughter {are} you?’ And she said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, a son of Nahor whom Milcah bore for him.’ Then I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her arms, 48 and I bowed down and prostrated myself before Yahweh and I praised Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, who led me on the right way to take the daughter of my master’s brother for his son. 49 And now if it is your will to show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me, and if not, tell me, so that I will turn to the right or to the left.” 50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “The thing has come from Yahweh; we are not able to tell you bad or good. 51 Behold, Rebekah {is} before you. Take her and go, and let her be the wife of the son of your master, as Yahweh has spoken.” 52 Then it happened, when the servant of Abraham heard their words, then he bowed down to the ground before Yahweh. 53 Then the servant brought out jewelry of silver and jewelry of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. And he gave valuable things to her brother and to her mother. 54 Then he and the men who {were} with him ate and drank and lodged. Then in the morning they got up, and he said, “Send me to my master.” 55 But her brother and her mother said, “Let the young woman stay with us a few days, at least ten. After that she will go.” 56 But he said to them, “Do not detain me, since Yahweh has made my journey succeed. Send me off so that I will go to my master.” 57 Then they said, “Let’s call for the young woman and ask her mouth.” 58 So they called for Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.” 59 Then they sent off Rebekah their sister and her nurse and the servant of Abraham and his men. 60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you become thousands of myriads, and may your offspring possess the gates of {those} hating them!” 61 Then Rebekah got up and her maids, and they mounted the camels and went with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left. 62 Meanwhile Isaac came from going to Beer Lahai Roi, and he was living in the land of the Negev. 63 And Isaac went to meditate in the field as it was turning toward evening, and he lifted his eyes and saw that behold, camels were coming. 64 And Rebekah lifted her eyes and saw Isaac. Then she dismounted from the camel, 65 and she said to the servant, “Who {is} that man in the field who is coming to meet us?” And the servant said, “He {is} my master.” So she took the veil and covered herself. 66 Then the servant reported to Isaac all the things that he had done. 67 Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother, and he took Rebekah, and she became a wife to him. And Isaac loved her and he was comforted after his mother. Chapter 25 Abraham And Keturah's Descendants 25:1-6 1 Chronicles 1:32-33 1 Then Abraham added and took a wife, and her name {was} Keturah. 2 And she bore for him Zimran and Jokshan and Medan and Midian and Ishbak and Shuah. 3 And Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. And the descendants of Dedan were the Asshurim and the Letushim and the Leummim. 4 And the sons of Midian {were} Ephah and Epher and Hanoch and Abida and Eldaah. All of those {were} the descendants of Keturah. 5 And Abraham gave everything that {belonged} to him to Isaac. 6 And to the sons of the concubines who {belonged} to Abraham, Abraham gave gifts, and while he was still alive he sent them eastward to the land of Kedem, away from Isaac his son. Abraham's Death And Burial 25:7-11 7 And these {are} the days of the years of the life of Abraham that he lived: 175 years. 8 Then Abraham exhaled and died at a good old age, elderly and full, and he was gathered to his people. 9 Then Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which {was} before Mamre, 10 the field that Abraham had bought from the sons of Heth. There Abraham was buried, and Sarah his wife. 11 And it happened after the death of Abraham, then God blessed Isaac his son, and Isaac lived near Beer Lahai Roi. Ishmael's Descendants 25:12-18 12 Now these {are} the generations of Ishmael the son of Abraham, whom Hagar the Egyptian, the maidservant of Sarah, had born for Abraham. 13 And these {are} the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names according to their births: the firstborn of Ishmael {was} Nebaioth, then Kedar and Adbeel and Mibsam 14 and Mishma and Dumah and Massa, 15 Hadad and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedermah. 16 Those {were} the sons of Ishmael, and those {are} their names by their settlements and by their camps, twelve rulers according to their tribes. 17 And these {are} the years of the life of Ishmael: 137 years. Then he exhaled and died, and was gathered to his people. 18 And they settled from Havilah to Shur that {is} near Egypt as you go toward Asshur. He fell in the face of all his brothers. The Birth Of Isaac's Sons Jacob And Esau 25:19-26 19 And these {are} the generations of Isaac the son of Abraham: Abraham fathered Isaac, 20 then Isaac was a son of 40 years when he took Rebekah for himself as a wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean. 21 And Isaac entreated Yahweh on behalf of his wife because she {was} barren. So Yahweh was entreated by him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 And the children struggled against each other inside her, so she said, “Why {is this} so? Why {am} I {like} this?” And she went to inquire of Yahweh. 23 And Yahweh said to her, “Two nations {are} inside your womb, and two peoples will be divided from inside your womb. And one people will be stronger than the other people, and the older will serve the younger.” 24 Then her days were fulfilled to deliver, and behold, twins {were} inside her womb. 25 And the first came out red, all of him {was} like a garment of hair, so they called his name Esau. 26 Then after that, his brother came out and his hand was grabbing on to the heel of Esau, so he called his name Jacob. And Isaac {was} a son of 60 years when she bore them. Esau Sells His Birthright To Jacob 25:27-34 27 Then the boys grew up, and Esau became a man who knew hunting, a man of the field, and Jacob {was} a quiet man who stayed among the tents. 28 And Isaac loved Esau, because {he liked} game meat in his mouth, but Rebekah loved Jacob. 29 Now Jacob was cooking stew, and Esau came in from the field and he {was} exhausted. 30 Then Esau said to Jacob, “Please let me devour some of that very red stuff because I {am} exhausted!” For that {reason} they called his name Edom. 31 But Jacob said, “On this day sell your birthright to me.” 32 And Esau said, “Behold, I am about to die! So for what use {is} that to me, a birthright?” 33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me on this day!” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave to Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank, and got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright. Chapter 26 God Establishes His Covenant With Isaac 26:1-5 1 Then there was a famine in the land, besides the earlier famine that was in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Abimelech the king of the Philistines, to Gerar. 2 Then Yahweh appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land that I tell you. 3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and bless you. For to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. 4 And I will multiply your offspring as the stars of the heavens, and I will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth will be blessed, 5 because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees, and my laws.” Isaac Lies About His Wife Rebekah To The Philistines 26:6-11 6 So Isaac stayed in Gerar. 7 Then the men of the place asked about his wife, and he said, “She {is} my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “{She is} my wife.” {He thought,} “Lest the men of the place kill me on account of Rebekah, because she {is} beautiful of appearance.” 8 Then it happened when the days had been long for him there, then Abimelech the king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw that behold, Isaac was laughing with Rebekah his wife. 9 So Abimelech called for Isaac and said, “Behold, she {is} really your wife! So how could you say, ‘She {is} my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘I might die because of her.’ ” 10 Then Abimelech said, “What {is} this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!” 11 Then Abimelech ordered all the people by saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife will surely be killed!” Isaac Has Conflict With The Philistines Over His Wells 26:12-33 12 Then Isaac sowed seeds in that land, and in that year he acquired a hundredfold, and Yahweh blessed him. 13 And the man became great, and he continued to become even greater until he was exceedingly great. 14 And he had possession of flocks and possession of herds and many servants. So the Philistines envied him, 15 and the Philistines stopped up all the wells that the servants of his father had dug in the days of Abraham his father and filled them with dirt. 16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, because you are more powerful than we {are}.” 17 So Isaac went from there and camped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. 18 Then Isaac returned and dug out the water wells that they had dug in the days of Abraham his father and that the Philistines had stopped up after the death of Abraham, and he called them names like the names that his father had called them. 19 Then the servants of Isaac dug in the valley and found a well of living water there. 20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, “The water {belongs} to us!” So he called the name of the well Esek, because they disputed with him. 21 Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over it too, so he called its name Sitnah. 22 Then he moved from there and he dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it, so he called its name Rehoboth and he said, “Because now Yahweh has made space for us and we will be fruitful in the land.” 23 Then from there he went up to Beersheba. 24 And Yahweh appeared to him during that night and said, “I {am} the God of Abraham your father. Do not be afraid, because I {am} with you. And I will bless you and multiply your offspring for the sake of Abraham my servant.” 25 Then he built an altar there and called on the name of Yahweh. And he pitched his tents there, and the servants of Isaac dug a well there. 26 Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his friend and Phicol the commander of his army. 27 And Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and you sent me away from you?” 28 And they said, “We have clearly seen that Yahweh has been with you, so we said, ‘There should be an oath between us’—between us and you. So let us cut a covenant with you, 29 that you will not do evil against us, just as we did not touch you, and just as we did only good to you and sent you away in peace. Now you are blessed by Yahweh.” 30 Then he made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. 31 Then they got up early in the morning and swore to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left from him in peace. 32 Then it happened on that day, the servants of Isaac came and told him about the matter of the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water!” 33 So he called it Shebah. For that {reason} the name of the city {is} Beersheba to this day. Esau's Hittite Wives 26:34-35 34 And Esau was a son of 40 years, and he took {as} a wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35 And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah. Chapter 27 Jacob Steals Esau's Blessing From Their Father Isaac 27:1-29 1 Then it happened, when Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see, then he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” And he said to him, “Behold me.” 2 Then he said, “Behold please, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. 3 So now, please take your weapons, your quiver, and your bow, and go out {in} the field and hunt game for me. 4 Then prepare tasty food for me such as I love, and bring it to me so I can eat it, so that my soul can bless you before I die.” 5 And Rebekah was listening while Isaac spoke to Esau his son, then Esau went {to} the field to hunt game to bring it back. 6 Then Rebekah said to Jacob her son, saying, “Behold, I heard your father speaking to Esau your brother, saying, 7 ‘Bring game for me and prepare tasty food for me so that I can eat it and I can bless you in the presence of Yahweh, before my death.’ 8 So now, my son, listen to my voice, to what I command you. 9 Please go to the flock and bring to me from there two good kids of the goats so that I will prepare from them tasty food for your father such as he loves. 10 Then you take it to your father and he will eat {it}, so that he will bless you before his death.” 11 Then Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, Esau my brother {is} a hairy man, but I {am} a smooth man. 12 Suppose my father touches me? Then I will be in his eyes as a deceiver, and I will bring a curse on me and not a blessing.” 13 But his mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son. Just listen to my voice and go get {them} for me.” 14 So he went and got {them} and brought {them} to his mother. Then his mother prepared tasty food such as his father loved. 15 Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son that {were} with her in the house and put them on Jacob her younger son. 16 And she put the skins of the kid goats over his hands and over the smooth part of his neck. 17 Then she gave the tasty food and the bread that she had made into the hand{s} of Jacob her son, 18 and he went to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Behold me. Who {are} you, my son?” 19 Then Jacob said to his father, “I {am} Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please get up, sit and eat some of my game, so that your soul will bless me.” 20 Then Isaac said to his son, “How {is} this you were quick to find {it}, my son?” And he said, “Because Yahweh your God caused {it} to happen before me.” 21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come close, so that I can touch you, my son, {and know} whether you are really my son Esau or not.” 22 So Jacob went close to Isaac his father, and he touched him and said, “The voice {is} the voice of Jacob, but the hands {are} the hands of Esau.” 23 So he did not recognize him because his hands were hairy like the hands of Esau his brother, and he was about to bless him. 24 But he said, “{Are} you really my son Esau?” And he said, “I {am}.” 25 Then he said, “Bring {the food} to me, and I will eat some of my son’s game, so that my soul will bless you.” Then he brought {it} to him and he ate, and he brought wine to him and he drank. 26 Then Isaac his father said to him, “Please come close and kiss me, my son.” 27 So he went close and kissed him. And he smelled the smell of his clothes, so he blessed him and said, “See, the smell of my son {is} like the smell of a field that Yahweh has blessed! 28 And may God give to you from the dew of the heavens and from the fatness of the earth, and an abundance of grain and wine. 29 May peoples serve you, and may nations bow down to you. Be master over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. {May} those {who} curse you be cursed, and {may} those {who} bless you be blessed.” Esau Gets "Blessed” Too By Isaac 27:30-40 30 Then it happened, just as Isaac finished blessing Jacob, and it happened, scarcely had Jacob just left from the presence of Isaac his father, then Esau his brother came in from his hunt. 31 Then he too prepared tasty food, and he brought {it} to his father and said to his father, “Let my father get up and eat from his son’s game, so that your soul can bless me.” 32 But Isaac his father said to him, “Who {are} you?” And he said, “I {am} your son, your firstborn Esau.” 33 Then Isaac trembled a very great tremble and he said, “Then who {was} it that hunted game and brought {it} to me? And I ate from {it} all just before you came, and I blessed him. Indeed he will be blessed.” 34 When Esau heard the words of his father, then he cried out a great and exceedingly bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me, me too, my father!” 35 And he said, “Your brother came in deceit and took your blessing.” 36 Then he said, “Is it because his name is called Jacob that he has defrauded me these two times? He took my birthright, and behold now he has taken my blessing!” Then he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” 37 But Isaac responded and said to Esau, “Behold, I have made him master over you, and I have given all his brothers to him as servants. And I have sustained him with grain and wine. So then, what can I do for you, my son?” 38 But Esau said to his father, “Is there one blessing that you have, my father? Bless me, me too, my father!” Then Esau lifted his voice and sobbed. 39 Then Isaac his father responded and said to him, “Behold, your dwelling will be away from the fatness of the earth and away from the dew of heaven from above. 40 And you will live by your sword, and you will serve your brother. But when you become restless, then you will break his yoke off of your neck.” Jacob Flees From Esau 27:41-28:5 41 Then Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing that his father had blessed him with, and Esau said in his heart, “The days of the mourning of my father are near, then I will kill Jacob my brother.” 42 But the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah, so she sent and called for Jacob her younger son and said to him, “Behold, Esau your brother is consoling himself about you, planning to kill you. 43 So now, my son, listen to my voice and get up, flee for yourself to Laban my brother in Haran! 44 And stay with him for a few days until the fury of your brother turns away, 45 until the anger of your brother turns away from you and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send and get you from there. Why should I also lose both of you {in} one day?” 46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am disgusted with my life because of the daughters of Heth! If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth like these, from daughters of the land, what {would} life {be} to me?” Chapter 28 1 Then Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him, and commanded him and said to him, “Do not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. 2 Get up, go to Paddan Aram, to the home of Bethuel the father of your mother, and take a wife for yourself from there, from the daughters of Laban the brother of your mother. 3 And may God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you so that you become a community of peoples. 4 And may he give the blessing of Abraham to you, to you and to your offspring with you, so that you possess the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham.” 5 Then Isaac sent Jacob, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean and the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau. Esau Takes Another Wife 28:6-9 6 Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife for himself from there, {and that} when he blessed him, then he commanded him, saying, “Do not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.” 7 and {that} Jacob listened to his father and to his mother and went to Paddan Aram. 8 Then Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were displeasing in the eyes of Isaac his father. 9 So Esau went to Ishmael and he took as a wife Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth, in addition to his wives {who belonged} to him. Jacob's Dream At Bethel 28:10-22 10 And Jacob left from Beersheba and set out for Haran. 11 Then he reached a {certain} place, and he stopped there because the sun had gone. And he took {one} of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and he lay down in that place. 12 And he dreamed, and behold, a stairway was set up on the earth and its top reached to the heavens, and behold, angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And behold, Yahweh was standing above it, and he said, “I {am} Yahweh, the God of Abraham your grandfather and the God of Isaac. The land that you are lying on I will give to you and to your offspring. 14 And your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south. And in you and in your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed. 15 And behold, I {am} with you, and I will watch over you in every {place} that you go, and I will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” 16 Then Jacob woke up from his sleep and said, “Surely Yahweh is in this place, but I did not know {it}!” 17 So he was afraid and said, “How awesome this place is! This is nothing other than the house of God, and this {is} the gateway of heaven!” 18 Then in the morning Jacob got up early, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and stood it up {as} a pillar, and he poured oil on its top. 19 And he called the name of that place Bethel, even though Luz {had been} the name of the town at first. 20 Then Jacob vowed a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and watch over me on this road that I am walking on and he gives to me bread to eat and clothes to wear, 21 and I return in peace to the home of my father, then Yahweh will be God to me, 22 and this stone that I have stood up {as} a pillar will be the house of God, and all that you give to me I will tithe a tenth to you.” Chapter 29 Jacob Meets Rachel And Laban In Haran 29:1-14 1 Then Jacob lifted his feet and went to the land of the sons of the east. 2 And he looked and behold, a well {was} in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep were lying there near it, because from that well the flocks were watered, and the stone over the mouth of the well {was} large. 3 And all the flocks would be gathered there, then they would roll the stone from over the mouth of the well and water the sheep. Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well. 4 Then Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where {are} you from?” And they said, “We {are} from Haran.” 5 Then he said to them, “Do you know Laban the grandson of Nahor?” And they said, “We know him.” 6 Then he said to them, “Are {things} well for him?” And they said, “{Things are} well. And behold, Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep.” 7 Then he said, “Behold, the day {is} still large. {It is} not time for the livestock to be gathered. Water the sheep, and go pasture {them}.” 8 But they said, “We can’t until all the flocks are gathered and they roll the stone from over the mouth of the well. Then we will water the sheep.” 9 He was still talking with them, then Rachel came with the sheep that {belonged} to her father, because she was tending them. 10 Then it happened, when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, then Jacob went over and rolled the stone from over the mouth of the well, and watered the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother. 11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel and lifted his voice and cried. 12 Then Jacob told Rachel that he {was} a relative of her father and that he {was} a son of Rebekah. Then she ran and told her father. 13 And it happened, when Laban heard the news about Jacob the son of his sister, then he ran to meet him. Then he embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Then he told Laban all these things, 14 and Laban said to him, “You {are} indeed my bone and my flesh!” Jacob Works For Laban To Marry Rachel And Leah 29:14b-30 Then he stayed with him a month of days. 15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you {are} my relative, should you then serve me for nothing? Tell me, what {are} your wages?” 16 Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older {was} Leah, and the name of the younger {was} Rachel. 17 And the eyes of Leah {were} delicate, but Rachel was lovely of form and beautiful of appearance. 18 And Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, “I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.” 19 And Laban said, “{It is} better for me to give her to you than for me to give her to another man. Stay with me.” 20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, but in his eyes they were like a few days because of his love for her. 21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give {me} my wife, because my days are completed, then I will go to her.” 22 Then Laban gathered all the people of the place and made a feast. 23 But it happened in the evening that he took Leah his daughter and brought her to him, and he went to her. 24 And Laban gave to her Zilpah his maidservant, to Leah his daughter, {to be} a maidservant. 25 Then it happened in the morning that behold she {was} Leah! So he said to Laban, “What {is} this you have done to me? Was {it} not for Rachel that I served with you? So for what {reason} have you deceived me?” 26 But Laban said, “It is not done so in our place to give the younger before the firstborn. 27 Fulfill the week of this {one}, then we will also give you this {one} for service that you will serve with me for another seven years.” 28 So Jacob did so, and he fulfilled the week {for} that {one}. Then he gave to him Rachel his daughter as a wife for him. 29 And Laban gave Bilhah his maidservant to Rachel his daughter as a maidservant for her. 30 Then he also went to Rachel, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served him for another seven years. Jacob's Children 29:31-30:24 31 Now Yahweh saw that Leah was hated, so he opened her womb, but Rachel {was} barren. 32 Then Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben, because she said, “Because Yahweh has looked on my misery, surely now my husband will love me.” 33 Then she conceived again and bore a son, and she said, “Because Yahweh heard that I am hated, then he gave to me this {son} also.” So she called his name Simeon. 34 Then she conceived again and bore a son, and she said, “This time now my husband will be joined to me, because I have born three sons for him.” For that {reason} he called his name Levi. 35 Then she conceived again and bore a son, and she said, “This time I will praise Yahweh.” For that {reason} she called his name Judah. Then she stopped bearing. Chapter 30 1 Now Rachel saw that she was not bearing {children} for Jacob, so Rachel envied her sister, and she said to Jacob, “Give me children, and if not, I will die!” 2 And Jacob’s anger burned against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept the fruit of the womb from you?” 3 Then she said, “Behold my servant woman Bilhah. Go to her, so that she will bear {children} on my knees, and I also will be built up from her.” 4 And she gave to him Bilhah her maidservant as a wife, and Jacob went to her. 5 Then Bilhah conceived and bore a son for Jacob, 6 and Rachel said, “God has vindicated me, and indeed, he has listened to my voice and given to me a son!” For that {reason} she called his name Dan. 7 Then Bilhah the maidservant of Rachel conceived again and bore a second son for Jacob. 8 So Rachel said, “{With} mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister. Indeed I have prevailed!” And she called his name Naphtali. 9 Now Leah saw that she had ceased from bearing {children}, so she took Zilpah her maidservant and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10 Then Zilpah the maidservant of Leah bore a son for Jacob, 11 and Leah said, “What good fortune!” So she called his name Gad. 12 Then Zilpah the maidservant of Leah bore a second son for Jacob, 13 and Leah said, “How blessed I am! For women will call me blessed.” So she called his name Asher. 14 Then in the days of the wheat harvest, Reuben went out and found mandrakes in the field, and he brought them to Leah his mother. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give to me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 15 But she said to her, “Is it a small matter you have taken my husband? And would you also take my son’s mandrakes?” Then Rachel said, “Therefore he may lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.” 16 Then Jacob came from the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come to me, because I have surely hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her during that night, 17 and God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore a fifth son for Jacob. 18 Then Leah said, “God has given {me} my reward because I gave my maidservant to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar. 19 Then Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son for Jacob. 20 And Leah said, “God has presented me a good present. This time my husband will honor me because I have born six sons for him.” So she called his name Zebulun. 21 Then later she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah. 22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. 23 Then she conceived and bore a son, and she said, “God has taken away my disgrace!” 24 And she called his name Joseph, saying, “May Yahweh add another son to me.” Jacob Becomes Very Rich Working For Laban 30:25-43 25 Then it happened, after Rachel bore Joseph, then Jacob said to Laban, “Send me off, so that I may go to my place and to my land. 26 Give me my wives and my children whom I have served you for, so that I may go. For you yourself know the service that I have served you.” 27 Then Laban said to him, “Please {stay}, if I have found favor in your eyes. I have learned by divination that Yahweh has blessed me because of you.” 28 Then he said, “Name your wages to me, and I will give {them}.” 29 And he said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you and how your livestock have been with me. 30 For {there was} little that was yours before me, and it has prospered to abundance, and Yahweh has blessed you at my feet. But now, when will I also do something for my household?” 31 Then he said, “What should I give to you?” And Jacob said, “Do not give anything to me. If you will do this thing for me, I will continue tending your flock{s} watching over {them}: 32 I will pass through all your flock{s} today to remove from there every speckled and spotted lamb and every dark-colored lamb among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled {young} among the goats. And that will be my wages. 33 So my righteousness will testify for me in future days when you go over my wages in front of you: any that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and dark-colored among the sheep, it was stolen {if it is} with me.” 34 And Laban said, “Behold, let it be according to your word.” 35 Then on that day he removed the male goats that were streaked and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, any that {had} white on it, and all the dark-colored {ones} among the lambs. Then he gave {them} into the hand of his sons, 36 and he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob. And Jacob was tending the rest of Laban’s flock{s}. 37 Then Jacob took for himself fresh-cut branches of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white stripes in them, exposing the white that {was} inside the branches. 38 Then he put the branches that he had peeled in the troughs, in the water troughs where the flocks came to drink, in front of the flocks. And they were in heat when they came to drink, 39 and the flocks would mate by the branches, and the flocks would bear streaked, speckled and spotted {young}. 40 Then Jacob set apart the lambs, and he made the faces of the flock{s} look at the streaked and all the dark-colored {animals} in the flock{s} of Laban. And he put flocks for himself by themselves, and he did not put them with the flock{s} of Laban. 41 So it happened whenever the strong animals were in heat, then Jacob put the branches in the troughs before the eyes of the flocks so that they would mate by the branches. 42 But when the animals were weak, he did not put {them} {in}. So it was the weak {ones} {went} to Laban, and the strong {ones} to Jacob, 43 so that the man prospered very greatly, and he owned large flock{s}, and maidservants and menservants, and camels and donkeys. Chapter 31 Jacob And His Family Flee From Laban 31:1-21 1 Then he heard the words of the sons of Laban {who} were saying, “Jacob has taken everything that {belonged} to our father, and from what {belonged} to our father he has gained all this wealth!” 2 And Jacob saw the face of Laban and behold, he was not with him as yesterday and three days ago. 3 Then Yahweh said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.” 4 Then Jacob sent for Rachel and Leah and called them to the field to his flock{s}. 5 Then he said to them, “I have seen the face of your father that he is not toward me as yesterday and three days ago, but the God of my father has been with me. 6 And you know that with all my might I have served your father, 7 but your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. However God has not allowed him to harm me. 8 If he said like this: ‘The speckled {animals} will be your wages,’ then all the flock{s} bore speckled {young}. But if he said like this: ‘The streaked {ones} will be your wages,’ then all the flock{s} bore streaked {young}. 9 So God took away the livestock of your father and gave {them} to me. 10 “And it happened in the season the flock{s} were in heat, and I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream that behold, the he-goats that were mounting the flock{s} {were} streaked, speckled and spotted. 11 Then an angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob!’ and I said, ‘Behold me.’ 12 Then he said, ‘Please lift up your eyes and see all the he-goats that are mounting the flock{s} {are} streaked, speckled and spotted, because I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. 13 I {am} the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you vowed a vow to me. Now get up, go out from this land and return to the land of your birth.’ ” 14 Then Rachel replied, and Leah, and they said to him, “Is there still for us a portion or inheritance in the house of our father? 15 Are we not regarded by him {as} foreigners? For he sold us, and he has indeed completely eaten up our silver. 16 For all the wealth that God took from our father {belongs} to us and to our children. So now, do all that God has said to you.” 17 So Jacob got up and put his sons and his wives on the camels, 18 and he drove all his livestock and all his property that he had acquired, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Paddan Aram, to go to Isaac his father, to the land of Canaan. 19 Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, so Rachel stole the idols that {belonged} to her father, 20 and Jacob stole the heart of Laban the Aramean by not informing him that he was fleeing. 21 And he fled and all that {belonged} to him, and he got up and crossed the River and set his face {toward} the mountain{s} of Gilead. Laban Pursues Jacob And His Family 31:22-42 22 Then on the third day it was told to Laban that Jacob had fled. 23 So he took his relatives with him and pursued after him a seven-day journey and overtook him in the mountain{s} of Gilead. 24 But that night God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream and said to him, “Watch yourself that you do not speak with Jacob either good or bad.” 25 And Laban overtook Jacob, and Jacob had pitched his tent{s} in the mountain{s}, so Laban with his relatives pitched {theirs} in the mountain{s} of Gilead. 26 Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? And you have stolen my heart and carried away my daughters like captives of the sword! 27 For what {reason} did you secretly flee and deceive me, and not tell me, so that I could have sent you with joy and with songs, with tambourine{s} and with lyre{s}? 28 And you did not let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters! Now you have acted foolishly by doing {that}! 29 It is in the power of my hand to do harm to you, but last night the God of your fathers said to me, saying, ‘Keep yourself from speaking with Jacob either good or bad.’ 30 So now, you have surely gone because you greatly long for the house of your father. For what {reason} did you steal my gods?” 31 Then Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was afraid, because I said that perhaps you would seize your daughters from me. 32 Whomever you find your gods with will not live! In front of our relatives, observe for yourself what {is} with me, and take {what belongs} to you.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them. 33 Then Laban went into the tent of Jacob and into the tent of Leah and into the tent of the two slave women, but he did not find {anything}. Then he came out of Leah’s tent and went into Rachel’s tent. 34 Now Rachel had taken the idols and put them inside the camel saddle and was sitting on them. And Laban felt throughout the entire tent, but did not find {them}. 35 And she said to her father, “Do not let it burn in the eyes of my lord that I am not able to stand up in your presence, because the way of women {is} on me.” So he searched, but he did not find the idols. 36 Then it burned within Jacob and he disputed with Laban, and Jacob responded and said to Laban, “What {is} my crime? What {is} my sin, that you have hotly pursued after me? 37 Since you have felt through all my things, what have you found from any of the things of your house? Put {it} here in front of my relatives and your relatives, and let them judge between the two of us! 38 “These twenty years I {have been} with you! Your ewes and your she-goats did not miscarry, and I have not eaten rams from your flocks. 39 I did not bring torn {animals} to you; I bore the loss of it myself. You required it from my hand, {those} stolen by day and {those} stolen by night. 40 There I was: In the day, heat devoured me, and in the night the frost, so that my sleep fled from my eyes. 41 That {is how it was} for me twenty years in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock{s}, and you changed my wages ten times. 42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and the toil of my palms, and he judged {you} last night.” Jacob And Laban Cut A Covenant 31:43-55 43 And Laban responded and said to Jacob, “The daughters {are} my daughters, and the children {are} my grandchildren, and the flock{s} {are} my flock{s}. And everything that you see {belongs} to me! But what can I do today about these daughters of mine or about their children whom they have born? 44 So now, come, let us cut a covenant, I and you, and let it be a witness between me and you.” 45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up {as} a pillar. 46 Then Jacob said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” So they took stones and made a heap. Then they ate there by the heap. 47 And Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed. 48 And Laban said, “This heap {is} a witness between me and you today.” For that {reason} he called its name Galeed. 49 {It is} also Mizpah, because he said, “May Yahweh watch between me and you when we are hidden one from the other. 50 If you afflict my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, {even though} there is not someone with us, behold, God {is} a witness between me and you.” 51 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Behold this heap, and behold the pillar which I set up between me and you. 52 This heap {is} a witness and the pillar {is} a witness that I will not pass by this heap to you, and that you will not pass by this heap and this pillar to me, to do harm. 53 May the God of Abraham and the gods of Nahor, the gods of their father, judge between us!” Then Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac, 54 and Jacob sacrificed a sacrifice on the mountain. Then he called his relatives to eat bread. Then they ate bread and spent the night on the mountain. 55 Then in the morning Laban got up early and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters, and he blessed them. Then Laban left and returned to his place. Chapter 32 Jacob Prepares To Meet Esau 32:1-21 1 Then Jacob went on his way, and angels of God met him. 2 And when he saw them, Jacob said, “This {is} God’s camp!” So he called the name of that place Mahanaim. 3 Then Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother to the land of Seir, the country of Edom. 4 And he commanded them, saying, “This is what you will say to my lord, to Esau: ‘This is what your servant Jacob says, “I have been sojourning with Laban and have remained there until now. 5 And I have cattle and donkey{s}, flock{s}, and menservant{s} and maidservant{s}. And I have sent {messengers} to speak with my lord, so that I will find favor in your eyes.” ’ ” 6 Then the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We went to your brother, to Esau, and also he is coming to meet you, and 400 men with him!” 7 And Jacob was exceedingly afraid and it was distressing for him, so he divided the people who {were} with him and the flock{s} and the herd{s} and the camels into two camps. 8 And he said, “If Esau comes to one camp and strikes them, then the camp that is left will escape.” 9 Then Jacob said, “God of my grandfather Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, Yahweh, who said to me, ‘Return to your land and to your relatives and I will cause things to prosper with you.’ 10 I am unworthy of all the kindnesses and of all the faithfulness that you have shown your servant. For I crossed this Jordan with my staff, but now I have become two camps. 11 Please save me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, because I am afraid of him that he will come and strike me {and} the mothers with the children! 12 But you said, ‘I will surely cause things to prosper with you, and I will make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted from {their} abundance.’ ” 13 Then he stayed there for that night, and he took gifts from what was in his hand for Esau his brother: 14 two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty nursing camels and their young, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16 And he gave them into the hand{s} of his servants, each herd by itself. And he said to his servants, “Go before me, and put space between each herd.” 17 And he commanded the first {one}, saying, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, saying, ‘Whom do you belong to, and where are you going? And whom do these {animals} belong to {that are} before you?’ 18 then you say, ‘{They belong} to your servant, to Jacob. They {are} a gift sent to my lord, to Esau. And behold, he {is} even behind us.’ ” 19 Then he also commanded the second {servant}, also the third, also all who followed behind the herds, saying, “Say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. 20 And also say, ‘Behold, your servant Jacob {is} behind us.’ ” For he said, “I will cover his face with the gift that is going before me, and after that, when I see his face, perhaps he will receive my face.” 21 Then the gift went before him, and he himself stayed for that night in the camp. Jacob Wrestles With God, Who Names Him Israel 32:22-32 22 Then during that night he got up and took his two wives and his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed over the ford of the Jabbok. 23 So he took them and had them cross over the stream, then he sent what {belonged} to him across. 24 Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until the dawn came up. 25 And he saw that he was not prevailing over him, so he touched {him} on the socket of his hip so that the socket of Jacob’s hip was dislocated as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, “Release me, because the dawn has come up!” But he said, “I will not release you unless you bless me!” 27 So he said to him, “What {is} your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28 Then he said, “Your name will not be called Jacob any more, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men, and you have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked and said, “Please tell {me} your name.” But he said, “Why {is} this you are asking for my name?” Then he blessed him there. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, because {he said}, “I saw God face-to-face, but my life was preserved!” 31 And the sun rose on him as he passed Penuel, and he was limping because of his hip. 32 For that {reason} to this day the sons of Israel do not eat the muscle of the tendon that {is} on the socket of the hip, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip on the muscle of the tendon. Chapter 33 Jacob Reconciles With Esau And Settles In Shechem 33:1-20 1 Then Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and with him 400 men. Then he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two maidservants. 2 And he put the maidservants and their children first, and Leah and her children after them, and Rachel and Joseph after them. 3 Then he himself went before them, and he bowed to the ground seven times as he came near to his brother. 4 But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and he fell on his neck and kissed him, and they cried. 5 Then he lifted his eyes and saw the women and the children, and he said, “Who {are} these with you?” And he said, “The children whom God has graciously given to your servant.” 6 Then the maidservants came near, they and their children, and they bowed down. 7 Then Leah also came near, and her children, and they bowed down. Then after {that}, Joseph came near, and Rachel, and they bowed down. 8 Then he said, “What to you {are} all these groups that I met?” And he said, “To find favor in the eyes of my lord.” 9 Then Esau said, “I have plenty, my brother. Let what {belongs} to you be yours.” 10 But Jacob said, “No, please. If, please, I have found favor in your eyes, then take my gift from my hand. For indeed I have seen your face, {which is} like seeing the face of God, and you have received me. 11 Please take my blessing that was brought to you, because God has been gracious to me, and because I have everything.” And he urged him, so he took {it}. 12 Then he said, “Let’s travel and go, and I will go in front of you.” 13 But he said to him, “My lord knows that the children {are} tender and the flock{s} and the herd{s} {that} are nursing {are} with me. And if they drive them one day, then all the flock{s} will die. 14 Please let my lord go on before his servant, and I will lead them on at my gentle pace, at the pace of the livestock that {are} ahead of me and at the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.” 15 And Esau said, “Please let me leave with you some of the people who {are} with me.” But he said, “Why {do} that? Let me find favor in the eyes of my lord.” 16 So on that day Esau went on his way back to Seir. 17 And Jacob traveled to Succoth, and he built a house for himself, and for his livestock he made shelters. For that {reason} he called the name of the place Succoth. 18 Then Jacob came {in} peace {to} the city of Shechem, which {was} in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan Aram, and he camped before the city. 19 And he bought the portion of the field where he pitched his tent{s} from the hand{s} of the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred kesitahs. 20 And there he set up an altar, and he called it El Elohe Israel. Chapter 34 Shechem Rapes Dinah, And Jacob's Sons Take Revenge 34:1-31 1 Then Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she had born for Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. 2 And Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of the land, saw her, and he took her and lay with her and violated her. 3 And his soul was attached to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and spoke to the heart of the young woman. 4 Then Shechem said to Hamor his father, saying, “Get this girl for me as a wife.” 5 Then Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter, and his sons were with his livestock in the fields, so Jacob kept quiet until they came. 6 And Hamor the father of Shechem came out to Jacob to talk with him. 7 Then the sons of Jacob came from the fields. When they heard, then the men were grieved and it burned within them greatly, because he had done something disgraceful to Israel by lying with the daughter of Jacob, and such a thing should not have been done! 8 But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “Shechem my son, his soul is attached to your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. 9 And intermarry with us: give your daughters to us and take our daughters for yourselves 10 and settle with us. And the land is before you. Settle and trade in it, and acquire {property} in it.” 11 Then Shechem said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and what you say to me I will give. 12 Increase greatly the dowry and gift for me, and I will give according to what you say to me. Then give the young woman to me as a wife.” 13 Then the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father with deceit and they spoke, because he had defiled Dinah their sister. 14 And they said to them, “We are not able to do this thing, to give our sister to a man who has a foreskin, because that {is} a disgrace to us! 15 Only on this {condition} will we consent with you: if you become like us by every male among you being circumcised. 16 Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters for us. And we will settle with you, and we will become one people. 17 But if you will not listen to us to be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and go.” 18 And their words were good in the eyes of Hamor and in the eyes of Shechem, Hamor’s son. 19 So the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he was delighted with the daughter of Jacob and he was honored more than all of the house of his father. 20 So Hamor and Shechem his son went to the gate of their city, and they spoke to the men of their city, saying, 21 “These men {are} peaceful with us, so let them settle in the land and let them trade in it. And behold, the land {is} broad of hands before them. We can take their daughters for ourselves as wives, and we can give our daughters to them. 22 Only on this {condition} will the men consent with us to settle with us, to become one people: when every male among us is circumcised just as they are circumcised. 23 Their livestock and their property and all their animals, will they not {belong} to us? Only let us consent with them, and they will settle with us!” 24 And all who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and to Shechem his son, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city. 25 Then it happened on the third day, when they were in pain, then two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, brothers of Dinah, each took his sword and went upon the city boldly and killed every male. 26 And they killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the mouth of the sword, and they took Dinah from the house of Shechem and left. 27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. 28 They took their flock{s} and their herd{s} and their donkeys, and what {was} in the city and what {was} in the field{s}. 29 And all their wealth and all their little ones and their women they took captive, and they also plundered everything that {was} in the houses. 30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and to Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me stink among {those} who live in the land, among the Canaanites and among the Perizzites! And I am few of number, and if they gather together against me and attack me, then I will be destroyed, I and my house!” 31 But they said, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?” Chapter 35 God Blesses Jacob At Bethel 35:1-15 1 Then God said to Jacob, “Get up, go up to Bethel and settle there, and make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you were fleeing from the presence of Esau your brother.” 2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who {were} with him, “Remove the foreign gods that {are} among you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. 3 Then let us get up and go up to Bethel, and there I will make an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress. And he has been with me in the way that I have gone.” 4 So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that {were} in their hand and the rings that {were} in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that {was} by Shechem. 5 Then they set out, and the dread of God was on the cities that {were} around them, so that they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. 6 Then Jacob came to Luz, which {is} Bethel, which {is} in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who {were} with him. 7 And there he built an altar, and he called the place El Bethel, because there God had revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from the presence of his brother. 8 Then Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, died and was buried below Bethel, under the oak tree. So he called its name Allon Bacuth. 9 Then God appeared to Jacob again when he had come from Paddan Aram, and he blessed him, 10 and God said to him, “Your name {is} Jacob, your name will not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel will be your name!” So he called his name Israel. 11 Then God said to him, “I {am} El Shaddai. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a community of nations will be from you, and kings will come from your loins. 12 And the land that I gave to Abraham and to Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your descendants after you.” 13 Then God went up from him at the place where he spoke with him. 14 Then Jacob set up a pillar at the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it. 15 And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him Bethel. Rachel Dies Giving Birth To Benjamin 35:16-20 16 Then they set out from Bethel, and there was still a distance of land to come to Ephrath, then Rachel started giving birth but was having great difficulty while she was giving birth. 17 And it happened when she was in hard labor, then the midwife said to her, “Do not be afraid, because this {is} also a son for you!” 18 Then it happened as her soul was leaving {her}—for she was dying, then she called his name Ben-oni, but his father called him Benjamin. 19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath, which {is} Bethlehem. 20 And Jacob set up a pillar over her grave; that {is} the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day. Jacob's Twelve Sons 35:21-26 21 Then Israel set out and pitched his tents beyond Migdal Eder. 22 And it happened while Israel was living in that land, then Reuben went and slept with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. 23 The sons of Leah {were} Reuben the firstborn of Jacob, then Simeon and Levi and Judah and Issachar and Zebulun. 24 The sons of Rachel {were} Joseph and Benjamin. 25 and the sons of Bilhah, the maidservant of Rachel, {were} Dan and Naphtali. 26 And the sons of Zilpah, the maidservant of Leah, {were} Gad and Asher. Those {are} the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan Aram. Isaac's Death 35:27-29 27 Then Jacob came to Isaac his father in Mamre, Kiriath Arba, which {is} Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. 28 And the days of Isaac were 180 years. 29 Then Isaac exhaled and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. And Esau and Jacob, his sons, buried him. Chapter 36 Esau's Descendants 36:1-19 1 Chronicles 1:34-54 1 And these {are} the generations of Esau, who {is} Edom. 2 Esau had taken his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah, the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah {and} the {grand}daughter of Zibeon the Hivite, 3 and Basemath, the daughter of Ishmael {and} the sister of Nebaioth. 4 And Adah bore Eliphaz for Esau, and Basemath bore Reuel, 5 and Oholibamah bore Jeush and Jalam and Korah. Those {were} the sons of Esau who were born for him in the land of Canaan. 6 Then Esau took his wives and his sons and his daughters and all the people of his house, and his livestock and all his animal{s} and all his possession{s} that he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and he went to a land from the presence of Jacob his brother, 7 because their possession{s} were {too} great for them to remain together, and the land of their sojournings was not able to support them because of their livestock. 8 So Esau settled in the mountains of Seir. Esau, who {is} Edom. 9 Now these {are} the generations of Esau, the father of the Edomites, in the mountains of Seir. 10 These are the names of the sons of Esau: Eliphaz, the son of Esau’s wife Adah, and Reuel, the son of Esau’s wife Basemath. 11 And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho and Gatam and Kenaz. 12 And Timna was a concubine for Esau’s son Eliphaz, and she bore Amalek for Eliphaz. Those {were} the grandsons of Adah, the wife of Esau. 13 And these {were} the sons of Reuel: Nahath and Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. Those were the grandsons of Basemath, the wife of Esau. 14 And these were the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah {and} the {grand}daughter of Zibeon: and she bore Jeush and Jalam and Korah for Esau. 15 These {were} the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn of Esau, {were} Chief Teman, Chief Omar, Chief Zepho, Chief Kenaz, 16 Chief Korah, Chief Gatam, Chief Amalek. Those {were} the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom. Those {were} the grandsons of Adah. 17 And these {were} the sons of Reuel, the son of Esau: Chief Nahath, Chief Zerah, Chief Shammah, Chief Mizzah. Those {were} the chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom. Those {were} the grandsons of Basemath, the wife of Esau. 18 And these {were} the sons of Oholibamah, the wife of Esau: Chief Jeush, Chief Jalam, Chief Korah. Those {were} the chiefs of Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah. 19 Those {were} the sons of Esau, and those {were} their chiefs. He {is} Edom. Seir's Descendants 36:20-30 20 These {were} the sons of Seir the Horite who were inhabiting the land: Lotan and Shobal and Zibeon and Anah 21 and Dishon and Ezer and Dishan. Those {were} the chiefs of the Horites, the sons of Seir, in the land of Edom. 22 And the sons of Lotan were Hori and Hemam, and the sister of Lotan {was} Timna. 23 And these {were} the sons of Shobal: Alvan and Manahath and Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. 24 And these {were} the sons of Zibeon: both Aiah and Anah. He {is} Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness when he was pasturing the donkeys for Zibeon his father. 25 And these {were} the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah. 26 And these {were} the sons of Dishon: Hemdan and Eshban and Ithran and Keran. 27 These {were} the sons of Ezer: Bilhan and Zaavan and Akan. 28 These {were} the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran. 29 These {were} the chiefs of the Horites: Chief Lotan, Chief Shobal, Chief Zibeon, Chief Anah, 30 Chief Dishon, Chief Ezer, Chief Dishan. Those {were} the chiefs of the Horites, according to their clans in the land of Seir. The Kings And Chiefs Of Edom 36:31-43 1 Chronicles 1:43-54 31 And these {were} the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before a king reigned for the sons of Israel. 32 And Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom, and the name of his city {was} Dinhabah. 33 Then Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah from Bozrah reigned in his place. 34 Then Jobab died, and Husham from the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. 35 Then Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad reigned in his place, who struck the Midianites in the field of Moab. And the name of his city {was} Avith. 36 Then Hadad died, and Samlah from Masrekah reigned in his place. 37 Then Samlah died, and Shaul from Rehoboth {on} the river reigned in his place. 38 Then Shaul died, and Baal-Hanan the son of Acbor reigned in his place. 39 Then Baal-Hanan the son of Acbor died, and Hadar reigned in his place, and the name of his city {was} Pau. And the name of his wife {was} Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred {and} the granddaughter of Me-Zahab. 40 And these {are} the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their clans, according to their places, by their names: Chief Timna, Chief Alvan, Chief Jetheth, 41 Chief Oholibamah, Chief Elah, Chief Pinon, 42 Chief Kenaz, Chief Teman, Chief Mibzar, 43 Chief Magdiel, Chief Iram. Those {were} the chiefs of Edom, according to their dwellings in the land of their possession. That {was} Esau, the father of the Edomites. Chapter 37 Joseph's Dreams Anger His Brothers 37:1–11 1 And Jacob lived in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan. 2 These {are} the generations of Jacob: Joseph, a son of seventeen years, was shepherding the flock with his brothers, and he {was} an assistant with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and Joseph brought a bad report about them to their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all of his sons because he {was} a son of his old age. So he made a multicolored tunic for him. 4 And his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all of his brothers, so they hated him and were not able to speak to him peaceably. 5 Then Joseph dreamed a dream and told it to his brothers, and they continued to hate him even more. 6 And he said to them, “Please hear this dream that I dreamed: 7 And behold, we were binding sheaves in the middle of a field, and behold, my sheaf got up and also stood upright, and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 Then his brothers said to him, “Will you really reign over us? Will you really rule over us?” And they continued to hate him even more because of his dreams and because of his words. 9 Then he dreamed yet another dream, and he related it to his brothers. And he said, “Behold, I dreamed another dream, and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 And he related it to his father and to his brothers, but his father rebuked him and said to him, “What {is} this dream that you dreamed? Will your mother and I and your brothers really come to bow down to the ground to you?” 11 And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter {in mind}. Joseph's Brothers Sell Him As A Slave 37:12-36 12 Then his brothers went to shepherd the flock{s} of their father near Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, “Aren’t your brothers shepherding near Shechem? Come and I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “Behold me.” 14 Then he said to him, “Please go and see the well-being of your brothers and the well-being of the flock{s}, and bring me word.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem. 15 And a man found him, and behold, he was wandering around in the fields. So the man asked him, saying, “What are you looking for?” 16 And he said, “I am looking for my brothers. Please tell me where they are shepherding.” 17 Then the man said, “They set out from here. For I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” Then Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan. 18 And they saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, then they conspired against him to kill him. 19 And they said each to his brother, “Behold, that master of dreams is coming! 20 So now, come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns. Then we will say an evil animal devoured him, and we will see what his dreams become!” 21 But Reuben heard, and he rescued him from their hands and said, “Let us not strike his life.” 22 And Reuben said to them, “Do not shed blood. Throw him into this cistern which {is} in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him,” in order to rescue him from their hand{s}, to return him to his father. 23 Then it happened when Joseph came to his brothers, then they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the multicolored tunic that {was} on him. 24 Then they took him and threw him into the cistern. And the cistern {was} empty; there was not water in it. 25 Then they sat down to eat bread, and they lifted their eyes and looked, and behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead. And their camels were carrying spices and balm and myrrh {that} they were going to take down to Egypt. 26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What gain {is there} if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites so that our hand{s} will not be on him. For he {is} our brother, our flesh.” And his brothers listened. 28 Then the Midianite men, traders, passed by, and they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the cistern and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty {shekels of} silver. Then they brought Joseph to Egypt. 29 Then Reuben returned to the cistern, but behold, Joseph was not in the cistern, so he tore his clothes. 30 Then he returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is not {there}! And I, where am I going?” 31 Then they took Joseph’s tunic, and slaughtered a kid of the goats and dipped the tunic in the blood. 32 Then they sent the multicolored tunic and had it brought to their father and said, “We found this. Please examine whether it {is} your son’s tunic or not.” 33 And he examined it and said, “{It is} my son’s tunic! An evil animal has devoured him! Surely Joseph was torn to pieces!” 34 Then Jacob tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his loins, and he mourned for his son many days. 35 And all his sons and all his daughters got up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “For I will go down to my son in Sheol mourning.” So his father wept for him. 36 And the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh, the chief of the guards. Chapter 38 Judah And Tamar 38:1-30 1 And it happened at that time that Judah went down from with his brothers and settled near an Adullamite man, and his name {was} Hirah. 2 And there Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man, and his name {was} Shua, and he took her. Then he went to her, 3 and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er. 4 Then she conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan. 5 Then she continued further and bore a son, and she called his name Shelah. And he was in Kezib when she bore him. 6 Then Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name {was} Tamar. 7 But Er, the firstborn of Judah, was evil in the eyes of Yahweh, so Yahweh killed him. 8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Go to the wife of your brother and perform your duty to her and produce offspring for your brother.” 9 However Onan knew that the offspring would not be his, so it happened when he went to the wife of his brother, then he spilled {it} on the ground so that he would not give offspring to his brother. 10 And what he did was evil in the eyes of Yahweh, so he killed him also. 11 Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in the house of your father until Shelah my son grows up.” For he said, “So that he does not also die like his brothers!” So Tamar went and lived in the house of her father. 12 Then the days were many, and Shua's daughter, the wife of Judah, died. Then Judah was comforted, and he went up to Timnah, to {the men} who were shearing his sheep, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. 13 And it was told to Tamar, saying, “Behold, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.” 14 So she took off her widow’s clothes from on her and covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself. Then she sat at the entrance of Enaim, which {is} on the road to Timnah, because she saw that Shelah had grown up, but she had not been given to him as a wife. 15 Then Judah saw her, and he thought she was a prostitute because she had covered her face. 16 So he turned to her beside the road and said, “Please come, let me come to you,” because he did not know that she {was} his daughter-in-law. And she said, “What will you give to me if you will come to me?” 17 And he said, “I will send a kid goat from the flock.” And she said, “If you will give a pledge until you send {it}.” 18 Then he said, “What {is} the pledge that I should give to you?” And she said, “Your signet and your cord and your staff that {is} in your hand.” So he gave {them} to her and went to her, and she conceived by him. 19 Then she got up and left, and she took off her veil from on her and put on her widow’s clothes. 20 Then Judah sent the kid goat by the hand of his friend the Adullamite to get back the pledge from the hand of the woman, but he did not find her. 21 So he asked the men of her place, saying, “Where {is} the temple prostitute who {was} at Enaim beside the road?” But they said, “There has not been a temple prostitute in this place.” 22 So he returned to Judah and said, “I did not find her. And also, the men of the place said, ‘There has not been a temple prostitute in this {place}.’ ” 23 And Judah said, “Let her take {the things} for herself so that we do not become a laughingstock. Behold, I sent this kid, but you did not find her.” 24 Then it happened about three months later that it was told to Judah, saying, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has prostituted herself, and also behold, {she is} pregnant by her prostitutions!” So Judah said, “Bring her out and let her be burned!” 25 She was being brought out, then she sent {a message} to her father-in-law, saying, “By the man whom these things belong to, I {am} pregnant.” Then she said, “Please identify whose signet and cords and staff these {are}.” 26 And Judah identified {the things} and said, “She is more righteous than I {am}, because I did not give her to Shelah my son!” And he did not continue to know her more. 27 Then it happened when {it was} time for her to give birth, then behold, twins {were} inside her womb! 28 And it happened, as she was giving birth, then {one} put out a hand, and the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied {it} on his hand, saying, “This {one} came out first.” 29 But it happened, when he drew his hand back in, then behold, his brother came out. Then she said, “How have you breached for yourself a breach?” So he called his name Perez. 30 And afterwards, his brother, who {had} the scarlet thread on his hand, came out, and he called his name Zerah. Chapter 39 Joseph And Potiphar's Wife 39:1-23 1 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an Egyptian man, an official of Pharaoh, the chief of the guards, had bought him from the hand of the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. 2 And Yahweh was with Joseph, and he was a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 And his master saw that Yahweh {was} with him and {that} Yahweh made all that he was doing successful in his hand. 4 So Joseph found favor in his eyes, and he served him. And he put him in charge over his house and gave into his hand all {that} was his. 5 And it happened from the time he put him in charge in his house and over all that was his, then Yahweh blessed the house of the Egyptian because of Joseph. So the blessing of Yahweh was on all that was his, in the house and in the fields. 6 And he left all that {belonged} to him in the hand of Joseph, and he did not think to himself {about} anything except for the bread that he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and handsome in appearance. 7 And it happened after those things, then the wife of his master lifted her eyes toward Joseph and said, “Lie with me!” 8 But he refused and said to the wife of his master, “Behold, with me {here}, my master does not think {about} what {is} in the house, and all that is his he has given into my hand. 9 He is not greater than me in this house, and he has not withheld anything from me except for you, because you {are} his wife. So how can I do this great evil, and sin against God?” 10 Then it happened even though she kept speaking to Joseph day {after} day, yet he did not listen to her to lie beside her, to be with her. 11 Then it happened on such a day that he went into the house to do his work, and there were no other men of the house there in the house. 12 So she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” But he left his garment in her hands and fled and went outside. 13 Then it happened when she saw that he had left his garment in her hands and had fled outside, 14 then she called for the men of her house and said to them, saying, “Look! He brought to us a Hebrew man to laugh at us! He came to me to lie with me, but I called out with a loud voice! 15 Then it happened when he heard that I raised my voice and called out, then he left his garment beside me and fled and went outside!” 16 Then she kept his garment beside her until his master came to his house. 17 Then she spoke to him according to those words, saying, “The Hebrew slave whom you brought to us came to me to laugh at me! 18 Then it happened when I raised my voice and called out, then he left his garment beside me and fled outside!” 19 And it happened when his master heard the words of his wife that she spoke to him, saying, “Such {are} the things your slave did to me!” then his anger burned. 20 Then Joseph’s master took him and put him in the round-house, the place where the prisoners of the king were bound. So he was there in the round-house, 21 but Yahweh was with Joseph and showed kindness to him and gave him favor in the eyes of the chief of the round-house. 22 And the chief of the round-house gave into the hand of Joseph all the prisoners who {were} in the round-house, and all that they were doing there, he was {the one} doing {it}. 23 The chief of the round-house did not look {at} anything in his hand, because Yahweh was with him and Yahweh made what he was doing successful. Chapter 40 The Chief Cupbearer's And Chief Baker's Dreams 40:1-23 1 Then it happened after those things {that} the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and the baker sinned against their lord, against the king of Egypt. 2 And Pharaoh broke out in anger against his two officials, against the chief of the cupbearers and against the chief of the bakers, 3 and he put them in custody in the house of the chief of the guards, in the round-house, the place where Joseph was bound. 4 And the chief of the guards assigned Joseph to them, so he attended them, and they were in custody {for} days. 5 Then the two of them dreamed a dream. Each {had} his {own} dream in the same night, each {man’s} dream had its own interpretation. {They were} the cupbearer and the baker who {belonged} to the king of Egypt, who were bound in the round-house. 6 And Joseph came to them in the morning and saw them, and behold, they were upset. 7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who {were} with him in custody {in} the house of his master, saying, “Why {are} your faces sad today?” 8 And they said to him, “We dreamed a dream, but {there is} no one to interpret it.” Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations {belong} to God? Please tell {them} to me.” 9 Then the chief of the cupbearers told his dream to Joseph and said to him, “And behold, in my dream a grapevine {was} before me, 10 and on the grapevine {were} three branches. Then while it was budding, its blossoms came out, {and} its clusters ripened {into} grapes. 11 Then the cup of Pharaoh {was} in my hand and I took the grapes and squeezed them into the cup of Pharaoh. Then I put the cup into the hand of Pharaoh.” 12 Then Joseph said to him, “This {is} its interpretation: The three branches {are} three days. 13 Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand, according to the former custom when you were his cupbearer. 14 But if you remember me with you, when it goes well for you, then please show kindness to me and mention me to Pharaoh and get me out from this house. 15 For indeed I was stolen from the land of the Hebrews. And also here I did not do anything that they should put me in the pit.” 16 And the chief of the bakers saw that he interpreted favorably, so he said to Joseph, “I also {was} in my dream, and behold, {there were} three baskets of white bread on my head. 17 And in the top basket {were} all {kinds} of food for Pharaoh, baker’s goods, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.” 18 Then Joseph responded and said, “This {is} its interpretation: The three baskets {are} three days. 19 Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head from on you and hang you on a tree, and the birds will eat your flesh from on you.” 20 Then it happened on the third day, the day Pharaoh was born, that he made a feast for all his servants. And he lifted up the head of the chief of the cupbearers and the head of the chief of the bakers in the presence of his servants. 21 Then he restored the chief of the cupbearers to his position, and he put the cup into the hand of Pharaoh, 22 but the chief of the bakers he hanged, just as Joseph had interpreted for them. 23 However the chief of the cupbearers did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. Chapter 41 Pharaoh's Two Dreams 41:1-36 1 Then it happened {at} the end of two years of days, that Pharaoh was dreaming and behold, he was standing beside the River. 2 Then behold, from the River came up seven cows, fine-looking and fat-fleshed, and they grazed among the reeds. 3 Then behold, seven other cows came up after them from the River, ugly-looking and thin-fleshed, and they stood beside the {other} cows on the bank of the River. 4 Then the ugly-looking and thin-fleshed cows ate the seven fine-looking and fat cows, and Pharaoh woke up. 5 Then he fell asleep and dreamed a second {time}. And behold, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, fat and good. 6 Then behold, seven heads of grain, thin and scorched {by} the east wind, sprouted after them. 7 Then the thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven fat and full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up, and behold, {it was} a dream. 8 Then it happened in the morning that his spirit was agitated, so he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Then Pharaoh told his dreams to them, but no one could interpret them for Pharaoh. 9 Then the chief of the cupbearers spoke with Pharaoh, saying, “Today I remember my offenses. 10 Pharaoh broke out in anger against his servants, and he put me in custody {in} the house of the chief of the guards, me and the chief of the bakers. 11 And we dreamed a dream in the same night, he and I; each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his dream. 12 Now there with us {was} a young Hebrew man, a servant for the chief of the guards. And we told {our dreams} to him, and he interpreted our dreams for us; he interpreted {for} each according to his dream. 13 And it happened, just as he interpreted for us, so it happened: me he restored to my position, and him he hanged.” 14 Then Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph. So they quickly brought him from the pit. Then he shaved and changed his clothes and came to Pharaoh. 15 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I dreamed a dream, but no one could interpret it. But I heard about you, saying {that} you hear a dream {and are able} to interpret it.” 16 And Joseph responded to Pharaoh, saying, “{It is} not in me; God will answer with Pharaoh’s peace.” 17 Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, “In my dream, behold, I was standing on the bank of the River. 18 Then behold, from the River came up seven cows, fat-fleshed and of fine form, and they grazed among the reeds. 19 Then behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly of form and thin-fleshed. I have not seen {cows} as ugly as those in all the land of Egypt! 20 Then the thin and ugly cows ate the first seven fat cows. 21 So they went into their bellies, but it could not be known that they had gone into their bellies, and their appearance {was} just as ugly as at the beginning. Then I woke up. 22 “Then I saw in my dream, and behold, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, full and good. 23 Then behold, seven heads of grain, withered, thin {and} scorched {by} the east wind sprouted after them. 24 Then the thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. And I told {this} to the magicians, but no one {could} explain {it} to me.” 25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s dreams {are} one. What God is doing he has shown to Pharaoh. 26 The seven good cows {are} seven years, and the seven good heads of grain {are} seven years. The dreams {are} one. 27 And the seven thin and ugly cows that came up after them {are} seven years, and {so are} the seven thin heads of grain scorched by the east wind. There will be seven years of famine. 28 That {is} the word that I have spoken to Pharaoh: what God is doing he has shown to Pharaoh. 29 Behold, seven years are coming {of} great abundance in all the land of Egypt. 30 But seven years of famine will rise up after them, so that all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will consume the land. 31 And the abundance in the land will not be remembered because of that famine after it, because it {will be} very heavy. 32 And as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, {it is} because the matter has been established by God, and God will soon do it. 33 “And now let Pharaoh seek a man {who is} discerning and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. 34 Let Pharaoh do {this}: Let him set supervisors over the land, and let him take a fifth of the land of Egypt in the seven years of abundance. 35 And they should gather all the food of the good years that are coming. And under Pharaoh’s hand, they should store {that} grain {for} food in the cities and guard {it}. 36 And the food should be in reserve for the land for the seven years of famine that will come on the land of Egypt, so that the land will not be cut off by the famine.” Joseph Is Appointed As The Governor Of Egypt And Stores Up Grain 41:37-57 37 And the word was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants. 38 Then Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this who {has} the Spirit of God in him?” 39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown all this to you, {there is} no one {as} discerning and wise as you. 40 You will be over my house, and all my people will kiss on your mouth. Only I {on} the throne will be greater than you.” 41 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have put you over all the land of Egypt.” 42 Then Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand. And he dressed him {in} garments of fine linen and put a gold chain on his neck. 43 Then he had him ride in the second chariot that {belonged} to him, and they shouted before him, “Bow down!” So he put him over all the land of Egypt. 44 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I {am} Pharaoh, and without you a person will not lift his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt!” 45 Then Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-Paneah, and he gave to him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera the priest of On, as a wife. Then Joseph went out over the land of Egypt. 46 Now Joseph {was} a son of thirty years when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and passed through all the land of Egypt. 47 And in the seven years of abundance, the land produced {grain} by the handfuls. 48 So he gathered all the food of the seven years that were in the land of Egypt, and he put the food in the cities. The food of the fields that surrounded {each} city he put inside it. 49 So Joseph stored up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he stopped measuring {it} because it was without number. 50 And before the years of the famine came, two sons were born to Joseph, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On, bore for him. 51 And Joseph called the name of the firstborn {son} Manasseh, because {he said}, “God has made me forget all my toil and all of my father’s house.” 52 And the name of the second {son} he called Ephraim, because {he said}, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.” 53 Then the seven years of abundance that was in the land of Egypt ended, 54 and the seven years of famine started to come, just as Joseph had said. And there was famine in all the lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. 55 Then all the land of Egypt became famished, and the people cried to Pharaoh for the bread. So Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. Whatever he says to you, do {it}.” 56 And the famine was over all the face of the land, so Joseph opened all {the buildings} that {had grain} in them and sold {grain} to the Egyptians. And the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. 57 Then all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy {grain}, because the famine was severe in all the earth. Chapter 42 Joseph's Brothers Come To Egypt To Buy Grain 42:1-38 1 Then Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, so Jacob said to his sons, “Why are you looking at each other?” 2 And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy {some} for us from there so that we will live and not die.” 3 Then ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, the brother of Joseph, with his brothers, because he said, “So that harm does not meet him!” 5 And the sons of Israel came among {those} who came to buy {grain}, because the famine was in the land of Canaan. 6 Now Joseph {was} the governor over the land. {It was} he who was selling {grain} to all the people of the land. So the brothers of Joseph came and bowed down to him {with} {their} noses to the ground. 7 And Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he acted like a stranger to them, and he spoke with them harshly and said to them, “Where did you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.” 8 And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 9 Then Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed about them, and he said to them, “You {are} spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land!” 10 But they said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. 11 All of us {are} sons of one man. We {are} honest. Your servants are not spies.” 12 But he said to them, “No, indeed you have come to see the nakedness of the land!” 13 But they said, “Your servants {are} twelve brothers. We {are} sons of one man in the land of Canaan. And behold, the youngest {is} with our father today, and the one is not {alive}.” 14 Then Joseph said to them, “It {is} just as I told you, saying, ‘You {are} spies!’ 15 In this {way} you will be tested: {By} the life of Pharaoh, you will not leave from this {place} unless your youngest brother comes here. 16 Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, and you will be bound. Then your words will be tested {as to whether} the truth {is} in you. And if not, {by} the life of Pharaoh surely you {are} spies!” 17 Then he put them together in custody {for} three days. 18 Then Joseph said to them on the third day, “Do this and live, {because} I fear God: 19 If you {are} honest, let one of your brothers be bound in your prison house, and you go take grain back {for} the famine of your households. 20 Then you bring your youngest brother to me so that your words will be verified and you will not die.” And they did so. 21 Then each {man} said to his brother, “We {are} truly guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, but we did not listen. For that {reason} this distress has come upon us.” 22 Then Reuben responded to them, saying, “Did I not tell you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the lad’? But you did not listen, so now behold, his blood is being accounted for!” 23 And they did not know that Joseph understood {them}, because the interpreter {was} between them. 24 And he turned away from them and cried. Then he turned back toward them and spoke to them. Then he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes. 25 Then Joseph ordered {his servants} and they filled their bags {with} grain. And {he ordered them} to return {each} man’s silver to his sack, and to give provisions to them for the road. And he did that for them. 26 Then they loaded their grain onto their donkeys and went from there. 27 Then one {of them} opened his sack to give fodder to his donkey at the lodging place, and he saw his silver, and behold, it {was} in the mouth of his pack! 28 So he said to his brothers, “My silver has been returned! And indeed behold, {it is} in my pack!” Then their hearts went out, and each {man} trembled to his brother, saying, “What {is} this God has done to us?” 29 Then they came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan, and they reported to him all that had happened to them, saying, 30 “The man, the lord of the land, spoke to us harshly and treated us as {if we were} spying out the land! 31 But we said to him, ‘We {are} honest. We are not spies. 32 We {are} twelve brothers, the sons of our father. The one is not {alive}, and the youngest {is} with our father today in the land of Canaan.’ 33 “Then the man, the lord of the country, said to us, ‘By this I will know that you {are} honest: Leave one of your brothers with me, and take {grain} {for} the famine of your households and go. 34 Then bring your youngest brother to me, so that I will know that you {are} not spies, that you {are} honest. {Then} I will give your brother to you, and you {can} trade {in} the land.’ ” 35 Then it happened they were emptying their sacks, and behold, each {man’s} pouch of his silver {was} inside his sack! And they and their father saw the pouches of their silver, and they were afraid. 36 Then Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me! Joseph is not {here}! And Simeon is not {here}! And you will take Benjamin! All {these} things are against me!” 37 Then Reuben said to his father, saying, “You may kill my two sons if I do not bring him to you. Put him in my hand, and I will return him to you.” 38 But he said, “My son will not go down with you, because his brother is dead and he alone is left. And {if} harm were to meet him on the road that you are going on, then you would bring my gray head down in sorrow to Sheol!” Chapter 43 Joseph's Brothers, Including Benjamin, Return To The Country Of Egypt 43:1-34 1 Now the famine {was} heavy in the land. 2 So it happened when they finished eating the grain that they had brought from Egypt, then their father said to them, “Return, buy a little food for us.” 3 But Judah said to him, saying, “The man strongly warned us, saying, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother {is} with you!’ 4 If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you. 5 But if you will not send {him}, we will not go down, because the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother {is} with you!’ ” 6 Then Israel said, “Why did you treat me badly by telling the man you have yet {another} brother?” 7 And they said, “The man asked persistently about us and our relatives, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have {another} brother?’ And we answered him according to those words. How could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” 8 Then Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the young man with me, and we will get up and go so that both we and you and our little ones will live and not die. 9 I myself will guarantee him. From my hand you can require him. If I do not bring him {back} to you and set him before you, then I will have sinned against you all the days. 10 Surely if we had not delayed, surely we could have returned here twice by now.” 11 Then Israel their father said to them, “If {it must be} so, then do this: Take {some} of the choice produce of the land in your bags, and take {it} down to the man {as} a gift: a little balm, and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds. 12 And take double the silver in your hands, because you must return in your hands the silver that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it {was} a mistake. 13 So take your brother and get up, return to the man. 14 And may God Almighty give you mercies before the man, and may he send your other brother and Benjamin with you. And I, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.” 15 Then the men took that gift, and they took double the silver in their hands, and Benjamin. Then they got up and went down {to} Egypt and stood before Joseph. 16 And Joseph saw Benjamin with them. Then he said to {the one} who {was} over his house, “Take the men to the house, and slaughter an animal and prepare {a meal}, because the men will eat with me at noon.” 17 So the man did just as Joseph told {him}, and the man brought the men to Joseph’s house. 18 And the men were afraid when they were brought {to} Joseph’s house, and they said, “Because of the matter of the silver that was returned in our sacks the first time, we have been brought. {He wants} to roll himself over us and throw himself on us and take us as slaves, and our donkeys!” 19 Then they went near to the man who {was} over Joseph’s house and spoke to him {at} the entrance of the house. 20 And they said, “Please, my lord, we surely came down {here} the first time to buy food. 21 But it happened when we came to the lodging place, we opened our sacks and behold, {each} man’s silver {was} in the mouth of his sack; our silver {was there} in its {full} weight! So we have brought it back in our hands. 22 And we have brought down other silver in our hands to buy food. We do not know who put our silver in our sacks.” 23 But he said, “Peace {be} to you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you hidden treasure in your sacks; your silver came to me.” Then he brought Simeon out to them. 24 Then the man took the men into Joseph’s house and gave {them} water, and they washed their feet, and he gave fodder to their donkeys. 25 And they prepared the gift for Joseph’s arrival at noon, because they had heard that they would eat bread there. 26 Then Joseph came to the house, and they brought to him the gift that {was} in their hands into the house, and they bowed down to him to the ground. 27 Then he asked them about {their} wellbeing, and he said, “{Are things} well {for} your aged father whom you spoke about? Is he still alive?” 28 And they said, “{Things are} well for your servant our father. He {is} still alive.” Then they bowed and bowed down. 29 Then he lifted his eyes and saw Benjamin his brother, the son of his mother, and he said, “Is this your youngest brother whom you spoke to me {about}?” Then he said, “May God be gracious to you, my son.” 30 Then Joseph hurried out, because his emotions boiled over for his brother, and he sought to cry, and he went to the inner room and cried there. 31 Then he washed his face and came out. Then he controlled himself and said, “Serve the bread.” 32 So they served to him by himself, and to them by themselves, and to the Egyptians who were eating with him by themselves, because Egyptians cannot eat bread with Hebrews because that {is} an abomination to Egyptians. 33 And they were sitting before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth, and the men were astonished each to his neighbor. 34 Then he served to them servings from before him, but Benjamin’s serving was five times larger than any of their servings. And they drank and became drunk with him. Chapter 44 Joseph's Cup 44:1-17 1 Then he commanded {the one} who {was} over his house, saying, “Fill the men’s sacks {with} food, as much as they are able to carry, and put the silver of each in the mouth of his sack. 2 And put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, and his grain’s silver.” So he did according to Joseph’s word that he spoke. 3 The morning became light, then the men were sent off, they and their donkeys. 4 They had left the city, they had not gone far, and Joseph said to {the one} who {was} over his house, “Get up, follow after the men, and {when} you overtake them, then say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good? 5 Is this not what my lord drinks from and what he indeed divines with? You have done evil {in} what you have done!’ ” 6 Then he overtook them and spoke those words to them. 7 But they said to him, “Why does my lord speak words like those? Far be it from your servants to do something like that! 8 Behold, the silver that we found in the mouth of our sacks we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. So how would we steal silver or gold from the house of your lord? 9 Whoever of your servants is found with it, then he will die, and we also will be slaves for my lord.” 10 And he said, “Indeed now, according to your words, so {be} it: Whoever is found with it will be a slave for me, but you {others} will be blameless.” 11 Then they each hurried and lowered his sack to the ground, and they each opened his sack. 12 Then he searched, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack! 13 Then they tore their clothes, then each {one} loaded up his donkey, and they returned to the city. 14 Then Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, and he was still there, so they fell to the ground before him. 15 Then Joseph said to them, “What {is} this deed that you have done? Did you not know that a man who {is} like me indeed divines?” 16 And Judah said, “What can we say to my lord? What can we speak? And how can we justify ourselves? God has found out the sin of your servants. Behold us, slaves for my lord, both we and {the one} in whose hand the cup was found.” 17 But he said, “Far be it from me to do that! The man in whose hand the cup was found, he will be a slave for me. But you, go up in peace to your father.” Judah Pleads For Benjamin’s Freedom 44:18-34 18 Then Judah came near to him and said, “Please, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s ears, and do not let your anger burn against your servant, since you {are} like Pharaoh. 19 My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Do you have a father or {another} brother?’ 20 And we said to my lord, ‘We have an aged father and the youngest son of {his} old age. But his brother is dead, so he is left by himself from his mother, and his father loves him.’ 21 “Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, and I will set my eyes on him.’ 22 And we said to my lord, ‘The young man is not able to leave his father, because {if} he leaves his father, then he will die.’ 23 But you said to your servants, ‘If your youngest brother does not come down with you, you will not see my face again.’ 24 “Then it happened when we went up to your servant my father, then we related to him the words of my lord. 25 Then our father said, ‘Return, buy a little food for us.’ 26 But we said, ‘We cannot go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go. For we are not able to see the man’s face and our youngest brother not {be} with us.’ 27 Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore two {sons} for me. 28 And the one went away from me, and I have said, “He was surely torn to pieces,” and I have not seen him until now. 29 So {if} you also take this {one} from my presence, and harm were to meet him, then you would bring my gray head down in misery to Sheol.’ 30 “And now, when I go to your servant my father and the young man is not with us, since his soul is bound to his soul, 31 then it will happen when he sees that the young man is not {there}, then he will die! And your servants will bring the gray head of your servant our father down in sorrow to Sheol! 32 For your servant guaranteed the young man to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him {back} to you, then I will have sinned against my father all the days.’ 33 “And now, please let your servant stay {as} a slave for my lord instead of the young man, and let the young man go up with his brothers. 34 For how will I go up to my father if the young man is not with me? I fear to see the misery that would find my father!” Chapter 45 Joseph Reveals His Identity To His Brothers 45:1-28 1 Then Joseph was not able to control himself before all who were standing by him, and he called out, “Have every man leave from beside me!” So no man stood with him when Joseph revealed himself to his brothers. 2 And he gave his voice in crying, and the Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard. 3 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I {am} Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence. 4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come close to me.” So they came close, and he said, “I {am} Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 And now, do not be grieved and do not let it burn in your eyes that you sold me here, because God sent me ahead of you for the preservation of life. 6 Because these two years the famine {has been} in the midst of the land, and {there are} still five years {in} which {there will} not be plowing and harvesting. 7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve a remnant for you on the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. 8 So now, {it was} not you {who} sent me here, but God. And he has made me father to Pharaoh, and lord over all his house and the ruler in all the land of Egypt. 9 “Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘This {is what} your son Joseph says, “God has made me lord over all Egypt. Come down to me, do not delay. 10 And you will live in the land of Goshen so that you will be near to me—you, and your children and your children’s children, and your flocks and your herds and all that {belongs} to you. 11 And I will provide for you there, because {there are} still five years of famine, so that you will not become impoverished, you and your household and all that {belongs} to you .’ ” 12 “And behold, your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that {it is} my mouth that is speaking to you. 13 So report to my father all my glory in Egypt and all that you have seen, then hurry and bring my father down here.” 14 Then he fell on the neck of Benjamin his brother and cried, and Benjamin cried on his neck. 15 Then he kissed all his brothers and cried over them. And after that his brothers talked with him. 16 And the report was heard {in} the house of Pharaoh, saying, “The brothers of Joseph have come.” And it was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants. 17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals and leave, go to the land of Canaan. 18 Then get your father and your households and come to me, and I will give to you the best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.’ 19 “And you are commanded, ‘Do this: Take carts with you from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and get your father and come. 20 And do not let your eyes grieve over your belongings, because the best of all the land of Egypt {belongs} to you.’ ” 21 Then the sons of Israel did so. And Joseph gave to them carts according to the mouth of Pharaoh, and he gave provisions to them for the road. 22 To all of them he gave to each changes of clothes, but to Benjamin he gave 300 {shekels} of silver and five changes of clothes. 23 And to his father he sent this: ten he-donkeys loaded with the best of Egypt, and ten she- donkeys loaded {with} grain, and bread and provisions for his father for the road. 24 Then he sent his brothers, and {as} they left, then he said to them, “Do not quarrel on the road.” 25 Then they went up from Egypt and came {to} the land of Canaan, to Jacob their father. 26 And they reported to him, saying, “Joseph {is} still alive! And in fact, he {is} the ruler over all the land of Egypt!” But his heart went numb, because he did not believe them. 27 Then they told him all the words of Joseph that he had spoken to them, and he saw the carts that Joseph had sent to carry him, then the spirit of Jacob their father revived. 28 And Israel said, “Enough! Joseph my son {is} still alive! I will go and see him before I die.” Chapter 46 Jacob And His Family Move To Egypt 46:1-27 1 Then Israel set out and all that {belonged} to him. Then he came to Beersheba, and he sacrificed sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2 And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob! Jacob!” And he said, “Behold me.” 3 And he said, “I {am} God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid of going down to Egypt, because I will make you into a great nation there. 4 I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I myself will also surely bring you up. And Joseph will put his hand over your eyes.” 5 So Jacob got up from Beersheba, and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father and their little {ones} and their wives in the carts that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 6 And they took their livestock and their possessions that they had acquired in the land of Canaan. Then they came to Egypt, Jacob and all of his offspring with him, 7 his sons and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters and his sons’ daughters. So all his offspring he brought with him to Egypt. 8 Now these {are} the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt, Jacob and his sons: the firstborn of Jacob {was} Reuben. 9 And the sons of Reuben {were} Hanoch and Pallu and Hezron and Carmi. 10 And the sons of Simeon {were} Jemuel and Jamin and Ohad and Jakin and Zohar and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. 11 And the sons of Levi {were} Gershon, Kohath and Merari. 12 And the sons of Judah {were} Er and Onan and Shelah and Perez and Zerah, but Er and Onan had died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. 13 And the sons of Issachar {were} Tola and Puvah and Job and Shimron. 14 And the sons of Zebulun {were} Sered and Elon and Jahleel. 15 Those {were} the sons of Leah, whom she bore for Jacob in Paddan Aram, and Dinah his daughter. All the souls of his sons and his daughters {were} thirty-three. 16 And the sons of Gad {were} Ziphion and Haggi, Shuni and Ezbon, Eri and Arodi and Areli. 17 And the sons of Asher {were} Imnah and Ishvah and Ishvi and Beriah and Serah their sister. And the sons of Beriah {were} Heber and Malkiel. 18 Those {were} the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban had given to Leah his daughter. And she bore those sixteen souls for Jacob. 19 The sons of Rachel, the wife of Jacob, {were} Joseph and Benjamin. 20 And Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera the priest of On, bore for him. 21 And the sons of Benjamin {were} Bela and Beker and Ashbel, Gera and Naaman, Ehi and Rosh, Muppim and Huppim and Ard. 22 Those {were} the sons of Rachel, whom she bore for Jacob; all the souls {were} fourteen. 23 And the sons of Dan {were} Hushim. 24 And the sons of Naphtali {were} Jahziel and Guni and Jezer and Shillem. 25 Those {were} the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban had given to Rachel his daughter. And she bore those for Jacob; all the souls {were} seven. 26 All the souls who went with Jacob to Egypt, who came out of his thigh, apart from the wives of Jacob’s sons; all the souls {were} sixty-six. 27 And the sons of Joseph who were born for him in Egypt {were} two souls. All the souls {belonging} to the house of Jacob who went to Egypt {were} seventy. Jacob Reunites With His Son Joseph And Meets Pharaoh 46:28-47:12 28 And he sent Judah before him to Joseph to show {the way} before him to Goshen. And they came to the land of Goshen. 29 Then Joseph harnessed his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen. And he appeared to him, then he fell on his neck and cried on his neck a long time. 30 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Now I can die, since I have seen your face that you {are} still alive!” 31 Then Joseph said to his brothers and to the household of his father, “I will go up and report to Pharaoh, and I will say to him, ‘My brothers and the household of my father who {were living} in the land of Canaan have come to me. 32 And the men {are} herders of sheep, for they are livestock men, and they have brought their flocks and their herds and everything that {belongs} to them.’ 33 Then it will be, when Pharaoh calls for you and says, ‘What {is} your work?’ 34 then you should say, ‘Your servants have been livestock men from our youth and until now, both we {and} also our fathers,’ so that you can settle in the land of Goshen, because every herder of sheep {is} an abomination {to} Egyptians.” Chapter 47 1 Then Joseph went and reported to Pharaoh and said, “My father and my brothers and their flock{s} and their herd{s} and all that {belongs} to them have come from the land of Canaan, and behold, they {are} in the land of Goshen.” 2 Then he took five men from among his brothers, and he presented them before Pharaoh. 3 Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What {is} your work?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants {are} herders of sheep, both we and our fathers.” 4 Then they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land, because there is not pasture for the flock{s} that {belong} to your servants, because the famine {is} heavy in the land of Canaan. So now, please let your servants settle in the land of Goshen.” 5 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6 The land of Egypt {is} before you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best land; let them settle in the land of Goshen. And if you know that there are men of ability among them, then appoint them overseers of livestock over {those} that {belong} to me.” 7 Then Joseph brought Jacob his father and presented him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8 Then Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many {are} the days of the years of your life?” 9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojournings {are} 130 years. The days of the years of my life have been few and difficult, and they have not reached the days of the years of my fathers’ lives in the days of their sojournings.” 10 Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and left from the presence of Pharaoh. 11 Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers, and he gave them property in the land of Egypt, in the best land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. 12 And Joseph provided his father and his brothers and all the household of his father {with} bread, according to the mouth{s} of the little ones. How Joseph Ruled Egypt During The Rest Of The Famine 47:13-26 13 Now there was no bread in all the land, because the famine {was} very heavy, and the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan were languishing because of the famine. 14 And Joseph collected all the silver that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan for the grain which they were buying, and Joseph brought the silver to the house of Pharaoh. 15 So the silver was consumed from the land of Egypt and from the land of Canaan, and all Egypt came to Joseph, saying, “Give us bread! And why should we die before you? For the silver is gone!” 16 And Joseph said, “Bring your livestock and I will give {grain} to you {in exchange} for your livestock, since the silver is gone.” 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave bread to them {in exchange} for the horses, and for the herd{s} of sheep, and for the herd{s} of cattle and for the donkeys. So he provided them with bread in that year {in exchange} for all their livestock. 18 And {when} that year had ended, then they came to him in the second year and said to him, “We cannot hide {it} from my lord that since the silver is consumed and the herd{s} of livestock {belong} to my lord, there is nothing left before my lord except our bodies and our lands. 19 Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land {in exchange} for the bread, and we and our land will be slaves to Pharaoh. Give {us} seed so that we will live and not die, and the land will not be desolate!” 20 Then Joseph bought all the {farm}land of Egypt for Pharaoh, because every Egyptian sold his field, because the famine was heavy for them. So the land became Pharaoh’s. 21 And {as for} the people, he moved them to the cities from {one} end of the border of Egypt to its {other} end. 22 Only the land of the priests he did not buy, because {there was} an allotment for the priests from Pharaoh, and they ate {from} their allotment that Pharaoh gave to them. For that {reason} they did not sell their land. 23 Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, today I have bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Here {is} seed for you so that you can sow the land. 24 And it will happen in the harvests that you must give a fifth to Pharaoh, and the four parts will be for you as seed of the field and as your food and for those in your houses, and for your little ones to eat.” 25 And they said, “You have kept us alive! Let us find favor in the eyes of my lord, and we will be slaves for Pharaoh.” 26 And Joseph established it as a law to this day concerning the {farm}land of Egypt, {that} the fifth {belongs} to Pharaoh. Only the land of the priests by itself did not become Pharaoh’s. Jacob’s Last Wishes 47:27-31 27 And Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen, and they acquired {possessions} in it. And they were fruitful and multiplied greatly. 28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years, and the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were 147 years, 29 and the days of Israel drew near {for him} to die. So he called for his son, for Joseph, and said to him, “If, please, I have found favor in your eyes, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal with me {in} kindness and faithfulness. Please do not bury me in Egypt. 30 And {when} I lie down with my fathers, then carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their tomb.” And he said, “I will do according to your word.” 31 Then he said, “Swear to me.” And he swore to him. Then Israel bowed at the head of the bed. Chapter 48 Jacob Blesses Joseph’s Sons Ephraim And Manasseh 48:1-22 1 Then it happened after those things that {someone} said to Joseph, “Behold, your father is sick.” So he took his two sons with him, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2 And {someone} announced to Jacob and said, “Behold, your son Joseph has come to you.” Then Israel gathered his strength and sat up on the bed. 3 Then Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and he blessed me 4 and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you and make you into a community of peoples. And I will give this land to your offspring after you {as} an everlasting possession.’ 5 “And now, your two sons, who were born for you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, they {are} mine, Ephraim and Manasseh, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. 6 But your children whom you father after them will be yours. They will be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. 7 And I, as I was coming from Paddan, Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on the way, while {there was} still a distance of land to go to Ephrath. And I buried her there beside the road of Ephrath, which {is} Bethlehem.” 8 Then Israel saw the sons of Joseph and said, “Who {are} these?” 9 And Joseph said to his father, “They {are} my sons whom God has given to me in this {place}.” Then he said, “Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.” 10 Now the eyes of Israel were heavy from age, {so that} he was not able to see. So he brought them near to him, and he kissed them and embraced them. 11 Then Israel said to Joseph, “I did not expect to see your face, but behold, God has let me see also your offspring!” 12 Then Joseph removed them from beside his knees, and he bowed down with his nose to the ground. 13 Then Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right toward Israel’s left and Manasseh on his left toward Israel’s right, and brought {them} near to him. 14 But Israel extended his right hand and placed {it} on the head of Ephraim, and he {was} the younger, and {he placed} his left hand on the head of Manasseh. He guided his hands, because Manasseh {was} the firstborn. 15 Then he blessed Joseph and said, “May the God whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked before, the God who has been shepherding me from since I {was born} until this day, 16 the Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, may he bless {these} boys, and may my name be called in them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.” 17 And Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on the head of Ephraim, and it was displeasing in his eyes, so he took hold of the hand of his father to move it from on the head of Ephraim to the head of Manasseh. 18 And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, because that {one} {is} the firstborn son. Put your right hand on his head.” 19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He will also become a people, and he will also be great. Nevertheless his younger brother will be greater than he, and his offspring will become a multitude of nations.” 20 And he blessed them on that day, saying, “By you Israel will bless {people}, saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh.’ ” So he put Ephraim before Manasseh. 21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am dying, and God will be with you, and he will bring you back to the land of your fathers. 22 And I give you Shechem, one {portion} above your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite{s} with my sword and with my bow.” Chapter 49 1 Then Jacob called for his sons, and said: “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what will happen to you in the future. 2 Assemble yourselves and listen, you sons of Jacob. Listen to Israel, your father. 3 Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, outstanding in dignity, and outstanding in power. 4 Uncontrollable as rushing water, you will not have the preeminence, because you went up to your father’s bed. Then you defiled it; you went up to my couch. 5 Simeon and Levi are brothers. Weapons of violence are their swords. 6 O my soul, do not come into their council; do not join in their meetings, for my heart has too much honor for that. For in their anger they killed men. It was for pleasure that they hamstrung oxen. 7 May their anger be cursed, for it was fierce—and their fury, for it was cruel. I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel. 8 Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies. Your father’s sons will bow down before you. 9 Judah is a lion’s cub. My son, you have gone up from your victims. He stooped down, he crouched like a lion, like a lioness. Who would dare to awaken him? 10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes. The nations will obey him. 11 Binding his donkey to the vine, and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine, and his robe in the blood of grapes. 12 His eyes will be as dark as wine, and his teeth as white as milk. 13 Zebulun will live by the shore of the sea. He will be a harbor for ships, and his border will extend to Sidon. 14 Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the sheepfolds. 15 He sees a good resting place and the pleasant land. He will bend his shoulder to the burden and become a servant for the task. 16 Dan will judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. 17 Dan will be a snake beside the road, a poisonous snake in the path that bites the horse’s heels, so that his rider falls backward. 18 I wait for your salvation, Yahweh. 19 Gad—raiders will attack him, but he will attack them at their heels. 20 Asher’s food will be rich, and he will provide royal delicacies. 21 Naphtali is a doe let loose; he will have beautiful fawns. 22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough near a spring, whose branches climb over the wall. 23 The archers will attack him and shoot at him and harass him. 24 But his bow will remain steady, and his hands will be skillful because of the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel. 25 The God of your father will help you and the Almighty God will bless you with blessings of the sky above, blessings of the deep that lies beneath, and blessings of the breasts and womb. 26 The blessings of your father are greater than the blessings of the ancient mountains or the desirable things of the ancient hills. May they be on the head of Joseph, even upon the crown of the head of the prince of his brothers. 27 Benjamin is a hungry wolf. In the morning he will devour the prey, and in the evening he will divide the plunder.” 28 These are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them when he blessed them. Each one he blessed with an appropriate blessing. 29 Then he instructed them and said to them, “I am about to go to my people. Bury me with my forefathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is near Mamre in the land of Canaan, the field that Abraham bought for a burial place from Ephron the Hittite. 31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah. 32 The field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the people of Heth.” 33 When Jacob finished these instructions to his sons, he pulled his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and went to his people. Chapter 50 1 Then Joseph was so distressed that he collapsed on the face of his father, and he wept over him, and he kissed him. 2 Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. 3 They took forty days, for that was the full time for embalming. The Egyptians wept for him seventy days. 4 When the days of weeping were over, Joseph spoke to the house of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak to Pharaoh, saying, 5 ‘My father made me swear, saying, “See, I am about to die. Bury me in my tomb that I dug for myself in the land of Canaan. There you will bury me.” Now let me go up and bury my father, and then I will return.’” 6 Pharaoh answered, “Go and bury your father, as he made you swear.” 7 Joseph went up to bury his father. All the officials of Pharaoh went with him—the elders of his household, all the senior officials of the land of Egypt, 8 with all Joseph’s household and his brothers, and his father’s household. But their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen. 9 Chariots and horsemen also went with him. It was a very large group of people. 10 When they came to the threshing floor of Atad on the other side of the Jordan, they mourned with very great and grievous sorrow. There Joseph made a seven-day mourning for his father. 11 When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, “This is a very sad occasion for the Egyptians.” That is why the place was called Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan. 12 So his sons did for Jacob just as he had instructed them. 13 His sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. Abraham had bought the cave with the field for a burial place. He had bought it from Ephron the Hittite. 14 After he had buried his father, Joseph returned into Egypt, he, along with his brothers, and all who had accompanied him to bury his father. 15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds on to anger against us and wants to repay us in full for all the evil we did to him?” 16 So they commanded the presence of Joseph, saying, “Your father gave instructions before he died, saying, 17 ‘Tell Joseph this, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin when they did evil to you.”’ Now please forgive the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18 His brothers also went and lay facedown before him. They said, “See, we are your servants.” 19 But Joseph answered them, “Do not be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you meant to harm me, but God meant it for good, to preserve the lives of many people, as you see today. 21 So now do not be afraid. I will provide for you and your little children.” He comforted them in this way and spoke kindly to their hearts. 22 Joseph lived in Egypt, together with his father’s family. He lived one hundred ten years. 23 Joseph saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation. He also saw the children of Machir son of Manasseh, who were placed on the knees of Joseph. 24 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die; but God will surely come to you and lead you up out of this land to the land which he swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph made the people of Israel swear an oath. He said, “God will surely come to you. At that time you must carry up my bones from here.” 26 So Joseph died, 110 years old. They embalmed him and he was placed in a coffin in Egypt. Exodus Chapter 1 1 And these are the names of the sons of Israel, the ones who came to Egypt. They came in with Jacob, a man and his house: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4 Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 5 And all the lives going out of the loins of Jacob, were 70 lives. And Joseph was in Egypt. 6 And Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died. 7 And the sons of Israel were fruitful and propagated and multiplied and were mighty, with great greatness, and the land was filled with them. 8 And a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are many and mighty compared to us. 10 Come, let us act wisely toward him, lest he multiplies, and it happens that a battle occurs, and he even adds himself onto the ones hating us, and he fights with us, and he leaves from the land.” 11 And they set over him overseers of labor gangs in order to afflict him by their burdens. And he built Pithom and Rameses, cities of storage for Pharaoh. 12 And insofar as they afflicted him, thus he multiplied and thus he spread out. And they felt a sickening dread from the face of the sons of Israel. 13 And the Egyptians enslaved the sons of Israel with rigor. 14 And they embittered their lives by hard slavery, by mortar and by bricks, and by all kinds of slave labor in the fields; all their work with which they worked for them was with rigor. 15 And the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the second was Puah. 16 And he said, “When you assist the Hebrew women as midwives and you see on the birth stool, if he is a son, then you shall cause him to die, but if she is a daughter, then she shall live.” 17 But the midwives feared God and did not do according to what the king of Egypt spoke to them, and they let the sons live. 18 And the king of Egypt called out to the midwives, and he said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and let the sons live?” 19 And the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women: for they are lively, and, before the midwife comes to them, they have given birth.” 20 And God caused good to the midwives. And the people multiplied and became very mighty. 21 And it came about, since the midwives feared God, that he made houses for them. 22 And Pharaoh commanded to all of his people, saying, “You shall throw every newborn son into the river, but every daughter you shall let live.” Chapter 2 1 And a man from the house of Levi went and took a daughter of Levi. 2 And the woman conceived, and she birthed a son. And she saw him, that he was good, and she hid him three months. 3 And she was not able to hide him still, and she took for him an ark of papyrus reeds and she daubed it with bitumen and with pitch. And she placed the child in it, and she placed it in the reeds along the shore of the river. 4 And his sister stationed herself at a distance to know what would be done to him. 5 And a daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash at the river, and her young women were walking along the hand of the river. And she saw the ark in the middle of the reeds, and she sent her slave woman, and she took it 6 and opened, and she saw him, the child—and behold, a crying boy. And she had compassion on him, and she said, “This one is from the children of the Hebrews.” 7 And his sister said to the daughter of Pharaoh, “Should I go and call for you a nursing woman from the Hebrews? And she could cause the child to nurse for you.” 8 And the daughter of Pharaoh said to her, “Go.” And the girl went and called the mother of the child. 9 And the daughter of Pharaoh said to her, “Take this child and cause him to nurse for me, and I shall give your wages.” And the woman took the child and caused him to nurse. 10 And the child grew older, and she brought him to the daughter of Pharaoh, and he became as a son to her. And she called his name Moses, and she said, “For out of the water I drew him.” 11 And it happened in those days that Moses had grown up. And he went out to his brothers and saw their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian man striking a Hebrew man from his brothers. 12 And he turned this way and that way, and he saw that there was no man, and he struck the Egyptian, and he hid him in the sand. 13 And he went out the second day, and behold, two Hebrew men were fighting. And he said to the guilty one, “Why are you striking your companion?” 14 And he said, “Who set you as the ruler man and judge over us? Are you saying to kill me like you killed the Egyptian?” And Moses feared and said, “Certainly the thing is known.” 15 And Pharaoh heard this thing, and he sought to kill Moses. And Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh. And he dwelt in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well. 16 And the priest of Midian had seven daughters. And they came and drew and filled up the troughs to cause the flock of their father to drink water. 17 And the men who were shepherding came and drove them away, but Moses arose and saved them and caused their flock to drink water. 18 And they came to Reuel their father, and he said, “Why have you hurried coming today?” 19 And they said, “An Egyptian man rescued us from the hand of the men who were shepherding. And he even drew especially for us and caused the flock to drink water.” 20 And he said to his daughters, “And where is he? What is this? You left the man? Call him and he shall eat bread!” 21 And Moses was willing to dwell with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses. 22 And she birthed a son, and he called his name Gershom; for he said, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.” 23 And it happened in these many days that the king of Egypt died. And the sons of Israel groaned from the slavery. And they cried out, and their plea ascended to God from their slavery. 24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 And God saw the sons of Israel, and God knew. Chapter 3 1 And Moses was shepherding the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock beyond the wilderness, and he came to the mountain of God, to Horeb. 2 And the angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire from the middle of a bush. And he looked, and behold, the bush was burning in the fire, but the bush was not being consumed. 3 And Moses said, “Let me turn aside and see this great sight! Why does the bush not burn up?” 4 And Yahweh saw that he had turned aside in order to look, and God called to him from the middle of the bush, and he said, “Moses, Moses.” And he said, “Behold me!” 5 And he said, “You must not come close to here. Take your sandals off from on your feet, for the place on which you are standing, it is holy ground.” 6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid from staring toward God. 7 And Yahweh said, “I have certainly seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt. And I have heard their cries from the faces of those who oppress him. I surely know his anguish. 8 And I have come down to deliver him from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring him up from that land to a good and wide land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. 9 And now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to me. And moreover, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 And now go, and I shall send you to Pharaoh, and bring out my people, the sons of Israel, from Egypt.” 11 And Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring out the sons of Israel from Egypt?” 12 And he said, “I shall certainly be with you, and this will be the sign for you that I have sent you: when you bring the people out from Egypt, you all will serve God on this mountain.” 13 And Moses said to God, “Behold, I am about to go to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ And they will say to me, ‘What is his name?’ what should I say to them?” 14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “You shall speak this way to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM sent me to you.’” 15 And God also said to Moses, “You shall speak this way to the sons of Israel: ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, sent me to you. This is my name forever, and this is my memorial from generation to generation.’ 16 Go and gather the elders of Israel, and say to them, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, appeared to me, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to say, “I have certainly attended to you and what is being done to you in Egypt, 17 and I said, ‘I will bring you up from affliction in Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.’”’ 18 And they will listen to your voice. And you and the elders of Israel will go to the king of Egypt, and you all will say to him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. And now please let us go a journey of three days into the wilderness, and let us sacrifice to Yahweh, our God.’ 19 And I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go, and not with a strong hand. 20 And I shall send out my hand, and I shall strike Egypt with all my wonders, which I shall do within him. And after that, he will send you out. 21 And I shall give this people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians, and it will be that when you go, you will not go emptily. 22 And a woman will ask from her neighbor and from one sojourning in her house for items of silver and items of gold and clothing. And you will put them on your sons and on your daughters, and you will plunder the Egyptians.” Chapter 4 1 And Moses answered and said, “But look, they will not believe me, and they will not listen to my voice; for they will say, ‘Yahweh has not appeared to you.’” 2 And Yahweh said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “A staff.” 3 And he said, “Throw it to the ground.” And he threw it to the ground, and it became a snake. And Moses fled from its face. 4 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and take it by its tail”—and he reached out his hand and he caught it to him, and it became a staff in his palm— 5 “in order to cause them to believe that Yahweh appeared to you, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” 6 And Yahweh also said to him, “Put your hand in your bosom.” And he put his hand in his bosom. And he brought it out, and behold, his hand was being struck with a skin disease like snow. 7 And he said, “Return your hand into your bosom.” And he returned his hand into his bosom, and he brought it out from his bosom, and behold, it was restored like his flesh. 8 “And it will be, if they do not believe you, and they do not listen to the voice of the first sign, then they will believe the voice of the following sign. 9 And it will be, if they do not believe even these two signs, and they do not listen to your voice, then you shall take from the water of the river and you shall pour it on the dry land. And it will happen, the water which you take from the river, that it will become blood on the dry land.” 10 And Moses said to Yahweh, “Oh my Lord, I am not a man of words; not since yesterday, nor since three days ago, nor since you spoke to your servant. For I am heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue.” 11 And Yahweh said to him, “Who put a mouth in mankind, or who makes a mute or a deaf or a seeing or a blind? Is it not I, Yahweh? 12 And now go! And I shall be with your mouth, and I shall teach you what you will speak.” 13 And he said, “Oh my Lord, please send by a hand you send.” 14 And the nose of Yahweh burned at Moses, and he said, “Is not Aaron, the Levite, your brother? I know that he can speak well. And even more, behold, he is coming to meet you, and he will see you and he will be glad in his heart. 15 And you shall speak to him, and you shall put the words in his mouth. And I am with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you both what you should do. 16 And he will speak to the people for you. So it will be, he will be like a mouth for you, and you will be like God to him. 17 And you shall take in your hand this staff, with which you will do the signs.” 18 And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and he said to him, “Please let me go, and let me return to my brothers who are in Egypt and see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” 19 And Yahweh said to Moses in Midian, “Go! Return to Egypt! For all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” 20 And Moses took his wife and his sons and caused them to ride on a donkey, and he returned toward the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand. 21 And Yahweh said to Moses, “While you are going to return to Egypt, see all the miracles that I put in your hand, and do them before the face of Pharaoh. But as for me, I shall strengthen his heart, and he will not let the people go. 22 And say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says Yahweh: “Israel is my son, my firstborn, 23 and I said to you, ‘Let my son go that he may serve me.’ But you have refused to let him go. Behold, I shall kill your son, your firstborn.”’” 24 And it happened on the road, in the lodging-place, that he encountered Yahweh, and he sought to kill him. 25 And Zipporah took a flint, and she cut off the foreskin of her son, and she touched it to his feet, and she said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me.” 26 And he relented from him. That was when she said, “bridegroom of blood” because of the circumcision. 27 And Yahweh said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” And he went, and he met him at the mountain of God, and he kissed him. 28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of Yahweh that he had sent him and all the signs that he commanded him. 29 And Moses and Aaron went, and they gathered all of the elders of the sons of Israel. 30 And Aaron spoke all of the words that Yahweh had spoken to Moses. And he did the signs before the eyes of the people, 31 and the people believed. And they heard that Yahweh had attended to the sons of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, and they bowed and prostrated themselves. Chapter 5 1 And afterward, Moses and Aaron went in and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: ‘Let my people go, and they shall celebrate me in the wilderness.’” 2 And Pharaoh said, “Who is Yahweh, that I should listen to his voice to let Israel go? I do not know Yahweh, and moreover, I shall not let Israel go.” 3 And they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go a journey of three days into the wilderness, and let us sacrifice to Yahweh our God, lest he come upon us with the plague or with the sword.” 4 And the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you causing the people to leave off from their tasks? Go to your burdens.” 5 And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you have caused them to rest from their burdens.” 6 And on that day, Pharaoh ordered the taskmasters among the people and officers, saying, 7 “Do not continue to give straw to the people to make bricks as yesterday and the day before yesterday. They shall go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But you shall put on them the quota of the bricks which they were making yesterday and the day before yesterday; do not diminish from it. For they are idle. Therefore they are crying, saying, ‘Let us go, let us sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let the slavery be heavy on the men so they shall do it and shall not gaze at words of lies.” 10 And the taskmasters of the people and officers went out and said to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh: ‘I am not giving straw to you. 11 You go and get your own straw from wherever you might find it, for there will be no reducing of things from your slavery.’” 12 So the people dispersed throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13 Now the taskmasters were hastening them, saying, “Finish your work, the task of day by day, as when there was straw.” 14 And the officers of the sons of Israel, whom the taskmasters of Pharaoh had put over them, were beaten, saying, “Why have you not finished your required brick making like yesterday and the day before yesterday, neither yesterday nor today?” 15 And the officers of the sons of Israel came in and cried to Pharaoh, saying, “Why are you doing this to your servants? 16 No straw is being given to your servants. And they are saying to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are beaten, but it is the sin of your people.” 17 And he said, “You are lazy! Lazy! That is why you are saying, ‘Let us go sacrifice to Yahweh.’ 18 And now go! Work! And straw will not be given to you, but you will give the set quantity of bricks.” 19 And the officers of the sons of Israel saw themselves in distress regarding the saying, “You shall not reduce the day-by-day task from your bricks.” 20 And they met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting to meet them when they came out from Pharaoh. 21 And they said to them, “May Yahweh look on you and judge; for you have caused our scent to stink in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants, to give a sword into their hand to kill us.” 22 And Moses went back to Yahweh and said, “My Lord, why have you afflicted this people? Was this why you sent me? 23 And since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has afflicted this people. And you have certainly not rescued your people.” Chapter 6 1 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: for by a strong hand he will let them go; and by a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” 2 And God spoke to Moses, and said to him, “I am Yahweh 3 and I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El Shaddai; but by my name Yahweh I was not known to them. 4 And moreover, I established my covenant with them, to give to them the land of Canaan, the land of their sojourning, in which they sojourned. 5 And moreover, I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant. 6 Therefore, say to the sons of Israel, ‘I am Yahweh. And I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rescue you from their slavery. And I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7 And I will take you to myself as a people, and I will be to you as God. And you will know that I am Yahweh your God, the one bringing you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you to the land that I raised my hand to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. And I will give it to you as a possession. I am Yahweh.’” 9 And Moses spoke in this way to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of shortness of spirit and because of hard slavery. 10 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 11 “Go speak to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, that he should let the sons of Israel go from his land.” 12 And Moses spoke before the face of Yahweh, saying, “Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened to me, so how will Pharaoh listen to me? And I have uncircumcised lips.” 13 And Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and he gave them a command to the sons of Israel and to Pharaoh, king of Egypt: to bring the sons of Israel out from the land of Egypt. 14 These were the heads of the houses of their fathers: The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Karmi. These were the clans of Reuben. 15 And the sons of Simeon were Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jakin, and Zohar, and Shaul—the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clans of Simeon. 16 And these are the names of the sons of Levi, from their genealogy: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari. And the years of the life of Levi were 137 years. 17 The sons of Gershon were Libni and Shimei, according to their clans. 18 And the sons of Kohath were Amram and Izhar and Hebron and Uzziel. And the years of the life of Kohath were 133 years. 19 And the sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of the Levites, according to their genealogy. 20 And Amram took Jochebed, his aunt, as a wife for himself. And she bore him Aaron and Moses. And the years of the life of Amram were 137 years. 21 And the sons of Izhar were Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri. 22 And the sons of Uzziel were Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Sithri. 23 And Aaron took Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, as a wife for himself. And she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 24 And the sons of Korah were Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These were the clans of the Korahites. 25 And Eleazar, son of Aaron took a wife for himself from the daughters of Putiel. And she bore him Phinehas. These were the heads of the fathers of the Levites, according to their clans. 26 It was Aaron and Moses to whom Yahweh said, “Bring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt by their hosts.” 27 They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to bring out the sons of Israel from Egypt. It was Moses and Aaron. 28 And it happened on a day that Yahweh spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 and Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “I am Yahweh. Speak to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, everything that I speak to you.” 30 But Moses said to the face of Yahweh, “Behold, I have uncircumcised lips, so how will Pharaoh listen to me?” Chapter 7 1 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Look, I have made you God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. 2 You shall say everything that I will command you. And your brother Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh that he should let the sons of Israel go from his land. 3 But I will harden the heart of Pharaoh, and I will multiply my signs and my miracles in the land of Egypt. 4 And Pharaoh will not listen to you, so I will put my hand on Egypt and will bring out my armies, my people, the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt with great judgments. 5 And the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh when I stretch out my hand over Egypt to bring the sons of Israel out from their midst.” 6 And Moses and Aaron did; they did just as Yahweh commanded them. 7 And Moses was a son of 80 years and Aaron was a son of 83 years when they were speaking to Pharaoh. 8 And Yahweh said to Moses and to Aaron saying, 9 “For Pharaoh will speak to you, saying, ‘Create a miracle yourself,’ and you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before the face of Pharaoh; let it become a serpent.’” 10 And Moses and Aaron entered in to Pharaoh, and they did just as Yahweh commanded. And Aaron threw down his staff before the face of Pharaoh and before the faces of his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 And Pharaoh also called for wise men and sorcerers. And the magicians of Egypt also did so by their magic. 12 And each man threw down his staff, and they became serpents. And the staff of Aaron swallowed up their staffs. 13 And the heart of Pharaoh was strong, and he did not listen to them, just as Yahweh had spoken. 14 And Yahweh said to Moses, “The heart of Pharaoh is heavy; he has refused to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh. Behold, in the morning he goes out to the water, so station yourself to meet him on the edge of the river. And take in your hand the staff that turned into a snake. 16 And say to him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you to say, “Let my people go, and they will serve me in the wilderness. And behold, until now, you have not listened.” 17 Thus says Yahweh: “By this you will know that I am Yahweh. Behold, I am about to strike against the waters that are in the river with the staff that is in my hand, and they will turn to blood. 18 And the fish that are in the river will die, and the river will stink. And the Egyptians will exhaust themselves to drink water from the river.”’” 19 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt; over their streams, over their canals, and over their pools, and over every reservoir of their water, and it will become blood.’ And there will be blood in all the land of Egypt, both in containers of wood and in containers of stone.” 20 And Moses and Aaron did so, just as Yahweh commanded. And he raised the staff, and he struck the water that was in the river, in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants. And all the water that was in the river turned to blood. 21 And the fish that were in the river died, and the river stank, so the Egyptians were not able to drink water from the river. And the blood was in all the land of Egypt. 22 And the magicians of Egypt did the same with their magic. And the heart of Pharaoh was strong, and he did not listen to them, just as Yahweh had spoken. 23 And Pharaoh turned around and went into his house. And he did not set his heart even to this. 24 And all the Egyptians dug water to drink around the river, for they were not able to drink from the waters of the river. 25 And seven days were filled after Yahweh struck the river. Chapter 8 1 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, and you shall say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh: “Let my people go, and they shall serve me. 2 And if you refuse to let go, behold! I am about to strike all your territory with frogs. 3 And frogs will swarm the river, and they will climb, and they will go into your house and in the room of your bed and on your bed and into the house of your servants and among your people and in your ovens and in your kneading bowls, 4 and the frogs will climb on you and on your people and on all your servants.”’” 5 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Reach out your hand with your staff over the canals, over the streams, and over the pools, and cause the frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.’” 6 And Aaron reached out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frog came up and covered the land of Egypt. 7 And the magicians did likewise with their magic, and they brought up frogs over the land of Egypt. 8 And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and he said, “Pray to Yahweh that he may take away the frogs from me and from my people. And I will let the people go, and they may sacrifice to Yahweh.” 9 And Moses said to Pharaoh, “Glorify yourself over me: when shall I pray for you and for your servants and for your people, to cause to cut off the frogs from you and from your houses? They will be left in the river only.” 10 And he said, “Tomorrow.” And he said, “Just as you say, so that you will know that there is no one like Yahweh, our God. 11 And the frogs will withdraw from you and from your houses and from your servants and from your people. They will be left in the river only.” 12 And Moses and Aaron went out from being with Pharaoh. And Moses cried out to Yahweh concerning the matter of the frogs that he had set on Pharaoh. 13 And Yahweh did according to the word of Moses: and the frogs died off from the houses, from the courts, and from the fields. 14 And they gathered them into many piles, and the land stank. 15 And Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, and he caused his heart to be heavy, and he did not listen to them, just as Yahweh had said. 16 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the ground, and it will become lice in all the land of Egypt.’” 17 And they did so, and Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and he struck the dust of the ground, and it became lice on man and on beast. All the dust of the ground was lice in all the land of Egypt. 18 And the magicians did so with their magic to bring out lice, but they were not able. And there were lice on man and beast. 19 And the magicians said to Pharaoh, “It is the finger of God.” And the heart of Pharaoh was strong, and he did not listen to them, just as Yahweh said. 20 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Rise early in the morning and station yourself before the face of Pharaoh. Behold, he goes out to the waters. And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh: “Let my people go, and they will serve me. 21 Surely if you do not immediately send my people out, behold me! I am about to send the swarm at you and at your servants and at your people and into your houses. And the houses of Egypt will be full of the swarm, and even the ground which they are on. 22 And in that day, I will distinguish the land of Goshen, on which my people dwell, so that the swarm will not be there, in order that you may know that I am Yahweh in the middle of the land. 23 And I will put redemption between my people and between your people. This sign will happen tomorrow.”’” 24 And Yahweh did so, and a heavy swarm came to the house of Pharaoh and the houses of his servants and all the land of Egypt. The land was ruined from the face of the swarm. 25 And Pharaoh called to Moses and to Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God in the land.” 26 And Moses said, “It would not be right to do so, because we will sacrifice an abomination of the Egyptians to Yahweh our God. Look, we would sacrifice an abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and would they not stone us? 27 We must travel a journey of three days into the wilderness, and we will sacrifice to Yahweh our God, just as he is saying to us.” 28 And Pharaoh said, “I will let you go and sacrifice to Yahweh your God in the wilderness; only you may certainly not go very far. Pray for me.” 29 And Moses said, “Behold, I am about to go out from with you. And I shall pray to Yahweh, and he will withdraw the swarm from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people tomorrow. Only may Pharaoh not continue to deceive in order to fail to let the people go to sacrifice to Yahweh.” 30 And Moses went out from with Pharaoh and prayed to Yahweh. 31 And Yahweh did according to the word of Moses, and he withdrew the swarm from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. Not one remained. 32 And Pharaoh caused his heart to be heavy at this time also, and he did not let the people go. Chapter 9 1 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and speak to him: ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews: “Let my people go, and they shall serve me. 2 Surely if you are unwilling to let go, but are still holding on to them, 3 behold! The hand of Yahweh is about to be on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the cattle, and on the flock—an exceedingly heavy plague. 4 And Yahweh will distinguish between the livestock of Israel and between the livestock of Egypt. And no thing will die from any of the sons of Israel.”’” 5 And Yahweh set an appointment, saying, “Tomorrow Yahweh will do this thing in the land.” 6 And Yahweh did this thing the next day, and all of the livestock of Egypt died. But from the livestock of the sons of Israel not one died. 7 And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, not even one of the livestock of Israel had died. But the heart of Pharaoh was heavy, and he did not let the people go. 8 And Yahweh said to Moses and to Aaron, “Take to you a fullness of both your hands of ash of a furnace. And Moses shall sprinkle it toward heaven before the eyes of Pharaoh. 9 And it will become powder over all the land of Egypt. And it will become boils, bursting blisters, on man and on beast in all the land of Egypt.” 10 And they took ash of a furnace, and they stood before the face of Pharaoh. And Moses sprinkled it toward the heavens, and it became boils, bursting blisters, on man and on beast. 11 And the magicians were not able to stand before the face of Moses, because of the face of the boils, because boils were on the magicians and on all of Egypt. 12 But Yahweh strengthened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, just as Yahweh had said to Moses. 13 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Rise early in the morning, and stand before the face of Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews: “Let my people go, and they shall serve me. 14 For this time I am about to send all my plagues to your heart, and on your servants, and on your people, in order that you may know that there is nothing like me in all the earth. 15 For now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague, and you would have been destroyed from the land. 16 However, for this reason I appointed you: in order to show you my power and in order to proclaim my name in all the earth. 17 You are still exalting yourself against my people by failing to let them go. 18 Behold me! I am about to cause extremely heavy hail to rain tomorrow at this time, which there has never been anything like in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. 19 And now send and bring to safety your livestock and all that is yours in the field, and the hail will come down on every man and beast that is found in the field and was not gathered to the house, and they will die.”’” 20 The fearers of the word of Yahweh from the servants of Pharaoh made their slaves and their livestock run to the houses, 21 but whoever did not set his heart to the word of Yahweh left his slaves and his livestock in the field. 22 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Reach out your hand toward the heavens, and there will be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man and on beast and on every plant of the field in the land of Egypt.” 23 And Moses stretched his staff to the heavens, and Yahweh gave thunder and hail, and fire darted to the land. And Yahweh rained hail on the land of Egypt. 24 And there was hail and fire coming in the middle of the hail; {it was} very heavy, such as it had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 25 And the hail hit everything in the land of Egypt, everything which was in the field, from man to beast. And the hail struck every plant of the field, and it broke every tree of the field. 26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the sons of Israel were, there was no hail. 27 And Pharaoh sent, and he called for Moses and for Aaron. And he said to them, “I have sinned this time. Yahweh is righteous, and I and my people are guilty. 28 Pray to Yahweh, for the thunder of God and hail are too much. And I will let you go, and you will not continue to stay.” 29 And Moses said to him, “As I leave the city, I will spread my palms to Yahweh. The thunder will cease, and the hail will not continue, so that you may know that the earth belongs to Yahweh. 30 But you and your servants, I know that you are not yet afraid of the face of Yahweh God.” 31 (And the flax and the barley were struck down, for the barley was in ear, and the flax was in bloom. 32 But the wheat and the spelt were not struck down, for they are late.) 33 And Moses left the city from being with Pharaoh, and he spread his palms to Yahweh, and the thunder and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth. 34 And Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder ceased, and he added to his sin, and he caused his heart to be heavy, he and his servants. 35 And the heart of Pharaoh was strong, and he did not let the sons of Israel go, just as Yahweh had said by the hand of Moses. Chapter 10 1 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have made his heart and the heart of his servants heavy, in order to perform these my signs in his midst, 2 and so that you may proclaim in the ears of your son and the son of your son that I toyed with Egypt, and my signs which I performed among them—and you will know that I am Yahweh.” 3 And Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says Yahweh, God of the Hebrews: ‘Until when will you refuse to be humble from my face? Let my people go, and they will serve me. 4 For if you refuse to let my people go, behold me, I am about to bring locust within your borders tomorrow. 5 And it will cover the sight of the land, and none will be able to see the land. And it will devour the remnant of whatever escaped, of whatever is left to you from the hail. And it will devour every tree growing for you from the field. 6 And they will fill your houses and the houses of all your servants and the houses of all the Egyptians, which your fathers had never seen, nor the fathers of your fathers, from the day they came to be on the earth until this day.’” And he turned around and left from being with Pharaoh. 7 And the servants of Pharaoh said to him, “Until when will this be a trap to us? Let the men go and they will serve Yahweh their God. Do you not understand yet that Egypt has perished?” 8 And Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go serve Yahweh your God. Who and who shall go?” 9 And Moses said, “We shall go with our young and with our old. We shall go with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and our herds, because the festival of Yahweh is for us.” 10 And he said to them, “May Yahweh be with you in the same way as I will let you and your children go. See, for evil is before your faces! 11 Not so! You may go, the men, and serve Yahweh, because this is what you are seeking.” And he drove them from the face of Pharaoh. 12 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt with the locust, and let it rise up over the land of Egypt, and let it devour all of the plants of the land, everything which the hail had spared.” 13 And Moses reached out his staff over the land of Egypt, and Yahweh drove an east wind over the land all that day and all night. The morning was, and the east wind had brought the locust. 14 And the locust rose up over all the land of Egypt and came to rest everywhere within the borders of Egypt. They were extremely numerous. Never before was there such locust like it, and nothing will be like it after. 15 And it covered the sight of all of the land, and the land was dark. And it devoured all of the plants of the land and all of the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. And not any of the greenery remained in a tree or in a plant of the field in all of the land of Egypt. 16 And Pharaoh hurried to call for Moses and for Aaron and said, “I have sinned against Yahweh your God and against you. 17 And now, please bear my sin, just this once, and pray to Yahweh your God and let him take this death only away from me.” 18 And he went out from being with Pharaoh, and he prayed to Yahweh. 19 And Yahweh turned a very strong sea wind, and it carried away the locust, and it drove it into the Sea of Reeds; not one locust remained in all of the territory of Egypt. 20 And Yahweh strengthened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not let the sons of Israel go. 21 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the heavens, and let it become dark over the land of Egypt, and darkness will feel.” 22 And Moses stretched out his hand above the heavens, and dark darkness was in all of the land of Egypt for three days. 23 No man could see his brother, and no man rose from his place for three days. But for all the sons of Israel, there was light in their dwelling-places. 24 And Pharaoh called to Moses, and he said, “Go serve Yahweh. Only your flocks and your herds must remain behind; however, your children will go with you.” 25 And Moses said, “Also you, you must give in our hands sacrifices and burnt offerings, and we will do to Yahweh our God. 26 And even our livestock shall go with us. Not a hoof shall be left behind, for we shall take from them to serve Yahweh our God. And as for us, we will not know with what we must serve Yahweh until we arrive there.” 27 And Yahweh strengthened the heart of Pharaoh, and he would not agree to let them go. 28 And Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me! Watch yourself; you shall not again see my face; because in the day of your seeing my face, you shall die.” 29 And Moses said, “Just as you say, I will not ever see your face again.” Chapter 11 1 And Yahweh said to Moses, “One more plague I will bring on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that he will let you go from here. As soon as he lets go, he will certainly drive you completely away from here. 2 Speak now in the ears of the people, and let them ask, a man from his neighbor and a woman from her neighbor, items of silver and items of gold.” 3 And Yahweh gave the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians. Furthermore, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the eyes of the servants of Pharaoh and in the eyes of the people. 4 And Moses said, “Thus says Yahweh: ‘About the middle of the night I will go out in the midst of Egypt, 5 and every firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the mill, and every firstborn of a beast. 6 And there will be a great cry in all the land of Egypt, which nothing like it has ever happened, and nothing like it will happen again. 7 But to each of the sons of Israel, a dog will not sharpen his tongue, from man to beast, so that you will know that Yahweh distinguishes between Egypt and between Israel.’ 8 And all your servants, these will come down to me, and they will bow to me, saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who are at your feet!’ And after that I will go out.” And he went out from Pharaoh with burning of the nose. 9 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, in order to multiply my miracles in the land of Egypt.” 10 And Moses and Aaron did all these miracles before the face of Pharaoh. But Yahweh strengthened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not let the sons of Israel go from his land. Chapter 12 1 And Yahweh said to Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2 “This month is to you the head of the months. It is the first to you of the months of the year. 3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they shall take to themselves, each man, a lamb to the house of the fathers: a lamb to a house. 4 And if the household is too few for having a lamb, then he and his neighbor near to his house by the number of people shall take the lamb; according to the eating of the mouth of each man you shall calculate it. 5 Your lamb shall be complete, male, the son of a year. You may take from the sheep or from the goats. 6 And it shall be to you to reserve until the fourteenth day of this month. And all the assembly of the congregation of Israel shall slaughter it between the evenings. 7 And they shall take from the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 And they shall eat the flesh that night, roast of fire, and they shall eat unleavened bread over bitter herbs. 9 You shall not eat from it raw or boiled from boiling in water. But instead, roasted of fire, its head with its legs and with its internal organs. 10 And you shall not cause to remain anything from it until morning; and you shall burn in the fire what remains from it until morning. 11 And this is how you shall eat it: belts fastened on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it with haste. It is the Passover to Yahweh. 12 And I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from man to beast. And I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am Yahweh. 13 And the blood will be a sign for you on the houses which you are in. And I will see the blood, and I will pass over above you, and the plague will not be on you for destruction as my striking on the land of Egypt. 14 And this day shall become a memorial for you, and you shall celebrate it as a festival to Yahweh for your generations—a statute you shall celebrate forever. 15 You shall eat unleavened bread for seven days. Yes—on the first day you shall remove yeast from your houses, because anyone who eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. 16 And on the first day an assembly of holiness, and on the seventh day an assembly of holiness shall be for you. All work shall not be done in these, except what each person eats, that alone may be done by you. 17 And you shall keep the Unleavened Bread, because on this very day I will have brought out your hosts from the land of Egypt. And you shall keep this day throughout your generations, a statute forever. 18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day in the evening you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month in the evening. 19 For seven days no yeast shall be found in your houses. Because anyone who eats yeasted bread, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel—among the sojourner or among the native of the land. 20 You shall not eat any yeast; in all of your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.’” 21 And Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and he said to them, “Proceed and take a lamb for yourself, according to your families, and slaughter the Passover. 22 And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin and apply to the lintel and to both the doorposts from the blood that is in the basin. And you, not a man shall go out from the door of his house until morning. 23 And Yahweh will pass through to strike the Egyptians. And he will see the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, and Yahweh will pass over the door and will not permit the causer of destruction to enter into your houses to strike. 24 And you shall keep this thing as a statute for you and for your sons until eternity. 25 And so it will happen, as you enter into the land that Yahweh will give to you, just as he said, then you shall keep this service. 26 And it will happen, when your sons are saying to you, ‘What is this service to you?’ 27 then you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of Passover to Yahweh, who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt in striking the Egyptians. And he rescued our households.’” And the people bowed their heads and prostrated themselves. 28 And the sons of Israel went and did; as Yahweh had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. 29 And so it happened, in the middle of the night, and Yahweh struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh sitting on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the house of the pit, and all the firstborn of beasts. 30 And Pharaoh got up in the night—he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not someone dead. 31 And he called for Moses and for Aaron in the night and said, “Get up, get out from among my people, both you and also the sons of Israel. And go, serve Yahweh, as you have said. 32 Also take your flocks, also your herds as you have said, and go, and also bless me.” 33 And the Egyptians strengthened the people, hurrying to let them go from the land, for they said, “We are all dying.” 34 And the people carried his dough before it developed leaven. Their kneading bowls were wrapped in their clothes on their shoulders. 35 And the sons of Israel did according to the word of Moses. And they asked from the Egyptians items of silver and items of gold and clothing. 36 And Yahweh gave the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians. And they made the request, and they plundered the Egyptians. 37 And the sons of Israel journeyed from Rameses toward Succoth, about 600,000 strong men on foot, apart from children. 38 And also a mixed multitude went up with them, and flock and herd—a very great number of livestock. 39 And they baked the dough that they brought from Egypt into unleavened bread, for it was not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt, and they could not delay. And furthermore, they had not made provisions for themselves. 40 And the residence of the sons of Israel, during which they resided in Egypt, was 430 years. 41 And so it was, at the end of 430 years, it was on that very day all of the hosts of Yahweh went out from the land of Egypt. 42 It was a night of observing for Yahweh to bring them out from the land of Egypt. This night, it is for all the sons of Israel to observe for Yahweh throughout their generations. 43 And Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: Any son of foreignness shall not eat it. 44 But any slave of a man, a purchase of silver, if you circumcised him, then he may eat it. 45 An outsider or a hireling shall not eat it. 46 It shall be eaten in one house. You shall not bring from the house from the flesh to the outside, and you shall not break its bone. 47 All the congregation of Israel shall do it. 48 And if a sojourner is sojourning with you, and keeps the Passover to Yahweh, all his males shall be circumcised. And then he may draw near to keep it, and he will become like a native of the land. And any uncircumcised person shall not eat it. 49 One law shall be for the native and for the sojourner sojourning among you.” 50 And all of the sons of Israel did—just as Yahweh commanded Moses and Aaron—so they did. 51 And so it was, in that very day, Yahweh brought the sons of Israel out from the land of Egypt by their hosts. Chapter 13 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Set apart to me all the firstborn, openers of every womb among the sons of Israel, among man and among beast; he is mine.” 3 And Moses said to the people, “Remember this day, that you went out from Egypt, from the house of slavery, because by a strong hand Yahweh brought you out from here. And no yeast may be eaten. 4 Today you are going out, in the month of Aviv. 5 And it will be that Yahweh will bring you to the land of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, which he swore to your fathers to give to you, a land flowing with milk and honey—and you shall serve this service in this month. 6 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day {there shall be} a festival to Yahweh. 7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days, and leavened bread may not be seen among you. And yeast may not be seen among you within any of your borders. 8 And you shall tell your son on that day, saying, ‘This is because of what Yahweh did for me when I came out from Egypt.’ 9 And it shall be a sign for you on your hand and a memorial between your eyes, so that the law of Yahweh may be in your mouth, for with a strong hand Yahweh brought you out from Egypt. 10 And you shall keep this statute at its appointed time from days to days. 11 And it will be, when Yahweh brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and to your fathers, and he gives it to you, 12 then cause to pass over to Yahweh all the openers of the womb, and all the openers of the litter of beasts that are yours. The males are for Yahweh. 13 And every opener of a donkey you shall ransom with a lamb. And if you do not ransom it, then you shall break his neck. And all the firstborn of men among your sons, you shall ransom. 14 And so it will be, when your son asks you later, saying, ‘What is this?’ then you shall say to him, ‘With a strong hand Yahweh brought us out from Egypt, from the house of slaves.’ 15 And so it was, that when Pharaoh was hard to let us go, then Yahweh struck all of the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of man and to the firstborn of beast. That is why I sacrifice to Yahweh all the openers of the womb—the males—and I ransom all of the firstborn of my sons.’ 16 And it shall be a sign on your hand and a headband between your eyes, for with a strong hand Yahweh brought us out from Egypt.” 17 And so it was, when Pharaoh let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although it was nearby. For God said, “Lest the people repent when they see war and return to Egypt.” 18 And God caused the people to turn to the way of the wilderness, to the Sea of Reeds. And the sons of Israel went up from the land of Egypt by fives. 19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had certainly caused the sons of Israel to vow, saying, “God will certainly attend to you, and you shall bring my bones up with you from here.” 20 And they journeyed from Succoth, and they camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness. 21 And Yahweh went before their faces by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them on the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to be light to them, to go by day or by night. 22 He did not withdraw the daytime pillar of cloud or the nighttime pillar of fire from the face of the people. Chapter 14 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Say to the sons of Israel that they should turn and camp before the face of Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, before the face of Baal Zephon. You are to camp by the sea opposite it. 3 And Pharaoh will say about the sons of Israel, ‘They are confused in the land. The wilderness has closed in on them.’ 4 And I will strengthen the heart of Pharaoh, and he will pursue after them. And I will be glorified because of Pharaoh and because of all his army. And the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh.” And they did so. 5 And the king of Egypt was told that the people fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned to the people. And they said, “What is this we did that we released Israel from our slavery?” 6 And he hitched his chariot and took his people with him. 7 And he took 600 chosen chariots, and all of the chariots of Egypt, and third men were on all of them. 8 And Yahweh strengthened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he pursued after the sons of Israel, and the sons of Israel were going out with a high hand. 9 And the Egyptians pursued after them. And all of the horses of the chariots of Pharaoh and his horsemen and his army overtook them camping above the sea, above Pi Hahiroth before the face of Baal Zephon. 10 And Pharaoh approached, and the sons of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians started after them, and they were extremely afraid. And the sons of Israel cried to Yahweh. 11 And they said to Moses, “Is it because there were not any graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What is this you have done to us, to bring us out from Egypt? 12 Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Cease from us and let us serve the Egyptians’? Because serving the Egyptians is better to us than dying in the wilderness.” 13 And Moses said to the people, “You must not fear! Stand still and see the salvation of Yahweh, that he will do for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today you will not repeat seeing again until eternity. 14 Yahweh himself will fight for you. As for you, you will be silent.” 15 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Speak to the sons of Israel and let them start moving. 16 As for you, raise your staff and reach out your hand over the sea and split it. And the sons of Israel will enter into the midst of the sea on dry ground. 17 And behold me! I will strengthen the heart of the Egyptians, and they will enter after them. And I will be glorified because of Pharaoh and because of all his army, because of his chariots and because of his horsemen. 18 And the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh when I am glorified because of Pharaoh, because of his chariots and because of his horsemen.” 19 And the angel of God moved, who traveled before the face of the camp of Israel and went behind them. And the pillar of cloud moved from before their face and stood behind them. 20 And it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel. And it became a cloud, and darkness, and it lit up the night, and one did not come near to the other all night. 21 And Moses reached out his hand over the sea. And Yahweh drove the sea by a strong east wind all night and made the sea into dry land. And the waters were divided. 22 And the sons of Israel entered the middle of the sea on dry ground. And the waters were a wall for them on their right and on their left. 23 And the Egyptians pursued, and entered after them—every horse of Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen—into the middle of the sea. 24 And so it was, in the watch of the morning, Yahweh looked down on the camp of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud. And he confused the camp of the Egyptians. 25 And he caused the wheels of their chariots to turn aside and caused them to drive heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us run from the face of Israel, for Yahweh is fighting for them against Egypt.” 26 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Reach out your hand over the sea, and the waters will return on the Egyptians, on his chariots, and on his horsemen.” 27 And Moses reached out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned before the face of the morning to its normal place, and the Egyptians fled before its impact. And Yahweh shook off the Egyptians in the middle of the sea. 28 And the waters returned, and they covered the chariots and the horsemen, even the entire army of Pharaoh that entered after them into the sea. Not even one of them remained. 29 And the sons of Israel walked on dry land in the middle of the sea. And the waters were a wall for them on their right and on their left. 30 And Yahweh saved Israel that day from the hand of Egypt, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the shore of the sea. 31 And Israel saw the great hand that Yahweh used against the Egyptians, and the people feared Yahweh, and they believed in Yahweh and in his servant Moses. Chapter 15 1 Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to Yahweh. And they said, saying, “Let me sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphantly triumphed; the horse and the one riding it he threw into the sea. 2 Yah is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will glorify him, the God of my father, and I will exalt him. 3 Yahweh is a man of war; Yahweh is his name. 4 He threw the chariots of Pharaoh and his army into the sea. And his chosen officers sank in the Sea of Reeds. 5 The deeps cover them; they descended into the depths like a stone. 6 Your right hand, Yahweh, is majestic in power; your right hand, Yahweh, shatters the enemy. 7 And in the abundance of your majesty you overthrow those who rise up against you. You send out your heat; it devours them like stubble. 8 And by the breath of your nostrils the waters were piled up; the flowing waters were stood upright like a heap; the deeps thickened in the heart of the sea. 9 The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake; I will share out the plunder; my soul will be satisfied in them; I will empty my sword; my hand will dispossess them.’ 10 You blew with your wind; the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the majestic waters. 11 Who is like you among the gods Yahweh? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, feared in praises, doing miracles? 12 You reached out your right hand, and the earth swallows them. 13 In your covenant faithfulness, you led this people you redeemed. In your strength, you guided them to the home of your holiness. 14 The peoples heard; they shake; anguish seized the inhabitants of Philistia. 15 Then the chiefs of Edom panicked; trembling seizes the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan melted away. 16 Terror and dread fall on them. By the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone until your people pass by, Yahweh, until this people you acquired pass by. 17 You will bring them, and you will plant them on the mountain of your possession, the place, Yahweh, that you made for your dwelling, the holy place, my Lord, that your hands built. 18 Yahweh will reign forever and ever.” 19 For the horse of Pharaoh went with his chariots and horsemen into the sea. And Yahweh returned upon them the waters of the sea. And the sons of Israel walked on dry land in the middle of the sea. 20 And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dancing. 21 And Miriam responded to them: “Sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed triumphantly; the horse and the one riding it he threw into the sea.” 22 And Moses caused Israel to set out from the Sea of Reeds. And they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they traveled for three days into the wilderness, and they found no water. 23 And they came to Marah, and they were not able to drink the waters of Marah, because they were bitter. So he called its name Marah. 24 And the people murmured against Moses, saying, “What can we drink?” 25 And he cried out to Yahweh, and Yahweh showed him a tree. And he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There he gave him a statute and an ordinance, and there he tested him. 26 And he said, “If you carefully listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, and you do what is right in his eyes, and you give ear to his commands and you keep all of his laws, all of the diseases that I put on the Egyptians I shall not put on you, for I am Yahweh your healer.” 27 And they came to Elim, and there there was 12 springs of water and 70 palm trees. And they camped there by the water. Chapter 16 1 And they journeyed on from Elim, and all of the congregation of the sons of Israel entered into the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt. 2 And all the congregation of the sons of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness. 3 And the sons of Israel said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of Yahweh in the land of Egypt, sitting by a pot of meat, eating bread to the full. For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” 4 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold me make bread rain down from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather the portion of a day each day, so that I may test them: Will they walk in my law or not? 5 And so it will be, on the sixth day, that they shall prepare what they bring in, and that will be twice as much as what they gather daily.” 6 And Moses and Aaron said to all of the sons of Israel, “At evening you will know that Yahweh brought you out from the land of Egypt. 7 In the morning you will see the glory of Yahweh in his hearing your murmurings against Yahweh. And who are we that you murmur against us?” 8 And Moses said, “So Yahweh gives you meat to eat in the evening and bread in the morning to satiation; Yahweh is hearing your murmurings that you murmur against him. And what are we? Not against us is your murmuring, but against Yahweh.” 9 And Moses said to Aaron, “Say to all of the congregation of the sons of Israel, ‘Approach the face of Yahweh, for he has heard your murmurings.’” 10 And so it was, as Aaron spoke to all of the congregation of the sons of Israel, that they turned toward the wilderness, and behold! the glory of Yahweh appeared in the cloud! 11 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “I have heard the murmurings of the sons of Israel. Speak to them saying, ‘Between the evenings you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be satisfied with bread. And you will know that I am Yahweh your God.’” 13 And so it was, in the evening quail came up and covered the camp. And in the morning the dew was lying round about the camp. 14 And the lying dew went up; and behold! on the face of the wilderness were thin flakes, thin like frost on the ground. 15 And the sons of Israel saw it, and they said each man to his brother, “What is it?” Because they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that Yahweh has given you to eat. 16 This is the thing that Yahweh has commanded: ‘Gather from it each according to the mouths of his eating; an omer for each person up to the number of your people, each shall take for those in his tent.’” 17 And the sons of Israel did so. And they gathered much, or little, 18 and they measured it by omer. And there was no extra for those with much, and no lack for those with little. Each man gathered according to what he needed to eat. 19 And Moses said to them, “A man shall not save any of it until morning.” 20 But they did not listen to Moses. And men reserved some of it until morning, and it bred worms, and it stank. And Moses became angry with them. 21 And they gathered it morning by morning, each man according to the mouths of his eating. And the sun became hot, and it melted. 22 And so it was, on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each person. And all the leaders of the community came and told Moses. 23 And he said to them, “This is what Yahweh spoke: ‘Tomorrow is a rest, a Sabbath of holiness to Yahweh. What you are baking - bake! and what you are cooking - cook! And all of the leftovers cause to rest, for preservation for yourselves until morning.’” 24 And they left it until morning, as Moses had instructed. And it did not become foul, and no worms were in it. 25 And Moses said, “Eat it today, for it is Sabbath, a day for Yahweh, a day you will not find it in the fields. 26 You shall gather it for six days, and on the seventh day, Sabbath, there will be none of it.” 27 And so it was, on the seventh day, some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. 28 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Until what time will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? 29 Look! For Yahweh has given you the Sabbath. So on the sixth day he is giving you bread for two days. Each one stay where he is; a man shall not be going out from his place on the seventh day.” 30 And the people rested on the seventh day. 31 And the house of Israel called its name “manna.” And it was like coriander seed, white, and its taste was like wafers with honey. 32 And Moses said, “This is the procedure that Yahweh has commanded: ‘A full omer of it for preservation for your descendants so that they can see the bread which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out from the land of Egypt.’” 33 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take one pot and put there a full omer of manna. Put it before the face of Yahweh, for preservation for your descendants.” 34 Just as Yahweh commanded to Moses, so Aaron put it before the face of the Covenant, for preservation. 35 And the sons of Israel ate manna 40 years, until they came to inhabited land. They ate manna until they came to the borders of the land of Canaan. 36 (And an omer, it is a tenth of an ephah.) Chapter 17 1 And all the community of the sons of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, journeying at the mouth of Yahweh. And they camped at Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink. 2 And the people quarreled with Moses, and they said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why are you quarreling with me? Why do you test Yahweh?” 3 And the people were thirsty for water there, and the people murmured against Moses. And he said, “Is this why you brought us up from Egypt? To kill me and my sons and my cattle, with thirst?” 4 And Moses cried out to Yahweh, saying, “What should I do for this people? A little longer and they will stone me.” 5 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Pass before the face of the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel, and your staff, the one with which you struck the river, take in your hand; and go. 6 Behold me! I will stand before your face there on the rock at Horeb. And you will strike on the rock, and water will come from it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so in the eyes of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, for the conflict of the sons of Israel and for their testing of Yahweh by saying, “Is Yahweh among us or not?” 8 And Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. 9 And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us and go out. Fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will be stationed on top of the hill, and the staff of God will be in my hand.” 10 And Joshua did as Moses said to him, to fight Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur climbed up to the top of the hill. 11 And so it was, when Moses raised his hand, then Israel would be winning, and when he set his hand down, then Amalek would be winning. 12 And the hands of Moses became heavy. And they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, and Aaron and Hur held his hands up, one from this, and one from that. And so his hands were steady until the sun went down. 13 And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. 14 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Write this memory in the book and put it in the ears of Joshua, because I will certainly blot out the memory of Amalek from under the skies.” 15 And Moses built an altar, and he called its name “Yahweh is my banner.” 16 And he said, “Because a hand was against the throne of Yah, war is to Yahweh against Amalek from generation to generation.” Chapter 18 1 And Jethro, the priest of Midian, father-in-law of Moses, heard all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people; that Yahweh brought Israel out from Egypt. 2 And Jethro, father-in-law of Moses, took Zipporah, wife of Moses, after he had sent her back, 3 and her two sons; one of whose names was Gershom, for he had said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.” 4 And the name of the other was Eliezer, for “The God of my father was my helper. And he rescued me from the sword of Pharaoh.” 5 And Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, came, and his sons and his wife, to Moses, to the wilderness where he was camping, at the mountain of God. 6 And he said to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you, and your wife, and her two sons with her.” 7 And Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and he bowed down and kissed him. And they asked, each man his friend, of their welfare, and they went into the tent. 8 And Moses related to his father-in-law all that Yahweh had done to Pharaoh and to Egypt on account of Israel, all the hardship that found them along the way, and of Yahweh rescuing them. 9 And Jethro rejoiced over all the good that Yahweh had done for Israel, whom he rescued from the hand of Egypt. 10 And Jethro said, “Bless Yahweh, who rescued you out of the hand of Egypt and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who rescued the people from under the hand of Egypt. 11 Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all the gods, because of the affair {in} which they acted proudly against them.” 12 And Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, took a burnt offering and sacrifices to God. And Aaron came, and all of the elders of Israel, to eat bread before the face of God with the father-in-law of Moses. 13 And so it happened the next day that Moses sat down to judge the people. And the people stood around Moses from morning until evening. 14 And the father-in-law of Moses was watching all that he did for the people, and he said, “What is this thing that you are doing with the people? For what purpose do you sit alone, and all the people position themselves next to you from morning until evening?” 15 And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God. 16 When a situation comes up among them, someone comes to me. And I judge between a man and his associate, and I help them understand the statutes of God and his laws.” 17 And the father-in-law of Moses said to him, “The thing which you are doing is not good. 18 You will certainly wear yourself out, both you and also these people who are with you, because the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. 19 Now, listen to my voice. I will advise you, and God will be with you. You be before God for the people, and you should bring their disputes to God yourself. 20 And you should teach them the statutes and the laws. And you should cause them to know the way they should walk in and the work that they should do. 21 And you yourself should search out from all of the people men of ability, fearers of God, men of faithfulness, haters of dishonest profit. And you should appoint over them: leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, and leaders of tens. 22 And they will judge the people at all times. And so it will be, every great situation they will bring to you, and every small situation they will judge themselves. And you must lighten {this thing} from on you! And they will carry alongside you. 23 If you do this thing, and God instructs you, then you will be able to endure, and furthermore, all of this people will go to its place in peace.” 24 And Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did everything that he had said. 25 And Moses chose men of ability from all Israel, and he appointed them heads over the people, leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, and leaders of tens. 26 And they judged the people at all times. They brought the difficult situations to Moses, and they judged each small situation themselves. 27 And Moses let his father-in-law go, and he went into his own land. Chapter 19 1 In the third month from the people of Israel exiting the land of Egypt, on the same day, they entered the wilderness of Sinai. 2 And they departed from Rephidim, and they entered the wilderness of Sinai, and they camped in the wilderness. And Israel camped there in front of the mountain. 3 And Moses went up to God, and Yahweh called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall speak to the house of Jacob, and you shall tell the sons of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves saw what I did to the Egyptians, how I carried you on the wings of eagles and brought you to myself. 5 And now, if you listen intently to my voice and keep my covenant, then you will be my possession from among all peoples. For all the earth is mine, 6 and you yourselves will be my kingdom of priests and holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.” 7 And Moses came and summoned the elders of the people. And he set before their faces all these words that Yahweh had commanded him. 8 And all the people responded together, and they said, “We will do everything that Yahweh has said.” And Moses brought the words of the people back to Yahweh. 9 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Look, I will come to you in a thick cloud so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also trust in you forever.” And Moses told the words of the people to Yahweh. 10 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Go to the people and make them holy today and tomorrow, and have them wash their clothing, 11 and they will be prepared for the third day; for on the third day Yahweh will come down to Mount Sinai before the eyes of all the people. 12 And you shall set boundaries for the people all around, saying, ‘Watch yourselves climbing on the mountain or touching on its edge. Every mountain toucher shall certainly be killed. 13 No hand shall touch that one. Instead, he shall be stoned or he shall be shot. Whether animal or human, he shall not live.’ At the prolonged sound of the horn, they shall ascend on the mountain.” 14 And Moses went down from the mountain to the people. And he made the people holy, and they washed their clothing. 15 And he said to the people, “Be prepared by the third day; you shall not come near to a woman.” 16 And it happened on the third day, when it was the morning, there were thunder and lightning and a heavy cloud on the mountain, and an extremely strong horn sound. And all the people who were in the camp were trembling. 17 And Moses brought the people out from the camp to meet God, and they stationed themselves at the bottom of the mountain. 18 And Mount Sinai smoked—all of it—because Yahweh descended on it in fire. And its smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled mightily. 19 And it happened, the sound of the horn went very strong. Moses was speaking, and God was answering him in a voice. 20 And Yahweh descended on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain, and Yahweh called Moses to the top of the mountain. And Moses ascended. 21 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people lest they break through to Yahweh to see and many from them fall. 22 And furthermore, the priests, the ones who come near to Yahweh, they shall make themselves holy lest Yahweh bursts out against them.” 23 And Moses said to Yahweh, “The people are not able to come up on Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying: ‘Set boundaries on the mountain and set it apart.’” 24 And Yahweh said to him, “Go, climb down. And you shall come back up, you and Aaron with you; and the priests and the people shall not break through to come up to Yahweh, lest he burst out against them.” 25 And Moses went down to the people, and he spoke to them. Chapter 20 1 God spoke all these words, saying: 2 “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 3 There shall not be to you other gods above my face. 4 You shall not make for yourself a carved figure or the likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them and you shall not serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God. I visit the iniquity of the fathers on the sons on the third and on the fourth of the haters of me. 6 But I show covenant faithfulness to thousands, to lovers of me and to keepers of my commandments. 7 You shall not lift up the name of Yahweh your God with emptiness, for Yahweh will not leave unpunished anyone who lifts up my name with emptiness. 8 Remember the Sabbath day, to set it apart to me. 9 Six days you may labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath for Yahweh your God. You shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male servant or your female servant or your cattle or the foreigner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and earth, the sea, and everything that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart. 12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long on the land that Yahweh your God is giving you. 13 You shall not murder. 14 You shall not commit adultery. 15 You shall not steal. 16 You shall not testify false testimony against your neighbor. 17 You shall not covet the house of your neighbor; you shall not covet the wife of your neighbor or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” 18 All the people were seeing the thundering and the lightning and the sound of the horn and the mountain smoking. And the people saw it, and they trembled, and they stood from a distance. 19 They said to Moses, “You speak to us and let us listen! But do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” 20 And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, for God has come to test you so that the fear of him may be above your faces and so that you do not sin.” 21 So the people stood far off, and Moses approached toward the thick darkness where God was. 22 And Yahweh said to Moses, “You shall speak thus to the sons of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. 23 You shall not make alongside me—you shall not make gods of silver or gods of gold for yourselves. 24 You shall make an altar of earth for me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings, and peace offerings, sheep, and oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. 25 And if you make me an altar of stones, you shall not build them of cut stones, for causing your tool to move over it will defile it. 26 And you shall not go up to my altar on steps, so that your nakedness is not exposed over it.’ Chapter 21 1 And these are the ordinances that you shall set before their faces: 2 ‘If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve for six years, and in the seventh year he shall go free without paying anything. 3 If he came by himself, he shall go free by himself; if he is the husband of a wife, then his wife shall go free with him. 4 If his master gave him a wife and she bore him sons or daughters, the wife and her children are her master’s, and he must go out by himself. 5 But if the servant plainly says, “I love my master, my wife, and my children; I shall not go out free,” 6 then his master shall bring him to God. He shall bring him to a door or to a doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl. Then he shall serve him forever. 7 And if a man sells his daughter as a female servant, she shall not go out as the male servants go out. 8 If she is bad in the eyes of her master, who has appointed her for himself, then he shall cause her to be ransomed. He has no authority to sell her to a foreign people, since he has acted treacherously with her. 9 And if he appoints her for his son, he shall act toward her according to the custom of daughters. 10 If he takes another to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights. 11 But if he does not provide these three things to her, then she can go free without silver. 12 Whoever strikes a man and he dies, he shall surely be put to death. 13 But if he did not lie in wait, but God let it happen by his hand, then I will appoint a place for you where he can flee. 14 If a man willfully acts against his neighbor to kill him with cunning, then you shall take him from my altar for execution. 15 Whoever hits his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. 16 Whoever steals a man—whether he sells him, or he is found in his hand—he shall surely be put to death. 17 Whoever acts contemptuously toward his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. 18 If men fight and a man hits his neighbor with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die but falls to bed, 19 if he rises and walks about in the outdoors on his staff, then the striker is free. He only shall pay for his sitting and for his complete healing. 20 And if a man hits his male servant or his female servant with a staff and he dies under his hand, he shall certainly be avenged. 21 However, if he stands a day or two, he shall not be avenged, for he is his silver. 22 And if men fight together and strike a pregnant woman and her children come out, but there is no serious injury, then he shall surely be fined as the husband of the woman puts on him, and he shall give according to the judges. 23 But if there is serious injury, then you shall give a life for a life, 24 an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot, 25 a burn for a burn, a wound for a wound, or a bruise for a bruise. 26 And if a man hits the eye of his male servant or the eye of his female servant and destroys it, he shall let him go free in compensation for his eye. 27 And if he knocks out a tooth of his male servant or a tooth of his female servant, he shall let him go free as compensation for the tooth. 28 And if an ox gores a man or a woman and he dies, the ox shall surely be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox is innocent. 29 But if the ox had a habit of goring in the past, and its owner was warned but did not keep it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death. 30 If a ransom is imposed on him, he shall give the ransom of his life, according to all that is imposed on him. 31 If it gores a son or it gores a daughter, it shall be done to him according to this ordinance. 32 If the ox gores a male servant or a female servant, he shall give thirty silver shekels to the master, and the ox shall be stoned. 33 And if a man opens a cistern or if a man digs a cistern and does not cover it and an ox or a donkey falls there, 34 the owner of the pit shall compensate. He shall cause silver to return to its owner, and the dead animal shall become his. 35 And if the ox of a man strikes the ox of another and it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide its silver, and they shall also divide the dead {ox}. 36 If it was known that the ox had a habit of goring in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall surely compensate ox for ox, and the dead animal shall become his own. Chapter 22 1 If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it, he shall compensate five cattle for the ox, and four sheep for the sheep. 2 If a thief is found while breaking in, and he is struck and he dies, there is no bloodguilt for him. 3 But if the sun has risen on him, there is bloodguilt for him. He shall surely make restitution. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. 4 If the stolen thing is actually found alive in his hand, from an ox to a donkey to a sheep, he shall compensate double. 5 If a man causes his livestock to graze a field or vineyard and lets it go, and it grazes in the field of another, he shall compensate from the best of his field and from the best of his vineyard. 6 If a fire breaks out and spreads in thorns and stacked grain or the standing grain or a field is consumed, the fire starter shall surely compensate. 7 If a man gives silver or goods to his neighbor for safekeeping, and if it is stolen from the house of the man, if the thief is found, he shall compensate double. 8 If the thief is not found, then the owner of the house shall be brought to God, whether or not he has stretched out his hand against the property of his neighbor. 9 Concerning every matter of transgression, concerning an ox, concerning a donkey, concerning a sheep, concerning clothing, concerning every lost property about which someone says, “Surely this is it,” the matter of both parties shall come to God. Whomever God declares guilty shall compensate his neighbor double. 10 If a man gives to his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any animal to keep, and it dies or is hurt or is carried away without a witness, 11 there shall be an oath of Yahweh between both of them, whether or not he stretched out his hand against the property of his neighbor. Its owner must accept, and he shall not compensate. 12 But if it was truly stolen from him, he shall compensate its owner. 13 If it was truly torn, he shall bring it as evidence. He shall not compensate for what was torn. 14 If a man borrows from his neighbor and it is injured or dies without the owner with it, he shall surely compensate. 15 If its owner was with it, he shall not compensate; if it was for hire, it came for its hiring fee. 16 If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged, and if he lies with her, he shall surely pay her bride price to make her his wife. 17 If her father completely refuses to give her to him, he shall weigh out silver equal to the bride price of virgins. 18 You shall not allow a sorceress to live. 19 Any lier with an animal shall surely be put to death. 20 A sacrificer to the gods except to Yahweh alone shall be completely destroyed. 21 You shall not wrong a sojourner and you shall not oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. 22 You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. 23 If you actually afflict them, and if they actually cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, 24 and my nose will burn, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows, and your sons will become fatherless. 25 If you lend silver to my people, the poor with you, you shall not be like a creditor to him—you shall not put interest on him. 26 If you actually take the clothing of your neighbor in pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down, 27 for it is his only covering; it is his clothing for his skin. In what will he lie down? And it will be when he cries to me, that I will hear him, for I am gracious. 28 You shall not act contemptuously toward God, and you shall not curse a ruler of your people. 29 You shall not hold back from your full harvest or your presses. You shall give the firstborn of your sons to me. 30 You shall do the same to your ox and to your sheep. Seven days it will be with its mother; on the eighth day you shall give it to me. 31 And you shall be men of holiness to me. And you shall not eat animal-torn-in-the-field meat. You shall throw it to the dogs. Chapter 23 1 You shall not take up a report of emptiness. You shall not put your hand with the wicked to be a witness of violence. 2 You shall not follow a crowd into evil, nor shall you testify on legal matters to turn aside behind the crowd that turns aside. 3 And you shall not favor the poor in his lawsuit. 4 If you meet the ox of your enemy or his donkey going astray, you shall certainly bring it back to him. 5 If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen to the ground under its load, you shall refrain from leaving him. You shall surely release it with him. 6 You shall not turn aside justice for your poor in his lawsuit. 7 You shall be far from a word of deception, and you shall not kill the innocent or righteous, for I will not justify the wicked. 8 And you shall not take a bribe, for the bribe blinds the clear-sighted, and it perverts the words of the righteous. 9 And you shall not oppress a foreigner, since you yourself know the soul of the foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. 10 And six years you shall sow your land and gather its produce. 11 But the seventh you shall let it drop and leave it alone, and the poor of your people shall eat. And the living things of the field shall eat the reminder. You shall do thus to your vineyard and to your olive orchard. 12 Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female slave and the sojourner may be refreshed. 13 You shall take heed to everything that I have said to you. You shall not mention the names of other gods, nor let them be heard on your mouth. 14 You shall celebrate me three times every year. 15 You shall keep the Festival of Unleavened Bread. You shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, at the appointed time, the month of Aviv, for in it you came out from Egypt. And you shall not appear at my face empty-handed. 16 And {you shall keep} the Festival of the Harvest, {bringing} the first fruits of your labors which you sowed in the field. And {you shall keep} the Festival of the Gathering in the exiting of the year, {bringing} in your gathering of your labors from the field. 17 Three times in a year, all your males shall appear to the face of the Lord Yahweh. 18 You shall not sacrifice the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread, and the fat of my festival shall not remain all night until morning. 19 You shall bring the first of the firstfruits of your ground to the house of Yahweh your God. You shall not boil a young goat in the milk of its mother. 20 Behold, I am about to send an angel before your face to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. 21 Be guarded from his face and listen to his voice. Do not cause bitterness in him, for he will not bear with your transgressions, for my name is within him. 22 For if you indeed heed his voice and do everything that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and I will be an adversary to your adversaries. 23 For my angel will go before your face and bring you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites. I will annihilate them. 24 You shall not bow down to their gods, and you shall not serve them, and you shall not do as they do. For you shall completely overthrow them and completely smash their stone pillars. 25 And you shall serve Yahweh your God, and he will bless your bread and your water. And I will remove sickness from among you. 26 There will not be a miscarriage or a barren woman in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days. 27 I will send my terror before your face, and I will confuse all of the people into whom you will go, and I will give the back of the neck of all of your enemies to you. 28 And I will send the hornet before your face, and it will drive out the Hivites, Canaanites, and the Hittites from before your face. 29 I will not drive them out from before your face in one year, lest the land become desolate and the animals of the field become too many for you. 30 I will drive them out little by little from before your face until you become fruitful and possess the land. 31 And I will set your borders from the Sea of Reeds to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the river. For I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand. And you will drive them out from before your faces. 32 You shall not make a covenant with them or with their gods. 33 They shall not live in your land, lest they cause you to sin against me; for you will serve their gods. Surely it will become a snare for you.” Chapter 24 1 And he said to Moses, “Come up to Yahweh—you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy from the elders of Israel, and you shall bow down from a distance. 2 And Moses alone shall come near to Yahweh, and they shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.” 3 And Moses went and recounted to the people all of the words of Yahweh and all of the ordinances. And all of the people answered with one voice and said, “We will do all the things that Yahweh has spoken.” 4 And Moses wrote all of the words of Yahweh. And he rose early in the morning and built an altar at the bottom of the mountain and twelve stone pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 He sent the young men of the sons of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of bulls to Yahweh. 6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it into basins and sprinkled half of the blood onto the altar. 7 And he took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud in the ears of the people. And they said, “We will do and hear all that Yahweh has spoken.” 8 And Moses took the blood and sprinkled it onto the people. And he said, “Behold! the blood of the covenant that Yahweh has cut with you according to all of these words.” 9 And Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy from the elders of Israel went up. 10 And they saw the God of Israel. And under his feet was like tile made of sapphire, and its substance was as the sky in purity. 11 And he did not send out his hand to the leaders of the sons of Israel. And they saw God, and they ate and drank. 12 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Come up to me to the mountain and be there. And I will give you the tablets of stone and the law and the commandments that I have written to teach them.” 13 And Moses and his servant Joshua got up, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. 14 And he had said to the elders, “Wait for us in this place until we return to you. And behold! Aaron and Hur are with you; Whoever is a master of words may come near to them.” 15 And Moses went up to the mountain, and a cloud covered the mountain. 16 And the glory of Yahweh settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses from within the cloud. 17 And the appearance of the glory of Yahweh was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the sons of Israel. 18 And Moses entered the middle of the cloud and went up to the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights. Chapter 25 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and they shall take a contribution for me. You shall take my contribution from every man whose heart incites him. 3 And these are the contributions that you shall receive from them: gold and silver and bronze 4 and blue and purple and worm of scarlet and fine linen and goats’ hair 5 and reddened hides of rams and hides of sea cows and wood of acacias, 6 oil for the light; spices for the oil of anointing and for the incense of fragrance; 7 stones of onyx and precious stones for settings for the ephod and for the breastpiece. 8 And they shall make a sanctuary for me, and I shall live in their midst, 9 according to all that I am about to show you—the pattern of the Dwelling and the pattern of all of its utensils—and thus you shall make it. 10 And they shall make a box of wood of acacias—its length: two cubits and a half; and its width: one cubit and a half; and its height: one cubit and a half. 11 And you shall overlay it {with} pure gold, inside and outside you shall overlay it, and you shall make on it a border of gold around {it}. 12 And you shall cast four rings of gold for it and put {them} on its four feet: two rings on its one side and two rings on its second side. 13 And you shall make poles of wood of acacias and overlay them {with} gold. 14 And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the box, to carry the box with them. 15 The poles shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be removed from it. 16 And you shall put into the box the Testimony that I give to you. 17 And you shall make an atonement lid of pure gold—its length: two cubits and a half; and its width: a cubit and a half. 18 And you shall make two gold cherubim. You shall make them of hammered work from the two ends of the atonement lid. 19 And make one cherub from this end and one cherub from this end. You shall make the cherubim from the atonement lid on its two ends. 20 And the cherubim shall be spreading out their wings upward, covering over the atonement lid with their wings and their faces {shall} each {be} toward his brother. The faces of the cherubim shall be toward the atonement lid. 21 And you shall put the atonement lid on the box from above, and you shall put into the box the Testimony that I give to you. 22 And I will meet with you there and I will speak with you all that I will command you for the sons of Israel from above the atonement lid, from between the two cherubim which are above the Box of the Testimony. 23 And you shall make a table from wood of acacias. Its length: two cubits, and its width: a cubit, and its height: a cubit and a half. 24 And you shall overlay it {with} pure gold, and you shall make for it a border of gold around {it}. 25 And you shall make a rim for it, a handbreadth all around, and you shall make a border of gold around its rim. 26 And you shall make four rings of gold for it and put the rings on the four corners, where its four legs are. 27 The rings shall be close to the rim to house the poles to carry the table. 28 And you shall make the poles {out of} wood of acacias and cover them {with} gold, and the table shall be carried with them. 29 And you shall make its plates and its pans and its pitchers and its bowls with which it will be poured out. You shall make them {from} pure gold. 30 And you shall continually put the bread of faces on the table before my face. 31 And you shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand—its base and its shaft—shall be made of hammered work. Its cups, its buds, and its blossoms shall be from it. 32 And six branches go out from its sides—three branches of the lampstand from the one side and three branches of the lampstand from the second side. 33 Three cups, shaped like almond blossoms, shall be on the one branch, a bulb, and a blossom. And three cups, shaped like almond blossoms, shall be on the one branch, a bulb, and a blossom—thus for the six branches going out from the lampstand. 34 And on the lampstand there shall be four cups shaped like almond blossoms {with} its bulbs and its blossoms, 35 And a bulb will be under two of the branches from it, and a bulb will be under two of the branches from it, and a bulb will be under two of the branches from it—for all six branches extending out from the lampstand. 36 Their bulbs and their branches from it shall all be one piece of hammered work of pure gold. 37 And you shall make its seven lamps, and it will hold up its lamps, and it will make light on the side of its face. 38 And {make} its tongs and its trays of pure gold. 39 He shall make it, all these items, from a talent of pure gold. 40 See and make by the pattern that you are being shown on the mountain. Chapter 26 1 And the Dwelling you shall make with ten curtains: twisted fine linen and blue and purple and worm of scarlet; cherubim—the work of a skilled craftsman you shall make them. 2 The length of each curtain shall be 28 cubits and the width of each curtain shall be 4 cubits. All of the curtains shall be one size. 3 Five of the curtains shall be joined each to another and five of the curtains joined each to another. 4 And you shall make loops of blue on the edge of the first curtain from the edge in the set. And you shall do thus along the edge of the end curtain in the second set. 5 You shall make 50 loops on the first curtain, and you shall make 50 loops on the end of the curtain which is in the second set. The loops should be opposite woman to her sister. 6 And you shall make 50 clasps of gold and join the curtains woman to her sister with the clasps, and the Dwelling will be one. 7 And you shall make curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the Dwelling. You shall make 11 of these curtains. 8 The length of each curtain {shall be} 30 cubits, and the width of each curtain {shall be} 4 cubits. The 11 curtains {shall be} the same size. 9 And you shall join five curtains to each other and six curtains to each other. And you shall double over the sixth curtain at the front of the face of the tent. 10 And you shall make 50 loops on the edge of the one end curtain in the joined set and 50 loops on the edge of the curtain in the second joined set. 11 And you shall make 50 clasps of bronze and put the clasps in the loops and join them and the tent will be one. 12 And the remaining excess curtain of the tent, the half curtain remaining, shall hang over the back of the Dwelling. 13 And a cubit from this side and a cubit from that side, the excess of the length of the curtains of the tent shall hang over the sides of the Dwelling from this side and from that side, to cover it. 14 And you shall make a covering for the tent of reddened hides of rams, and a covering of hides of sea-cows above that. 15 And you shall make upright frames for the Dwelling from wood of acacias. 16 The length of a frame shall be ten cubits, and the width of one frame shall be a cubit and a half of a cubit. 17 There shall be two tenons in each frame for joining a woman to her sister. Thus you shall make all of the frames of the Dwelling. 18 And you shall make the frames for the Dwelling: 20 frames for the south side. 19 And you shall make 40 bases of silver under the 20 frames: two bases under one frame for its two tenons, and two bases under one frame for its two tenons. 20 And for the second side of the Dwelling, on the north side: 20 frames 21 and their 40 silver bases: two bases under one frame and two bases under one frame. 22 And you shall make six frames for the back side of the Dwelling, toward the west. 23 And you shall make two frames for the back corners of the Dwelling. 24 And they shall be a pair at the bottom, and they shall be completely together at the top to one ring. Thus it shall be for both; the two shall be the corners. 25 And there shall be eight frames and their silver bases, sixteen bases: two bases under one frame and two bases under one frame. 26 And you shall make crossbars of wood of acacias—five for the frames of the one side of the Dwelling, 27 and five crossbars for the frames of the second side of the Dwelling, and five crossbars for the frames for the back side of the Dwelling to the west. 28 And the middle crossbar in the center of the frames shall pass through from end to end. 29 And you shall cover the frames with gold. And you shall make their rings of gold, the holders for the crossbars. And you shall cover the bars with gold. 30 And you shall set up the Dwelling according to its plan that you were shown on the mountain. 31 And you shall make a curtain of blue, and purple and worm of scarlet and of twisted fine linen; the work of a skillful workman, he shall make cherubim. 32 And you shall hang it on four pillars of acacia wood covered with gold and their hooks of gold on four bases of silver. 33 And you shall hang the curtain under the clasps, and you shall bring the Box of the Testimony there inside the curtain. And the curtain shall separate for you between the Holy and the Holy of Holies. 34 And you shall put the atonement lid on the Box of the Testimony in the Holy of Holies. 35 And you shall put the table outside the curtain and the lampstand opposite the table on the south side of the Dwelling. And put the table on the north side. 36 And you shall make a curtain for the entrance of the tent of blue and purple and worm of scarlet and of twisted fine linen, the work of an embroiderer. 37 And you shall make five pillars of acacia wood for the curtain, and you shall overlay them with gold, and their hooks {shall be} gold, and you shall cast five bases of bronze for them. Chapter 27 1 And you shall make the altar of wood of acacias, five cubits long and five cubits wide. The altar shall be square and three cubits high. 2 And you shall make its horns on its four corners; its horns will be part of it. And you shall overlay it with bronze. 3 And you shall make its pots for fatty ashes and its shovels and its basins and its meat forks and its trays. You shall make all its utensils with bronze. 4 And you shall make a grate for it, a work of a network of bronze. And you shall make four rings of bronze on the network, on its four corners. 5 And you shall put it under the ledge of the altar below, and the network shall be up to the middle of the altar. 6 And you shall make poles for the altar, poles of wood of acacias, and you shall overlay them with bronze. 7 And its poles shall be put into the rings, and the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar when carrying it. 8 You shall make it hollow, of planks. Just as he showed you on the mountain, so they shall do. 9 And you shall make the courtyard of the Dwelling. There shall be curtains of fine twisted linen on the south side of the courtyard; one side shall be 100 cubits long, 10 with its 20 pillars and their 20 bronze bases, the hooks of the pillars and their rings of silver. 11 And thus for the north side, the length of the curtains: 100 long, and its 20 pillars, 20 bases of bronze, hooks of the pillars, and rings of silver. 12 And the width of the courtyard, on the west side, shall have a curtain 50 cubits long with its ten pillars and ten bases. 13 And the width of the courtyard, on the east side, shall be 50 cubits. 14 The curtains for the side {shall be} fifteen cubits {with} their three pillars and their three bases. 15 The curtains for the second side shall be fifteen with their three pillars and their three bases. 16 And the gate of the courtyard shall be a curtain 20 cubits wide of blue and purple and worm of scarlet and of twisted fine linen—the work of an embroiderer—with its four pillars and its four bases. 17 All the pillars of the courtyard shall be filleted around with silver, and their silver hooks, and their bases of bronze. 18 The length of the courtyard shall be 100 cubits, and the width 50, and the height five cubits with fine twined linen, and bases of bronze. 19 All of the equipment of the Dwelling for all of its service, and all of its tent pegs and all of the pegs of the courtyard shall be bronze. 20 And you shall command the sons of Israel and they shall bring pure pressed oil of olive to you for the lamp, to cause the lamp to burn continually. 21 In the tent of meeting, outside the curtain inside of which is the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall arrange it before the face of Yahweh, from evening to morning. This is an eternal statute throughout the generations of the sons of Israel. Chapter 28 1 And you, bring Aaron your brother, and his sons with him near to you from among the sons of Israel to be priests for me—Aaron and Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron! 2 And you shall make for Aaron your brother clothes of holiness for glory and for splendor. 3 And you, you shall speak to all of the wise of heart, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, and they shall make the clothes of Aaron to set him apart to be a priest for me. 4 And these are the clothes that they shall make: a breastpiece and an ephod and a robe and a tunic of woven work, a turban and a sash. And they shall make clothes of holiness for your brother Aaron and for his sons to be priests for me. 5 And they shall take gold and blue and purple and worm of scarlet and fine linen. 6 And they shall make the ephod from gold, blue, and purple, worm of scarlet, and twisted fine linen—the work of a skillful craftsman. 7 It shall have two shoulder pieces joining to its two ends; so it shall be joined. 8 And the skillfully-crafted sash of the ephod which is on it shall be of like workmanship, from it: of gold, blue and purple and worm of scarlet and fine twined linen. 9 And you shall take two stones of onyx and you shall engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, 10 six of their names on one stone and the six remaining names on the second stone, according to their genealogies. 11 You shall engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel—the work of a craftsman of stone, the engravings of a signet. You shall make them surrounded with ornamental settings of gold. 12 And you shall put the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as stones of reminder for the sons of Israel. And Aaron shall carry their names before the face of Yahweh on his two shoulders for a reminder. 13 And you shall make ornamental settings of gold 14 and two twisted chains of pure gold: you shall make them as a work of rope, and you shall attach the chains of the rope to the ornamental settings. 15 And you shall make a breastpiece of judgment—the work of a skillful craftsman—you shall make it like the work of the ephod; you shall make it from gold, blue, and purple, and worm of scarlet, and twisted fine linen. 16 It shall be square, folded double; its length: a span; and its width: a span. 17 And you shall set in it settings of precious stone—four stone rows. The first row shall be a row with a ruby, a topaz, and a garnet. 18 And the second row: an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. 19 And the third row: a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst. 20 And the fourth row: a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold—in their ornamental settings. 21 And the precious stones shall be according to the names of the sons of Israel—according to their 12 names. Each shall be like the engraving of a signet according to its name—for the 12 tribes. 22 And you shall make twisted chains on the breastpiece, as a work of rope—pure gold. 23 And you shall make two rings of gold for the breastpiece, and you shall put the two rings on the two ends of the breastpiece. 24 And you shall attach the two chains of gold to the rings on the two ends of the breastpiece. 25 And you shall attach two of the ends of the two chains to the two ornamental settings, and you shall attach those to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front of its face. 26 And you shall make two rings of gold, and you shall put them on the two ends of the breastpiece, on the edge which is toward the inner side of the ephod. 27 And you shall make two rings of gold, and you shall put them on the two shoulder-pieces of the ephod on the bottom of the front of its face, close to its joining above the skillfully crafted waistband of the ephod. 28 And they shall tie the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a cord of blue to be on the finely crafted waistband of the ephod, so the breastpiece shall not become detached from on the ephod. 29 And Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment over his heart when he goes into the Holy Place as a reminder before the face of Yahweh continually. 30 And you shall put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece of judgment, and they shall be over the heart of Aaron when he goes in before the face of Yahweh. And Aaron shall bear the judgment of the sons of Israel over his heart before the face of Yahweh continually. 31 And you shall make the robe of the ephod entirely of blue. 32 And there shall be an opening for his head in the middle of it. There shall be an edge for its opening all around, so it can not tear—the work of a weaver, it shall be like an opening of a garment. 33 And on its bottom hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple, and worm of scarlet all around on its hem with bells of gold between them all around: 34 a bell of gold and a pomegranate, a bell of gold and a pomegranate all around the hem of the robe. 35 And it shall be on Aaron while serving, and its sound shall be heard at his going into the Holy Place before the face of Yahweh and at his leaving. And he shall not die. 36 And you shall make a rosette of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving on a signet, ‘Holy to Yahweh.’ 37 And you shall attach it by a cord of blue, and it shall be on the turban. It shall be toward the front of the face of the turban. 38 And it shall be on the forehead of Aaron, and Aaron shall bear the iniquity of the holy things which the sons of Israel shall cause to be holy, for all of the gifts of their holy things, and it shall be on his forehead continually for their acceptance before the face of Yahweh. 39 And you shall weave the tunic with fine linen, and you shall make a turban of fine linen. And you shall make a sash, the work of an embroiderer. 40 And for the sons of Aaron you shall make tunics, and you shall make sashes for them, and you shall make headbands for them for glory and for splendor. 41 And you shall clothe them, your brother Aaron and his sons with him. And you shall anoint them, and you shall fill their hand, and you shall set them apart to be priests to me. 42 And make for them undergarments of linen to cover the flesh of nakedness—they shall be from the waist to the thighs. 43 And they shall be on Aaron and on his sons at their entering into the tent of meeting or at their drawing near to the altar to serve in the Holy Place. And they shall not bear iniquity and die. This is a statute forever for him and for his offspring after him. Chapter 29 1 And this {is} the thing that you shall do to them to set them apart to be priests to me. Take one bull, a son of the herd, and two unblemished rams 2 and unleavened bread and unleavened cakes mixed with oil and unleavened wafers rubbed with oil. Make them with fine flour of wheat. 3 And you shall put them into one basket, and you shall bring them near in the basket, and the bull and the two rams. 4 And you shall bring Aaron and his sons near to the entrance of the tent of meeting. And you shall wash them with water. 5 And you shall take the garments, and you shall clothe Aaron with the tunic and the robe of the ephod and the ephod and the breastpiece, and you shall fasten the ephod to him with the finely woven waistband of the ephod. 6 And you shall set the turban on his head and put the crown of holiness on the turban. 7 And you shall take the oil of anointing and pour it on his head and anoint him. 8 And you shall bring his sons and clothe them with tunics. 9 And you shall wrap them—Aaron and his sons—with the sash and bind headbands to them. And the priesthood will be to them as a statute forever. And you shall fill the hand of Aaron and the hand of his sons. 10 And you shall bring the bull to the face of the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. 11 And you shall slaughter the bull before the face of Yahweh at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 12 And you shall take from the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and you shall pour out all of the blood on the base of the altar. 13 And you shall take all of the fat covering the entrails and the lobe above the liver and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and cause them to become smoke on the altar. 14 But you shall burn the flesh of the bull and its skin and its dung in the fire outside of the camp. It is a purification offering. 15 And you shall take one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram, 16 and you shall slaughter the ram. And you shall take its blood and sprinkle it all around on the altar. 17 And you shall cut the ram into pieces and wash its entrails and its legs and put them on its pieces and on its head, 18 and cause all of the ram to become smoke on the altar. It is a burnt offering to Yahweh. It is a scent of appeasement, a fire offering to Yahweh. 19 And you shall take the second ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram, 20 and you shall slaughter the ram and take some of its blood. And you shall put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and on the tip of the right ear of his sons and on the thumb of their right hand and on the great toe of their right foot. And you shall sprinkle the blood all around on the altar. 21 And you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the oil of anointing and sprinkle it on Aaron and on his garments and on his sons and on the garments of his sons along with him. And he will be set apart and his garments and his sons and the garments of his sons along with him. 22 And you shall take the fat from the ram and the fat tail and the fat covering the entrails and the lobe of the liver and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them and the right thigh—for this is a ram of consecration— 23 and one round loaf of bread, and one cake of bread of oil, and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread that is before the face of Yahweh. 24 And you shall put all these on the palms of Aaron and on the palms of his sons, and you shall raise them as a raised offering before the face of Yahweh. 25 And you shall take them from their hands, and cause them to become smoke on the altar above the burnt offering to be an aroma of appeasing before the face of Yahweh, it is a fire offering to Yahweh. 26 And you shall take the breast from the ram of consecration that is for Aaron and raise it for a raised offering before the face of Yahweh, and it will be your share. 27 And from the ram of consecration which is for Aaron and which is for his sons, you shall set apart the breast of the raised offering that was raised and the thigh of the contribution that was contributed. 28 And it shall belong to Aaron and to his sons—as an eternal requirement—for it is an offering from the sons of Israel. And it shall be an offering from the sons of Israel from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, their offerings to Yahweh. 29 And the garments of holiness that are for Aaron shall be for his sons after him, for anointing in them and to fill their hand in them. 30 The priest who succeeds him from among his sons, who comes into the tent of meeting to serve in the Holy Place, shall wear them for seven days. 31 And you shall take the ram of consecration and boil its meat in a holy place. 32 And Aaron and his sons shall eat the meat of the ram and the bread that is in the basket at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 33 And they shall eat these that were for their atoning to fill their hand, to set them apart. But a stranger shall not eat them, because they are set apart. 34 And if any meat of the consecration or any of the bread remains until the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is set apart. 35 And thus you shall do to Aaron and to his sons according to all that I have commanded you: you shall fill their hand seven days. 36 And you shall offer a bull of purification for atonement daily, and you shall purify the altar by making atonement for it. And you shall anoint it to set it apart. 37 You shall make atonement for the altar seven days, and set it apart. And the altar will be a holiest holy thing. Whatever touches the altar will be set apart. 38 And this is what you shall offer on the altar every day continually: two lambs, sons of a year. 39 The one lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the second lamb you shall offer between the evenings. 40 For the first lamb: a tenth of fine flour mixed with pressed oil (the fourth part of a hin) and a drink offering: the fourth part of a hin of wine. 41 And you shall offer the second lamb between the evenings. You shall offer the same grain offering as in the morning and the same drink offering with it for a scent of appeasement, a fire offering to Yahweh. 42 It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations, at the entrance to the tent of meeting before the face of Yahweh, there where I will meet with you to speak to you there. 43 And I will meet with the sons of Israel there, and it will be set apart by my glory. 44 And I will set apart the tent of meeting and the altar. And I will set apart Aaron and his sons to be priests to me. 45 And I will live among the sons of Israel and will be their God. 46 And they will know that I am Yahweh their God, who brought them out from the land of Egypt to live among them. I am Yahweh their God. Chapter 30 1 And you shall make an altar, a place of burning of incense. You shall make it with wood of acacias, 2 Its length shall be one cubit and its width shall be one cubit. It shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits. Its horns {shall be} part of it. 3 And you shall overlay it with pure gold—its top and all around its sides and its horns—and you shall make for it a border of gold around it. 4 And you shall make two rings of gold for it under its border on its two sides. You shall make them on its two sides. They will be housings for the poles for carrying it with. 5 And you shall make the poles of wood of acacias, and you shall overlay them with gold. 6 And you shall place it before the face of the curtain that is over the Box of the Testimony. It shall be before the face of the atonement lid that is over the Testimony, where I will meet with you. 7 And Aaron shall cause smoke on it, incense of fragrance. Morning by morning, when he makes the lamps good, he shall cause it to smoke, 8 and when Aaron lifts up the lamps between the evenings, he will make it smoke. Incense will be continually before the face of Yahweh throughout your generations. 9 You shall not offer up strange incense or a burnt offering or a grain offering on it. And you shall not pour a drink offering on it. 10 And Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once a year. From the blood of the purification of the atonement once a year he shall make atonement for it throughout your generations. It is a holiest holy thing to Yahweh.” 11 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “When you lift up the head of the sons of Israel to count them, then each man shall give the ransom of his life to Yahweh when counting them. And there will not be a plague among them when counting them. 13 Every passer over to the counted ones shall give this: half of a shekel, according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is 20 gerahs). The half shekel is an offering to Yahweh. 14 Every passer over to the counted ones, from a son of 20 years and up, shall give the contribution of Yahweh. 15 The rich shall not increase, and the poor shall not decrease from the half-shekel for giving the contribution of Yahweh to cover over your lives. 16 And you shall take the silver of ransoms from the sons of Israel, and you shall give it to the work of the tent of meeting. And it shall be as a reminder for the sons of Israel before the face of Yahweh to cover over your lives.” 17 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “And you shall make a basin of bronze and its base of bronze for washing. And you shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it. 19 And Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet in it. 20 When they go into the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, and they will not die. Also when they go near to the altar to serve by causing a fire offering to Yahweh to smoke, 21 then they shall wash their hands and their feet, and they will not die. And this shall be a statute forever for them, for him and his offspring throughout their generations.” 22 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “As for you, take the best spices: myrrh of flowing, 500, and cinnamon of fragrance, its half, 250, and cane of fragrance, 250, 24 and cassia, 500, —according to the shekel of the sanctuary—and oil of olive, a hin. 25 And you shall make it {into} an oil of anointment of holiness, an ointment from an ointment mixture, the work of an ointment mixer. It shall be an oil of anointment of holiness. 26 And you shall anoint with it the tent of meeting and the Box of the Testimony 27 and the table and all of its utensils and the lampstand and its equipment and the altar of incense 28 and the altar of burnt offerings and all of its equipment and the basin and its stand. 29 And you shall set them apart, and they will be holiest holy things. Anything that touches them will be set apart. 30 And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons and set them apart to be priests to me. 31 And you shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘This will be my oil of anointment of holiness throughout your generations. 32 It shall not be poured on the body of a man, and you shall not make anything like it with its formula. It is holy; it shall be holy to you. 33 A man that mixes its like or that puts any of it on a stranger shall be cut off from his people.’” 34 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Take to yourself spices—stacte, and onycha, and galbanum—spices and pure frankincense. They shall each be in equal amounts. 35 And you shall make it {into} incense, an ointment, the work of an ointment mixer: salted, pure, holy. 36 And you shall pulverize some of it until pulverized. And you shall put some of it before the face of the testimony in the tent of meeting, where I will meet with you. It will be a holiest holy thing to you. 37 And the incense that you will make, you shall not make {any} with its formula for yourselves. It must be holy to Yahweh for you. 38 A man that makes its like to smell it shall be cut off from his people.” Chapter 31 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “See, I have called by name Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur, from the tribe of Judah. 3 And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill and with understanding and with knowledge and with all kinds of craftsmanship 4 to design designs, to work in gold and in silver and in bronze 5 and in carving of precious stones for setting and in carving of wood, to do all kinds of craftsmanship. 6 And behold, I have given with him Oholiab son of Ahisamak, from the tribe of Dan. And I have put skill into the hearts of all of the skilled of heart, and they shall make all that I have commanded you: 7 the tent of meeting and the Box of the Testimony, and the atonement lid that is on it and all of the furniture of the tent, 8 the table and its utensils and the pure lampstand and all its equipment and the altar of incense 9 and the altar of burnt offerings and all its equipment and the basin and its base 10 and the finely woven clothing and the clothing of holiness for Aaron the priest and the clothing of his sons to {be} priests 11 and the oil of anointing and the incense of fragrance for the sanctuary. They shall make according to all that I have commanded you.” 12 And Yahweh said to Moses, saying, 13 “And you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying: ‘Surely you shall keep my Sabbaths, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations so that you may know that I am Yahweh, who sets you apart. 14 And you shall keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you.’ The profaner of it shall surely be put to death, for every worker of work on it, that person shall be cut off from his people. 15 Work shall be done six days, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of Sabbath, holy to Yahweh. Every worker of work on the Sabbath day shall surely be put to death. 16 And the sons of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to celebrate the Sabbath throughout their generations. A covenant of eternity 17 is between me and the sons of Israel. It is a sign forever, for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.” 18 And as he finished speaking with him on the mountain of Sinai, he gave to Moses the two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God. Chapter 32 1 And the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, and the people gathered themselves around Aaron and said to him, “Arise, make gods for us that shall go before our faces, for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.” 2 And Aaron said to them, “Tear off the rings of gold that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me.” 3 And all the people tore the rings of gold off themselves that were on their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he took it from their hand, and fashioned it with a tool, and he made a calf of molten metal. And they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 5 And Aaron saw, and he built an altar before the face of it, and Aaron proclaimed and said, “Tomorrow will be a festival to Yahweh.” 6 And they arose early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and to drink and got up to play. 7 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go! Descend! For your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8 They have quickly turned from the way that I commanded them. They have made a calf of molten metal for themselves and have bowed before it and sacrificed to it. And they have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.’” 9 And Yahweh said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a people hard of neck. 10 So now, leave me alone! And let my nose burn against them, and I will destroy them. And I will make you into a great nation.” 11 But Moses entreated the face of Yahweh his God. And he said, “Yahweh, why does your nose burn against your people whom you have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, saying, ‘He brought them out with evil intent, to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from on the face of the ground’? Turn from your burning nose and repent from the evil to your people. 13 Remember Abraham and Isaac and Israel, your servants that you swore to them by yourself and spoke to them, ‘I will cause your descendants to increase as the stars of the heavens, and I will give to your descendants all this land of which I have spoken. And they will inherit it forever.’” 14 Then Yahweh repented from the evil that he had spoken to do to his people. 15 And Moses turned and went down from the mountain and the two tablets of the testimony {were} in his hand. The tablets were written on both their sides, on this {side} and on that {side} they were written. 16 And the tablets, they {were} the work of God. And the writing, it {was} the writing of God, {it} was engraved on the tablets. 17 And Joshua heard the noise of the people in its shouting, and he said to Moses, “{There is} the noise of war in the camp.” 18 But Moses said, “There is not the sound of singing of strength, and there is not the sound of singing of weakness, the sound of singing I am hearing.” 19 And it happened, as he approached to the camp, that he saw the calf and dancing, and the nose of Moses burned, and he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them under the mountain. 20 And he took the calf that they had made and burned {it} in the fire and ground {it} until it was fine and scattered {it} on the face of the water and caused the sons of Israel to drink {it}. 21 And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought a great sin on them?” 22 And Aaron said, “Do not let {your} nose burn, my lord. You know the people, that it {is/was} in evil. 23 And they said to me, ‘Make for us a god that will go before our faces. As for this Moses, the man that brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’ 24 And I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off yourself.’ And they gave {it} to me, and I threw it in the fire, and this calf came out.” 25 And Moses saw the people, that it was let loose, for Aaron had let it loose, to mockery by the risers-up against them. 26 And Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who {is} for Yahweh, to me!” And all of the sons of Levi gathered themselves to him. 27 And he said to them, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: ‘Each man put his sword on his side. Pass through and return from gate to gate in the camp and kill each his brother and each his companion and each his neighbor.’” 28 And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And on that day about 3,000 men from the people fell. 29 And Moses said, “Fill your hand for Yahweh today! For a man {was} against his son and against his brother and for putting a blessing on yourselves today.” 30 And it happened the next day that Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to Yahweh. Perhaps I can atone for your sin.” 31 And Moses returned to Yahweh and said, “Oh, this people has sinned a great sin and made themselves gods of gold. 32 But now, if you forgive their sin; but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.” 33 But Yahweh said to Moses, “Whoever that sinned against me, I will blot him out from my book. 34 So now go, lead the people to where I have spoken to you! Behold, my angel will go before your face. But on the day I visit them, then I will visit their sin on them.” 35 And Yahweh plagued the people because they had made the calf (that Aaron made). Chapter 33 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go, arise from here, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt to the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your seed.’ 2 And I will send an angel before your face, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites, Hivites and the Jebusites. 3 {Go} to a land flowing {with} milk and honey, but I will not go up in your midst, because you {are} a people hard of neck, lest I destroy you on the way.” 4 And the people heard this evil word, and they mourned, and each one did not put his ornaments on him. 5 And Yahweh {had} said to Moses, “Say to the sons of Israel, ‘You are a people hard of neck. {If} I went up among you {for} one moment, then I {would} destroy you. And now, take your ornaments down from on you, and I will know what I will do to you.’” 6 And the sons of Israel stripped themselves {of} their ornaments from Mount Horeb. 7 And Moses would take a tent and would pitch it on the outside of the camp, at a distance from the camp. And he called it the tent of meeting. And it happened, every seeker of Yahweh would go out to the tent of meeting that {was} on the outside of the camp. 8 And it happened as Moses went out to the tent, all the people would stand up and each would be stationed {at} the entrance of his tent, and they stared behind Moses until he went into the tent. 9 And it happened, as Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stand {at} the entrance of the tent, and he would speak with Moses. 10 And all of the people saw the pillar of cloud standing {at} the entrance of the tent, and all of the people would get up and bow down, each {at} the entrance of his tent. 11 And Yahweh would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua son of Nun, a young man, would not withdraw from the midst of the tent. 12 And Moses said to Yahweh, “See, you {have been} saying to me, ‘Take this people up,’ but you have not caused me to know whom you will send with me. And you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my eyes.’ 13 And now please, if I have found favor in your eyes, please cause me to know your ways, and I will know you so that I can find favor in your eyes. And see that this nation is your people.” 14 And he said, “My face will go, and I will cause rest for you.” 15 And he said to him, “If your face {is} not going, do not take us up from here. 16 And in what then will it be known that I have found favor in your eyes, I and your people? {Is it} not in your going with us? And I and your people shall be distinct from all of the people that {are} on the face of the earth.” 17 And Yahweh said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken, for you have found favor in my eyes, and I know you by name.” 18 And he said, “Please show me your glory.” 19 And he said, “I myself will cause all my goodness to pass over above your face, and I will proclaim in the name of Yahweh before your face: and I will favor whom I will favor, and I will be compassionate to whom I will be compassionate.” 20 But he said, “You are not able to see my face, for mankind can not see me and live.” 21 And Yahweh said, “Behold, a place with me, and you shall station yourself on the rock. 22 And it will happen, while my glory passes over, that I will put you in a crevice of the rock, and my hand will cover over you until I have passed over. 23 Then I will take away my hand, and you will see my back, but my face will not be seen.” Chapter 34 1 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Carve for yourself two tablets of stone like the first. And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets that you broke. 2 And be ready by morning, and in the morning come up to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain. 3 And a man shall not come up with you and also let a man not be seen on all of the mountain. Also let not the flocks and the herds graze to the front of that mountain.” 4 And he carved two tablets of stone like the first, and Moses got up early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai as Yahweh had commanded him. And he took the two tablets of stone in his hand. 5 And Yahweh came down in the cloud and stood with him there, and he pronounced in the name of Yahweh. 6 And Yahweh passed over above his face and proclaimed, “Yahweh, Yahweh, a God compassionate and gracious, long of nostril and abounding in covenant faithfulness and trustworthiness, 7 keeping covenant faithfulness to thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. But he will surely not acquit, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the sons and on the sons of the sons, on the third and on the fourth.” 8 And Moses hurried and bowed to the ground and prostrated himself. 9 And he said, “Please, if I have found favor in your eyes, my Lord, may my Lord please go among us, for this {is} a people hard of neck. And forgive our iniquity and our sin and inherit us.” 10 And he said, “Behold, I am about to cut a covenant: before all of your people, I will do wonders that have not been created in all of the earth and in all of the nations. And all of the people that you are in the midst of will see the work of Yahweh, for it {is} fear-filling, what I {am} doing with you. 11 Keep for yourself what I am commanding today. Behold I am about to drive out from before your face the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. 12 Guard yourself, lest you cut a covenant with the inhabitant of the land where you are about to go into, lest he become as a trap in your midst. 13 Instead, their altars you shall break down, and their pillars you shall smash, and his Asherah poles you shall cut down. 14 For you shall not bow to another god, for Yahweh—Jealous {is} his name—he {is} a jealous God. 15 Lest you cut a covenant with the inhabitant of the land, and they prostitute after their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and he invite you, and you eat from his sacrifice 16 and take from his daughters for your sons, and his daughters prostitute after their gods and cause your sons to prostitute after their gods. 17 Do not make for yourselves gods of molten metal. 18 You shall keep the Festival of Unleavened Bread. You shall eat unleavened bread seven days, which I commanded you, at the appointed time, the month of Aviv, for in the month of Aviv you came out from Egypt. 19 All of the openers of the womb are mine {even from} all of your male livestock, the openers of cattle and of sheep. 20 And the opener of a donkey you shall ransom with a lamb. And if you do not ransom it, then you shall break his neck. You shall ransom all the firstborn of your sons. And you shall not appear at my face empty-handed. 21 Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest time, you shall rest. 22 And you shall keep for yourself the Festival of Weeks {with} the first-fruits of the harvest of the wheat, and the Festival of the Gathering at the turning of the year. 23 Three times in a year, all your males shall appear before the face of the Lord Yahweh, God of Israel. 24 For I will drive out nations before your face and expand your borders. And a man will not desire your land when you go up to appear before the face of Yahweh your God three times in a year. 25 You shall not slaughter the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread, and the sacrifice of the Festival of the Passover shall not remain all night to the morning. 26 You shall bring the first of the first fruits of your ground to the house of Yahweh your God. You shall not boil a young goat in the milk of its mother.” 27 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Write these words for yourself, for over the mouth of these words I have cut a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28 And he was there with Yahweh 40 days and 40 nights; bread he did not eat and water he did not drink. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten words. 29 And it happened, as Moses {was} descending from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in the hand of Moses as he {was} descending from the mountain, that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while speaking with him. 30 And Aaron and all of the sons of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone! And they were afraid to come near to him. 31 And Moses called to them, and Aaron and all of the leaders among the congregation returned to him. And Moses spoke to them. 32 And after this, all of the sons of Israel approached, and he commanded them all that Yahweh had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. 33 And Moses finished from speaking with them, and he put a veil over his face. 34 And whenever Moses went before the face of Yahweh to speak with him, he would remove the veil until he came out. And he would come out, and he would speak to the sons of Israel what he had been commanded. 35 And the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of the face of Moses shone. And Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with him. Chapter 35 1 And Moses assembled all the congregation of the sons of Israel and said to them, “These are the things that Yahweh has commanded you to do. 2 Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day {there} shall be for you a holy Sabbath of rest to Yahweh. Every doer of work on it shall be put to death. 3 You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the days of the Sabbath.” 4 And Moses said to all of the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “This {is} the thing that Yahweh commanded, saying, 5 Take from with you a contribution for Yahweh, every{one} willing of his heart. Let him bring the contribution of Yahweh: gold and silver and bronze 6 and blue and purple and worm of scarlet and fine linen and goats’ hair 7 and reddened hides of rams and hides of sea-cows and wood of acacias 8 and oil for the light and spices for the oil of anointing and for the incense of fragrance 9 and stones of onyx and precious stones for settings for the ephod and for the breastpiece. 10 And all of the wise of heart among you shall come and make all that Yahweh has commanded— 11 the Dwelling, its tent and its covering, its clasps and its frames, its bars, its pillars and its bases, 12 the box and its poles, the atonement lid and the curtain of covering, 13 the table and its poles and all of its equipment and the bread of the faces 14 and the lampstand of the light and its utensils and its lamps and the oil of the light 15 and the altar of incense and its poles and the oil of anointing and the incense of fragrance and the curtain of the entrance for the entrance of the Dwelling, 16 the altar of the burnt offering and the grate of bronze that {is} for it, its poles and all of its utensils, the basin and its base, 17 the curtains of the courtyard, its pillars and bases and the curtain of the gate of the courtyard, 18 the tent pegs of the Dwelling and the pegs of the courtyard and their ropes, 19 finely-woven clothing for serving in the Holy Place, the clothing of holiness for Aaron the priest and the clothing of his sons, to {be} priests.” 20 And all of the congregation of the sons of Israel went away from before the face of Moses. 21 And every man whose heart lifted him came. And all whose spirit impelled him brought the contribution of Yahweh for the work of the tent of meeting and for all of its service and for the clothing of holiness. 22 And men along with women came, all impelled of heart. They brought brooches and earrings and rings and ornaments, all of the things of gold. And every man that raised {did} as a raised offering of gold to Yahweh. 23 And every man with whom was found blue and purple and worm of scarlet and fine linen and goats’ hair and reddened ram skins and hides of sea-cows brought {them}. 24 All of the presenters {of} a contribution of silver and of bronze brought the contribution of Yahweh, and all with whom wood of acacias was found for all the work of the service brought {it}. 25 And every woman skilled of heart spun with her hands, and they brought the spun items, the blue and the purple the worm of scarlet and the fine linen. 26 All the women with skill whose hearts lifted them spun goats’ hair. 27 And the leaders brought the onyx stones and precious stones of setting for the ephod and for the breastpiece 28 and spice and the oil for light and for the oil of anointing and for the incense of fragrance. 29 The sons of Israel brought a freewill offering to Yahweh, every man and woman whose heart impelled them to bring {something} for all of the work which Yahweh had commanded {them} to do by the hand of Moses. 30 And Moses said to the sons of Israel, “See, Yahweh has called by name on Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur, from the tribe of Judah. 31 And he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill and with understanding and with knowledge and with all kinds of craftsmanship 32 and to design designs, to work in gold and in silver and in bronze 33 and in carving of precious stones for setting and in carving of wood, to do all kinds of craftsmanship of invention. 34 And he has put {it} in his heart to teach, he and Oholiab the son of Ahisamak, from the tribe of Dan. 35 He has filled them {with} skill of heart to do all of the work of a craftsman and of a skillful workman and of an embroiderer in the blue and in the purple and in the worm of scarlet and in the fine linen and of a weaver. {They are} doers of all work and designers of design. Chapter 36 1 And Bezalel and Oholiab and every man skilled of heart to whom Yahweh has given skill and understanding to know {how} to do all of the work of the service of the Holy Place shall do according to all that Yahweh has commanded.” 2 And Moses called to Bezalel and to Oholiab and to every man skilled of heart in whose heart Yahweh had put skill, all whose heart lifted him to come near to the work to do it, 3 and they took from before the face of Moses all of the contributions that the sons of Israel had brought for doing the work of the service of the Holy Place. And they continually brought a freewill offering to him in the morning in the morning. 4 So all the skilled doing all the work of the Holy Place came, every single man from the work that they were doing, 5 and they said to Moses, saying, “The people {are} bringing much more than enough for the service of the work that Yahweh has commanded {us} to do.” 6 And Moses commanded, and they caused a sound to pass through in the camp, saying, “A man and a woman shall not make any more work for the contribution of the Holy Place.” And the people were restrained from bringing. 7 And the work was sufficient for doing all their work, and there was excess. 8 And every skilled of heart among the doers of the work made the Dwelling with ten curtains: twisted fine linen and blue and purple and worm of scarlet; cherubim—the work of a skilled craftsman he made them. 9 The length of each curtain {was} 28 cubits and the width of each curtain {was} four cubits. All of the curtains {were} one size. 10 And five of the curtains were joined each to another, and five of the curtains were joined each to another. 11 And he made loops of blue on the edge of the first curtain from the edge in the set. And he did thus along the edge of the end curtain in the second set. 12 He made 50 loops on the first curtain, and he made 50 loops on the end of the curtain which is in the second set. The loops were opposite one to one. 13 And he made 50 clasps of gold and joined the curtains one to one with the clasps, and the Dwelling was one. 14 And he made curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the Dwelling. He made 11 of these curtains. 15 The length of each curtain {was} 30 cubits, and the width of each curtain {was} four cubits. The 11 curtains {were} the same size. 16 And he joined five curtains to each other and six curtains to each other. 17 And he made 50 loops on the edge of the end curtain in the joined set, and he made 50 loops on the edge of the curtain in the second joined set. 18 And he made 50 clasps of bronze to join the tent to be one. 19 And he made a covering for the tent of reddened hides of rams and a covering of hides of sea-cows above that. 20 And he made upright frames for the Dwelling from wood of acacias. 21 The length of a frame {was} ten cubits, and the width of one frame {was} a cubit and a half of a cubit. 22 {There were} two tenons in each frame for joining one to one. Thus he made all of the frames of the Dwelling. 23 And he made the frames for the Dwelling: 20 frames for the south side. 24 And he made 40 bases of silver under the 20 frames: two bases under one frame for its two tenons, and two bases under one frame for its two tenons. 25 And for the second side of the Dwelling, on the north side, he made 20 frames 26 and their 40 silver bases: two bases under one frame, and two bases under one frame. 27 And he made six frames for the back side of the Dwelling, toward the west. 28 And he made two frames for the back corners of the Dwelling. 29 And they were a pair at the bottom, and they were completely together at the top to one ring. Thus he did for both as the two corners. 30 And there were eight frames and their silver bases, sixteen bases: two bases, two bases under one frame. 31 And he made crossbars of wood of acacias—five for the frames of the one side of the Dwelling, 32 and five crossbars for the frames of the second side of the Dwelling, and five crossbars for the frames for the back of the Dwelling to the west. 33 And he made the middle crossbar in the center of the frames to pass through from end to end. 34 And he covered the frames with gold. And he made their rings of gold, the holders for the crossbars. And he covered the bars with gold. 35 And he made a curtain of blue and purple and worm of scarlet and of twisted fine linen. He made cherubim, the work of a skillful workman. 36 And he made for it four pillars of acacia wood, and he covered them {with} gold and their hooks with gold. And he cast for them four bases of silver. 37 And he made a curtain for the entrance of the tent: of blue and purple and worm of scarlet and of twisted fine linen, the work of an embroiderer, 38 and its five pillars and their hooks. And he covered their tops and their rings {with} gold. And their five bases {were} bronze. Chapter 37 1 And Bezalel made the box of wood of acacias—its length {was} two cubits and a half, and its width {was} one cubit and a half, and its height {was} one cubit and a half. 2 And he overlaid it {with} pure gold, inside and outside, and for it he made a border of gold around {it}. 3 And he cast four rings of gold for it on its four feet: two rings on its one side and two rings on its second side. 4 And he made poles of wood of acacias and overlaid them {with} gold. 5 And he put the poles into the rings on the sides of the box, to carry the box. 6 And he made an atonement lid of pure gold. Its length {was} two cubits and a half, and its width {was} a cubit and a half. 7 And he made two gold cherubim; he made them of hammered work from the two ends of the atonement lid. 8 One cherub {was} from this end and one cherub from this end. He made the cherubim from the atonement lid from its two ends. 9 And the cherubim were spreading out their wings upward, covering over the atonement lid with their wings, and their faces {were} each toward his brother. The faces of the cherubim were toward the atonement lid. 10 And he made the table from wood of acacias. Its length {was} two cubits, and its width {was} a cubit, and its height {was} a cubit and a half. 11 And he overlaid it {with} pure gold and made for it a border of gold around {it}. 12 And he made a rim for it, a handbreadth all around, and he made a border of gold around its rim. 13 And he cast four rings of gold for it and put the rings on the four corners, where its four legs are. 14 The rings were close to the rim to house the poles to carry the table. 15 And he made the poles {out of} wood of acacias and covered them {with} gold to carry the table. 16 And he made the objects that {would be} on the table—its plates, and its pans, and its bowls, and its pitchers with which it will be poured out—{from} pure gold. 17 And he made the lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand—its base and its shaft—were made of hammered work. Its cups, its buds, and its blossoms were from it. 18 And six branches were going out from its sides, three branches of the lampstand from the one side and three branches of the lampstand from the second side. 19 Three cups, shaped like almond blossoms, {were} on the one branch, a bulb and a blossom, and three cups, shaped like almond blossoms, were on the one branch, a bulb and a blossom; thus for the six branches going out from the lampstand. 20 And on the lampstand {there were} four cups shaped like almond blossoms {with} its bulbs and its blossoms, 21 And a bulb {was} under two of the branches from it, and a bulb {was} under two of the branches from it, and a bulb {was} under two of the branches from it—for all six branches extending out from it. 22 Their bulbs and their branches from it were all one piece of hammered work of pure gold. 23 And he made its seven lamps and its tongs and its trays of pure gold. 24 He made it and all its items from a talent of pure gold. 25 And he made the altar of incense of wood of acacias. Its length {was} one cubit, and its width one cubit. It {was} square, and its height {was} two cubits. Its horns were part of it. 26 And he overlaid it {with} pure gold—its top and all around its sides and its horns—and he made for it a border of gold around {it}. 27 And he made two rings of gold for it under its border on its two sides, on its two sides; for housings for the poles for carrying it with them. 28 And he made the poles of wood of acacias, and he overlaid them {with} gold. 29 And he made the oil of anointment of holiness and the pure incense of fragrance, the work of an ointment maker. Chapter 38 1 And he made the altar of the burnt offering of wood of acacias. Its length {was} five cubits and its breadth {was} five cubits—a square—and its height {was} three cubits. 2 And he made its horns on its four corners; its horns were part of it. And he overlaid it {with} bronze. 3 And he made all of the equipment of the altar: the pots and the shovels and the basins, the meat forks and the firepans. He made all of its equipment {of} bronze. 4 And he made a grate for the altar, a work of a network of bronze under its ledge, from below to its middle. 5 And he cast four rings on the four ends for the grate of bronze, as holders for the poles. 6 And he made the poles of wood of acacias, and overlaid them {with} bronze. 7 And he put the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar, to carry it with them. He made it hollow, of planks. 8 And he made a basin of bronze and its base of bronze with the mirrors of the serving {women} who served at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 9 And he made the courtyard. For the south side, the curtains of the courtyard {were} 100 cubits of fine twisted linen, 10 {with} their 20 pillars and their 20 bronze bases, the hooks of the pillars and their rings of silver. 11 And for the north side, 100 cubits {with} their 20 pillars and their 20 bases of bronze. The hooks of the pillars and their rings {were} of silver. 12 And the curtains for the side of the west {were} 50 cubits, with their ten pillars and their ten bases. The hooks of the pillars and rings {were} of silver. 13 And for the east side 50 cubits. 14 The curtains to the side {were} fifteen cubits {with} their three pillars and their three bases. 15 And for the second side from this, and from this to the gate of the courtyard, the curtains {were} fifteen cubits {with} their three pillars and their three bases. 16 All of the curtains of the courtyard all around {were} fine twisted linen. 17 And the bases for the pillars {were} bronze. The hooks of the pillars and their rings {were} silver, and the plating of their tops {was} silver. And all of the pillars of the courtyard {were} filleted {with} silver. 18 And the curtain of the gate of the courtyard {was the} work of an embroiderer, blue and purple and worm of scarlet and twisted fine linen. And the length {was} twenty cubits and the height in width {was} five cubits, just as the curtains of the courtyard, 19 with their four pillars and their four bases {which were} bronze, and their hooks {which were} silver, and the plating of their tops and its rings {which were} silver. 20 And all the tent pegs for the Dwelling and for the courtyard all around {were} bronze. 21 These {are} the records of the Dwelling, the Dwelling of the Testimony which was recorded according to the mouth of Moses, the work of the Levites by the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. 22 And Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur, from the tribe of Judah, made everything that Yahweh had commanded Moses. 23 And Oholiab son of Ahisamak, from the tribe of Dan, an engraver and a designer and an embroiderer in blue and in purple and in scarlet and in fine linen, {was} with him. 24 All the gold used for the work, in all the work of the sanctuary—it was the gold from the raised offering—{was} 29 talents and 730 shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary. 25 And the silver of the counted of the congregation {was} 100 talents and 1, 775 shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary, 26 a beka for a head (half a shekel), by the shekel of the sanctuary, from every passer over to the counted ones from a son of 20 years and older—from 603, 550. 27 And 100 talents of silver were cast for the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the curtain—100 bases for the 100 talents, a talent for a base. 28 And he made hooks for the pillars with the 1, 775. And he overlaid their tops and filleted them. 29 And the bronze of the raised offering {was} 70 talents and 2, 400 shekels. 30 And with it he made the bases of the entrance of the tent of meeting and the altar of bronze and its grate of bronze and all the equipment of the altar 31 and the bases of the surrounding courtyard and the bases of the entrance of the courtyard and all of the tent pegs of the Dwelling and all of the tent pegs of the surrounding courtyard. Chapter 39 1 And from the blue and the purple and the worm of scarlet they made finely-woven clothes for service in the Holy Place. And they made the clothes of holiness which {were} for Aaron, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 2 And he made the ephod from gold, blue, and purple, worm of scarlet, and twisted fine linen. 3 And they hammered the thin plates of gold, and he cut {them} into threads to work among the blue and among the purple and among the worm of scarlet and among the fine linen, the work of a skillful craftsman. 4 They made joined shoulder pieces for it. It was joined on its two corners. 5 And the skillfully crafted sash of the ephod which is on it was from it, of like workmanship, of gold, blue, and purple and worm of scarlet and twined fine linen, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 6 And they made the stones of onyx {with} ornamental settings of gold surrounding {them}. The names of the sons of Israel {were} engraved on {them like} the engravings of a signet. 7 And he put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as stones of reminder for the sons of Israel, as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 8 And he made the breastpiece, the work of a skillful craftsman, like the work of the ephod, from gold, blue, and purple and worm of scarlet and twisted fine linen. 9 It was square, folded double. They made the breastpiece, its length: a span; and its width: a span folded double. 10 And they set in it four rows of precious stones. The first row {was} a row of a ruby, of a topaz, and of a garnet. 11 And the second row: an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. 12 And the third row: a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst. 13 And the fourth row: a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. {The stones were} surrounded by ornamental gold settings. 14 And the precious stones {were} according to the names of the sons of Israel—they {were} according to their 12 names. Each {was like} the engraving of a signet according to its name—for the 12 tribes. 15 And they made twisted chains on the breastpiece, as a work of rope—pure gold. 16 And they made two ornamental settings of gold and two rings of gold and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastpiece. 17 And they attached the two chains of gold to the rings on the two ends of the breastpiece. 18 And they attached two of the ends of the two chains to the two ornamental settings. And they attached those to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front of its face. 19 And they made two rings of gold, and put them on the two ends of the breastpiece, on the edge which is toward the inner side of the ephod. 20 And they made two rings of gold, and put them on the two shoulder pieces of the ephod on the bottom of the front of its face, close to its joining above the skillfully crafted waistband of the ephod. 21 And they tied the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a cord of blue to be on the finely crafted waistband of the ephod, so the breastpiece could not become detached from {being} with the ephod just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 22 And he made the robe of the ephod entirely of blue, the work of a weaver. 23 The opening of the robe {was} in the middle of it like an opening of a garment. The edge for its opening was all around so that it could not tear. 24 On the bottom hem of the robe they made pomegranates of twisted blue, purple, and scarlet yarn. 25 And they made bells of pure gold, and they put the bells between the pomegranates all around on the bottom edge of the robe, between the pomegranates— 26 a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate—all around on the hem of the robe for serving, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 27 And they made the tunics of fine linen for Aaron and for his sons, the work of a weaver, 28 and the fine linen turban and the fine linen ornate headbands and the linen undergarments of fine twisted linen 29 and the sash of fine linen and of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, the work of an embroiderer, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 30 And they made the rosette of the crown of holiness of pure gold and inscribed an inscription on it, like the engraving on a signet, “Holy to Yahweh.” 31 And they put a cord of blue on it to attach it on the top of the turban, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 32 And all the service of the Dwelling, the tent of meeting, was finished. And the sons of Israel did according to all that Yahweh had commanded Moses; thus they did. 33 And they brought the Dwelling to Moses: the tent and all its equipment and its clasps and its frames and its bars and its pillars and its bases; 34 and the covering of reddened hides of rams and the covering of hides of sea-cows and the curtain of covering; 35 the Box of the Testimony and the poles and the atonement lid; 36 the table with all of its equipment and the bread of the faces; 37 the pure lampstand with its lamps, lamps of the row, and all its accessories and the oil of the light; 38 and the altar of gold and the oil of anointing and the incense of fragrance and the curtain of the entrance of the tent; 39 the altar of bronze and the grate of bronze that {is} for it, its poles and all of its utensils, the basin and its base; 40 the curtains of the courtyard, its pillars and bases and the curtain of the gate of the courtyard, its ropes and its tent pegs and all the items of the service of the Dwelling for the tent of meeting; 41 finely-woven clothing for serving in the Holy Place, the clothing of holiness for Aaron the priest, and the clothing of his sons, to {be} priests. 42 Thus the sons of Israel did all the work according to all that Yahweh had commanded Moses. 43 And Moses saw all of the work, and behold, they had done it. Just as Yahweh had commanded, thus they had done. And Moses blessed them. Chapter 40 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “On the first day of the month, in the first month, you shall raise up the Dwelling of the tent of meeting. 3 And you shall place the Box of the Testimony there, and you shall cover over the box with the curtain. 4 And you shall bring in the table and arrange its arrangement. And you shall bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps. 5 And you shall put the altar of gold for incense before the face of the Box of the Testimony, and you shall place the curtain of the gate to the Dwelling. 6 And you shall put the altar of the burnt offering before the face of the gate of the Dwelling, the tent of meeting. 7 And you shall put the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water there. 8 And you shall set up the courtyard around it, and set up the curtain of the gate of the courtyard. 9 And you shall take the oil of anointing and anoint the Dwelling and everything that is in it. And you shall set apart it and all its furnishings, and it will be holy. 10 And you shall anoint the altar of the burnt offering and all its utensils. And you shall set apart the altar, and the altar will be a holiest holy thing. 11 And you shall anoint the basin and its base and set it apart. 12 And you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the gate of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. 13 And you shall clothe Aaron with the garments of holiness and anoint him and set him apart, and he will serve as a priest to me. 14 And you shall bring his sons and clothe them {with} tunics. 15 And you shall anoint them just as you anointed their father, and they will serve as priests to me. And their anointing will cause them to be a priesthood forever throughout their generations.” 16 And Moses did according to all that Yahweh had commanded him. Thus he did. 17 And it was in the first month, the second year, on the first of the month {that} the Dwelling was raised up. 18 And Moses raised up the Dwelling and placed its bases and set up its frames and placed its bars and set up its pillars. 19 And he spread the tent over the Dwelling and put the covering of the tent over it on the top, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 20 And he took the testimony and put {it} into the box. And he put the poles on the box and put the atonement lid on the top of the box. 21 And he brought the box into the Dwelling. And he set up the curtain of covering, and he covered over the Box of the Testimony, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 22 And he put the table into the tent of meeting, on the north side of the Dwelling, outside of the curtain. 23 And he arranged on it the arrangement of bread before the face of Yahweh, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 24 And he put the lampstand into the tent of meeting, across from the table, on the south side of the Dwelling. 25 And he lifted up the lamps before the face of Yahweh, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 26 And he put the altar of gold into the tent of meeting in front of the face of the curtain. 27 And he caused smoke on it, incense of fragrance, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 28 And he set up the curtain of the gate of the Dwelling. 29 And he put the altar of the burnt offering at the gate of the Dwelling, the tent of meeting, and offered up on it the burnt offering and the grain offering, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 30 And he placed the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and he put water for washing there. 31 And Moses, and Aaron, and his sons would wash their hands and their feet from it. 32 Whenever they went into the tent of meeting and whenever they went close to the altar, they washed themselves, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 33 And he raised up the courtyard around the Dwelling and the altar. And he set up the curtain of the gate of the courtyard. And Moses finished the work. 34 And the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of Yahweh filled the Dwelling. 35 And Moses was not able to go into the tent of meeting, because the cloud had settled on it and the glory of Yahweh had filled the Dwelling. 36 And whenever the cloud was taken up from over the Dwelling, the sons of Israel would set out on all their travels, 37 but if the cloud was not taken up, then they would not set out until the day it was taken up. 38 For the cloud of Yahweh {was} over the Dwelling by day, and fire was on it by night, before the eyes of all the house of Israel in all their travels. Leviticus Chapter 1 1 And Yahweh called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When a man among you offers an offering to Yahweh, from the livestock, either from the herd or from the flock you must offer your offering. 3 If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he must offer a male without blemish. At the entrance of the tent of meeting he must offer it, so that it may be accepted before the face of Yahweh. 4 And he is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering. And it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him. 5 And he must slaughter the son of the herd before the face of Yahweh. And the sons of Aaron, the priests, will offer the blood and sprinkle the blood on every side of the altar that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 6 And he must skin the burnt offering and cut it into its pieces. 7 And the sons of Aaron the priest will put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. 8 And the sons of Aaron, the priests, must place the pieces, the head and the fat, on the wood that is on the fire that is on the altar. 9 And he must wash with water its inner parts and its legs. And the priest will burn everything on the altar as a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to Yahweh. 10 And if his offering is from the flock, from the sheep or from the goats, as a burnt offering, he must offer a male without blemish. 11 And he must slaughter it on the side of the altar northward before the face of Yahweh. And the sons of Aaron, the priests, will sprinkle its blood on every side of the altar. 12 And he is to cut it into its pieces with its head and its fat. And the priest must place them on the wood that is on the fire that is on the altar. 13 And he must wash with water the inner parts and the legs. And the priest will offer everything, and burn it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to Yahweh. 14 And if his offering to Yahweh is to be a burnt offering of birds, then he must offer his offering from the turtledoves or from the sons of the pigeon. 15 And the priest must bring it to the altar and wring off its head, and burn it on the altar. And its blood must be drained out on the side of the altar. 16 And he must remove its crop with its plumage, and throw it beside the altar on the east side, in the place for the ashes. 17 And he must tear it open by its wings; he must not divide it into two parts. And the priest will burn it on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to Yahweh. Chapter 2 1 And when a person brings a grain offering to Yahweh, his offering must be fine flour. And he will pour oil on it and put incense on it. 2 And he will bring it to the sons of Aaron, the priests, and take out from it his handful of its fine flour and of its oil with all its incense. And the priest will burn its memorial portion on the altar as an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to Yahweh. 3 And what is left of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and to his sons. It is the holiest holy thing from the offerings made by fire to Yahweh. 4 And when you offer a grain offering that is baked in an oven, it must be cakes of fine flour without yeast mixed with oil or wafers without yeast spread with oil. 5 And if your offering is a grain offering made on the griddle, it must be of fine flour without yeast that is mixed with oil. 6 You are to divide it into pieces and pour oil on it. This is a grain offering. 7 And if your offering is a grain offering cooked in a pan, it must be made of fine flour with oil. 8 And you must bring the grain offering that is made from these things to Yahweh. And it will be presented to the priest, and he will bring it to the altar. 9 And the priest will take from the grain offering its memorial portion, and he will burn it on the altar. It is an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to Yahweh. 10 And what is left of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and to his sons. It is the holiest holy thing from the offerings made by fire to Yahweh. 11 Every grain offering that you offer to Yahweh must not be made with yeast. For you must not burn any leaven or any honey with it as an offering made by fire to Yahweh. 12 You will offer them to Yahweh as an offering of firstfruits, but on the altar they will not ascend as a sweet aroma. 13 And every offering of your grain offerings you must season with salt. And you must never allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be missing from your grain offering. With all your offerings you must offer salt. 14 And if you offer a grain offering of firstfruits to Yahweh, you must offer a grain offering of your firstfruits that is fresh grain roasted with fire, crushed new grain. 15 And you must put oil on it and you must put incense on it. This is a grain offering. 16 And the priest will burn as its memorial portion some of its crushed grain and some of its oil with all its incense. This is an offering made by fire to Yahweh. Chapter 3 1 And if a sacrifice of peace offering is his offering, if he is offering from the herd, whether male or female, he must offer it without blemish before the face of Yahweh. 2 And he will lay his hand on the head of his offering and he will slaughter it at the door of the tent of meeting. And the sons of Aaron, the priests, will sprinkle the blood on every side of the altar. 3 And he will offer from the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire to Yahweh: the fat covering the inner parts and all the fat that is on the inner parts, 4 and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them which is by the loins, and the lobe on the liver which he will remove with the kidneys. 5 And the sons of Aaron will burn it on the altar with the burnt offering that is on the wood that is on the fire. It is an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to Yahweh. 6 And if his offering for a sacrifice of peace offering to Yahweh is from the flock; male or female, he must offer it without blemish. 7 If he offers a lamb for his offering, then he must offer it before the face of Yahweh. 8 And he will lay his hand on the head of his sacrifice and slaughter it before the tent of meeting. And the sons of Aaron will sprinkle its blood on every side of the altar. 9 And he will offer from the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire to Yahweh: its fat, the entire fat tail which he will remove near the backbone, and the fat covering the inner parts and all the fat that is on the inner parts, 10 and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the lobe on the liver which he will remove with the kidneys. 11 And the priest will burn it on the altar as food, an offering made by fire to Yahweh. 12 And if a goat is his offering, then he will offer it before the face of Yahweh. 13 And he must lay his hand on its head and slaughter it before the face of the tent of meeting. And the sons of Aaron will sprinkle its blood on every side of the altar. 14 And he will offer from it his offering as an offering made by fire to Yahweh: the fat covering the inner parts and all the fat that is on the inner parts, 15 and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the lobe on the liver which he will remove with the kidneys. 16 And the priest will burn them on the altar as food, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma. All the fat belongs to Yahweh. 17 It will be a permanent statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings: you must not eat any fat or any blood.’” Chapter 4 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘When a person sins by mistake in any of the commands of Yahweh, about what must not be done, and does any of one them, 3 if the annointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people, then he will offer for his sin which he has sinned a bull, a son of the herd, without blemish to Yahweh as a sin offering. 4 And he must bring the bull to the entrance of the tent of meeting before the face of Yahweh. And he must lay his hand on the head of the bull and slaughter the bull before the face of Yahweh. 5 And the anointed priest will take some of the blood of the bull and bring it to the tent of meeting. 6 And the priest will dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the face of Yahweh, at the face of the curtain of the holy place. 7 And the priest will put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense before the face of Yahweh, which is in the tent of meeting. And he will pour out all the blood of the bull at the base of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8 And all the fat of the bull of the sin offering he will remove from it: the fat covering over the inner parts and all the fat that is on the inner parts, 9 and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the lobe on the liver which he will remove with the kidneys— 10 just as it is removed from the ox of the sacrifice of the peace offering. And the priest will burn them on the altar of the burnt offering. 11 And the skin of the bull and all its flesh, with its head and with its legs and its inner parts and its dung— 12 all of the bull—he will bring out to the outside of the camp to a clean place, to the heap of the ash, and he will burn it on wood with fire. It will be burned on the heap of the ash. 13 And if the whole congregation of Israel strays unintentionally and the matter is concealed from the eyes of the assembly and they do one thing from all the commands of Yahweh which are not to be done and they become guilty, 14 and the sin which they have sinned against it becomes known, then the assembly must offer a bull, a son of the herd, for a sin offering. And they must bring it before the face of the tent of meeting. 15 And the elders of the congregation will lay their hands on the head of the bull before the face of Yahweh. And the bull will be slaughtered before the face of Yahweh. 16 And the anointed priest will bring some of the blood of the bull to the tent of meeting. 17 And the priest will dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the face of Yahweh, at the face of the curtain. 18 And he will put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is before the face of Yahweh, which is in the tent of meeting. And he will pour out all the blood at the base of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 19 And all its fat he will remove from it and burn on the altar. 20 And he must do with the bull just as he did with the bull of the sin offering, thus he will do with it. And the priest will make atonement for them, and it will be forgiven them. 21 And he will bring out the bull to the outside of the camp and he will burn it just as he burned the first bull. This is the sin offering of the assembly. 22 When a ruler sins and does by mistake one thing from all the commands of Yahweh his God that should not be done, and he becomes guilty, 23 or his sin by which he has sinned is made known to him, then he must bring as his offering a buck of the goats, a male without blemish. 24 And he will lay his hand on the head of the goat and slaughter it in the place where he slaughters the burnt offering before the face of Yahweh. This is a sin offering. 25 And the priest will take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of the burnt offering. And he will pour out its blood at the base of the altar of the burnt offering. 26 And he will burn all the fat on the altar, just like the fat of the sacrifice of the peace offerings. And the priest will make atonement for him concerning his sin, and it will be forgiven him. 27 And if any person from the people of the land sins by mistake, doing one thing from the commands of Yahweh that must not be done, and he becomes guilty, 28 or his sin which he sinned is made known to him, then he will bring for his offering a doe of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin that he has sinned. 29 And he will lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter the sin offering at the place of the burnt offering. 30 And the priest will take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of the burnt offering. And he will pour out all its blood at the base of the altar. 31 And he will remove all the fat, just as the fat is removed from on the sacrifice of the peace offerings. And the priest will burn it on the altar as a sweet aroma to Yahweh. And the priest will make atonement for him, and it will be forgiven him. 32 And if he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he will bring a female without blemish. 33 And he will lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it for a sin offering at the place where he slaughters the burnt offering. 34 And the priest will take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of the burnt offering. And he will pour out all its blood at the base of the altar. 35 And he will remove all the fat, just as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offerings. And the priest will burn them on the altar on top of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. And the priest will make atonement for him for his sin that he has sinned, and it will be forgiven him. Chapter 5 1 And when a person sins in that he hears the utterance of a curse and he is a witness, whether he has seen or known of it, if he does not tell, then he will bear his iniquity. 2 Or if a person touches any unclean thing, whether it be the carcass of an unclean wild animal or the carcass of unclean livestock or the carcass of an unclean creeping animal, and it is concealed from him, then he is unclean and guilty. 3 Or if he touches the uncleanness of a human, of all his uncleanness that one becomes unclean by, and it is concealed from him but he comes to know of it, then he will be guilty. 4 Or if a person swears rashly with his lips to do evil, or to do good, anything that a man swears rashly, and it is concealed from him but he comes to know of it, then he will be guilty, in any of these things. 5 And it will be that when someone is guilty in one of these things, he must confess that in which he has sinned. 6 And he must bring his guilt offering to Yahweh for his sin that he has sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb, or a doe of the goats, for a sin offering. And the priest will make atonement for him concerning his sin. 7 And if his hand does not touch enough small livestock, then he can bring as his guilt offering because he sinned two turtledoves or two sons of the pigeon to Yahweh, one for a sin offering and one for a burnt offering. 8 And he must bring them to the priest, and he will offer that which is for the sin offering first. And he will wring off its head from the front of its neck, but he will not sever it. 9 And he will sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar. And the rest of the blood he will drain out at the base of the altar. This is the sin offering. 10 And he must make a burnt offering of the second one, according to the regulation. And the priest will make atonement for him for his sin that he sinned, and it will be forgiven for him. 11 And if his hand cannot touch two turtledoves or two sons of the pigeon, then he must bring as his sacrifice because he sinned a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering. He must not put oil on it nor put incense on it, for it is a sin offering. 12 And he must bring it to the priest, and the priest will take from it his handful as its memorial portion. And he will burn it on the altar, on top of the offerings made by fire to Yahweh. This is the sin offering. 13 And the priest will make atonement for him, for his sin that he sinned from one of these, and it will be forgiven for him. And it will belong to the priest, as with the grain offering.’” 14 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 15 “If a person acts unfaithfully and sins by mistake with the holy things of Yahweh, then he must bring his guilt offering to Yahweh, a ram without blemish from the flock with your valuation of silver shekels, in the shekel of the holy place, as a guilt offering. 16 And for what he sinned in connection with the holy thing he must make restitution, and one-fifth of it he must add to it and give it to the priest. And the priest will make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and it will be forgiven for him. 17 And if a person sins and does one thing from all the commands of Yahweh that must not be done, and he does not know, then he is guilty and must bear his iniquity. 18 And he must bring to the priest a ram without blemish from the flock, with your valuation, as a guilt offering. And the priest will make atonement for him concerning his mistake which he made unintentionally and did not know it, and it will be forgiven for him. 19 It is a guilt offering. He is certainly guilty to Yahweh.” Chapter 6 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “If a person sins and acts unfaithfully against Yahweh and deceives his fellow citizen, in a deposit or in a pledge of hand or by theft, or if he has oppressed his fellow citizen, 3 or he has found something lost and lies about it, or he swears falsely, according to one of all the things which mankind does to sin thereby, 4 and it happened that he has sinned and is guilty, then he must give back the robbed thing that he stole or the extorted thing that he extorted, or the deposit which was entrusted to him, or the lost thing that he had found; 5 or from all that he has sworn about falsely, he must restore it in full and he must add one-fifth its value to it. He must give it to whom it belongs on the day of his guilt offering. 6 And he must bring his guilt offering to Yahweh, a ram without blemish from the flock with your estimate of its value, as a guilt offering to the priest. 7 And the priest will make atonement for him before the face of Yahweh, and it will be forgiven for him, concerning one thing from all that one does by which to become guilty.” 8 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 9 “Command Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the burnt offering: The burnt offering itself must be on the hearth on the altar all the night until the morning. And the fire of the altar will be kept burning on it. 10 And the priest will put on his linen robe and he will put on his linen underclothes over his body. And he will pick up the ashes, which is the burnt offering the fire has consumed on the altar. And he will put it beside the altar. 11 And he will take off his garments and put on other garments. And he will bring out the ash to the outside of the camp, to a clean place. 12 And the fire on the altar will be kept burning on it. It must not go out, and the priest will kindle wood on it in the morning by the morning. And he will arrange the burnt offering on it, and he will burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. 13 Fire must be kept burning on the altar continually. It must not go out. 14 And this is the law of the grain offering. The sons of Aaron will offer it before the face of Yahweh at the face of the altar. 15 And he will take up from it his handful of the fine flour of the grain offering and of the oil and all the incense which is on the grain offering. And he will burn it on the altar as a sweet aroma, its memorial portion to Yahweh. 16 And Aaron and his sons will eat what is left from it. It must be eaten without yeast in a holy place. They will eat it in the courtyard of the tent of meeting. 17 It must not be baked with yeast. I have given it as their part from my offerings made by fire. It is the holiest holy thing, like the sin offering and like the guilt offering. 18 Every male from the sons of Aaron may eat it as a permanent statute throughout your generations, from the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. All that touches them will become holy.’” 19 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 20 “This is the offering of Aaron and his sons, which they will offer to Yahweh on the day when he is anointed: a tenth part of an ephah of fine flour as a continual grain offering, half of it in the morning and half of it in the evening. 21 It will be made with oil on a griddle. When it is well-mixed, you will bring it. In baked pieces you will offer the grain offering as a sweet aroma to Yahweh. 22 And the annointed priest that comes after him from among his sons will offer it. As a permanent statute it shall be completely burned up to Yahweh. 23 And all of the grain offering of the priest will be completely burned up. It must not be eaten.” 24 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 25 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the sin offering: in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered the sin offering must be slaughtered before the face of Yahweh. It is the holiest holy thing. 26 The priest who offers it as a sin offering will eat it. It must be eaten in a holy place, in the courtyard of the tent of meeting. 27 All that touches its meat will become holy. And if some of the blood is sprinkled on the garment, you must clean where it was sprinkled on it in a holy place. 28 And the pot of clay in which it is boiled must be broken. And if it is boiled in a pot of bronze, then it must be scrubbed and rinsed in water. 29 Every male among the priests may eat it. It is the holiest holy thing. 30 And any sin offering from which some of its blood was brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement in the holy place must not be eaten. It must be burned in the fire. Chapter 7 1 And this is the law of the guilt offering. It is the holiest holy thing. 2 In the place where they slaughter the burnt offering they must slaughter the guilt offering. And they must sprinkle its blood on every side of the altar. 3 And all its fat will be offered from it: the fat tail and the fat covering the inner parts, 4 and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the lobe on the liver which he will remove with the kidneys. 5 And the priest must burn them on the altar as an offering made by fire to Yahweh. It is a guilt offering. 6 Every male among the priests may eat it. It must be eaten in a holy place. It is the holiest holy thing. 7 The sin offering is like the guilt offering. The law is the same for them. The priest who makes atonement with it; it will belong to him. 8 As for the priest who offers a burnt offering of a man, the hide of the burnt offering that he offered will belong to the priest. It will belong to him. 9 And every grain offering that is baked in an oven, and everything cooked in a frying pan or on a griddle will belong to the priest who offers it. It will belong to him. 10 And every grain offering, mixed with oil or dry, will be for all the sons of Aaron, to each as to his brother. 11 And this is the law of the sacrifice of the peace offerings which they will offer to Yahweh. 12 If one offers it for thanksgiving, then he must offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving cakes without yeast mixed with oil and wafers without yeast smeared with oil and well-mixed cakes of fine flour mixed with oil. 13 With the cakes he must offer bread with yeast as his offering, in addition to the thanksgiving sacrifice of his peace offerings. 14 And he will offer from it one from each offering as a gift to Yahweh. It will belong to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the peace offerings. It will belong to him. 15 And the meat of the thanksgiving sacrifice of the peace offerings must be eaten on the day of his offering. He must not leave any of it until morning. 16 And if the sacrifice of his offering is for a vow or for a freewill offering, it may be eaten on the day he offers his sacrifice. And the next day whatever remains of it may be eaten. 17 And what is left from the meat of the sacrifice must be burned in the fire on the third day. 18 And if any of the meat of the sacrifice of his peace offerings to be eaten is eaten on the third day, it will not be accepted. It will not be credited to the one who offered it. It will be a disgusting thing, and the person who eats some of it will carry his iniquity. 19 And the meat that touches any unclean thing must not be eaten. It must be burned in the fire. But the meat, anyone who is clean may eat meat. 20 And a person who eats meat from the sacrifice of the peace offerings that belong to Yahweh while his uncleanness is on him, that person must be cut off from his people. 21 And a person who touches any unclean thing, the uncleanness of a human, or an unclean animal, or any unclean detestable thing, and eats some of the meat of a sacrifice of the peace offerings that belong to Yahweh, that person must be cut off from his people.’” 22 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You must not eat any of the fat of an ox or a sheep or a goat. 24 And the fat of a carcass or the fat of an animal torn by wild animals may be used for any other use, but you must certainly not eat it. 25 If anyone eats fat from the animal which he has offered part of it as a sacrifice made by fire to Yahweh, then the person who ate it must be cut off from his people. 26 And you must not eat any blood in any of your dwellings, whether of a bird or of a land animal. 27 Any person who eats any blood, that person must be cut off from his people.’” 28 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 29 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘He who offers the sacrifice of his peace offerings to Yahweh must bring his offering to Yahweh from the sacrifice of his peace offerings. 30 His hands must bring an offering made by fire to Yahweh: the fat with the breast. He must bring the breast to wave it as a wave offering before the face of Yahweh. 31 And the priest must burn the fat on the altar, and the breast will be for Aaron and for his sons. 32 And the right thigh you must give as a gift to the priest from the sacrifices of your peace offerings. 33 The one from the sons of Aaron who offers the blood of the peace offerings and the fat will have for him the right thigh as a share. 34 For I have taken from the sons of Israel, from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, the breast of the wave offering, and the thigh that is the gift. And I have given them to Aaron the priest and his sons as a permanent statute among the sons of Israel. 35 This is the share of Aaron and the share of his sons from the offerings made by fire to Yahweh, on the day when he offered them as priests to Yahweh, 36 which Yahweh commanded to give them on the day of his anointing them from the people of Israel. It will be a permanent statute throughout their generations. 37 This is the law of the burnt offering, of the grain offering, and of the sin offering, and of the guilt offering, and of the consecration offering, and of the sacrifice of the peace offerings, 38 which Yahweh commanded Moses on Mount Sinai on the day he commanded the sons of Israel to offer their offerings to Yahweh in the wilderness of Sinai.’” Chapter 8 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and the oil of anointing, and the bull of the sin offering, and two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread. 3 And bring together all the assembly at the entrance of the tent of meeting.” 4 And Moses did as Yahweh commanded him, and the assembly came together at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 5 And Moses said to the assembly, “This is the thing that Yahweh has commanded to be done.” 6 Moses brought near Aaron and his sons and washed them with water. 7 And he put the tunic on him, and girded him with the sash, and clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod on him. And he girded him with the finely-woven waistband of the ephod and bound it on him. 8 And he placed the breastpiece on him, and in the breastpiece he put the Urim and the Thummim. 9 And he set the turban on his head and he set on the turban—on the front of its face—the golden rosette, the holy crown, as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 10 And Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it. And he set them apart. 11 And he sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all its utensils, and the washbasin and its base, to set them apart. 12 And he poured some of the anointing oil on the head of Aaron and anointed him to set him apart. 13 And Moses brought near the sons of Aaron and clothed them with tunics, and girded them with sashes, and bound headbands on them, as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 14 And Moses brought the bull of the sin offering. And Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering. 15 And Moses slaughtered it, and he took the blood and put it all around on the horns of the altar with his finger. And he purified the altar and poured out the blood at the base of the altar. And he set it apart to make atonement upon it. 16 And he took all the fat that was on the inner parts, the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat, and Moses burned it on the altar. 17 And the bull and its hide and its flesh and its dung he burned in the fire outside the camp, as Yahweh had commanded him. 18 And he brought near the ram of the burnt offering. And Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. 19 And Moses slaughtered it and sprinkled the blood against every side of the altar. 20 And Moses cut the ram into its pieces and burned the head and the pieces and the suet. 21 And the inner parts and the legs he washed with water. And Moses burned all of the ram on the altar. It was a burnt offering, a sweet aroma. It was an offering made by fire to Yahweh as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 22 And he brought near the second ram, the ram of consecration. And Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. 23 And Moses slaughtered it and took some of its blood and put it on the tip of Aaron’s right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. 24 And he brought near the sons of Aaron. And Moses put some of the blood on the tip of their right ear, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the big toe of their right foot. And Moses sprinkled the blood against every side of the altar. 25 And he took the fat, and the fat tail, and all the fat that was on the inner parts, and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat, and the right thigh. 26 And from the basket of bread without yeast that was before the face of Yahweh he took one cake without yeast, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer, and placed them on the fat and on the right thigh. 27 And he put it all in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons and waved them before the face of Yahweh as a wave offering. 28 And Moses took them from off their hands and burned them on the altar for the burnt offering. They were a consecration offering, a sweet aroma. It was an offering made by fire to Yahweh. 29 And Moses took the breast and waved it as a wave offering to the face of Yahweh. It was the share for Moses from the ram of consecration, as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 30 And Moses took some of the oil of anointing and some of the blood that was on the altar and he sprinkled these on Aaron, on his clothes,and on his sons, and on the clothes of his sons with him. And he set apart Aaron, his clothes, and his sons and the clothes of his sons with him. 31 And Moses said to Aaron and to his sons, “Boil the meat at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and there you will eat it and the bread that is in the basket of consecration, as I commanded, saying, ‘Aaron and his sons will eat it.’ 32 And what is left of the meat and of the bread you must burn in the fire. 33 And you must not go out from the entrance of the tent of meeting for seven days, until the day of the fulfillment of the days of your consecration, because for seven days he will fill your hands. 34 As has been done this day, Yahweh has commanded to be done to make atonement for you. 35 And at the entrance of the tent of meeting you will stay day and night for seven days. And you will keep the command of Yahweh, and you will not die, because this is what I have been commanded.” 36 And Aaron and his sons did all the things which Yahweh had commanded by the hand of Moses. Chapter 9 1 Now it was that on the eighth day Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel. 2 And he said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a calf, a son of the herd, for a sin offering, and a ram without blemish for a burnt offering, and offer them before the face of Yahweh. 3 And to the sons of Israel you must speak, saying, ‘Take a buck of the goats for a sin offering and a calf and a lamb, sons of the year without blemish, for a burnt offering, 4 and an ox and a ram for peace offerings to sacrifice before the face of Yahweh, and a grain offering mixed with oil, because today Yahweh will appear to you.’” 5 And they brought what Moses commanded to the entrance of the tent of meeting. And all the assembly came near and stood before the face of Yahweh. 6 And Moses said, “This is the thing that Yahweh commanded you to do, so the glory of Yahweh may appear to you.” 7 And Moses said to Aaron, “Come near to the altar and offer your sin offering and your burnt offering, and make atonement for yourself and for the people. And offer the sacrifice of the people and make atonement for them, as Yahweh has commanded.” 8 And Aaron went near to the altar and slaughtered the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself. 9 And the sons of Aaron brought the blood to him, and he dipped his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar. And he poured out the blood at the base of the altar. 10 And the fat and the kidneys and the lobe of the liver from the sin offering he burned on the altar, as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 11 And the flesh and the hide he burned in the fire outside the camp. 12 And he slaughtered the burnt offering. And the sons of Aaron brought to him the blood, and he sprinkled it against every side of the altar. 13 And they brought to him the burnt offering in its pieces, with the head, and he burned them on the altar. 14 And he washed the inner parts and the legs and burned them on top of the burnt offering on the altar. 15 And he offered the offering of the people. And he took the goat of the sin offering which was for the people and he slaughtered it and offered it for sin, like the first one. 16 And he offered the burnt offering and did it according to the ordinance. 17 And he presented the grain offering. And he filled his hand with it and burned it on the altar, along with the burnt offering of the morning. 18 And he slaughtered the ox and the ram, the sacrifice of the peace offerings, which was for the people. And the sons of Aaron brought the blood to him and he sprinkled it against every side of the altar. 19 As for the fat portions from the bull and from the ram, the fat tail, and the fat covering the inner parts, and the kidneys, and the lobe of the liver, 20 they then put the fat portions on the breasts, and he burned the fat portions on the altar. 21 And the breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved as a wave offering before the face of Yahweh, as Moses had commanded. 22 And Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them. And he came down from offering the sin offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings. 23 And Moses and Aaron came into the tent of meeting, and they went out and blessed the people. And the glory of Yahweh appeared to all the people. 24 And fire came out from before the face of Yahweh and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And all the people saw and shouted and fell upon their faces. Chapter 10 1 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, a man took his censer, and they put fire in it and they put incense on it. And they offered before the face of Yahweh unfamiliar fire that he had not commanded them. 2 And fire went out from before the face of Yahweh and it devoured them. And they died before the face of Yahweh. 3 And Moses said to Aaron, “This is what Yahweh spoke, saying, ‘Among those who come near me I will show myself as set apart. And on the faces of all the people I will be glorified.’” And Aaron was silent. 4 And Moses called to Mishael and to Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron. And he said to them, “Come near and carry your brothers from the face of the holy place to the outside of the camp.” 5 And they came near and carried them by their tunics to the outside of the camp, as Moses had instructed. 6 And Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and to Ithamar, his sons, “Do not let your heads be unbound, and do not tear your clothes, and you will not die, and he does not become angry against all the assembly. But your brothers, all of the house of Israel, may weep for the burning that Yahweh burned. 7 And you must not go out from the entrance of the tent of meeting, or else you will die, for the oil of anointing of Yahweh is on you.” And they acted according to the instructions of Moses. 8 And Yahweh spoke to Aaron, saying, 9 “Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you, or your sons with you, when you go into the tent of meeting, and you will not die. It is a permanent statute throughout your generations, 10 so to distinguish between the set apart and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, 11 so that you may teach the sons of Israel all the statutes that Yahweh has spoken to them by the hand of Moses.” 12 And Moses spoke to Aaron and to Eleazar and to Ithamar, his remaining sons, “Take the grain offering, the remains from the offerings made by fire to Yahweh, and eat it without yeast beside the altar, for it is the holiest holy thing. 13 And you must eat it in a holy place, because it is your share and the share of your sons from the offerings made by fire to Yahweh, for thus I have been commanded. 14 And the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the gift, you must eat in a clean place, you and your sons and your daughters with you, for they are given as your share and the share of your sons from the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the sons of Israel. 15 The thigh of the gift and the breast of the wave offering, in addition to the fat portions of the offerings made by fire, they must bring to wave as a wave offering before the face of Yahweh. And it will belong to you and to your sons with you as a share forever, as Yahweh has commanded.” 16 And the goat of the sin offering Moses searched carefully for, but behold, it had burned up! And he was angry with Eleazar and with Ithamar, the remaining sons of Aaron; saying, 17 “Why have you not eaten the sin offering in the holy place, since it is the holiest holy thing, and it he has given to you to take away the iniquity of the assembly, to make atonement for them before the face of Yahweh? 18 Look, its blood was not brought to the inner holy place. You should certainly have eaten it in the holy place, as I commanded!” 19 And Aaron spoke to Moses, “Look, today they offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the face of Yahweh, and such things as these have happened to me. If I had eaten the sin offering today, would it have been pleasing in the eyes of Yahweh?” 20 And Moses heard and it was good in his eyes. Chapter 11 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying to them, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘These are the living things which you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth. 3 Any one that divides the hoof, and splits the cleft hoof, one that chews the cud among the animals—it you may eat. 4 However, these you must not eat among those that chew the cud or among those that divide the hoof: the camel because it is one that chews the cud but is not one that divides the hoof—it is unclean to you. 5 And the rock badger, because it is one that chews the cud but the hoof is not divided—it is unclean to you. 6 And the rabbit, because it is one that chews the cud, but the hoof is not divided—it is unclean to you. 7 And the pig, because it is one that divides the hoof and one that splits the cleft hoof, but it does not chew the cud—it is unclean to you. 8 You must not eat of their meat, and you must not touch their carcasses. They are unclean to you. 9 This you may eat from all that are in the water: all that have fins and scales in the water, in the seas and in the rivers, them you may eat. 10 But all that do not have fins and scales in the seas and in the rivers, among every swarm of the water and among all the living creatures that are in the water, they are detestable to you. 11 And they must be detestable to you. You must not eat of their meat, and you must detest their carcasses. 12 All that does not have fins and scales in the water—it is detestable to you. 13 And these you must detest among the birds and must not eat—they are detestable: the eagle, and the vulture, and the black vulture, 14 and the kite, and the falcon of any kind, 15 every raven of any kind, 16 and the ostrich, and the owl, and the seagull, and the hawk of any kind, 17 and the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl, 18 and the white owl, and the pelican, and the osprey, 19 and the stork, the heron of any kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat. 20 Every flying insect that walks on all fours—it is detestable to you. 21 Only this you may eat from all the flying insects that walk on all fours: what has jointed legs above its feet with which to hop on the ground. 22 These among them you may eat: the locust of any kind, and the bald locust of any kind, and the cricket of any kind, and the grasshopper of any kind. 23 But every flying insect that has four legs—it is detestable to you, 24 and by these you will make yourself unclean. Any one who touches their carcasses will be unclean until the evening. 25 And any one who lifts up their carcasses must wash his clothes and will be unclean until the evening. 26 As for every animal which is one that divides the hoof but is not one that splits the cleft hoof, or is not one that chews the cud, they are unclean to you. Any one who touches them will be unclean. 27 As for any one that walks on its paws among all the animals that walk on all fours, they are unclean to you. Any one who touches their carcasses will be unclean until the evening. 28 And the one who lifts up their carcasses must wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. These are unclean to you. 29 And these are unclean to you among the swarming things that swarm on the ground: the weasel, and the mouse, and the large lizard of any kind, 30 and the gecko, and the monitor lizard, and the lizard, and the skink, and the chameleon. 31 These are unclean to you among all the swarming things. Any one who touches them when they are dead will be unclean until the evening. 32 And anything which upon one of them falls when they are dead will be unclean, whether any wood vessel, or a garment, or leather, or sackcloth—any object with which work is done must be put in water and be unclean until the evening. Then it will be clean. 33 As for any vessel of clay that one of them falls into, all that is inside it will become unclean, and you must destroy it. 34 Any food that may be eaten which such water comes on is unclean. And any liquid that may be drunk from any such vessel is unclean. 35 And all that something from one of their carcasses falls on becomes unclean; an oven or stove must be broken to pieces. They are unclean and they must remain unclean to you. 36 However, a spring or cistern for collecting water will be clean; but one who touches their carcass is unclean. 37 And if something from their carcass falls upon any seed for planting which will be planted, it is clean. 38 And if water is put on seed and something from their carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you. 39 And if one from the animals that are for you to eat dies, the one who touches the carcass will be unclean until the evening. 40 And the one who eats from its carcass must wash his clothes and he will be unclean until the evening. And the one who lifts up its carcass will wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. 41 And every swarming thing that swarms on the ground, it is detestable and must not be eaten. 42 All that crawls on a belly, and all that walks on all fours, as well as all that has many feet—any swarming thing that swarms on the ground—you must not eat them for they are detestable. 43 You must not make yourselves detestable with any swarming thing that swarms. And you must not make yourselves unclean with them, and become unclean by them. 44 For I am Yahweh your God. And you must keep yourselves holy, and be holy ones, because I am holy. You must not make yourselves unclean with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. 45 For I am Yahweh, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, to be your God. So you must be holy ones, for I am holy. 46 This is the law of the animals, and the birds, and every living creature that swarms in the water, and of every creature that crawls on the ground, 47 to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the living thing that may be eaten and the living thing that may not be eaten.’” Chapter 12 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If a woman bears seed and gives birth to a male child, then she will be unclean for seven days, as at the time of the bleeding of her menstruation she is unclean. 3 And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin must be circumcised. 4 And 30 days and 3 days she will stay in the blood of her purification. Any holy thing she must not touch and into the holy place she must not go until the days of her purification are completed. 5 And if she gives birth to a female child, then she will be unclean for two weeks, as with her menstruation. And 60 days and 6 days she will stay in the blood of her purification. 6 And when the days of her purification are completed, for a son or for a daughter, she must bring a lamb, a son of its year, as a burnt offering, and a son of a pigeon or turtledove as a sin offering, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, to the priest. 7 And he will offer it before the face of Yahweh and make atonement for her. And she will be cleansed from the flow of her blood. This is the law for a woman who gives birth to a male or a female child. 8 And if her hand does not find enough for a lamb, then she must take two turtledoves or two sons of the pigeon, one as a burnt offering and one as a sin offering. And the priest will make atonement for her. Then she will be clean.’” Chapter 13 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 2 “When a human has on the skin of his body a swelling or scab or a bright spot, and it becomes an infection of skin disease on the skin of his body, then he must be brought to Aaron the priest, or to one of his sons, the priests. 3 And the priest will look at the infection on the skin of the body. If the hair in the infection has turned white, and if the disease appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is an infection of skin disease. And the priest will look at him and will pronounce him unclean. 4 And if the bright spot is white, it is on the skin of his body, and the appearance of it is not deeper than the skin, and its hair has not turned white, then the priest must isolate the infected person for seven days. 5 And the priest must look at him on the seventh day, and if the skin disease has stayed unchanged in his eyes and the skin disease has not spread on the skin, then the priest must isolate him for seven days again. 6 And the priest will look at him again on the seventh day, and if the infection has faded and the infection has not spread on the skin, then the priest will pronounce him clean. It is a rash, and he must wash his clothes, and then he will be clean. 7 And if the rash has spread further on the skin after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, then he must show himself again to the priest. 8 And the priest will look, and if the rash has spread on the skin, then the priest must pronounce him unclean. It is a skin disease. 9 When an infection of skin disease is on a person, then he must be brought to the priest. 10 And the priest will look and if a white swelling is on the skin and it has turned the hair white, and there is new raw flesh in the swelling, 11 it is a chronic skin disease on the skin of his body, and the priest must pronounce him unclean. He will not isolate him, because he is unclean. 12 And if the skin disease breaks out further on the skin and the skin disease covers all the skin of the infected person from his head to his feet, as far as the appearance in the eyes of the priest, 13 then the priest must look, and if the skin disease has covered all his body, then he must pronounce the infected person clean. All of it has turned white. He is clean. 14 And when raw flesh appears on him, he will be unclean. 15 And the priest must look at the raw flesh and pronounce him unclean. The raw flesh—it is unclean. It is a skin disease. 16 Or if the raw flesh returns and changes to white, then he must go to the priest. 17 And the priest will look at him and if the infection has turned white, then the priest will pronounce the infected person clean. He is clean. 18 When a body has a boil on it, on its skin, and it has healed, 19 and in place of the boil there is white swelling or a bright spot, reddish-white, then it must be shown to the priest. 20 And the priest will look and if it appears deeper under the skin, and its hair has turned white, then the priest must pronounce him unclean. It is an infection of skin disease. It has broken out in the boil. 21 And if the priest looks at it, and behold, there is no white hair on it, and it is not deeper than the skin, and it has faded, then the priest must isolate him for seven days. 22 And if it spreads further on the skin, then the priest must pronounce him unclean. It is an infection. 23 And if the bright spot stays in its place and has not spread, then it is the scar of the boil. And the priest must pronounce him clean. 24 Or when the body has a burn from fire on its skin and the raw flesh of the burn has become a reddish-white or white spot, 25 then the priest will look at it. And if the hair has turned white in that spot, and it appears to be deeper than the skin, then it is a skin disease that has broken out in the burn. And the priest must pronounce him unclean. It is an infection of skin disease. 26 And if the priest looks at it and if there is no white hair in the spot, and it is not deeper than the skin but it has faded, then the priest must isolate him for seven days. 27 And the priest must look at him on the seventh day. If it has spread further in the skin, then the priest must pronounce him unclean. It is an infection of skin disease. 28 And if the bright spot stays in its place and has not spread in the skin but it has faded, then it is the swelling of the burn. And the priest must pronounce him clean, for it is the scar of the burn. 29 And if a man or woman has an infection on him, on the head or in the beard, 30 then the priest must look at the infected person. And if it appears to be deeper than the skin, and on it is yellow, thin hair, then the priest must pronounce him unclean. It is an itch. It is a skin disease of the head or the beard. 31 And if the priest looks at the itching infection and if it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and there is no black hair in it, then the priest will isolate the person with the itching infection for seven days. 32 And the priest will look at the infection on the seventh day. And if the itch has not spread and there is no yellow hair on it, and there is no apperance of the itch deeper than the skin, 33 then he shave himself, but the itchy area must not be shaved. And the priest must isolate the itching person for seven days again. 34 And the priest will look at the itch on the seventh day. And if the itch has not spread on the skin and it appears to not be deeper than the skin, then the priest must pronounce him clean. And he must wash his clothes, and he will be clean. 35 And if the itch has spread further in the skin after he pronounced him clean, 36 then the priest must look at him. And if the itch has spread on the skin, the priest does not need to seek for yellow hair. He is unclean. 37 And if in his eyes the itch has stayed unchanged and black hair has grown in it, the itch has healed. He is clean, and the priest will pronounce him clean. 38 And if a man or a woman has on the skin of their body bright spots, white bright spots, 39 then the priest must look. And if the bright spots on the skin of their body are a dull white, it is a rash that has broken out on the skin. He is clean. 40 And if a man loses the hair of his head, he is bald. He is clean. 41 And if his head becomes bald from the front part of his face, he is bald. He is clean. 42 And if there is on the bald spot or on the bald forehead a reddish-white infection, it is a skin disease that has broken out on his bald spot or on his bald forehead. 43 And the priest must look at him. And if the swelling of the infection on his bald spot or on his forehead is reddish-white, like the appearance of the disease of the skin of the body, 44 then he is a man who has a skin disease. He is unclean. The priest must surely pronounce him unclean because of his infection of his head. 45 As for the one with a skin disease who has the infection on him, his garments must be torn and his head must be unbound, and he must cover over the moustache, and he must call out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ 46 All the days that the infection is on him he will be unclean. He is unclean. He must live alone, his dwelling must be outside the camp. 47 As for the garment, when it has in it the infection of skin disease, in a garment of wool or in a garment of linen, 48 or in warp or in woof of linen or wool, or in leather or in anything made with leather— 49 if the infection is greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the leather, or in the warp or in the woof, or in any article of leather, then it is an infection of skin disease. And it must be shown to the priest. 50 And the priest must look at the infection and he must isolate the infected thing for seven days. 51 And he must look at the infection on the seventh day. If the infection has spread in the garment or in the warp or in the woof, or in the leather (whatever the work for which the leather is used), then the infection is a malignant skin disease. It is unclean. 52 And he must burn the garment, or the warp or the woof, in wool or in linen, or any article of leather, whatever has in it the infection, for it is a malignant skin disease. In the fire it must be burned up. 53 And if the priest looks, and behold, the infection has not spread in the garment or in the warp, or in the woof, or in any article of leather, 54 then the priest will command and they will wash that in which was the infection. And he must isolate it for seven days again. 55 And the priest will look at the infection after being washed. And if the infection has not changed its appearance, and the infection has not spread, it is unclean. In the fire you must burn it. It is an eaten away hole in its back or in its front. 56 And if the priest looks, and behold, the infection has faded after it was washed, then he must tear it out from the garment or from the leather, or from the warp or from the woof. 57 And if it still appears in the garment, either in the warp or in the woof, or in any article of leather, it is spreading. In the fire you must burn it, the thing in which is the infection. 58 As for the garment or the warp or the woof, or any article of leather that you washed and the infection was removed from them, it must be washed a second time, and it will be clean. 59 This is the law of the infection of skin disease of the garment of wool or linen, or the warp or the woof, or any article of leather, for pronouncing it clean or for pronouncing it unclean.” Chapter 14 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “This will be the law for the one with skin disease on the day of his cleansing. And he must be brought to the priest. 3 And the priest will go out to the outside of the camp and the priest will look. And if the infection of skin disease has healed in the one with skin disease, 4 then the priest will command and he must take for the one who is being cleansed two live, clean birds, and cedar wood, and crimson yarn, and hyssop. 5 And the priest will command and he will slaughter one bird in a vessel of clay over fresh water. 6 As for the live bird, he will take it and the cedar wood, and the crimson yarn and the hyssop, and he will dip them, and the live bird, in the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water. 7 And he will sprinkle on the one who is to be cleansed from the skin disease seven times, and he will pronounce him clean. And he will release the living bird toward the face of the field. 8 And the one who is being cleansed will wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and bathe in the water, and then he will be clean. And afterward he will come into the camp, and he will dwell outside his tent seven days. 9 And it will be that on the seventh day he must shave off all his hair: his head, and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he must shave off. And he must wash his clothes and bathe his body in the water. And he will be clean. 10 And on the eighth day he must take two male lambs without blemish, and one female lamb a year old without blemish, and three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering mixed with oil, and one log of oil. 11 And the priest who pronounces one clean will set the person who is to be cleansed, and those things, before the face of Yahweh at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 12 And the priest will take one male lamb and offer it as a guilt offering, with the log of oil. And he will wave them as a wave offering before the face of Yahweh. 13 And he must slaughter the male lamb in the place where he slaughters the sin offering and the burnt offerings, in the holy place. For like the sin offering, so the guilt offering, it belongs to the priest. It is the holiest holy thing. 14 And the priest will take some of the blood of the guilt offering and the priest will put it on the tip of the right ear of the one who is being cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. 15 And the priest will take some of the log of oil and pour it on the left palm of the priest. 16 And the priest will dip his right finger in the oil that is on his left palm, and sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the face of Yahweh. 17 And the priest will put some of the rest of the oil that is on his palm on the tip of the right ear of the person being cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot—on top of the blood of the guilt offering. 18 As for the rest of the oil that is on the palm of the priest, he will put it on the head of the person being cleansed. And the priest will make atonement for him before the face of Yahweh. 19 And the priest will offer the sin offering and make atonement for the one being cleansed from his uncleanness. And afterward he will slaughter the burnt offering. 20 And the priest will offer up the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. And the priest will make atonement for him, and he will be clean. 21 And if he is poor and his hand is not reaching, then he may take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, and one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and a log of oil, 22 and two turtledoves or two sons of the pigeon, which his hand can reach. And one will be a sin offering and one a burnt offering. 23 And on the eighth day he must bring them for his cleansing to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, before the face of Yahweh. 24 And the priest will take the male lamb for the guilt offering and the log of oil. And the priest will wave them as a wave offering before the face of Yahweh. 25 And he must slaughter the male lamb for the guilt offering. And the priest will take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of the one being cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. 26 And the priest will pour some of the oil on the left palm of the priest. 27 And the priest will sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is on his left palm seven times before the face of Yahweh. 28 And the priest will put some of the oil that is on his palm on the tip of the right ear of the one being cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot—on the place of the blood of the guilt offering. 29 And the rest of the oil that is on the palm of the priest, he will put it on the head of the one being cleansed, to make atonement for him before the face of Yahweh. 30 And he must offer one from the turtledoves or from the sons of the pigeon, from what his hand could reach— 31 whatever his hand could reach, one as a sin offering and one as a burnt offering, with the grain offering. And the priest will make atonement for the one being cleansed before the face of Yahweh. 32 This is the law for someone in whom is an infection of skin disease, whose hand is not able to reach for his cleansing.” 33 And Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 34 “When you have come into the land of Canaan which I gave to you as a possession, and I put an infection of skin disease in a house in the land of your possession, 35 then he to whom the house belongs must come and tell the priest, saying, ‘There seems to me to be something like an infection in the house.’ 36 And the priest will command and they will empty the house before the priest comes to see the infection, so that all that is in the house will not be made unclean. And afterward the priest must come to see the house. 37 And he must look at the infection and if the infection in the walls of the house is greenish or reddish depressions and it appears to be deeper than the wall, 38 then the priest will go out of the house to the entrance of the house and close the house seven days. 39 And the priest will return on the seventh day and he will look and if the infection has spread in the walls of the house. 40 And the priest will command and they will take out the stones which have the infection on them and throw them to the outside of the city, to an unclean place. 41 And he will have the house scraped from around the house. And they must pour out the dirt that they scraped off at the outside of the city, at an unclean place. 42 And they must take other stones and put them in the place of the stones, and take other dirt and plaster the house. 43 And if the infection returns and breaks out in the house after the stones have been pulled out and after the house has been scraped off and after the plastering, 44 then the priest must come and look. And if the infection has spread in the house, then it is a malignant infection in the house. It is unclean. 45 And the house must be torn down: its stones and its timber and all the plaster of the house. And he must take it away to the outside of the city, to an unclean place. 46 And the one who goes into the house during any of the days he has closed it will be unclean until the evening. 47 And the one who slept in the house must wash his clothes. And the one who ate in the house must wash his clothes. 48 And if the priest comes again and looks, and behold, the infection has not spread in the house after the house was plastered, then the priest will pronounce the house clean, because the infection has healed. 49 And he must take two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet yarn, and hyssop to cleanse the house. 50 And he will slaughter one bird in a vessel of clay over fresh water. 51 And he will take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet yarn, and the live bird, and dip them in the blood of the bird that was slaughtered, and in the fresh water, and sprinkle on the house seven times. 52 And he will cleanse the house with the blood of the bird and with the fresh water, and with the live bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet yarn. 53 And he will release the live bird to the outside of the city, to the face of the field. And he will make atonement for the house, and it will be clean. 54 This is the law for every infection of skin disease and for an itch, 55 and for the skin disease of clothing and for the house, 56 and for swelling, and for a rash, and for a bright spot, 57 to teach when it is unclean or when it is clean. This is the law for skin disease.” Chapter 15 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, ‘When any man has a fluid discharge from his body, his fluid discharge makes him unclean. 3 And this is his uncleanness in his fluid discharge: whether his body lets his fluid discharge flow or his body obstructs the fluid discharge, it is his uncleanness. 4 Any bed on which the one with a fluid discharge lies will be unclean, and any thing on which he sits will be unclean. 5 And a man who touches his bed must wash his clothes and bathe in water, and he will be unclean until the evening; 6 And the one who sits on the thing on which the one with a fluid discharge sat must wash his clothes and bathe in water, and he will be unclean until the evening. 7 And the one who touches the body of the one with a fluid discharge must wash his clothes and bathe in water, and he will be unclean until the evening. 8 And if the one with a fluid discharge spits on someone who is clean, then he must wash his clothes and bathe in water, and he will be unclean until the evening. 9 And any saddle which the one with a fluid discharge rides upon will be unclean. 10 And any one who touches anything that was under him will be unclean until the evening. And the one who carries them must wash his clothes and bathe in water, and he will be unclean until the evening. 11 And anyone whom the one with a fluid discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water, he must wash his clothes and bathe in water, and he will be unclean until the evening. 12 And a vessel of clay that the one with a fluid discharge touches must be broken, and every vessel of wood must be rinsed in water. 13 And when the one with a fluid discharge becomes cleansed from his fluid discharge, then he must count for himself seven days for his cleansing. And he must wash his clothes and bathe his body in living water. And he will be clean. 14 And on the eighth day he must take for himself two turtledoves or two sons of the pigeon and come before the face of Yahweh at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And he must give them to the priest. 15 And the priest must offer them, one as a sin offering and one as a burnt offering. And the priest will make atonement for him before the face of Yahweh because of his fluid discharge. 16 And if a man has an emission of seed go out from him, then he must bathe his whole body in water. And he will be unclean until the evening. 17 And any garment and any leather on which there is an emission of seed must be washed in water. And it will be unclean until the evening. 18 And if a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of seed, then they must bathe in water and be unclean until the evening. 19 And when a woman has a fluid discharge, and blood is her fluid discharge in her body, for seven days she will be in her menstruation. And any one who touches her will be unclean until the evening. 20 And anything that she lies on during her menstruation will be unclean. And anything that she sits on will be unclean. 21 And any one who touches her bed must wash his clothes and bathe in water. And he will be unclean until the evening. 22 And any one who touches any thing that she sits on must wash his clothes and bathe in water. And he will be unclean until the evening. 23 And if it is on the bed or on a thing which she sits on, when he touches it, he will be unclean until the evening. 24 And if a man actually lies with her so that her menstrual impurity is on him, then he will be unclean for seven days; and every bed on which he lies will be unclean. 25 And if a woman has a discharge of her blood that flows for many days when it is not the time of her menstruation, or if she discharges beyond her menstruation, all the days of the discharge of her uncleanness will be as the days of her menstruation. She is unclean. 26 Every bed on which she lies all the days of her discharge will be to her just like the bed of her menstruation. And any thing which she sits on will be unclean, just like the uncleanness of her menstruation. 27 And any one who touches them will be unclean; so he must wash his clothes and bathe in water, and he will be unclean until the evening. 28 And if she is cleansed from her discharge, then she will count for herself seven days, and after that she will be clean. 29 And on the eighth day she will take for herself two turtledoves or two sons of the pigeon and bring them to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 30 And the priest will offer one as a sin offering and one as a burnt offering. And the priest will make atonement for her before the face of Yahweh because of her unclean fluid discharge. 31 And you must separate the sons of Israel from their uncleanness, and they will not die by their uncleanness, by their defiling my dwelling place that is in their midst. 32 This is the law for the one who has a fluid discharge, and for whoever has an emission of seed go out from him by which to become unclean, 33 and for the one who is sick in her menstruation, and for the one who discharges his bodily fluid, whether male or female, and for a man who lies with an unclean woman.’” Chapter 16 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they had come near to the face of Yahweh and died. 2 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron your brother that he must not come at any time into the holy place inside the curtain, to the face of the atonement lid that is on the Box, so he does not die. For I appear in the cloud over the atonement lid. 3 In this manner Aaron must come into the holy place: with a bull, a son of the herd, for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. 4 He must put on the holy linen tunic, and the linen undergarments must be on his body, and he must tie the linen sash and wrap the linen turban—they are the holy garments. And he must bathe his body in water and then dress himself with them. 5 And from the assembly of the sons of Israel he must take two bucks of the goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. 6 And Aaron must offer the bull as the sin offering, which will be for himself. And he will make atonement for himself and for his house. 7 And he must take the two goats and set them before the face of Yahweh at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8 And Aaron must cast lots on the two goats, one lot for Yahweh, and one lot for the goat that departs. 9 And Aaron must present the goat on which the lot fell for Yahweh, and he must offer it as a sin offering. 10 And the goat on which the lot fell for the goat that departs must be placed alive before the face of Yahweh, to make atonement on it by sending it away as a goat that departs into the wilderness. 11 And Aaron must offer the bull of the sin offering, which will be for himself. And he will make atonement for himself and for his house. And he must slaughter the bull of the sin offering which is for himself. 12 And he must take a full censer of coals of fire from on the altar from before the face of Yahweh, and his two hands full of finely ground fragrant incense, and bring them inside the curtain. 13 And he must put the incense on the fire before the face of Yahweh. And the cloud of the incense will cover the atonement lid which is over the Testimony, and he will not die. 14 And he must take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the face of the atonement lid, on the east side. And before the face of the atonement lid he must sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. 15 And he must slaughter the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood to inside the curtain. And he must do with the blood just as he did with the blood of the bull. And he must sprinkle it on the atonement lid and before the face of the atonement lid. 16 And he must make atonement for the holy place because of the uncleanness of the sons of Israel, and because of their rebellion, for all their sins. And thus he must do this for the tent of meeting that dwells with them in the midst of their uncleanness. 17 And any human must not be in the tent of meeting when he enters to make atonement in the holy place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house, and for all the assembly of Israel. 18 And he must go out to the altar that is before the face of Yahweh and make atonement for it. And he must take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat and put it all around on the horns of the altar. 19 And he must sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times. And he will cleanse it and set it apart from the uncleanness of the sons of Israel. 20 And when he has finished atoning for the holy place, and the tent of meeting, and the altar, then he must present the live goat. 21 And Aaron must lay his two hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness of the sons of Israel, and all their rebellion, for all their sins. And he must put them on the head of the goat and send it away by the hand of a man who is ready into the wilderness. 22 And the goat must carry on itself all their wickedness to a solitary land. And he will send the goat away in the wilderness. 23 And Aaron must go into the tent of meeting and take off the linen garments that he had put on when he came to the holy place, and he must leave them there. 24 And he must bathe his body in water in a holy place, and put on his garments. And he must go out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people. And he will make atonement for himself and for the people. 25 And the fat of the sin offering he must burn on the altar. 26 And the one who sent away the goat as a goat that departs must wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; and after that he may come into the camp. 27 And the bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, must be brought out to the outside of the camp. Then they must burn in the fire their hides, and their flesh, and their dung. 28 And the one who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; and after that he may come into the camp. 29 And it will be a permanent statute for you, in the seventh month on the tenth day of the month, you must humble yourselves and must not do any work, the native born and the sojourner who sojourns among you; 30 for on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you from all your sins. Before the face of Yahweh you will be clean. 31 It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you must humble yourselves. It is a permanent statute. 32 And the priest must make atonement, he who anoints him and who fills his hand to be priest in place of his father, and he must put on the linen garments, the holy garments. 33 And he must make atonement for the holiest holy place. And he must make atonement for the tent of meeting and the altar. And he must make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 34 This will be for you a permanent statute, to make atonement for the sons of Israel because of all their sins, once in the year.” And he did just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. Chapter 17 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, and to all the sons of Israel; and say to them this thing that Yahweh has commanded, saying, 3 ‘Any man from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox, or a lamb, or a goat in the camp, or who slaughters it outside of the camp, 4 but he does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer as an offering to Yahweh before the face of the dwelling of Yahweh—blood is reckoned to that man. He has shed blood, and that man must be cut off from among his people. 5 This is so that the sons of Israel will bring their sacrifices that they are sacrificing on the face of the field and bring them to Yahweh at the entrance of the tent of meeting, to the priest, and sacrifice the sacrifices of peace offerings to Yahweh with them. 6 And the priest will sprinkle the blood on the altar of Yahweh at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And he will burn the fat for a sweet aroma for Yahweh. 7 And they must no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to goat idols, whom they prostitute themselves after. This will be a permanent statute for them throughout their generations.’ 8 And you must say to them, ‘Any man from the house of Israel, or from the sojourners who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice 9 and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting in order to offer it to Yahweh, that man must be cut off from his people. 10 And any man from the house of Israel, or from the sojourners sojourning among them, who eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats the blood and I will cut him off from among his people. 11 For the life of the flesh is in its blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your lives. For it is the blood with the life that atones. 12 Therefore I said to the sons of Israel every person among you must not eat blood. And the sojourner who sojourns among you must not eat blood. 13 And any man from the sons of Israel, or from the sojourners sojourning among them, who hunts a wild game animal or bird that may be eaten, must pour out its blood and cover it with dirt. 14 For the life of all flesh is its blood, it is with its life. And I have said to the sons of Israel, “You must not eat the blood of any flesh. For the life of all flesh—it is its blood. All who eat it must be cut off.” 15 And any person who eats an animal that has died or that has been torn by wild animals, among the native born or among the sojourners, he must wash his clothes and bathe in water, and he will be unclean until the evening. And he will be clean. 16 And if he does not wash or his body he does not bathe, then he must carry his iniquity.’” Chapter 18 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘I am Yahweh your God. 3 Like the doings of the land of Egypt, in which you dwelled, you must not do. And like the doings of the land of Canaan which I am bringing you to, you must not do. You must not walk in their statutes. 4 My laws you must do, and my statutes you must keep, so that you walk in them. I am Yahweh your God. 5 And you must keep my statutes and my laws. The person who does them will live because of them. I am Yahweh. 6 Any man must not come near to any relative of his body to uncover nakedness. I am Yahweh. 7 The nakedness of your father and the nakedness of your mother you must not uncover. She is your mother, you must not uncover her nakedness. 8 The nakedness of the wife of your father you must not uncover. It is the nakedness of your father. 9 The nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father or the daughter of your mother, born at home or born outside, you must not uncover their nakedness. 10 The nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, you must not uncover their nakedness, for they are your nakedness. 11 The nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, the offspring of your father, she is your sister. You must not uncover her nakedness. 12 The nakedness of your father’s sister you must not uncover. She is your father’s relative. 13 The nakedness of your mother’s sister you must not uncover, because she is your mother’s relative. 14 The nakedness of your father’s brother you must not uncover, to his wife you must not come near. She is your aunt. 15 The nakedness of your daughter-in-law you must not uncover. She is your son’s wife. You must not uncover her nakedness. 16 The nakedness of your brother’s wife you must not uncover. That is your brother’s nakedness. 17 The nakedness of a woman and her daughter you must not uncover. Her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter you must not take to uncover her nakedness. They are relatives. It is wickedness. 18 And a woman with her sister you must not take as a rival to uncover her nakedness in addition to her while she is alive. 19 And you must not come near to a woman in the impurity of her uncleanness, to uncover her nakedness. 20 And you must not give your emission of seed to your neighbor’s wife, to become unclean with her. 21 And you must not give any of your children to cause to pass over to Molech. And you must not profane the name of your God. I am Yahweh. 22 And you must not lie with a male as one lies with a woman. That is detestable. 23 And with any animal you must not lie to become unclean by it. And a woman must not stand before the face of an animal to lie down with it. That is perversion. 24 Do not make yourselves unclean in any of these ways, for in all these ways the nations that I will drive out from before your face have become unclean. 25 And the land became unclean, so I punished its sin upon it. And the land vomited out its inhabitants. 26 And you yourselves must keep my statutes and my laws. And you must not do any of these detestable things, neither the native-born nor the sojourner who sojourns among you 27 (for all these detestable things the men of the land have done, those who were before you, and the land has become unclean), 28 so the land does not vomit you out after you have made it unclean, just as it vomited out the nation that was before you. 29 Indeed, anyone who does any of these detestable things, the people who do such things will be cut off from among their people. 30 And you must keep my obligation not to do any of the detestable customs which were done before you, and not make yourselves unclean by them. I am Yahweh your God.’” Chapter 19 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to all the assembly of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You must be set apart ones, for I, Yahweh your God, am set apart. 3 A man must revere his mother and his father, and you must keep my sabbaths. I am Yahweh your God. 4 Do not turn to worthless idols, and do not make for yourselves gods out of metal. I am Yahweh your God. 5 And when you sacrifice a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh, you must sacrifice it for your acceptance. 6 On the day of your sacrifice it must be eaten, or on the next day, and what is left until the third day must be burned up in the fire. 7 And if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is unclean meat. It will not be accepted. 8 And the one who eats it must carry his iniquity because he has profaned the holy thing of Yahweh, and that person must be cut off from his people. 9 And when you harvest the harvest of your land, you must not completely harvest the edge of your field, and you must not gather the gleaning of your harvest. 10 And you must not glean your vineyard, and you must not gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You must leave them for the poor and for the sojourner. I am Yahweh your God. 11 You must not steal and you must not deceive and you must not lie, a man with his fellow citizen. 12 And you must not swear by my name falsely and profane the name of your God. I am Yahweh. 13 You must not oppress your neighbor and you must not rob. The wages of a hired worker must not stay all night with you until morning. 14 You must not curse the deaf and you must not put a stumbling block before the face of the blind. And you must fear your God. I am Yahweh. 15 You must not do injustice in judgment. You must not lift up the face of the poor, and you must not give preference to the face of the great. In justice you must judge your neighbor. 16 You must not walk around as a slanderer among your people. You must not stand against the blood of your neighbor. I am Yahweh. 17 You must not hate your brother in your heart. You must surely rebuke your fellow citizen and not incur sin because of him. 18 You must not take vengeance and you must not hold a grudge against the sons of your people, and you must love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh. 19 You must keep my statutes. You must not breed together your livestock of two different kinds. Your field you must not sow with two different kinds of seed, and a garment of two different kinds of material you must not put on you. 20 And if a man lies with a woman so there is emission of seed and she is a slave who is promised to a man, and she has not been ransomed at all or freedom has not been given to her, there must be punishment. They must not be put to death because she was not free. 21 And he must bring his guilt offering to Yahweh to the entrance of the tent of meeting—a ram as a guilt offering. 22 And the priest will make atonement for him with the ram for the guilt offering before the face of Yahweh, for the sin that he has sinned. And it will be forgiven him for his sin which he has sinned. 23 And when you come into the land and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you must regard its fruit as being uncircumcised in its foreskin. Three years it will be uncircumcised for you. It must not be eaten. 24 And in the fourth year all of its fruit will be holy, offerings of praise to Yahweh. 25 And in the fifth year you may eat its fruit, to increase its yield for you. I am Yahweh your God. 26 You must not eat anything with the blood. You must not practice divination, and you must not interpret signs. 27 You must not round off the corners of your heads and you must not shave off the edge of your beard. 28 And you must not make a cut on your body for the dead and you must not make on yourselves a mark of a tattoo. I am Yahweh. 29 Do not profane your daughter by causing her to be a prostitute, and the land will not fall to prostitution and the land become full of wickedness. 30 My sabbaths you must keep and my holy place you must fear. I am Yahweh. 31 Do not turn to the necromancers or to the soothsayers. Do not seek to become unclean by them. I am Yahweh your God. 32 From the face of the gray-haired person you must rise and you must show respect in the face of an old person. You must fear your God. I am Yahweh. 33 And if a sojourner sojourns among you in your land, you must not oppress him. 34 Like the native-born among you must be to you the sojourner who sojourns with you. And you must love him as yourself, because you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God. 35 You must not do injustice in judgment, in measurement of length, in weight, or in quantity. 36 Just scales, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin you must have. I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt. 37 And you must keep all my statutes and all my laws, and you must do them. I am Yahweh.’” Chapter 20 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “And say to the sons of Israel, ‘Any man among the sons of Israel, or among the sojourners who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his offspring to Molech, must certainly be put to death. The people of the land must stone him with stones. 3 And I also will set my face against that man and I will cut him off from among his people. For he has given his offspring to Molech, so as to make my holy place unclean and to profane my holy name. 4 And if the people of the land cause their eyes to be hidden at all from that man when he gives his offspring to Molech, so as to not put him to death, 5 then I myself will set my face against that man and his clan. And I will cut him off and all the ones who prostitute themselves after him, by prostituting themselves after Molech, from the midst of their people. 6 And the person who turns to the necromancers or to the soothsayers so as to prostitute themselves after them, I will set my face against that person. And I will cut him off from among his people. 7 So make yourselves holy and be holy ones, because I am Yahweh your God. [1] 8 And you must keep my statutes and do them. I am Yahweh who makes you holy. 9 If there is any man who curses his father or his mother, he must surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother, his blood is on him. 10 And if a man commits adultery with a man’s wife, that is, he commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress must certainly be put to death. 11 And if a man lies with his father’s wife, he uncovers his father’s nakedness. Both of them must certainly be put to death. Their blood is on them. 12 And if a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them must certainly be put to death. They have committed perversion; their blood is on them. 13 And if a man lies with a male as one lies with a woman, both of them have done a detestable thing. They must surely be put to death; their blood is on them. 14 And if a man takes a wife and her mother, this is wickedness. In the fire they must be burned, he and they, and there will not be wickedness among you. 15 And if a man lies with an animal, he must surely be put to death, and you must kill the animal. 16 And if a woman comes near to any animal to lie with it, then you must kill the woman and the animal. They must certainly be put to death; their blood is on them. 17 And if a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother, and he sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a shameful thing, and they must be cut off in the eyes of the sons of their people. He has uncovered the nakedness of his sister. He must bear his iniquity. 18 And if a man lies with a menstruating woman and has uncovered her nakedness, he has exposed her flow and she has uncovered the flow of her blood. And both of them must be cut off from among their people. 19 And the nakedness of your mother’s sister, or your father’s sister, you must not uncover because he would expose his relative. They must bear their iniquity. 20 And if a man lies with his aunt, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness. They will bear their sin; they will die childless. 21 And if a man takes his brother’s wife, that is disgraceful. He has uncovered the nakedness of his brother; they will be childless. 22 And you must keep all my statutes and all my judgments, and you must do them, and the land which I am bringing you there to dwell in will not vomit you out. 23 And you must not walk in the statutes of the nations that I will drive out from before your face. For they have done all these things, and I detest them. 24 And I said to you, “You will possess their land and I will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am Yahweh your God, who has separated you from the peoples. 25 And you must distinguish between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean. And you must not make yourselves detestable by an animal or by a bird or by anything that crawls on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean. 26 And you must be holy ones for me, because I, Yahweh, am holy, and I have separated you from the peoples to be mine. 27 And if there is among them a man or woman necromancer or soothsayer, they must certainly be put to death. They must stone them with stones. Their blood is on them.’” 20:7 [1] Several modern versions have: …because I, Yahweh your God, am holy . Chapter 21 1 And Yahweh said to Moses: “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, ‘For a dead person he must not make himself unclean among his people. 2 But if for his relative close to him—for his mother, or for his father, or for his son, or for his daughter, or for his brother, 3 or for his virgin sister who is close to him since she has no husband, for her he may make himself unclean. 4 He must not make himself unclean as a husband among his people, to profane himself. 5 They must not shave a bald patch on their heads and they must not shave off the corner of their beard, and they must not cut a cut in their flesh. 6 They must be holy ones to their God and they must not profane the name of their God. For they are offering Yahweh’s offerings made by fire, the bread of their God, so they must be holy. 7 He must not take a woman who is a prostitute or profaned. And he must not take a woman divorced from her husband. For he is holy to his God. 8 And you will make him holy, for he is the one who offers the bread of your God. He must be holy for you, because I, Yahweh who makes you holy, am holy. 9 And a daughter of any priest who profanes herself by becoming a prostitute, she is profaning her father. In the fire she must be burned. 10 And the great priest among his brothers, who has had the oil of anointing poured upon his head and has had his hand filled to wear the garments, he must not let his head be unbound and he must not tear his clothes. 11 And he must not go near any dead person, for his father or for his mother. He must not make himself unclean. 12 And he must not leave from the holy place and he must not profane the holy place of his God. For the dedication of the oil of the anointing of his God is upon him. I am Yahweh. 13 And he must take a wife in her virginity. 14 A widow, or a divorced woman, or a profaned prostitute—these he must not take. But rather, a virgin from his people he must take as a wife. 15 And he will not profane his offspring among his people. For I am Yahweh who makes him holy.’” 16 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Speak to Aaron, saying, ‘A man from your offspring throughout their generations who has a defect in him must not come near to offer food to his God. 18 For any man who has in him a defect must not come near: a man blind or lame or who has a slit nose or who is deformed, 19 or a man who has a broken foot or a broken hand, 20 or a hunchback, or a dwarf, or one with a defect in his eye or eczema or scabs or a crushed testicle. 21 Any man who has in him a defect among the offspring of Aaron the priest must not approach to offer Yahweh’s offerings made by fire. A defect is in him. He must not approach to offer the bread of his God. 22 The food of his God, some of the holiest holy things and some of the holy things, he may eat. 23 However, he must not go into the curtain and he must not approach to the altar. For a defect is in him and he must not profane my holy place. For I am Yahweh who makes them holy.’” 24 And Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel. Chapter 22 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Say to Aaron and to his sons that they must deal respectfully with the holy things of the sons of Israel, which they dedicate to me. And they must not profane my holy name. I am Yahweh. 3 Say to them, ‘Throughout your generations any man from all your seed who comes near to the holy things that the sons of Israel have made holy to Yahweh and his uncleanness is upon him, that person must be cut off from before my face. I am Yahweh. 4 Any man from the seed of Aaron who is one with a skin disease or a fluid discharge, he must not eat of the holy things until he becomes clean. And the one who touches anything unclean of a corpse, or a man who has go out from him an emission of seed, 5 or a man who touches any swarming thing that makes him unclean, or a person who makes him unclean, whatever his uncleanness— 6 the person who touches it will be unclean until the evening. And he must not eat from the holy things, unless he has bathed his body in water. 7 And when the sun has set, then he will be clean. And afterward he may eat from the holy things, because it is his food. 8 He must not eat an animal found dead or killed by wild animals, to become unclean by it. I am Yahweh. 9 And they must keep my obligations, and they will not bear sin because of it and die by it, because they profaned it. I am Yahweh who makes them holy. 10 And any stranger may not eat the holy thing. A foreign guest of the priest or a hired worker may not eat the holy thing. 11 And if a priest buys a person as property with his silver—he may eat it, and a descendant of his house, they may eat his food. 12 And if a priest’s daughter becomes the wife of a stranger, she may not eat the contributions of the holy things. 13 And if the daughter of a priest becomes a widow, or divorced, and there is no offspring for her, and she returns to her father’s house as in her youth, she may eat from the food of her father. And any stranger may not eat it. 14 And if a man eats a holy thing by mistake, then he must add its fifth on it and give the holy thing to the priest. 15 And they must not profane the holy things of the sons of Israel that they lifted up to Yahweh, 16 and cause themselves to bear the guilt of the guilt offering by their eating their holy things. For I am Yahweh who makes them holy.’” 17 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, and to all the sons of Israel, and say to them, ‘Any man from the house of Israel, or from the sojourners in Israel, who offers his offering, for any of their vows or for any of their freewill offerings,which they present to Yahweh as a burnt offering, 19 for your acceptance, it must be a male without blemish from the cattle, from the sheep, or from the goats. 20 Anything that has a blemish on it you must not offer, because it will not be acceptable for you. 21 And when a man offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from the herd or from the flock, it must be unblemished to be accepted. There must not be any defect in it. 22 The blind, or disabled, or maimed, or that have warts, or eczema, or scabs—these you must not offer to Yahweh. And you must not give from them an offering made by fire on the altar to Yahweh. 23 An ox or a lamb that is deformed or stunted—it you may offer as a freewill offering, but for a vow it will not be accepted. 24 One that is bruised, or crushed, or torn, or has cut testicles you must not offer to Yahweh, and in your land you must not do so. 25 And from the hand of the son of a foreigner you must not offer the food of your God from any of these because their deformity is in them and a defect is in them. They will not be accepted for you.’” 26 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, it must remain seven days with its mother. And from the eighth day and beyond, it may be accepted as an offering, an offering made by fire to Yahweh. 28 And an ox or a sheep, it and its young you must not slaughter on the same day. 29 And when you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanks to Yahweh, you must sacrifice it for your acceptance. 30 On that day it must be eaten, you must not leave part of it until morning. I am Yahweh. 31 And you must keep my commandments and you must do them. I am Yahweh. 32 And you must not profane my holy name. I must be treated as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel. I am Yahweh who sets you apart, 33 who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am Yahweh.” Chapter 23 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, ‘These are the appointed times of Yahweh, which you must proclaim as holy assemblies. They are my appointed times. 3 Six days work will be done, and on the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, a holy assembly. You must not do any work. It is a sabbath for Yahweh in all your dwellings. 4 These are the appointed times of Yahweh, the holy assemblies, them which you must announce at their appointed times: 5 In the first month, on day 14 of the month, between the evenings, is Yahweh’s Passover. 6 And on day 15 of this month is the Festival of Unleavened Bread for Yahweh. Seven days you must eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day there will be a holy assembly for you. You must not do any work of labor. 8 And you will offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh for seven days. On day seven is a holy assembly. You must not do any work of labor.’” 9 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you have come into the land that I am giving to you, and you harvest its harvest, then you must bring a sheaf of the first of your harvest to the priest. 11 And he will wave the sheaf before the face of Yahweh to be accepted for you. On the day after the sabbath the priest must wave it. 12 And you must offer, on the day when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb, one year old, without blemish as a burnt offering to Yahweh. 13 And its grain offering must be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as an offering made by fire to Yahweh, a sweet aroma, and its drink offering, a fourth of a hin of wine. 14 And bread, and roasted grain and fresh grain you must not eat until this very day, until your offering of the offering of your God. It is a permanent statute throughout your generations, in all your dwellings. 15 And you will count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath—from the day of your bringing the sheaf of the wave offering—there will be seven full sabbaths. 16 Until the day after the seventh sabbath you must count 50 days. And you must offer an offering of new grain to Yahweh. 17 From your dwellings you must bring bread for a wave offering. They must be two loaves of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour. They must be baked with yeast as firstfruits to Yahweh. 18 And you must offer with the bread seven male lambs without defects, sons of the year, and one bull, a son of the herd, and two rams. They must be a burnt offering to Yahweh, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma for Yahweh. 19 And you must offer one buck of the goats for a sin offering, and two male lambs, sons of the year, for a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20 And the priest must wave them with the bread of the firstfruits wave offering before the face of Yahweh with the two lambs. They will be set apart to Yahweh for the priest. 21 And you must make a proclamation on that very day. There will be a holy assembly for you. You must not do any work of labor. It is a permanent statute in all your dwellings throughout your generations. 22 And when you harvest the harvest of your land, you must not finish the edge of your field as you harvest, and you must not gather the gleaning of your harvest. You must leave them for the poor and for the sojourner. I am Yahweh your God.’” 23 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month, on day one of the month there will be for you a solemn rest, a memorial by trumpet blast, a holy assembly. 25 You must not do any work of labor, and you must offer a sacrifice made by fire to Yahweh.’” 26 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “Surely on day 10 of this seventh month it is the Day of Atonement. It will be a holy assembly for you, and you must humble yourselves and offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh. 28 And you must not do any work on that very day because it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for yourselves before the face of Yahweh your God. 29 If there is any person who does not humble himself on that very day, then he must be cut off from his people. 30 And any person who does any work on that very day, I will destroy that person from among his people. 31 You must not do any work. It is a permanent statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 32 It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you must humble yourselves on day nine of the month in the evening. From evening until evening you are to observe your sabbath.” 33 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 34 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘On day 15 of the seventh month this is the Festival of Huts for seven days to Yahweh. 35 On the first day there must be a holy assembly. You must not do any work of labor. 36 Seven days you must offer a sacrifice made by fire to Yahweh. On the eighth day there must be a holy assembly for you, and you must offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh. It is a solemn assembly. You must not do any work of labor. 37 These are the appointed times of Yahweh, which you must proclaim as holy assemblies to offer a sacrifice made by fire to Yahweh, a burnt offering and a grain offering, sacrifices and drink offerings, each day’s matter on its day, 38 apart from the sabbaths of Yahweh, and apart from your gifts, and apart from all your vows, and apart from all your freewill offerings that you give to Yahweh. 39 Surely on day 15 of the seventh month when you have gathered the produce of the land, you must celebrate a festival of Yahweh for seven days, on the first day a solemn rest, and on the eighth day a solemn rest. 40 And you must take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of the majestic trees, branches of palm trees, and branches of leafy trees, and willows of the stream. And you will rejoice before the face of Yahweh your God seven days. 41 And you must celebrate it as a festival for Yahweh seven days in the year. It is a permanent statute throughout your generations in the seventh month you must celebrate it. 42 In the huts you must live for seven days. All the native-born in Israel must live in the huts, 43 so that your generations may know that I made the sons of Israel live in the huts when I brought them from the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.’” 44 And Moses announced the appointed times of Yahweh to the sons of Israel. Chapter 24 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the sons of Israel and they will bring to you pure beaten oil of the olive for the light, so the lamp may burn continually. 3 Outside the curtain of the testimony in the tent of meeting, Aaron must keep it in order, from evening until morning, before the face of Yahweh continually. It is a permanent statute throughout your generations. 4 On the pure gold lampstand he must keep the lamps in order before the face of Yahweh continually. 5 And you must take fine flour and bake 12 cakes with it. There must be two-tenths of an ephah in one cake. 6 And you must set them in two rows, six in a row, on the pure gold table before the face of Yahweh. 7 And you must put on the row pure incense and it will be a memorial portion for the bread, an offering made by fire to Yahweh. 8 On the day of the sabbath, every sabbath, he must keep it in order before the face of Yahweh continually. It is from the sons of Israel as an eternal covenant. 9 And it will be for Aaron and for his sons, and they must eat it in a holy place. For it is a holiest holy thing for him, from Yahweh’s offerings made by fire, a perpetual portion.” 10 Now the son of an Israelite woman, who was also the son of an Egyptian man, went out in the midst of the sons of Israel. And the son of the Israelite woman and an Israelite man fought in the camp. 11 And the son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name and cursed, and they brought him to Moses. (Now his mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) 12 And they caused him to remain in the guard-post until it would be made clear to them what was in accordance with the mouth of Yahweh. 13 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 14 “Bring out the one who has cursed to the outside of the camp. And all the hearers must lay their hands on his head, and all the assembly must stone him. 15 And speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If any man curses his God, then he must bear his sin. 16 And he who blasphemes the name of Yahweh must surely be put to death. All the assembly must certainly stone him, as the sojouner so the native-born. When he blasphemes the Name, he must be put to death. 17 And if a man strikes dead any human being, he must certainly be put to death. 18 And he who strikes dead the life of an animal must repay it, life in place of life. 19 And if a man gives an injury to his fellow citizen, as he has done so it will be done to him: 20 fracture in place of fracture, eye in place of eye, tooth in place of tooth. As he gave an injury to a human, so it must be given to him. 21 And he who strikes dead an animal must repay it. And he who strikes dead a human must be put to death. 22 There must be one law for you, as the sojourner so will be the native-born. For I am Yahweh your God.’” 23 And Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, and they brought the one who had cursed to the outside of the camp. And they stoned him with stones, and the sons of Israel did as Yahweh had commanded Moses. Chapter 25 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you come to the land that I am giving to you, then the land must keep a sabbath, a sabbath for Yahweh. 3 Six years you must plant your field, and six years you must prune your vineyard and gather its produce. 4 And in the seventh year, there must be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath for Yahweh. You must not plant your field and you must not prune your vineyard. 5 You must not harvest the second growth of your harvest and you must not gather the grapes of your unpruned vines. It will be a year of solemn rest for the land. 6 And the sabbath of the land will be for you, as food for you, and for your male slave, and for your female slave, and for your hired servant, and for the foriegn resident who is sojourning with you, 7 and for your livestock and for the wild animal that is in your land, all its yield will be for eating. 8 And you must count for yourself seven sabbaths of years, seven times seven years, and there will be for you a period of seven sabbaths of years, 49 years. 9 And you must cause the horn blast to be heard on the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month. On the Day of Atonement you must cause the horn to be heard throughout all your land. 10 And you must set apart the year, year 50, and proclaim freedom in the land to all its inhabitants. It will be a jubilee for you and you must return a man to his property and you must return a man to his family. 11 That year, year 50, will be a jubilee for you. You must not plant and not harvest its second growth and not harvest its unpruned vines. 12 For it is a jubilee, it will be holy for you. You must eat its yield from the field. 13 In this Year of Jubilee you must return a man to his property. 14 And if you sell something sold to your fellow citizen or buy from the hand of your fellow citizen, a man must not oppress his brother. 15 According to the number of years after the jubilee you must buy from your fellow citizen. According to the number of years of yield he must sell to you. 16 According to the multitude of the years you must increase its purchase price, but according to the fewness of the years you must decrease its purchase price, because of the number of yields he is selling to you. 17 And you must not oppress, a man his fellow citizen. And you must fear your God, for I am Yahweh your God. 18 And you must do my statutes, and my laws you must keep and do them. And you will dwell on the land securely. 19 And the land will give its fruit, and you will eat to satisfaction and dwell securely on it. 20 And if you say, “What will we eat in the seventh year? Look, we cannot plant and we cannot gather our yield.” 21 Then I will command my blessing for you in the sixth year, and it will produce yield for three years. 22 And you will plant in the eighth year and you will eat from the old yield until the ninth year, until its yield comes in you will eat the old. 23 And the land must not be sold for perpetuity, for the land belongs to me. For you are sojourners and temporary residents with me. 24 And in all the land of your possession you must give redemption for the land. 25 If your brother becomes poor and sells some of his property, then his redeemer nearest to him may come and redeem the things sold of his brother. 26 And if a man does not have a redeemer for it, but his hand produces and he finds enough for its redemption, 27 then he may calculate the years of its sale and return the balance to the man whom he sold it to. And he may return to his property. 28 And if his hand does not find enough to get it back for himself, then his sold things will remain in the hand of he who bought it until the Year of Jubilee. And it will go out in the Jubilee and he will return to his property. 29 And if a man sells a residential house of a walled city, then his right of redemption will be until the completion of the year of its sale. It will be the days of his right of redemption. 30 And if it is not redeemed for him up to the fulfilling of an entire year, then the house which is in the city which has its wall will belong in perpetuity to him who bought it and to his descendants. It will not go out in the Jubilee. 31 And the houses of the villages that have no wall around them will be considered as the field of the land. There will be redemption for it, and in the Jubilee it will go out. 32 As for the cities of the Levites, the houses of the cities of their possession, the right of redemption is permanent for the Levites. 33 And whatever is from the Levites he may redeem, and a sold house or a city of his posession will go out in the Jubilee. For the houses of the cities of the Levites—it is their possession among the sons of Israel. 34 And the field of the pastureland of their cities must not be sold because it is their permanent possession. 35 And if your brother becomes poor and his hand is shaky with you, then you must support him as a sojourner or temporary resident and he will live with you. 36 Do not take from him interest or usury, and you must fear your God and your brother may live with you. 37 Your silver you must not give to him with interest and for profit you must not give your food. 38 I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt to give to you the land of Canaan, to be your God. 39 And if your brother with you becomes poor and is sold to you, you must not make him work the work of a slave. 40 Like a hired worker, like a temporary resident, he must be with you. Until the Year of Jubilee he will serve with you. 41 And he will go away from you, he and his sons with him, and he will return to his clan. And he will return to the possession of his fathers. 42 For they are my servants, them which I brought out of the land of Egypt. They will not be sold in a slave sale. 43 You must not rule over him with ruthlessness, and you must fear your God. 44 As for your male slave and your female slave who you have for yourself, from the nations that surround you, from them you may acquire a male slave or a female slave. 45 And also from the sons of the sojourners who are dwelling with you, from them you may acquire, and from their clans who are with you, who have given birth in your land—they may become your property. 46 And you may bequeath them to your sons after you, to inherit as a possession, you may let them work permanently. But as for your brothers, the sons of Israel, a man with his brother, you must not rule over him with ruthlessness. 47 And if the hand of a sojourner or a temporary resident with you has produced, and your brother with you becomes poor and is sold to a sojourner, a temporary resident with you, or to a descendant of a clan of a sojourner, 48 after he has been sold, there will be redemption for him. One of his brothers may redeem him, 49 or his uncle, or the son of his uncle may redeem him; or a relative of his flesh from his clan may redeem him. Or, if his hand has produced, then he may redeem himself. 50 And he will calculate with his buyer from the year he was sold to him until the Year of Jubilee, and the silver of his sale must be according to the number of years; like the days of a hired worker it will be with him. 51 If there are still many of the years, according to them he must pay back his redemption from the silver of his purchase. 52 And if a few of the years until the Year of Jubilee are left, then he must calculate for him according to his years. He must pay back his redemption. 53 Like a hired worker year by year he will be with him. He must not rule over him with ruthlessness in your eyes. 54 And if he is not redeemed by these, then he must go out in the Year of Jubilee, he and his sons with him. 55 For to me the sons of Israel are servants. They are my servants, them which I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.’” Chapter 26 1 “You must not make for yourselves idols. And a carved figure or a stone pillar you must not lift up for yourselves, and a stone sculpture you must not put in your land to bow down in front of it. For I am Yahweh your God. 2 My sabbaths you must keep and my holy place you must fear. I am Yahweh. 3 If you walk in my statutes and keep my commandments and do them, 4 then I will give your rain in its season. And the land will give its yield, and the tree of the field will give its fruit. 5 And your threshing season will reach the grape harvest, and the grape harvest will reach the planting season. And you will eat your bread to satisfaction and dwell securely in your land. 6 And I will give peace in the land. And you will lie down and there will be nothing that makes one afraid. And I will remove the harmful animals from the land, and the sword will not pass through your land. 7 And you will pursue those who are hostile to you, and they will fall before your face by the sword. 8 And five from you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred from you will pursue ten thousand. And those who are hostile to you will fall before your face by the sword. 9 And I will turn to you and make you fruitful and multiply you. And I will establish my covenant with you. 10 And you will eat the old that has grown old and the old you will bring out from the face of the new. 11 And I will put my holy place in the midst of you, and my spirit will not detest you. 12 And I will walk in the midst of you and I will be your God, and you will be my people. 13 I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from being their slaves. And I broke the bars of your yoke and made you to walk upright. 14 And if you will not listen to me, and will not do all these commandments, 15 and if you reject my statutes and if your spirit detests my laws, so as to not do all my commandments, so that you break my covenant— 16 then surely I will do this to you: I will inflict terror on you, consumption and fever that destroys the eyes and drains away life. And you will sow your seed for nothing, because those who are hostile to you will eat it. 17 And I will set my face against you, and you will be defeated in the face of those who are hostile to you. And those who hate you will rule over you; and you will flee, though there is not one who chases you. 18 And if up to these you do not listen to me, then I will continue to discipline you seven times for your sins. 19 And I will break the pride of your power. And I will make your sky like iron and your land like bronze. 20 And your strength will be used up for nothing, because your land will not give its yield. And the tree of the land will not give its fruit. 21 And if you walk against me in opposition and are not willing to listen to me, then I will add upon you a plague seven times, according to your sins. 22 And I will send forth among you animals of the field, and they will make you childless, and destroy your livestock, and make you few in number. And your roads will become deserted. 23 And if in spite of these things you do not accept my discpline and you walk against me in opposition, 24 then I will also walk, I myself, against you in opposition. And I will strike you, even I myself, seven times because of your sins. 25 And I will bring a sword upon you that will avenge with the vengeance of the covenant, and you will be gathered into your cities. And I will send a plague in the midst of you, and you will be given into the hand of the one who is hostile. 26 When I break the staff of your bread, then ten women will bake your bread in one oven. And they will distribute your bread by weight, and you will eat but not be satisfied. 27 And if in spite of this you do not listen to me, and you walk against me in opposition, 28 then I will walk against you in the wrath of opposition. And I will discipline you, even I, seven times for your sins. 29 And you will eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters you will eat. 30 And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and put your corpses on the corpses of your idols, and I myself will abhor you. 31 And I will lay your cities in ruins and make your holy places desolate. And I will not smell your sweet aromas. 32 And I myself will make the land desolate, and those who are hostile to you who dwell in it will be shocked at it. 33 And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will unsheathe a sword behind you. And your land will be desolate, and your cities will be ruined. 34 Then the land will enjoy its sabbaths all the days of its desolation while you are in the land of those who are hostile to you. Then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. 35 All the days of its desolation it will rest what it did not rest on your sabbaths when you lived on it. 36 As for the ones who are remaining among you, I will bring despair into their hearts in the land of those who are hostile to them, and the sound of a windblown leaf will chase them. And they will flee as one fleeing from a sword, and you will fall though there is not one who chases. 37 And you will stumble, each over his brother, as from the face of a sword, though there is not one who chases. And you will have no power to stand to the face of those who are hostile to you. 38 And you will perish among the nations, and the land of those who are hostile to you will devour you. 39 And the ones who are remaining among you will rot in their iniquity, in the lands of those who are hostile to you. And also in the iniquities of their fathers they will rot with them. 40 And if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, in their unfaithfulness which they acted unfaithfully against me, and also that they walked against me in opposition— 41 also I myself went against them in opposition and I brought them into the land of those who are hostile to them—if then their uncircumcised hearts become humbled, and then they pay for their iniquity, 42 then I will remember my covenant with Jacob. And also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham I will remember. And I will remember the land. 43 And the land was abandoned by them, and it will rejoice with its sabbaths while being desolate without them. And they themselves will pay for their iniquity because they rejected my judgments and their spirit detested my statutes. 44 And despite even this, when they are in the land of those who are hostile to them, I will not reject them, and I will not detest them so as to destroy them, to break my covenant with them. For I am Yahweh their God. 45 And I will remember for their sake the covenant with their ancestors, them whom I brought out from the land of Egypt in the eyes of the nations, to be their God. I am Yahweh.” 46 These are the statutes, and the judgments, and the instructions that Yahweh made between himself and between the sons of Israel at Mount Sinai by the hand of Moses. Chapter 27 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘If a man vows a vow according to your valuation of persons to Yahweh, 3 then your valuation will be for a male from a son of 20 years and up to a son of 60 years and your valuation must be 50 shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the holy place. 4 And if she is a female, then your valuation must be 30 shekels. 5 And if from a son of five years and up to a son of 20 years, then your valuation for the male must be 20 shekels, and for the female ten shekels. 6 And if from a son of a month and up to a son of five years, then your valuation for the male must be five shekels of silver, and for the female your valuation of three shekels of silver. 7 And if from a son of 60 years and up, if a male, then your valuation must be 15 shekels, and for the female ten shekels. 8 And if he is poorer than your valuation, then he must present himself to the face of the priest, and the priest will value him. According to what the hand of the one making the vow produces the priest will value him. 9 And if it is an animal from which they offer an offering to Yahweh, all that he gives from them to Yahweh will be set apart. 10 He must not replace it and he must not exchange it, a good one for a bad one or a bad for a good. And if he exchanges at all an animal for an animal, then it will be and the exchanged one will be set apart. 11 And if any animal is unclean from which an offering must not be offered to Yahweh, then he must present the animal to the face of the priest. 12 And the priest will set its value as either good or bad. According to the valuation of you, the priest, thus will it be. 13 And if he ever redeems it, then he must add its fifth in addition to your valuation. 14 And when a man sets apart his house as a holy thing to Yahweh, then the priest will set its value as either good or bad. As the priest values it, so it will stand. 15 And if the one who set it apart redeems his house, then he must add a fifth of the silver of your valuation to it, and it will belong to him. 16 And if a man sets apart part of the field of his property to Yahweh, then your valuation will be in proportion to its seed—a homer of barley seed for 50 shekels of silver. 17 If he sets apart his field during the Year of Jubilee, according to your valuation it will stand. 18 And if he sets apart his field after the Jubilee, then the priest must calculate for it the silver according to the years remaining until the Year of Jubilee, and it must be reduced from your valuation. 19 And if he who set it apart ever redeems the field, then he must add a fifth of the silver of your valuation to it, and it will belong to him. 20 And if he does not redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it cannot be redeemed again. 21 And the field will be, when it goes out in the Jubilee, a holy thing to Yahweh, like the field that has been dedicated by ban. It will belong to the priest as his property. 22 And if he sets apart to Yahweh a field of his acquisition that is not part of the field of his property, 23 then the priest will calculate for him the amount of your valuation up to the Year of Jubilee, and the man must give your valuation on that day as a holy thing to Yahweh. 24 In the Year of Jubilee, the field will return to whom he bought it from, to whom belongs the posession of the land. 25 And all your valuations must be by the shekel of the holy place; 20 gerahs must be the shekel. 26 Surely the firstborn which belongs as firstborn to Yahweh among animals, a man must not set it apart. Whether ox or sheep, it belongs to Yahweh. 27 And if it is among the unclean animals, then he may buy it back according to your valuation, and he must add its fifth to it. And if it is not redeemed, then it will be sold at your valuation. 28 Surely any dedicated thing that a man dedicates to Yahweh, from all that belongs to him, from human or animal, or from the field of his property, must not be sold and must not be redeemed. Every dedicated thing, it is the holiest holy thing to Yahweh. 29 Every dedicated one who is dedicated from mankind must not be ransomed. He must surely be put to death. 30 And all the tithe of the land, from the seed of the land and from the fruit of the tree, belongs to Yahweh. It is holy to Yahweh. 31 And if a man ever redeems some of his tenth, he must add its fifth in addition to it. 32 As for every tenth of the herd or the flock, anything that passes under the rod, the tenth must be set apart to Yahweh. 33 He must not seek to distinguish between good and bad, and he must not exchange it. And if he exchanges it at all, then it will be and its substitute will be set apart. It must not be redeemed.’” 34 These are the commandments that Yahweh commanded Moses for the sons of Israel at Mount Sinai. Numbers Chapter 1 1 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting in the wilderness of Sinai on 1 of the second month in the second year of their going out from the land of Egypt, saying, 2 “Lift up the heads of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, according to their clans, according to the house of their fathers, by the number of names, every male according to their skulls, 3 from a son of 20 years and upward, every one who goes out to war in Israel. You and Aaron must count them according to their armies. 4 And with you will be a man, a man of the tribe. He will be the head man of the house of his fathers. 5 And these are the names of the men who will stand with you: Of Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur, 6 of Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai; 7 of Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab; 8 of Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar; 9 of Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon; 10 of the sons of Joseph: of Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud; of Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur; 11 of Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni; 12 of Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai; 13 of Asher, Pagiel the son of Okran; 14 of Gad, Eliasaph the son of Deuel; 15 of Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.” 16 These were the called ones of the congregation, the leaders of the tribes of their fathers. They were the heads of the thousands of Israel. 17 And Moses and Aaron took these men, who were designated by names. 18 And they assembled all the congregation on 1 of the second month. And they declared their ancestry in accordance with their clans, according to the house of their fathers, by the number of the names, from a son of 20 years and upward, according to their skulls. 19 And he counted them in the wilderness of Sinai, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 20 And the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, their generations according to their clans, according to the house of their fathers, by the number of the names, according to their skulls, every male from a son of 20 years and upward, every one who goes out to war, 21 their counted ones of the tribe of Reuben were 46,500. 22 Of the sons of Simeon, their generations according to their clans, according to the house of their fathers, his counted ones by the number of the names, according to their skulls, every male from a son of 20 years and upward, every one who goes out to war, 23 their counted ones of the tribe of Simeon were 59,300. 24 Of the sons of Gad, their generations according to their clans, according to the house of their fathers, by the number of the names, from a son of 20 years and upward, every one who goes out to war, 25 their counted ones of the tribe of Gad were 45,650. 26 Of the sons of Judah, their generations according to their clans, according to the house of their fathers, by the number of the names, from a son of 20 years and upward, every one who goes out to war, 27 their counted ones of the tribe of Judah were 74,600. 28 Of the sons of Issachar, their generations according to their clans, according to the house of their fathers, by the number of the names, from a son of 20 years and upward, every one who goes out to war, 29 their counted ones of the tribe of Issachar were 54,400. 30 Of the sons of Zebulun, their generations according to their clans, according to the house of their fathers, by the number of the names, from a son of 20 years and upward, every one who goes out to war, 31 their counted ones of the tribe of Zebulun were 57,400. 32 Of the sons of Joseph: of the sons of Ephraim, their generations according to their clans, according to the house of their fathers, by the number of the names, from a son of 20 years and upward, every one who goes out to war, 33 their counted ones of the tribe of Ephraim were 40,500. 34 Of the sons of Manasseh, their generations according to their clans, according to the house of their fathers, by the number of the names, from a son of 20 years and upward, every one who goes out to war, 35 their counted ones of the tribe of Manasseh were 32,200. 36 Of the sons of Benjamin, their generations according to their clans, according to the house of their fathers, by the number of the names, from a son of 20 years and upward, every one who goes out to war, 37 their counted ones of the tribe of Benjamin were 35,400. 38 Of the sons of Dan, their generations according to their clans, according to the house of their fathers, by the number of the names, from a son of 20 years and upward, every one who goes out to war, 39 their counted ones of the tribe of Dan were 62,700. 40 Of the sons of Asher, their generations according to their clans, according to the house of their fathers, by the number of the names, from a son of 20 years and upward, every one who goes out to war, 41 their counted ones of the tribe of Asher were 41,500. 42 Of the sons of Naphtali, their generations according to their clans, according to the house of their fathers, by the number of the names, from a son of 20 years and upward, every one who goes out to war, 43 their counted ones of the tribe of Naphtali were 53,400. 44 These were the counted ones, whom Moses and Aaron had counted, and the leaders of Israel, 12 men, they were one man for the house of his fathers. 45 And they were all the counted ones of the sons of Israel according to the house of their fathers, from a son of 20 years and upward, every one who goes out to war in Israel. 46 And all the counted ones were 603,550. 47 And the Levites according to the tribe of their father were not counted in the midst of them. 48 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 49 “Only the tribe of Levi you must not count. And you must not lift up their heads in the midst of the sons of Israel. 50 And you, appoint the Levites over the dwelling of the testimony and over all its vessels and over all that belongs to it. They themselves must carry the dwelling and all its vessels, and they themselves must serve it. And they must camp around the dwelling. 51 And when the dwelling sets out, the Levites must take it down. And when the dwelling camps, the Levites must raise it up. And the stranger who comes near must be put to death. 52 And the sons of Israel will camp, a man at his camp, and a man at his banner, according to their armies. 53 And the Levites must camp around the dwelling of the testimony and wrath will not be upon the congregation of the sons of Israel. And the Levites must keep the keeping of the dwelling of the testimony.” 54 And the sons of Israel did according to all that Yahweh commanded Moses, so they did. Chapter 2 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 2 “The sons of Israel will camp, a man at his banner, with the sign of the house of their fathers. They will camp away from the front, around the tent of meeting. 3 And the ones camping to the east, to the sunrise, will be the banner of the camp of Judah according to their armies. And the leader of the sons of Judah is Nahshon the son of Amminadab. 4 And his army and their counted ones are 74,600. 5 And the ones camping beside him are the tribe of Issachar. And the leader of the sons of Issachar is Nethanel the son of Zuar. 6 And his army and his counted ones are 54,400. 7 The tribe of Zebulun: and the leader of the sons of Zebulun is Eliab the son of Helon. 8 And his army and his counted ones are 57,400. 9 All the counted ones of the camp of Judah are 186,400 according to their armies. They will set out first. 10 The banner of the camp of Reuben will be to the south of their armies. And the leader of the sons of Reuben is Elizur the son of Shedeur. 11 And his army and his counted ones are 46,500. 12 And the ones camping beside him will be the tribe of Simeon. And the leader of the sons of Simeon is Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. 13 And his army and their counted ones are 59,300. 14 And the tribe of Gad: and the leader of the sons of Gad is Eliasaph the son of Reuel. 15 And his army and their counted ones are 45,650. 16 All the counted ones of the camp of Reuben are 151,450 according to their armies. And they will set out second. 17 And the tent of meeting will set out from the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps. As they came so will they set out, a man on his hand, according to their banners. 18 The banner of the camp of Ephraim according to their armies will be to the west. And the leader of the sons of Ephraim is Elishama the son of Ammihud. 19 And his army and their counted ones are 40,500. 20 And beside him is the tribe of Manasseh. And the leader of the sons of Manasseh is Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 21 And his army and their counted ones are 32,200. 22 And the tribe of Benjamin: and the leader of the sons of Benjamin is Abidan the son of Gideoni. 23 And his army and their counted ones are 35,400. 24 All the counted ones of the camp of Ephraim are 108,100 according to their armies. And they will set out third. 25 The banner of the camp of Dan will be to the north according to their armies. And the leader of the sons of Dan is Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. 26 And his army and their counted ones are 62,700. 27 And the ones camping beside him will be the tribe of Asher. And the leader of the sons of Asher is Pagiel the son of Okran. 28 And his army and their counted ones are 41,500. 29 And the tribe of Naphtali: and the leader of the sons of Naphtali is Ahira the son of Enan. 30 And his army and their counted ones are 53,400. 31 All the counted ones of the camp of Dan are 157,600. They will set out last, according to their banners.” 32 These are the counted ones of the sons of Israel according to the houses of their fathers. All the counted ones of the camps according to their armies are 603,550. 33 And they did not count the Levites in the midst of the sons of Israel, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 34 And the sons of Israel did according to all that Yahweh commanded Moses. So they camped according to their banners and so they set out, a man according to his clans, in accordance with the house of his fathers. Chapter 3 1 And these are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day Yahweh spoke with Moses on the mountain of Sinai. 2 And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests, the ones who were anointed, whose hand he filled to serve as priest. 4 And Nadab died and Abihu before the face of Yahweh when they offered unfamiliar fire before the face of Yahweh in the wilderness of Sinai. And sons were not belonging to them. And Eleazar served as priest and Ithamar with the face of Aaron their father. 5 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Bring near the tribe of Levi and stand it before the face of Aaron the priest. And they shall serve him. 7 And they shall keep his keeping and the keeping of all the congregation before the face of the tent of meeting, to serve the service of the dwelling. 8 And they shall keep all the vessels of the tent of meeting and the keeping of the sons of Israel, to serve the service of the dwelling. 9 And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons. They are given, given to him from with the sons of Israel. 10 And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall keep their priesthood. And the stranger who comes near shall be put to death.” 11 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel instead of every firstborn, the opener of the womb from the sons of Israel. And the Levites are for me. 13 For every firstborn belongs to me. In the day of my striking down every firstborn in the land of Egypt I set apart for me every firstborn in Israel, from human up to livestock. They are for me. I am Yahweh.” 14 And Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, 15 “Count the sons of Levi according to the house of their fathers, according to their clans. You shall count them, every male from a son of a month and upward.” 16 And Moses counted them in accordance with the mouth of Yahweh, just as he was commanded. 17 And these were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari. 18 And these are the names of the sons of Gershon according to their clans: Libni and Shimei. 19 And the sons of Kohath according to their clans were Amram and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. 20 And the sons of Merari according to their clans were Mahli and Mushi. These are they, the clans of the Levites according to the house of their fathers. 21 Of Gershon were the clan of the Libnite and the clan of the Shimeite. These are they, the clans of the Gershonite. 22 Their counted ones by the number of every male from a son of a month and upward, their counted ones were 7,500. 23 The clans of the Gershonites were to camp behind the dwelling, to the west. 24 And the leader of the house of the father of the Gershonite was Eliasaph the son of Lael. 25 And the keeping of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting was the dwelling and the tent, its covering, and the curtain of the opening of the tent of meeting, 26 and the hangings of the courtyard, and the curtains of the opening of the courtyard that is upon the dwelling and upon the altar all around, and its ropes for all its service. 27 And of Kohath were the clan of the Amramite, and the clan of the Izharite, and the clan of the Hebronite, and the clan of the Uzzielite. These are they, the clans of the Kohathite. 28 By the number of every male from a son of a month and upward, 8,600 were the keepers of the keeping of the holy place. 29 The clans of the sons of Kohath were to camp on the side of the dwelling, to the south. 30 And the leader of the house of the father of the clans of the Kohathite was Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. 31 And their duty was the box, and the table, and the lampstand, and the altar, and the vessels of the holy place with which they serve, and the covering, and all its service. 32 And the leader of the leaders of the Levites was Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, the oversight of the keepers of the keeping of the holy place. 33 Of Merari were the clan of the Mahlite and the clan of the Mushite. These are they, the clans of Merari. 34 And their counted ones by the number of every male from a son of a month and upward were 6,200. 35 And the leader of the house of the father of the clans of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They were to camp on the side of the dwelling, to the north. 36 And the oversight of the duty of the sons of Merari was the boards of the dwelling, and its bars, and its pillars, and its bases, and all its vessels, and all its service, 37 and the pillars of the courtyard all around, and their bases, and their pegs, and their ropes. 38 And the ones camping before the face of the dwelling to the east, before the face of the tent of meeting toward the sunrise were to be Moses and Aaron and his sons, the keepers of the keeping of the holy place, according to the keeping of the sons of Israel. And the stranger who comes near shall be put to death. 39 All the counted ones of the Levites whom Moses and Aaron counted in accordance with the mouth of Yahweh, according to their clans, every male from a son of a month and upward, were 22,000. 40 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Count every firstborn male of the sons of Israel from a son of a month and upward. And lift up the number of their names. 41 And you shall take the Levites for me—I am Yahweh—instead of all the firstborn of the sons of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the livestock of the sons of Israel.” 42 And Moses counted all the firstborn of the sons of Israel, just as Yahweh had commanded him. 43 And it happened that every firstborn male by the number of the names from a son of a month and upward, according to their counted ones, was 22,273. 44 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 45 “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock (and the Levites shall belong to me—I am Yahweh), 46 and the ransoms of the 273, the ones in excess over the Levites from the firstborn of the sons of Israel. 47 And you shall take five, five shekels for the skull. You shall take by the shekel of the holy place, 20 gerahs is the shekel. 48 And you shall give the silver to Aaron and to his sons, the ransom of the ones in excess among them.” 49 And Moses took the silver of the ransom from with the ones in excess over the ransomed ones of the Levites. 50 From with the firstborn of the sons of Israel he took the silver: 1,365 by the shekel of the holy place. 51 And Moses gave the silver of the ransom to Aaron and to his sons in accordance with the mouth of Yahweh, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. Chapter 4 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 2 “Lift up the head of the sons of Kohath from the midst of the sons of Levi, according to their clans, according to the house of their fathers, 3 from a son of 30 years and upward, and up to a son of 50 years, all who come to the company to do work in the tent of meeting. 4 This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting, the holy thing of the holy things. 5 And Aaron and his sons shall come when the camp sets out. And they shall take down the curtain of the covering and with it they shall cover the box of the testimony. 6 And they shall put upon it a cover of the skin of the porpoise. And they shall spread a cloth entirely of blue above. And they shall place its poles. 7 And over the table of the face they shall spread a cloth of blue. And they shall put on it the dishes and the pans and the sacrificial bowls and the jars of the drink offering. And the bread of continuity shall be on it. 8 And they shall spread on them a cloth of the worms of scarlet. And they shall cover it with a covering of the skin of the porpoise. And they shall place its poles. 9 And they shall take a cloth of blue and cover the lampstand of the light source, and its lamps, and its snuffers, and its trays, and all the vessels of its oil with which they serve it. 10 And they shall put it and all its vessels into the covering of the skin of the porpoise. And they shall put it on the carrying bar. 11 And upon the altar of gold they shall spread a cloth of blue. And they shall cover it with a covering of the skin of the porpoise. And they shall place its poles. 12 And they shall take all the implements of the service with which they serve in the holy place and they shall put them into a cloth of blue. And they shall cover them with a covering of the skin of the porpoise. And they shall put it on the carrying bar. 13 And they shall remove the fatty ashes from the altar and they shall spread on it a cloth of purple. 14 And they shall put on it all its implements with which they serve on it: the trays, the meat forks, and the shovels, and the bowls—all the implements of the altar. And they shall spread on it a covering of the skin of the porpoise. And they shall place its poles. 15 And Aaron and his sons shall finish to cover the holy place and all the implements of the holy place when the camp sets out. And afterward the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them, and they shall not touch the holy thing and die. These are the load of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting. 16 And the oversight of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest is the oil of the light source, and the incense of the spices, and the grain offering of the continuity, and the oil of the anointment, the oversight of all the dwelling and all that is in it, with the holy place and with its implements.” 17 And Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 18 “Do not let the tribe of the clans of the Kohathite be cut off from the midst of the Levites. 19 And do this for them and they will live and not die when they approach the holiest holy thing. Aaron and his sons shall come and place them man by man in accordance with his service and according to his load. 20 And they shall not enter to look at the holy place like a gulp and die.” 21 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 22 “Lift up the head of the sons of Gershon, even them, according to the house of their fathers, according to their clans. 23 You shall count them from a son of 30 years and upward, up to a son of 50 years, every one who comes to serve service, to work work in the tent of meeting. 24 This is the work of the clans of the Gershonite, for working and for a load. 25 And they shall carry the curtains of the dwelling and the tent of meeting, its covering, the covering of porpoise which is on it above, and the covering of the opening of the tent of meeting, 26 and the hangings of the courtyard, and the covering of the opening of the gate of the courtyard that is beside the dwelling and beside the altar all around, and their ropes, and all the implements of their work, and all that is to be done for them. And they shall work. 27 In accordance with the mouth of Aaron and his sons will be all the work of the sons of the Gershonite, according to all their load, and according to all their work. And you shall appoint for them by duty all their load. 28 This is the work of the clans of the sons of the Gershonite in the tent of meeting and their duty in the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. 29 You shall count them, the sons of Merari according to their clans, according to the house of their fathers. 30 You shall count them from a son of 30 years and upward, and up to a son of 50 years, every one who comes to the company, to serve the service of the tent of meeting. 31 And this is the duty of their load according to all their service in the tent of meeting: the boards of the dwelling, and its bars, and its pillars, and its bases, 32 and the pillars of the courtyard all around, and their bases, and their pegs, and their ropes, for all their implements and for all their work. And by names you shall appoint the implements of the duty of their load. 33 This is the service of the clans of the sons of Merari for all their service in the tent of meeting, by the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.” 34 And Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the congregation counted the sons of the Kohathite according to their clans and according to the house of their fathers, 35 from a son of 30 years and upward, and up to a son of 50 years, every one who comes to the company for service in the tent of meeting. 36 And their counted ones according to their clans were 2,750. 37 These were the counted ones of the clans of the Kohathite, every one who serves in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron had counted in accordance with the mouth of Yahweh by the hand of Moses. 38 And the counted ones of the sons of Gershon, according to their clans and according to the house of their fathers, 39 from a son of 30 years and upward, and up to a son of 50 years, every one who comes to the company for service in the tent of meeting. 40 And their counted ones according to their clans, according to the house of their fathers were 2,630. 41 These were the counted ones of the clans of the sons of Gershon, every one who serves in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron had counted in accordance with the mouth of Yahweh. 42 And the counted ones of the clans of the sons of Merari, according to their clans, according to the house of their fathers, 43 from a son of 30 years and upward, and up to a son of 50 years, every one who comes to the company for service in the tent of meeting. 44 And their counted ones according to their clans were 3,200. 45 These are the counted ones of the clans of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron had counted in accordance with the mouth of Yahweh by the hand of Moses, 46 all the counted ones whom Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel had counted, the Levites according to their clans and according to the house of their fathers, 47 from a son of 30 years and upward, and up to a son of 50 years, every one who comes to serve the service of service and the service of load in the tent of meeting. 48 And their counted ones were 8,580. 49 In accordance with the mouth of Yahweh he counted them by the hand of Moses, man by man in accordance with his work and in accordance with his load, and his numbered ones that Yahweh had commanded Moses. Chapter 5 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the sons of Israel and they shall send away from the camp every one with an infectious skin disease, and every one who flows, and every one unclean by a dead person. 3 From male up to female you shall send, to the outside of the camp you shall send them. And they shall not defile their camp, because I am dwelling in the midst of them.” 4 And the sons of Israel did so. And they sent them to the outside of the camp. Thus the sons of Israel did just as Yahweh had spoken to Moses. 5 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Speak to the sons of Israel: ‘When a man or woman does from any of the sins of the human to act unfaithfully in unfaithfulness against Yahweh, then that person has done wrong. 7 And they shall confess their sin that they did. And he shall return his price of wrongdoing by its head and he shall add its fifth in addition to it. And he shall give to whom he has done wrong to. 8 And if there is not a redeemer for the man to return the price of wrongdoing to him, the price of wrongdoing will be returned to Yahweh, to the priest, apart from the ram of the atonement with which he shall make atonement for him. 9 And every contribution of all the holy things of the sons of Israel that they offer to the priest, it shall belong to him. 10 And a man, his holy things shall belong to him; what a man gives to the priest shall belong to him.’” 11 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘Man by man, if his wife turns aside and acts unfaithfully against him in unfaithfulness, 13 and a man lies the lying of seed with her and it is concealed from the eyes of her husband, and it is hidden, and she herself is defiled, and there is no witness against her, and she herself has not been caught, 14 and a spirit of jealousy passes over upon him and he is jealous of his wife and she herself is defiled, or a spirit of jealousy comes over upon him and he is jealous of his wife but she herself is not defiled; 15 then the man shall bring his wife to the priest. And he shall bring her offering for her, the tenth of the ephah of the flour of barley. He shall not pour oil upon it and he shall not put frankincense upon it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of remembrance, one that causes iniquity to be remembered. 16 And the priest shall bring her near. And he shall stand her before the face of Yahweh. 17 And the priest shall take the holy water in the vessel of clay. And the priest shall take some of the dust that is on the floor of the dwelling. And he shall put it into the water. 18 And the priest shall stand the woman before the face of Yahweh. And he shall unbind the head of the woman. And he shall put upon her palm the grain offering of remembrance. It is the grain offering of jealousy. And in the hand of the priest shall be the water of bitterness that brings a curse. 19 And the priest shall make her swear and he shall say to the woman, “If a man has not lain with you, and if you have not turned aside to uncleanness under your husband, you will be free from this water of bitterness that brings a curse. 20 But if you have turned aside under your husband, and if you are defiled and a man apart from your husband has given his lying with you,” 21 (and the priest shall make the woman swear with an oath of the curse). And the priest shall say to the woman, “Yahweh will make you into a curse and into an oath in the midst of your people when Yahweh makes your thigh fall away and your abdomen swell. 22 And this water that brings a curse will enter in your inward parts to cause swelling of the abdomen and to cause falling away of your thigh.” And the woman shall say, “Truly, truly.” 23 And the priest shall write these curses in the book and he shall wipe it off into the water of bitterness. 24 And he shall cause the woman to drink the water of bitterness that brings a curse. And the water that brings a curse of bitterness will enter in her. 25 And the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the hand of the woman. And he shall wave the grain offering before the face of Yahweh and he shall bring it near to the altar. 26 And the priest shall grasp from the grain offering its memorial portion and he shall burn it up at the altar. And after he shall make the woman drink the water. 27 And he shall make her drink the water. And it will be that if she is defiled and has acted unfaithfully in unfaithfulness with her husband, then the water that brings a curse of bitterness will enter in her and her abdomen will swell and her thigh will fall away. And the woman will become a curse in the midst of her people. 28 And if the woman is not defiled then she herself is clean. And she will be free and she will be sown with seed. 29 This is the law of jealousy, when a woman turns aside under her husband and is defiled. 30 or a man, when a spirit of jealousy passes over upon him and he is jealous of his wife. And he shall stand the woman before the face of Yahweh. And the priest shall do all this law to her. 31 And the man will be free from iniquity. And this woman will carry her iniquity.’” Chapter 6 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When a man or a woman does something extraordinary by vowing the vow of a separate one to separate to Yahweh, 3 he shall separate from wine and intoxicating drink. He shall not drink the vinegar of wine and the vinegar of intoxicating drink. And he shall not drink any of the juice of grapes. And he shall not eat moist and dried grapes. 4 All the days of his separation he shall not eat from all that is made from the vine of the wine, from seeds and up to skin. 5 All the days of the vow of his separation a razor shall not pass over his head. Until the fulfilling of the days that he has separated to Yahweh he shall be holy, the locks of the hair of his head shall grow long. 6 All the days of his separation to Yahweh he shall not go near a person who is dead. 7 For his father and for his mother, for his brother and for his sister, he shall not defile himself for them with their death, because the separation of his God is on his head. 8 All the days of his separation he shall be holy to Yahweh. 9 And if one who is dead dies near him in suddenness suddenly and he defiles the head of his separation, then he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day he shall shave it 10 And on the eighth day he shall bring two of the turtedoves or two of the sons of the dove to the priest, to the opening of the tent of meeting. 11 And the priest shall make one for a sin offering and one for a burnt up offering. And he shall make atonement for him because he sinned on account of the person. And he shall make his head holy on that day. 12 And he shall separate to Yahweh the days of his separation. And he shall bring a male lamb, a son of his year, for a guilt offering. And the first days shall fall because his separation was defiled. 13 And this is the law of the separate one. On a day fulfilling the days of his separation he shall bring him to the opening of the tent of meeting. 14 And he shall offer his offering to Yahweh, one male lamb without defect, a son of his year, for a burnt up offering, and one female lamb without defect, a daughter of her year, for a sin offering, and one ram without defect for peace offerings, 15 and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with the oil, and wafers of unleavened bread smeared with the oil and their grain offering and their drink offerings. 16 And the priest shall offer before the face of Yahweh and he shall make his sin offering and his burnt up offering. 17 And he shall make the ram a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh with the basket of the unleavened bread. And the priest shall make his grain offering and his drink offering. 18 And the separate one shall shave the head of his separation at the opening of the tent of meeting. And he shall take the hair of the head of his separation. And he shall put it on the fire that is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings. 19 And the priest shall take the boiled shoulder from the ram and one cake of unleavened bread from the basket and one wafer of unleavened bread. And he shall put them on the palms of the separate one after his shaving his separation. 20 And the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the face of Yahweh. It is a holy thing to the priest with the breast of the wave offering and with the thigh of the contribution. And after the separate one may drink wine. 21 This is the law of the separate one who vows his offering to Yahweh for his separation, apart from what his hand reaches. According to the mouth of his vow that he vowed, so he shall do in accordance with the law of his separation.’” 22 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel, saying to them, 24 “May Yahweh bless you and keep you. 25 May Yahweh cause his face to shine to you and may he be gracious to you. 26 May Yahweh lift up his face to you and may he set peace for you.”’ 27 And they shall set my name upon the sons of Israel and I shall bless them.” Chapter 7 1 And it happened on the day Moses finished erecting the dwelling that he anointed it and made it holy, and all its vessels and the altar and all its vessels. And he anointed them and made them holy. 2 And the leaders of Israel, the heads of the house of their faithers, made an offering. They were the leaders of the tribes. They were the ones standing over the counted ones. 3 And they brought their offering before the face of Yahweh, six covered carts and 12 cattle, a cart for two of the leaders and an ox for one. And they offered them before the face of the dwelling. 4 And Yahweh said to Moses, saying, 5 “Take from with them and they shall be for serving the service of the tent of meeting. And you shall give them to the Levites, a man according to the mouth of his service.” 6 And Moses took the carts and the cattle. And he gave them to the Levites. 7 He gave two of the carts and four of the cattle to the sons of Gershon, according to the mouth of their service. 8 And he gave four of the carts and eight of the cattle to the sons of Merari, according to the mouth of their service, by the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. 9 But he did not give to the sons of Kohath, for the service of the holy place was on them, they carried on the shoulder. 10 And the leaders offered the dedication of the altar on the day it was anointed. And the leaders offered their offering before the face of the altar. 11 And Yahweh said to Moses, “One leader for the day, one leader for the day, shall they offer their offering for the dedication of the altar.” 12 And it happened that the one who offered his offering on the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab of the tribe of Judah. 13 And his offering was one silver dish, its weight was 130, one silver bowl of 70 shekels by the shekel of the holy place, the two of them were full of fine flour mixed with the oil for a grain offering, 14 one pan of ten gold full of incense, 15 one bull, a son of cattle, one ram, one male lamb, a son of his year, for a burnt up offering, 16 one buck of the goats for a sin offering, 17 and for the sacrifice of the peace offerings: two cattle, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs, sons of a year. This was the offering of Nahshon the son of Amminadab. 18 On the second day, Nethanel the son of Zuar, the leader of Issachar made an offering. 19 He offered his offering: one silver dish, its weight was 130, one silver bowl of 70 shekels by the shekel of the holy place, the two of them were full of fine flour mixed with the oil for a grain offering, 20 one pan of ten gold full of incense, 21 one bull, a son of cattle, one ram, one male lamb, a son of his year, for a burnt up offering, 22 one buck of the goats for a sin offering, 23 and for the sacrifice of the peace offerings: two cattle, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs, sons of a year. This was the offering of Nethanel the son of Zuar. 24 On the third day, the leader of the sons of Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon, 25 his offering was one silver dish, its weight was 130, one silver bowl of 70 shekels by the shekel of the holy place, the two of them were full of fine flour mixed with the oil for a grain offering, 26 one pan of ten gold full of incense, 27 one bull, a son of cattle, one ram, one male lamb, a son of his year, for a burnt up offering, 28 one buck of the goats for a sin offering, 29 and for the sacrifice of the peace offerings: two cattle, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs, sons of a year. This was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon. 30 On the fourth day, the leader of the sons of Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur, 31 his offering was one silver dish, its weight was 130, one silver bowl of 70 shekels by the shekel of the holy place, the two of them were full of fine flour mixed with the oil for a grain offering, 32 one pan of ten gold full of incense, 33 one bull, a son of cattle, one ram, one male lamb, a son of his year, for a burnt up offering, 34 one buck of the goats for a sin offering, 35 and for the sacrifice of the peace offerings: two cattle, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs, sons of a year. This was the offering of Elizur the son of Shedeur. 36 On the fifth day, the leader of the sons of Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, 37 his offering was one silver dish, its weight was 130, one silver bowl of 70 shekels by the shekel of the holy place, the two of them were full of fine flour mixed with the oil for a grain offering, 38 one pan of ten gold full of incense, 39 one bull, a son of cattle, one ram, one male lamb, a son of his year, for a burnt up offering, 40 one buck of the goats for a sin offering, 41 and for the sacrifice of the peace offerings: two cattle, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs, sons of a year. This was the offering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. 42 On the sixth day, the leader of the sons of Gad, Eliasaph the son of Deuel, 43 his offering was one silver dish, its weight was 130, one silver bowl of 70 shekels by the shekel of the holy place, the two of them were full of fine flour mixed with the oil for a grain offering, 44 one pan of ten gold full of incense, 45 one bull, a son of cattle, one ram, one male lamb, a son of his year, for a burnt up offering, 46 one buck of the goats for a sin offering, 47 and for the sacrifice of the peace offerings: two cattle, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs, sons of a year. This was the offering of Eliasaph the son of Deuel. 48 On the seventh day, the leader of the sons of Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud, 49 his offering was one silver dish, its weight was 130, one silver bowl of 70 shekels by the shekel of the holy place, the two of them were full of fine flour mixed with the oil for a grain offering, 50 one pan of ten gold full of incense, 51 one bull, a son of cattle, one ram, one male lamb, a son of his year, for a burnt up offering, 52 one buck of the goats for a sin offering, 53 and for the sacrifice of the peace offerings: two cattle, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs, sons of a year. This was the offering of Elishama the son of Ammihud. 54 On the eighth day, the leader of the sons of Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, 55 his offering was one silver dish, its weight was 130, one silver bowl of 70 shekels by the shekel of the holy place, the two of them were full of fine flour mixed with the oil for a grain offering, 56 one pan of ten gold full of incense, 57 one bull, a son of cattle, one ram, one male lamb, a son of his year, for a burnt up offering, 58 one buck of the goats for a sin offering, 59 and for the sacrifice of the peace offerings: two cattle, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs, sons of a year. This was the offering of Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 60 On the ninth day, the leader of the sons of Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni, 61 his offering was one silver dish, its weight was 130, one silver bowl of 70 shekels by the shekel of the holy place, the two of them were full of fine flour mixed with the oil for a grain offering, 62 one pan of ten gold full of incense, 63 one bull, a son of cattle, one ram, one male lamb, a son of his year, for a burnt up offering, 64 one buck of the goats for a sin offering, 65 and for the sacrifice of the peace offerings: two cattle, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs, sons of a year. This was the offering of Abidan the son of Gideoni. 66 On the tenth day, the leader of the sons of Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, 67 his offering was one silver dish, its weight was 130, one silver bowl of 70 shekels by the shekel of the holy place, the two of them were full of fine flour mixed with the oil for a grain offering, 68 one pan of ten gold full of incense, 69 one bull, a son of cattle, one ram, one male lamb, a son of his year, for a burnt up offering, 70 one buck of the goats for a sin offering, 71 and for the sacrifice of the peace offerings: two cattle, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs, sons of a year. This was the offering of Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. 72 On the day of the eleventh day, the leader of the sons of Asher, Pagiel the son of Okran, 73 his offering was one silver dish, its weight was 130, one silver bowl of 70 shekels by the shekel of the holy place, the two of them were full of fine flour mixed with the oil for a grain offering, 74 one pan of ten gold full of incense, 75 one bull, a son of cattle, one ram, one male lamb, a son of his year, for a burnt up offering, 76 one buck of the goats for a sin offering, 77 and for the sacrifice of the peace offerings: two cattle, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs, sons of a year. This was the offering of Pagiel the son of Okran. 78 On the day of the twelfth day, the leader of the sons of Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan, 79 his offering was one silver dish, its weight was 130, one silver bowl of 70 shekels by the shekel of the holy place, the two of them were full of fine flour mixed with the oil for a grain offering, 80 one pan of ten gold full of incense, 81 one bull, a son of cattle, one ram, one male lamb, a son of his year, for a burnt up offering, 82 one buck of the goats for a sin offering, 83 and for the sacrifice of the peace offerings: two cattle, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs, sons of a year. This was the offering of Ahira the son of Enan. 84 This is the dedication of the altar on the day it was anointed from with the leaders of Israel: 12 dishes of silver, 12 bowls of silver, 12 pans of gold. 85 One silver bowl was 130 and one bowl was 70. All the silver of the vessels was 2,400 by the shekel of the holy place. 86 The pans of gold were 12, full of incense. The pan was ten by ten by the shekel of the holy place. All the gold of the pans was 120. 87 All the cattle for the burnt up offering were 12 bulls, 12 rams, 12 male lambs, sons of a year, and their grain offering. And 12 bucks of the goats were for a sin offering. 88 And all the cattle of the sacrifice of the peace offerings were 24 bulls, 60 rams, 60 male goats, 60 male lambs, sons of a year. This is the dedication of the altar after it was anointed. 89 And when Moses entered into the tent of meeting to speak with him, then he heard the voice speaking to him from above the atonement lid that is on the box of the testimony, from between the two cherubim. And he spoke to him. Chapter 8 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron and say to him, ‘When you lift up the lamps to the front of the face of the lampstand, the seven lamps shall give light.’” 3 And Aaron did so. To the front of the face of the lampstand he lifted up its lamps, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 4 And this is the work of the lampstand, a hammered gold work. It was a hammered work up to its base, up to its blossom. According to the appearance that Yahweh showed Moses, so he made the lampstand. 5 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Take the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel and make them clean. 7 And thus you shall do to them to make them clean: Sprinkle on them the water of the sin offering. And they shall pass a razor over all their body, and they shall wash their garments, and they shall make themselves clean. 8 And they shall take a bull, a son of cattle, and its grain offering of fine flour mixed with the oil. And you shall take a second bull, a son of cattle, for a sin offering. 9 And you shall bring the Levites near before the face of the tent of meeting. And you shall assemble all the congregation of the sons of Israel. 10 And you shall bring the Levites near before the face of Yahweh. And the sons of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites. 11 And Aaron shall wave the Levites as a wave offering before the face of Yahweh from with the sons of Israel. And they shall be for serving the service of Yahweh. 12 And the Levites shall lay their hands on the head of the bulls. And make the one as a sin offering and the one as a burnt offering to Yahweh, to make atonement for the Levites. 13 And you shall stand the Levites before the face of Aaron and before the face of his sons. And you shall wave them as a wave offering to Yahweh. 14 And you shall separate the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel. And the Levites shall be for me. 15 And afterwards the Levites shall enter to serve the tent of meeting. And you shall make them clean and you shall wave them as a wave offering. 16 For they are given, given to me from the midst of the sons of Israel. Instead of the opener of every womb, the firstborn of all from the sons of Israel, I have taken them for myself. 17 For every firstborn among the sons of Israel, among the human and among the livestock, belongs to me. On the day of my striking every firstborn in the land of Egypt I set them apart for me. 18 And I have taken the Levites instead of every firstborn among the sons of Israel. 19 And I have given the Levites as given ones to Aaron and to his sons, from the midst of the sons of Israel, to serve the service of the sons of Israel in the tent of meeting, and to make atonement for the sons of Israel. And there shall be no plague among the sons of Israel at the coming of the sons of Israel to the holy place.” 20 And Moses and Aaron and all the assembly of the sons of Israel did to the Levites, according to all that Yahweh had commanded Moses for the Levites, so the sons of Israel did to them. 21 And the Levites purified themselves of sin and they washed their garments and Aaron waved them as a wave offering before the face of Yahweh. And Aaron made atonement for them to make them clean. 22 And afterward the Levites entered to serve their service in the tent of meeting before the face of Aaron and before the face of his sons, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so he did to them. 23 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “This is what is for the Levites. From a son of 25 years and above he shall enter to serve service in the work of the tent of meeting. 25 And from a son of 50 years he shall return from the service of the work and he shall not work more. 26 And he shall serve his brothers in the tent of meeting to keep duty but work he shall not work. Thus you shall do for the Levites in their duties.” Chapter 9 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the second year of their going out from the land of Egypt, in the first month, saying, 2 “And let the sons of Israel do the Passover at its appointed time. 3 On day 14 in this month, between the evenings, you shall do it at its appointed time. According to all its statutes and according to all its ordinances you shall do it.” 4 And Moses spoke to the sons of Israel to do the Passover. 5 And they did the Passover in the first, on day 14 of the month, between the evenings, in the wilderness of Sinai. According to all that Yahweh had commanded Moses, so did the sons of Israel. 6 And there were men who were unclean by the body of a man and they were not able to do the Passover on that day. And they came near before the face of Moses and before the face of Aaron on that day. 7 And those men said to him, “We are unclean by the body of a man. Why are we restrained to not offer an offering of Yahweh at its appointed time in the midst of the sons of Israel?” 8 And Moses said to them, “Stand and I shall hear what Yahweh commands for you.” 9 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If a man, a man is unclean by a body or is on a distant road, for you or for your generations, then he may do the Passover to Yahweh, 11 in the second month on day 14 between the evenings, they shall do it. With unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. 12 They shall not leave some of it until morning. And a bone, they shall not break it. According to every statute of the Passover they shall do it. 13 And the man, he who is clean and is not on a road but ceases to do the Passover, and that person shall be cut off from his people because he did not offer the offering of Yahweh at its appointed time. That man shall carry his sin. 14 And if a sojourner sojourns with you and does the Passover to Yahweh, according to the statute of the Passover and according to its ordinance, so he shall do. One statute shall be for you and for the sojourner and for the native of the land.’” 15 And on the day of raising up the dwelling the cloud covered the dwelling of the tent of the testimony and in the evening it was above the dwelling like the appearance of fire until morning. 16 So it was continually. The cloud covered it and the appearance of fire at night. 17 And according to the mouth the cloud was lifted from above the tent, then afterward the sons of Israel set out. And in the place there where the cloud dwelled, there the sons of Israel camped. 18 In accordance with the mouth of Yahweh the sons of Israel set out, and in accordance with the mouth of Yahweh they camped. They camped all the days that the cloud dwelled above the dwelling. 19 And when the cloud prolonged above the dwelling many days, then the sons of Israel kept the keeping of Yahweh and did not set out. 20 And it was when the cloud was days of number above the dwelling, they camped in accordance with the mouth of Yahweh and they set out in accordance with the mouth of Yahweh. 21 And it was when the cloud was from evening until morning and the cloud was taken up in the morning then they set out, or in the daytime and night, and the cloud was taken up then they set out. 22 Whether two days or a month or days, when the cloud prolonged above the dweling to dwell above it, the sons of Israel camped and did not set out. And when it was taken up they set out. 23 They camped in accordance with the mouth of Yahweh and they set out in accordance with the mouth of Yahweh. They kept the keeping of Yahweh in accordance with the mouth of Yahweh by the hand of Moses. Chapter 10 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Make for you two trumpets of silver. You shall make them hammered work. And they shall be for you for the calling of the congregation and for pulling up the camps. 3 And they shall blow them and they shall congregate themselves to you, all the congregation, to the opening of the tent of meeting. 4 And if they blow one, then the leaders, the heads of the thousands of Israel, shall congregate themselves to you. 5 And you shall blow a blast and the camps camping to the east shall set out. 6 And you shall blow a second blast and the camps camping to the south shall set out. They shall blow a blast for their setting out. 7 And when assembling the assembly you shall blow but you shall not blast. 8 And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets And it shall be for you for a statute forever, for your generations. 9 And when you enter battle in your land against the opponents who oppose you, then you shall blast the trumpets. And you shall be remembered before the face of Yahweh your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies. 10 And on a day of your joy and at your appointed times and at the heads of your months, then you shall blow the trumpets with your burnt up offerings and with the sacrifices of your peace offerings. And it will be for you for a memorial before the face of your God. I am Yahweh your God.” 11 And it happened that in the second year, in the second month, on 20 in the month, the cloud was taken up from above the dwelling of the testimony. 12 And the sons of Israel set out from the wilderness of Sinai according to their tribes. And the cloud dwelled in the wilderness of Paran. 13 And they set out at the first in accordance with the mouth of Yahweh by the hand of Moses. 14 And the banner of the camp of the sons of Judah set out at the first according to their armies. And over his army was Nahson the son of Amminadab. 15 And over the army of the tribe of the sons of Issachar was Nethanel the son of Zuar. 16 And over the army of the tribe of the sons of Zebulun was Eliab the son of Helon. 17 And the dwelling was taken down. And the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, the lifters of the dwelling, set out. 18 And the banner of the tribe of Reuben set out according to their armies. And over his company was Elizur the son of Shedeur. 19 And over the army of the tribe of the sons of Simeon was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. 20 And over the army of the tribe of the sons of Gad was Eliasaph the son of Deuel. 21 And the Kohathites, lifters of the holy place, set out. And they raised up the dwelling until their coming. 22 And the banner of the camp of the sons of Ephraim set out according to their armies. And over his army was Elishama the son of Ammihud. 23 And over the army of the tribe of the sons of Manasseh was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 24 And over the army of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin was Abidan the son of Gideoni. 25 And the banner of the camp of the sons of Dan, gatherer for all the camps according to their armies, set out. And over his army was Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. 26 And over the army of the tribe of the sons of Asher was Pagiel the son of Okran. 27 And over the army of the tribe of the sons of Naphtali was Ahira the son of Enan. 28 These were the tribes of the sons of Israel according to their armies. And they set out. 29 And Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, the father-in-law of Moses, “We are about to set out to the place that Yahweh said, ‘I shall give it to you.’ Go with us and we will do good to you. For Yahweh has spoken good for Israel.” 30 And he said to him, “I will not go, but I will go to my land and to my family.” 31 And he said, “Please do not leave us! Because you know our camping in the wilderness and you could be for eyes for us.” 32 And it will happen that if you go with us, then it will happen that that good which Yahweh shall do good with us even we will do good to you.” 33 And they set out from the mountain of Yahweh a road of three days. And the box of the covenant of Yahweh was setting out before the face of them a road of three days, to seek out for them a resting place. 34 And the cloud of Yahweh was over them by day when they set out from the camp. 35 And it happened when the box set out that Moses said, “Rise up, Yahweh, and your enemies will be scattered, and those who hate you will flee from your face.” 36 And when it rested, he said, “Return, Yahweh, to the multitudes of the thousands of Israel.” Chapter 11 1 And when the people were complaining it was evil in the ears of Yahweh. And Yahweh heard and his nose burned. And the fire of Yahweh burned among them and it ate at the end of the camp. 2 And the people cried out to Moses. And Moses prayed to Yahweh and the fire sank. 3 And the name of that place was called Taberah, for the fire of Yahweh burned among them. 4 And the gathered rabble that was in its inner part desired a desire. And they turned back and they wept, also the sons of Israel. And they said, “Who will let us eat meat? 5 We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic. 6 And now our life is dried up, there is not anything except for the manna in our eyes.” 7 And the manna, it was like the seed of coriander. And its eye was like the eye of bdellium. 8 The people went around and picked up and ground with the handmill or crushed with the mortar and boiled in the pot and made it cakes. And its taste was like the taste of the delicacy of the oil. 9 And when the dew came down on the camp at night, the manna came down on it. 10 And Moses heard the people weeping according to its clans, a man to the opening of his tent. And the nose of Yahweh burned exceedingly and it was evil in the eyes of Moses. 11 And Moses said to Yahweh, “Why do you do evil to your servant? And why have I not found favor in your eyes, by putting the burden of all this people on me? 12 Did I conceive all of this people? Did I give birth to him so that you could say to me, ‘Carry him in your bosom just as the one who nourishes carries the one who sucks over the ground that you have sworn to his fathers?’ 13 From where is meat for me to give to all of this people? For they weep beside me, saying, ‘Give to us meat and let us eat.’ 14 I am not able by myself to carry all of this people, for they are heavier than me. 15 And if you are going to do thus to me, please slay me quickly, if I have found favor in your eyes. And do not let me look on my evil.” 16 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Gather for me 70 men from the elders of Israel whom you know, so that they will be elders of the people and its officers. And take them to the tent of meeting and they shall station themselves there with you. 17 And I will come down and speak with you there. And I will withdraw some of the spirit that is on you and put it on them. And they will carry with you the burden of the people. And you will not carry by yourself. 18 And to the people you shall say, ‘Make yourselves holy for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat. For you have wept in the ears of Yahweh, saying, “Who will let us eat meat? For it was good for us in Egypt.” And Yahweh will give to you meat, and you will eat. 19 You will eat not one day, and not two days, and not five days, and not ten days, and not twenty days, 20 until a month of days, until when it goes out from your nose. And it shall be for disgust for you, because that you rejected Yahweh who is in the midst of you. And you wept before his face, saying, “Why this—we went out from Egypt?”’” 21 And Moses said, “The people are 600,000 on foot who I am in the midst of, and you have said, ‘I shall give to them meat and they shall eat a month of days.’ 22 Shall flock and herd be slaughtered for them then one find for them? If all the fish of the sea were gathered for them then one will find for them.” 23 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Is the hand of Yahweh short? Now you will see whether my word will happen to you or not.” 24 And Moses went out and he spoke to the people the words of Yahweh. And he gathered 70 men from the elders of the people. And he had them stand round about the tent. 25 And Yahweh came down in the cloud and he spoke to him. And he withdrew some of the spirit that was on him and he put it on 70 men, the elders. And it happened when the spirit rested on them that they prophesied but did not again. 26 And two of the men were left in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad and the name of the second was Medad. And the spirit rested on them and they were among the written down ones but they had not gone out to the tent. And they prophesied in the camp. 27 And the young man ran and reported to Moses, and he said, Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the server of Moses from his youth, responded and said, “My master Moses, restrain them.” 29 And Moses said to him, “Are you being jealous for me? And if only he would make all the people of Yahweh prophets, that Yahweh would put his Spirit on them!” 30 And Moses withdrew to the camp, he and the elders of Israel. 31 And a wind set out from with Yahweh and it brought over quail from the sea and it left on the camp like a road of a day here and like a road of a day here, round about the camp, and like two cubits upon the face of the land. 32 And the people rose all that day and all the night and all the day of the next day, and they gathered the quail. The one who did little gathered ten homers. And they spread out for them, spreading out round about the camp. 33 The meat was still between their teeth before it was chewed, and the nose of Yahweh burned against the people. And Yahweh struck the people an exceedingly great blow. 34 And he called the name of that place Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had desired. 35 From Kibroth Hattaavah the people set out to Hazeroth. Then they were in Hazeroth. Chapter 12 1 And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses on account of the Cushite wife that he had taken because he had taken a Cushite wife. 2 And they said, “Has Yahweh really only spoken with Moses? Has he not spoken also with us?” And Yahweh heard. 3 (And the man Moses was exceedingly humble, more than every human who was on the face of the ground.) 4 And Yahweh said immediately to Moses and to Aaron and to Miriam, “The three of you go out to the tent of meeting.” And the three of them went out. 5 And Yahweh came down in a column of cloud. And he stood at the opening of the tent. And he called Aaron and Miriam and the two of them went out. 6 And he said, “Hear now my words! If one is your prophet, I, Yahweh will make myself known to him in the vision. I will speak with him in the dream. 7 Not so my servant Moses. He is trustworthy in all my house. 8 I speak with him mouth to mouth and with appearance and not with riddles. And he looks at the form of Yahweh. And why are you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?” 9 And the nose of Yahweh burned against them and he went. 10 And the cloud departed from over the tent. And behold, Miriam was with a skin disease, like the snow. And Aaron turned to Miriam, and behold, she was with a skin disease. 11 And Aaron said to Moses, “Please, my master, please do not put upon us sin which we did foolishly and which we sinned. 12 Please do not let her be like the dead one who when he comes out from the womb of his mother and half of his flesh is eaten.” 13 And Moses cried out to Yahweh, saying, “God, please, please heal her!” 14 And Yahweh said to Moses, “If her father surely spit in her face, would she not be humiliated seven days? She shall be shut up seven days from outside of the camp and afterward she may be brought in.” 15 And Miriam was shut up from outside of the camp seven days. And the people did not set out until the bringing in of Miriam. 16 And after the people set out from Hazeroth. And they camped in the wilderness of Paran. Chapter 13 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Send for yourself men and they shall explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel. You shall send one man by one man according to the tribe of his fathers, every leader among them.” 3 And Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran in accordance with the mouth of Yahweh. All of them were men, they were the heads of the sons of Israel 4 And these are their names: of the tribe of Reuben was Shammua the son of Zaccur, 5 of the tribe of Simeon was Shaphat the son of Hori, 6 of the tribe of Judah was Caleb the son of Jephunneh, 7 of the tribe of Issachar was Igal the son of Joseph, 8 of the tribe of Ephraim was Hoshea the son of Nun, 9 of the tribe of Benjamin was Palti the son of Raphu, 10 of the tribe of Zebulun was Gaddiel the son of Sodi, 11 of the tribe of Joseph, of the tribe of Manasseh, was Gaddi the son of Susi, 12 of the tribe of Dan was Ammiel the son of Gemalli, 13 of the tribe of Asher was Sethur the son of Michael, 14 of the tribe of Naphtali was Nahbi the son of Vophsi, 15 of the tribe of Gad was Geuel the son of Maki. 16 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to explore the land. And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua. 17 And Moses sent them to explore the land of Canaan. And he said to them, “Go up here through the Negev and you shall go up the hill country. 18 And you shall see the land, how it is; and the people who dwell on it, whether he is strong or weak, whether he is few or many; 19 and how is the land in which he is dwelling, whether it is good or evil; and how are the cities in which he is dwelling, whether in camps or in fortifications; 20 and how is the land,whether it is fat or lean, whether there are trees in it or not. And you shall strengthen yourselves and you shall take from the fruit of the land.” (And the days were the days of the firstfruits of the grapes.) 21 And they went up and they explored the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, to enter Hamath. 22 And they went up through the Negev and they came to Hebron. And Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, those born of the Anak, were there. (And Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan of Egypt.) 23 And they came to the wadi of Eschol. And from there they cut a branch and one cluster of grapes. And they carried it by the pole with two men, and some of the pomegranates, and some of the figs. 24 He called that place the wadi of Eshkol, on account of the cluster that the sons of Israel cut from there. 25 And they returned from exploring the land at the end of 40 days. 26 And they went and they came to Moses and to Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. And they brought back them and all the congregation word. And they showed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they recounted to him. And they said, “We entered into the land where you sent us. And it is certainly flowing with milk and honey. And this is its fruit. 28 However, the people who dwell in the land are fierce. And the cities are fortified very large. And also we saw those born of the Anak there. 29 Amalek is dwelling in the land of the Negev. And the Hittite, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite is dwelling in the hill country. And the Canaanite is dwelling beside the sea and beside the hand of the Jordan.” 30 And Caleb hushed the people near Moses. And he said, “We will certainly go up and take possession of it, for we are certainly able to prevail over it.” 31 And the men who went up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people because he is stronger than us.” 32 And they caused an evil report of the land, it that they had explored, to go out to the sons of Israel, saying, “The land in which we passed through to explore it, it is a land that eats those who dwell in it. And all the people whom we saw in the midst of it were men of size. 33 And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak from the Nephilim. And we were like grasshoppers in our eyes, and so we were in their eyes.” Chapter 14 1 And all the congregation lifted up and gave their voice. And the people wept in that night. 2 And all the sons of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron. And all the congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness! 3 And why is Yahweh bringing us to this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our children will be for plunder. Is it not good for us to return to Egypt?” 4 And they said, a man to his brother, “Let us set a head and let us return to Egypt.” 5 And Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before the face of all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel. 6 And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, from the ones who explored the land, tore their garments. 7 And they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “The land in which we passed through to explore it is a very exceedingly good land. 8 If Yahweh delights in us, then he will bring us into this land. And he will give it to us, a land that is flowing with milk and honey. 9 Only you must not rebel against Yahweh and you must not fear the people of the land, for they are our food. He has turned their shadow from over them and Yahweh is with us. You must not fear them!” 10 And all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But the glory of Yahweh appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel. 11 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Until when will this people spurn me? And until when will they not trust in me, despite all the signs that I have done in the midst of them? 12 I will strike him down with the plague and I will disinherit him. And I will make you into a nation greater and more numerous than them.” 13 And Moses said to Yahweh, “And the Egyptians have heard that you brought this people up with your power from the midst of him. 14 And they have said to those dwelling in this land. They have heard that you, Yahweh, are in the midst of this people, that you, Yahweh, have been seen eye by eye, and your cloud is standing over them, and in a column of cloud you are going before their face by day and in a column of fire at night. 15 If you kill this people like one man, then the nations will say that they heard hearing of you, saying, 16 ‘Because Yahweh was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to them, so he slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ 17 And now, please let the power of my Lord be great, just as you have spoken, saying, 18 ‘Yahweh is long of nostrils and abundant of covenant faithfulness, lifting up iniquity and transgression. But surely he will not leave unpunished, appointing the iniquity of fathers on sons, on thirds, and on fourths.’ 19 Please forgive this people of the iniquity according to the greatness of your covenant faithfulness, and just as you have lifted up this people from Egypt and to here.” 20 And Yahweh said, “I have forgiven according to your word. 21 But truly, I live, and all the earth will be filled with the glory of Yahweh. 22 For all the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and they tested me this ten times and have not listened to my voice, 23 if they see the land that I have sworn to their fathers…and all those who spurn me will not see it. 24 But my servant Caleb, because another spirit is with him and he was fully after me, I will bring him into the land that he will come to there. And his seed will inherit it. 25 (And the Amalekite and the Canaanite was dwelling in the valley.) Tomorrow turn and set out for yourselves to the wilderness, the way of the Sea of Reeds.” 26 And Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 27 “Until when must I listen to this evil congregation, they who are murmuring against me the murmurings of the sons of Israel, they who are murmuring against me? 28 Say to them, ‘I live,’ the declaration of Yahweh, ‘surely just as you have spoken in my ears, so I will do to you. 29 In this wilderness your corpses will fall and all your counted ones according to all your number, from a son of 20 years and upward, who have murmured against me. 30 If you enter into the land that I have lifted up my hand to make you dwell in…except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. 31 And your children who you said would be for plunder, and I will bring them and they will know the land, it that you have rejected. 32 And you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness. 33 And your sons will be those who herd in the wilderness 40 years. And they will carry your fornications until the finishing of your corpses in the wilderness. 34 By the number of the days that you explored the land, 40 days, a day for the year, a day for the year, you will carry your iniquities 40 years. And you will know my opposition. 35 I, Yahweh, have spoken. Surely I will do this to all this evil congregation, the ones who have congregated themselves against me. In this wilderness they will finish and there they will die.’” 36 And the men whom Moses had sent to explore the land and had returned and caused all the congregation to murmur against him by causing an evil report against the land to go out, 37 even the men who had caused to go out the evil report of the evil land, died by the plague before the face of Yahweh. 38 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh lived from those men, the ones who went to explore the land. 39 And Moses spoke these words to all the sons of Israel. And the people mourned exceedingly. 40 And they rose early in the morning and went up to the head of the mountain, saying, “Here we are, and we will go up to the place that Yahweh has said, for we have sinned.” 41 And Moses said, “Why this—are you passing over the mouth of Yahweh? And it will not succeed. 42 You must not go up because Yahweh is not in the midst of you, that you not be struck down before the face of your enemies. 43 For the Amalekite and the Canaanite are there before your face and you will fall by the sword. For therefore you have turned from after Yahweh, and Yahweh will not be with you.” 44 And they presumed to go up to the head of the mountain, but the box of the covenant of Yahweh and Moses did not depart from the midst of the camp. 45 And the Amalekite and the Canaanite who dwelled on that mountain, came down. And they smote them and beat them to pieces as far as the Hormah. Chapter 15 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter into the land of your dwellings, which I am giving to you, 3 then you shall make an offering made by fire to Yahweh, a burnt up offering or a sacrifice, to do an extraordinary vow or with a voluntary offering, or at your appointed times, to make an aroma of soothing for Yahweh from the herd or from the flock. 4 And the one who is offering shall offer his offering to Yahweh, a grain offering, a tenth of fine flour mixed with a fourth of the hin of oil. 5 And wine for the drink offering, a fourth of the hin, you shall make with the burnt up offering or for the sacrifice, for the one male lamb. 6 Or for the ram you shall make a grain offering, two tenths fine flour mixed with a third of the hin of oil. 7 And wine for the drink offering, a third of the hin, you shall offer as an aroma of soothing for Yahweh. 8 And when you make a son of cattle a burnt up offering or a sacrifice, to do an extraordinary vow or peace offerings to Yahweh, 9 then you shall offer with the son of the cattle a grain offering, three tenths fine flour mixed with a half of the hin of the oil, 10 and you shall offer a half of the hin of wine for the drink offering; an offering made by fire, an aroma of soothing for Yahweh. 11 Thus it shall be done for the one ox or for the one ram, or for the small livestock among the male lambs or among the goats. 12 According to the number that you do, thus you shall do for the one according to their number. 13 Every native shall do these things thus for offering an offering made by fire, an aroma of soothing for Yahweh. 14 And if a sojourner sojourns with you, or whoever is in the midst of you for your generations, and he makes an offering made by fire, an aroma of soothing for Yahweh, just as you shall do so he shall do. 15 The assembly statute is one for you and for the sojourner, the one who is sojourning, a statute of eternity for your generations. As you, so the sojourner shall be before the face of Yahweh. 16 One instruction and one ordinance shall be for you and for the sojourner, the one who is sojourning with you.’” 17 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter into the land there which I am bringing you, 19 and it shall be that when you eat from the bread of the land, you shall raise a raised offering to Yahweh. 20 The first of your dough shall be a cake you shall raise as a raised offering. Like a raised offering of the threshing floor, so you shall raise it. 21 From the first of your dough you shall give a raised offering to Yahweh for your generations. 22 And when you stray and do not do all these commandments that Yahweh has spoken to Moses, 23 all that Yahweh has commanded to you by the hand of Moses, from the day that Yahweh commanded and beyond for your generations, 24 and it shall be that if it was done as unintentional sin away from the eyes of the congregation, then all the congregation shall make a bull, one son of cattle, for a burnt up offering, for an aroma of soothing for Yaweh, and its grain offering and its drink offering according to the ordinance, and one buck of the goats for a sin offering. 25 And the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and it shall be forgiven for them. For it was an unintentional sin and they have brought their offering, an offering made by fire, to Yahweh, and their sin offering before the face of Yahweh for their unintentional sin. 26 And it shall be forgiven for all the congregation of the sons of Israel and for the sojourner, the one who is sojourning in the midst of them, because of all the people with unintentional sin. 27 And if one person sins with an unintentional sin, then he shall offer a female goat, a daughter of its year, for a sin offering. 28 And the priest shall make atonement for the person, the one who sinned unintentionally with a sin, with an unintentional sin, before the face of Yahweh, to make atonement for him and it shall be forgiven for him. 29 The native among the sons of Israel and for the sojourner, the one who is sojourning in the midst of them, one instruction shall be for you for the one who does an unintentional sin. 30 But the person who does with a raised hand, from the native and from the sojourner, he is blaspheming Yahweh. And that person shall be cut off from the midst of his people. 31 Because he has despised the word of Yahweh and has broken his commandment, that person shall certainly be cut off. His iniquity shall be on him.’” 32 And the sons of Israel were in the wilderness. And they found a man gathering pieces of wood on the day of the Sabbath. 33 And the ones who found him gathering pieces of wood brought him near to Moses and to Aaron and to all the congregation. 34 And they made him rest in the keeping place because it had not been declared what should be done to him. 35 And Yahweh said to Moses, “The man shall certainly die, all the congregation stoning him with the stones from the outside of the camp.” 36 And all the congregation brought him out to the outside of the camp. And they stoned him with the stones and he died, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 37 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 38 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘And they shall make for themselves a tassel on the wings of their garments for their generations. And they shall put a cord of blue on the tassel of the wing. 39 And it shall be for you for a tassel and you shall see it and you shall remember all the commandments of Yahweh, and you shall do them. And you shall not explore after your heart and after your eyes, them which you are prostituting after, 40 so that you shall remember and do all my commandments. And you shall be holy ones for your God. 41 I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, to become a God for you. I am Yahweh your God.” Chapter 16 1 And Korah the son of Izhar the son of Kohath the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, the sons of Reuben, took men. 2 And they rose up before the face of Moses, and men from the sons of Israel, 250 leaders of the congregation, the called ones of the appointed meeting, men of name. 3 And they assembled against Moses and against Aaron. And they said to them, “It is much for you! For all of the congregation, all of them, are holy and Yahweh is in their midst. And why do you lift up yourselves above the assembly of Yahweh?” 4 And Moses heard and fell upon his face. 5 And he spoke to Korah and to all his congregation, saying, “And in the morning Yahweh will make known who belongs to him and is the holy one and whom he will bring near to him. And him whom he chooses he will bring near to him.” 6 Do this, Korah and all his congregation, take for yourselves censers. 7 And put fire in them and set incense on them before the face of Yahweh tomorrow. And it will happen that the man whom Yahweh chooses, he will be the holy one. It is much for you, sons of Levi!” 8 And Moses said to Korah, “Now listen, sons of Levi: 9 is it a small thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to him, to serve the service of the dwelling of Yahweh and to stand before the face of the congregation to minister to them? 10 And he has brought you near, and all your brothers, the sons of Levi, with you. And you are seeking the priesthood also! 11 Therefore you and all your congregation are the ones congregating against Yahweh. And Aaron, what is he that you grumble against him?” 12 And Moses sent to call for Dathan and for Abiram, the sons of Eliab. And they said, “We will not go up. 13 Is it a small thing that you have brought us up from a land flowing with milk and honey, to make us die in the wilderness? But you have made yourself ruler over us, even to make yourself ruler! 14 Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, or given to us an inheritance of field or vineyard. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? We will not go up.” 15 And it burned exceedingly for Moses and he said to Yahweh, “Do not turn to their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them. And I have not harmed one of them.” 16 And Moses said to Korah, “You and all your congregation be before the face of Yahweh, you, and they, and Aaron, tomorrow. 17 And take, a man, his censer and put incense on them. And bring before the face of Yahweh, a man his censer, 250 censers. And you and Aaron, a man his censer.” 18 And they took a man his censer, and they put fire on it, and set incense on it. And they stood at the opening of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron. 19 And Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the opening of the tent of meeting. And the glory of Yahweh appeared to all the congregation. 20 And Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 21 “Separate yourselves from the midst of this congregation and I shall finish them in a moment.” 22 And they fell on their faces and said, “God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, will one man sin and you become furious against all the congregation?” 23 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get yourselves up from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’” 25 And Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram. And the elders of Israel went after him. 26 And he spoke to the congregation, saying, “Now turn from beside the tents of these wicked men and do not touch anything that belongs to them, lest you be swept away by all their sins.” 27 And they got themselves up from beside the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, from all around. And Dathan and Abiram went out, standing at the opening of their tents with their wives and their sons and their little children. 28 And Moses said, “By this you will know that Yahweh has sent me to do all these deeds, that they are not from my heart: 29 If these ones die like the death of every man and the appointment of every man is appointed to them, Yahweh has not sent me. 30 But if Yahweh creates a creation and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them and all that belongs to them and they go down alive to Sheol, then you will know that these men have spurned Yahweh.” 31 And it happened when he finished speaking all these words that the ground that was under them split open. 32 And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their houses and every man who belonged to Korah and all the property. 33 And they went down to Sheol alive, they and all that belonged to them. And the earth covered over them and they perished from the midst of the assembly. 34 And all Israel who was surrounding them fled from their sound, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us!” 35 And fire went out from with Yahweh. And it ate the 250 men offering the incense. 36 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 37 “Say to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest and he shall lift up the censers from between the burning and scatter the fire abroad, for they are holy. 38 And the censers of these sinners against their lives, make them hammered sheets of thin metal, plating for the altar. For they offered them before the face of Yahweh and they are holy. And they shall be for a sign for the sons of Israel.” 39 And Eleazar the priest took the censers of bronze that the burned ones had offered and they hammered them as a plating for the altar, 40 a reminder for the sons of Israel, so that an unfamiliar man, he who is not from the seed of Aaron, shall not come near to burn incense before the face of Yahweh. And he shall not be like Korah and his congregation, just as Yahweh spoke by the hand of Moses to him. 41 And all the congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and against Aaron from the next day, saying, “You yourselves killed the people of Yahweh!” 42 And it happened when the congregation assembled against Moses and against Aaron that they turned to the tent of meeting. And behold, the cloud covered it and the glory of Yahweh was seen. 43 And Moses and Aaron came to the face of the tent of meeting. 44 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 45 “Get yourselves up from the midst of this congregation and I shall finish them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces. 46 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take the censer and put fire on it from on the altar and set incense. And go quickly into the congregation and make atonement for them, because the wrath has gone out from before the face of Yahweh. The plague has begun.” 47 And Aaron took just as Moses said and ran into the midst of the assembly. And behold, the plague had begun among the people. And he put the incense and made atonement for the people. 48 And he stood between the ones who died and the ones who lived. And the plague was stopped. 49 And the ones who died by the plague were 14,700, apart from the ones who died on account of the matter of Korah. 50 And Aaron returned to Moses, to the opening of the tent of meeting. And the plague was stopped. Chapter 17 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and take a staff from with them, a staff for the house of a father, from with all their leaders for the house of their fathers, 12 staffs. You shall write a man his name on his staff. 3 And you shall write the name of Aaron on the staff of Levi, for one staff is for the head of the house of their fathers. 4 And you shall rest them in the tent of meeting, before the face of the testimony, there where I meet with you. 5 And it will happen that the man, him whom I choose, his staff will bud. And I will make the grumblings of the sons of Israel that they are grumbling against you cease from against me.” 6 And Moses spoke to the sons of Israel and all their leaders gave to him a staff for one leader, a staff for one leader, for the house of their fathers, 12 staffs. And the staff of Aaron was in the midst of their staffs. 7 And Moses rested the staffs before the face of Yahweh in the tent of testimony. 8 And it happened from the next day that Moses came into the tent of the testimony. And behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had budded, and it brought out a bud and it blossomed a flower and it ripened almonds! 9 And Moses brought out all the staffs from before the face of Yahweh to all the sons of Israel. And they saw and took, a man his staff. 10 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Return the staff of Aaron to the face of the testimony for keeping for a sign for the sons of rebellion. And you shall end their grumblings from against me and they shall not die.” 11 And Moses did just as Yahweh had commanded him, thus he did. 12 And the sons of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Look, we will expire! We will perish! All of us will perish! 13 All who come near, who come near to the dwelling of Yahweh die. Will we be finished by expiring?” Chapter 18 1 And Yahweh said to Aaron, “You and your sons and the house of your father with you shall bear the iniquity of the holy place. And you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood. 2 And also bring with you your brothers, the staff of Levi, the tribe of your father, and they shall be joined to you and serve you. And you and your sons with you shall be before the face of the tent of the testimony. 3 And they shall keep your keeping and the keeping of all of the tent. However, they shall not come near to the vessels of the holy place or to the altar, and they will not die, both them and you. 4 And they shall be joined to you and shall keep the keeping of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent. And a stranger shall not come near to you. 5 And you shall keep the keeping of the holy place and the keeping of the altar. And there shall not again be fury against the sons of Israel. 6 And I, behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel as a gift for you, ones given to Yahweh to serve the service of the tent of meeting. 7 And you and your sons with you shall keep your priesthood for all the things of the altar and for the inside of the curtain. And you shall serve. I have given your priesthood as a gift of service. And a stranger who comes near shall be put to death.” 8 And Yahweh spoke to Aaron, “And I, behold, I have given to you the keeping of my contribution, of all the holy things of the sons of Israel I have given them to you for a portion and to your sons for a statute of eternity. 9 This will belong to you from the holiest holy thing from the fire: every offering of theirs, of every grain offering of theirs and of every sin offering of theirs and of every guilt offering of theirs which they return to me, a holiest holy thing it is for you and for your sons. 10 You shall eat it as a holiest holy thing. Every male shall eat it. It is holy for you. 11 And this belongs to you: the contribution of their gift, of all the wave offerings of the sons of Israel, I have given them to you and to your sons and to your daughters with you for a statute of eternity. Every clean one in your house shall eat it. 12 All the fat of fresh oil and all the fat of new wine and grain, their firstfruits which they will give to Yahweh, I have given them to you. 13 The firstfruits of all that is in the land which they will bring to Yahweh will belong to you. Every clean one in your house shall eat it. 14 Every dedicated thing in Israel will belong to you. 15 Every opener of the womb of all flesh that they offer to Yahweh, among mankind and among livestock, will belong to you. But you shall surely redeem the firstborn of mankind, and you shall redeem the firstborn of the unclean livestock. 16 And his redeemed ones from a son of a month you shall redeem by your valuation, five silver shekels by the shekel of the holy place, it is 20 gerahs. 17 But the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat you shall not redeem; they are holy. You shall throw their blood on the altar and you shall make their fat smoke as an offering made by fire for an aroma of soothing for Yahweh. 18 And their flesh will belong to you like the breast of the wave offering or like the right thigh it will belong to you. 19 All the contributions of the holy things which the sons of Israel lift up to Yahweh, I have given to you and to your sons and to your daughters with you for a statute of eternity. It is an eternal covenant of salt before the face of Yahweh for you and for your seed with you.” 20 And Yahweh said to Aaron, “You shall not inherit in their land and a portion in their midst shall not belong to you. I am your portion and your inheritance in the midst of the sons of Israel. 21 And to the sons of Levi, behold, I have given every tenth in Israel for an inheritance in exchange for their service which they are serving, the service of the tent of meeting. 22 And the sons of Israel shall not again come near to the tent of meeting to bear sin to die. 23 And the Levite, he shall serve the service of the tent of meeting and they shall bear their iniquity. It is a statute of eternity for your generations and in the midst of the sons of Israel you shall not inherit an inheritance. 24 For I have given to the Levites for an inheritance the tenth of the sons of Israel which they lift up to Yahweh as a contribution. Therefore I have said to them, ‘You shall not inherit an inheritance in the midst of the sons of Israel.’” 25 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 26 “And speak to the Levites and say to them, ‘When you take from with the sons of Israel the tenth that I have given to you from with them as your inheritace, then you shall lift up from it a contribution of Yahweh, a tenth from the tenth. 27 And it shall be reckoned to you as your contribution like the grain from the threshing floor and like the fullness from the winepress. 28 Thus you shall lift up, also you, the contribution of Yahweh from all your tenths which you took from with the sons of Israel. And you shall give from it the contribution of Yahweh to Aaron the priest. 29 From all your gifts you shall lift up all of the contribution of Yahweh, from all its fat, its holy part from it.’ 30 And you shall say to them, ‘When you lift up its fat from it, then it shall be reckoned to the Levites like the product of the threshing floor and like the product of the winepress. 31 And you shall eat it in every place, you and your house, because it is a wage for you in exchange for your service in the tent of meeting. 32 And you shall not bear sin on account of it when you lift up its fat from it. And the holy things of the sons of Israel you shall not defile and not die.’” Chapter 19 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 2 “This is the statute of the law which Yahweh has commanded, saying, ‘Speak to the sons of Israel and they shall bring to you an unblemished red heifer in which there is no defect, on which a yoke has not gone up. 3 And you shall give it to Eleazar the priest. And he shall bring it out to the outside of the camp and shall slaughter it before his face. 4 And Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and shall sprinkle some of its blood to opposite the face of the tent of meeting seven times. 5 And he shall burn the heifer before his eyes. He shall burn its skin and its flesh, and its blood with its dung. 6 And the priest shall take wood of cedar, and hyssop, and scarlet material of a worm, and throw into the midst of the burning of the heifer. 7 And the priest shall wash his garments and bathe his flesh in the water and afterward he shall enter into the camp. And the priest shall be unclean until the evening. 8 And the one who burned it shall wash his garments in the water and bathe his flesh in the water. And he shall be unclean until the evening. 9 And a clean man shall gather the ashes of the heifer and rest them in a clean place outside of the camp. And it shall be for the congregation of the sons of Israel to keep for the water of purification. It is a sin offering. 10 And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his garments and be unclean until the evening. And it shall be for the sons of Israel and for the sojourner who sojourns in their midst for a statute of eternity. 11 The one who touches a dead body of any human life will be unclean seven days. 12 He she purify himself with it on the third day and on the seventh day he will be clean. And if he does not purify himself on the third day then on the seventh day he will not be clean. 13 Every one who touches a dead body, a human person who has died, and does not purify himself makes the dwelling of Yahweh unclean. And that person shall be cut off from Israel. Because the water of purification was not sprinkled on him, he will be unclean, his uncleanness is still on him. 14 This is the law of a man who dies in a tent: Every one who enters into the tent and everyone who is in the tent will be unclean seven days. 15 And every opened vessel on which there is no fastened cover, it is unclean. 16 And all who touch one pierced of the sword or a dead body or a bone of a human or a grave on the face of the field will be unclean seven days. 17 And they shall take for the unclean one some of the ashes of the burning of the sin offering. And he shall put living water with it into a vessel. 18 And a clean man shall take and dip hyssop in the water. And he shall sprinkle on the tent and on all the vessels and on the lives who were there, and on the one who touched the bone, or the pierced one, or the dead body, or the grave. 19 And the clean one shall sprinkle on the unclean one on the third day and on the seventh day. And he shall purify him on the seventh day. And he shall wash his garments and bathe in the water and he will be unclean until the evening. 20 And a man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly because he has made the holy place of Yahweh unclean. He has not thrown on himself the water of purification. He is unclean. 21 And it shall be for them for a statute of eternity, and the one who sprinkles the water of purification shall wash his garments and the one who touches the water of purification will be unclean until the evening. 22 And all who touch him, the unclean one, will be unclean. And the person who touches will be unclean until the evening.” Chapter 20 1 And the sons of Israel, all the congregation, entered the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed at Kadesh. And Miriam died there and was buried there. 2 And there was no water for the congregation, and they assembled against Moses and against Aaron. 3 And the people quarreled with Moses, and spoke, saying, “If only we had expired when our brothers expired before the face of Yahweh! 4 And why have you brought the assembly of Yahweh into this wilderness to die here, we and our livestock? 5 And why did you bring us up from Egypt to bring us into this evil place? It is not a place of seed or fig free or vine or pomegranate tree, and there is no water to drink!” 6 And Moses and Aaron went from the face of the assembly to the opening of the tent of meeting. And they fell on their faces and the glory of Yahweh appeared to them. 7 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the staff and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and you shall speak to the rock before their eyes and it will give its water. And you shall bring out water to them from the rock. And you shall have the congregation and their livestock drink.” 9 And Moses took the staff from before the face of Yahweh, just as he had commanded him. 10 And Moses and Aaron assembled the assembly at the face of the rock. And he said to them, “Listen now, the rebellious ones, shall we bring out from this rock water for you?” 11 And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice. And abundant water came out and the congregation and their livestock drank. 12 And Yahweh said to Moses and to Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me to regard me as holy before the eyes of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given to them.” 13 These are the waters of Meribah where the sons of Israel quarreled with Yahweh and he showed himself holy among them. 14 And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, “Thus says your brother Israel: you yourself know all the hardship that we found. 15 And our fathers went down to Egypt and we dwelled in Egypt many days. And the Egyptians did evil to us and to our fathers. 16 And we cried out to Yahweh and he heard our voice and sent a messenger and brought us out from Egypt. And behold, we are in Kadesh, the city of the end of your border. 17 Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard, and will we not drink the water of a well. We will go on the road of the king. We will not turn right or left until we have passed through your border.” 18 And Edom said to him, “You may not pass through me, lest I go out to meet you with the sword.” 19 And the sons of Israel said to him, “We will go on the highway. And if we drink your water, me or my livestock, then we will give their value. Only, there is no matter, let me pass through with my feet.” 20 And he said, “You may not pass through.” And Edom came out to meet him with a heavy people and a strong hand. 21 And Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory. And Israel turned from near him. 22 And the sons of Israel, all the congregation, set out from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor. 23 And Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron at Mount Hor, near the border of the land of Edom, saying, 24 “Aaron will be gathered to his people, because he will not enter into the land that I have given to the sons of Israel because you rebelled against my mouth before the waters of Meribah. 25 Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up Mount Hor. 26 And strip Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son. And Aaron shall be gathered and die there.” 27 And Moses did just as Yahweh had commanded. And they went up to Mount Hor before the eyes of all the congregation. 28 And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son. And Aaron died there on the head of the mountain. And Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. 29 And all the congregation saw that Aaron had expired. And all the house of Israel bewailed Aaron 30 days. Chapter 21 1 And the Canaanite king of Arad, who dwelled in the Negev, heard that Israel had come by the road of the Atharim. And he fought against Israel and took captive some of them as captives. 2 And Israel vowed a vow to Yahweh and said, “If you surely give this people into my hand, then I will dedicate their cities by ban.” 3 And Yahweh listened to the voice of Israel and gave the Canaanites. And he dedicated them and their cities by ban. And he called the name of the place Hormah. 4 And they set out from Mount Hor by the road of the Sea of Reeds to go around the land of Edom. And the soul of the people was short on the road. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why did you bring us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, and there is no water, and our soul detests the worthless bread.” 6 And Yahweh sent snakes, fiery ones, among the people and they bit the people. And many people from Israel died. 7 And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned because we have spoken against Yahweh and against you. Pray to Yahweh and may he remove from on us the snake.” And Moses prayed on behalf of the people. 8 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Make for yourself a snake and set it on a pole. And it will happen that any of the bitten will see it and live.” 9 And Moses made a snake of bronze and he set it on the pole. And it happened that if the snake bit a man then he looked to the snake of bronze and he lived. 10 And the sons of Israel set out and camped at Oboth. 11 And they set out from Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim in the wilderness that is on the face of Moab from the rising of the sun. 12 From there they set out and camped at the wadi of Zered. 13 From there they set out and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that goes out from the border of the Amorite, because the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorite. 14 Therefore it says in the book of the Wars of Yahweh, “…Waheb in Suphah, and the wadis of the Arnon, 15 and the slope of the wadis that spreads out to the dwelling of Ar and it leans to the border of Moab.” 16 And from there to Beer. It is the well where Yahweh said to Moses, “Gather the people and I will give water to them.” 17 Then Israel sang this song: “Rise up, well! Sing for it, 18 the well leaders dug, the noblemen of the people dug it, with a decreer’s staff and their staffs.” And from the wilderness to Mattanah, 19 and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, 20 and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab, the head of the Pisgah, and is looking down on the face of the wasteland. 21 And Israel sent messengers to Sihon the king of the Amorite, saying, 22 “Let us pass through your land. We will not turn into a field or into a vineyard. We will not drink the water of a well. We will go by the road of the king until we have passed through your border.” 23 And Sihon did not give Israel passage through his boundary. And Sihon gathered all his people and went out to the wilderness to meet Israel. And he came to Jahaz and fought with Israel. 24 And Israel struck him by the mouth of the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok, as far as the sons of Ammon, because the border of the sons of Ammon was fortified. 25 And Israel took all these cities. And Israel dwelled in all the cities of the Amorite in Heshbon and in all its daughters. 26 For Heshbon, it was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorite. And he had fought with the previous king of Moab and had taken all his land from his hand as far as the Arnon. 27 Therefore the speakers of proverbs say, “Come to Heshbon. Let the city of Sihon be built and established. 28 For fire went out from Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon. It ate Ar of Moab, the lords of the high places of Arnon. 29 Woe to you, Moab! You have perished, people of Chemosh. He has given his sons to be escapees and his daughters into the captivity of Sihon the king of the Amorites. 30 And we have shot them. Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon. And we have made devastation as far as Nophah, which is as far as Medeba.” 31 And Israel dwelled in the land of the Amorites. 32 And Moses sent to spy out Jazer and they captured her daughters. And they dispossessed the Amorites who were there. 33 And they turned and went up the road of the Bashan. And Og the king of the Bashan went out to meet them, he and all his people, to the battle at Edrei. 34 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Do not fear him, because I have given into your hand him, and all his people, and his land. And you shall do to him just as you did to Sihon the king of the Amorite, who dwelled in Heshbon.” 35 And they struck him and his sons and all his people until they had left no survivor for him. And they took possession of his land. Chapter 22 1 And the sons of Israel set out and camped in the plains of Moab, from the other side of the Jordan at Jericho. 2 And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorite. 3 And Moab was extremely terrified because of the face of the people, because they were numerous. And Moab was sick with terror because of the face of the sons of Israel. 4 And Moab said to the elders of Midian, “Now the assembly will lick up all that is around us like an ox licks up the green of the field.” And Balak the son of Zippor was the king of Moab at that time. 5 And he sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River, the land of the sons of his people, to summon him, saying, “Behold, a people went out from Egypt. Behold, he has covered the eye of the land and he is dwelling opposite me. 6 And now please go curse this people for me because they are more numerous than I. Perhaps I will be able to strike them and drive them out from the land. For I know whom you bless will be blessed and whom you curse will be cursed. 7 And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian went and divination fees were in their hand. And they came to Balaam and spoke to him the words of Balak. 8 And he said to them, “Lodge here tonight and I will bring you back a word, just as Yahweh speaks to me.” And the leaders of Moab stayed with Balaam. 9 And God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” 10 And Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, the king of Moab, has sent to me. 11 ‘Behold, the people who have come out from Egypt and have covered the eye of the land! Now go curse them for me. Perhaps I will be able to fight them and drive them out.’” 12 And God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people because they are blessed.” 13 And Balaam rose in the morning and said to the leaders of Balak, “Go to your land because Yahweh has refused to grant me to go with you.” 14 And the leaders of Moab rose and came to Balak. And they said, “Balaam refused to come with us.” 15 And Balak added again and sent many leaders and they were more honored than these. 16 And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor, ‘Please do not refrain from coming to me. 17 For I will very greatly honor you and I will do all that you say to me. And please go curse this people for me.’” 18 And Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “If Balak gives to me his house full of silver and gold, I will not be able to go beyond the mouth of Yahweh my God to do small or big. 19 And now, you also please stay in this place tonight. And may I know what Yahweh will add to speak with me.” 20 And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to summon you, rise and go with them. And only the word that I speak to you, it you shall do.” 21 And Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his female donkey, and went with the leaders of Moab. 22 And the nose of God burned because he was going. And the angel of Yahweh stationed himself in the road as an adversary to him. And he was riding on his female donkey and two of his servants were with him. 23 And the female donkey saw the angel of Yahweh stationed in the road and his drawn sword was in his hand. And the female donkey turned aside from the road and went in the field. And Balaam struck the female donkey to turn her to the road. 24 And the angel of Yahweh stood in the narrow pass of the vineyards, a wall on this side and a wall on that side. 25 And the female donkey saw the angel of Yahweh and she pressed herself to the wall. And she pressed the foot of Balaam to the wall. And he struck her again. 26 And the angel of Yahweh passed on again and stood in a narrow place where there was no road to turn right or left. 27 And the female donkey saw the angel of Yahweh and lay down under Balaam. And the nose of Balaam burned and he struck the female donkey with the staff. 28 And Yahweh opened the mouth of the female donkey. And she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you struck me these three times?” 29 And Balaam said to the female donkey, “Because you acted mockingly with me! If only there was a sword in my hand! Surely I would slay you!” 30 And the female donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your female donkey on which you have ridden from your continuance until this day? Have I ever been accustomed to doing thus to you?” And he said, “No.” 31 And Yahweh uncovered the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of Yahweh stationed in the road and his drawn sword in his hand. And he bowed and bowed down his nose. 32 And the angel of Yahweh said to him, “On account of what have you struck your female donkey these three times? Behold, I myself have gone out as an adversary because your way has been perverse in front of me. 33 And the female donkey saw me and turned aside before my face these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely now even you I would have slain and kept her alive.” 34 And Balaam said to the angel of Yahweh, “I have sinned, because I did not know that you were stationed to meet me in the road. And now, if it is evil in your eyes, I will return to me.” 35 And the angel of Yahweh said to Balaam, “Go with the men. And only the word that I speak to you, it you must speak.” And Balaam went with the leaders of Balak. 36 And Balak heard that Balaam had come. And he went out to meet him at a city of Moab, that is near the border of the Arnon, which is at the end of the border. 37 And Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not indeed send to you to summon you? Why did you not come to me? Am I truly not able to honor you?” 38 And Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you. Am I now at all able to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, it will I speak.” 39 And Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath Huzoth. 40 And Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep and sent to Balaam and to the leaders who were with him. 41 And it happened in the morning that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to the high place of Baal. And from there he saw the edge of the people. Chapter 23 1 And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me in this place seven altars and prepare for me in this place seven bulls and seven rams.” 2 And Balak did just as Balaam had said. And Balak and Balaam offered up a bull and a ram on the altar. 3 And Balaam said to Balak, “Station yourself beside your burnt up offering and I will go. Perhaps Yahweh will be met to meet me. And I will declare to you the word of what he shows me.” And he went to a bare high place. 4 And God met with Balaam and he said to him, “I have arranged seven altars and offered up a bull and a ram on the altar.” 5 And Yahweh put a word in the mouth of Balaam and said, “Return to Balak and speak thus.” 6 And he returned to him, and behold, he was stationed beside his burnt up offering, he and all the leaders of Moab. 7 And he lifted up his oracle and said, “Balak has led me from Aram, the king of Moab from the mountains of the east. ‘Go curse Jacob for me, and go denounce Israel.’ 8 How can I curse? God has not cursed. And how can I denounce? Yahweh has not denounced. 9 For from the head of the rocks I see him. And from the hills I look at him. Behold, the people dwells by itself and it does not reckon itself among the nations. 10 Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel? Let my life die the death of the upright ones, and let my end be like his!” 11 And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed indeed!” 12 And he answered and said, “Should I not be careful to speak it that Yahweh puts in my mouth?” 13 And Balak said to him, “Please go with me to another place from which you can see him. You will only see his edge and you will not see all of him. And you will curse him for me from there.” 14 And he took him to the field of Zophim, to the head of the Pisgah. And he built seven altars and offered up a bull and a ram on the altar. 15 Then he said to Balak, “Station yourself here beside your burnt offering, and I will be met with there.” 16 And Yahweh met with Balaam and put a word in his mouth. And he said, “Return to Balak and thus you shall speak.” 17 And he came to him, and behold, he was stationed beside his altar and the leaders of Moab were with him. And Balak said to him, “What did Yahweh speak?” 18 And he lifted up his oracle and said, “Rise up, Balak, and listen. Give ear to me, son of Zippor. 19 God is not a man, that he would lie, Or a son of mankind, that he would change his mind. Has he said and not done, Or spoken and not made it arise? 20 Behold, I have received to bless. And he has blessed, and I can not turn it back. 21 He has not looked at hardship in Jacob and he has not seen trouble in Israel. Yahweh his God is with him, and the shout of the king is with him. 22 God is bringing them out from Egypt like the horns of a wild ox for him. 23 For there is no omen against Jacob, and no divination against Israel. At this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘What God has done!’ 24 Look, a people rises like a lioness, and like a lion he lifts himself up. He will not lie down until he eats prey and drinks the blood of the pierced ones.” 25 And Balak said to Balaam, “Even do not curse him at all, also do not bless him at all!” 26 And Balaam answered and said to Balak, “Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘All that Yahweh speaks, it I must do?’” 27 And Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will be right in the eyes of God and you will curse him for me from there.” 28 And Balak took Balaam to the head of the Peor, looking down on the face of the wasteland. 29 And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me in this place seven altars and prepare for me in this place seven bulls and seven rams.” 30 And Balak did just as Balaam had said. And he offered up a bull and a ram on the altar. Chapter 24 1 And Balaam saw that it was good in the eyes of Yahweh to bless Israel. And he did not go as time by time to meet omens. And he set his face to the wilderness. 2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes and he saw Israel dwelling according to its tribes. And the Spirit of God was on him. 3 And he lifted up his discourse and said, “The declaration of Balaam the son of Beor, and the declaration of the man opened of eye, 4 the declaration of the hearer of the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down and opened of eyes: 5 How good are your tents, Jacob, your dwellings, Israel! 6 Like wadis they spread out, like gardens beside a river, like aloes Yahweh has planted, like cedars beside water. 7 Water will flow from his buckets, and his seed with much water. And his king will be higher than Agag, and his kingdom will lift itself up. 8 God is bringing him out from Egypt, like the horns of a wild ox for him. He will eat the nations, his enemies. And he will break their bones. And he will strike his arrows. 9 He crouched, he lay down like a lion, and like a lioness. Who will get him up? Those who bless you are blessed; and those who curse you are cursed.” 10 And the nose of Balak burned toward Balaam and he struck his palms. And Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have repeatedly blessed these three times! 11 And now, flee for yourself to your place. I said I would honor you greatly, and behold, Yahweh has held you back from honor.” 12 And Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not also speak to the messengers that you sent to me, saying. 13 ‘If Balak gives to me his house full of silver and gold, I will not be able to go beyond the mouth of Yahweh to do good or evil from my heart; what Yahweh speaks, it I must speak?” 14 And now, behold I am about to go to my people. Come, I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the future days.” 15 And he lifted up his discourse and said, “The declaration of Balaam the son of Beor, and the delcaration of the man opened of eye, 16 the declaration of the hearer of the words of God, and the knower of the knowledge of the Most High, he sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down and opened of eyes: 17 I will see him, but not now. I will look at him, but not near. A star has marched from Jacob, and a rod has risen from Israel. And he will strike the sides of Moab and destroy all the sons of Seth. 18 And Edom will become a possession, and Seir will become a possession, his enemies. And Israel will act strongly. 19 And he will rule from Jacob, and he will destroy the survivor from a city.” 20 And he saw Amalek and lifted up his discourse, and said, “The first of the nations is Amalek, and his end will be up to destruction.” 21 And he saw the Kenite, and he lifted up his discourse, and said, “Your dwelling is permanent, and your nest is set in the cliff. 22 But the Kenite will be for burning. Until when will Assyria take you captive?” 23 And he lifted up his discourse and said, “Woe! Who can live apart from God establishing him? 24 And ships will be from the hand of Kittim, and they will afflict Asshur and will afflict Eber, and he, too, will be up to destruction.” 25 And Balaam got up, and went, and returned to his place. And Balak also went on his way. Chapter 25 1 And Israel dwelled in Shittim, and the people began to prostitute themselves with the daughters of Moab, 2 And they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods. And the people ate and they worshipped their gods. 3 And Israel bound himself to Baal of Peor. And the nose of Yahweh burned against Israel. 4 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Take all the heads of the people and hang them up before Yahweh in front of the sun. And the burning of the nose of Yahweh may turn back from Israel.” 5 And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Slay a man his men, the ones who bound themselves to Baal of Peor.” 6 And behold, a man from the sons of Israel came and brought near to his brothers the Midianite woman, before the eyes of Moses and before the eyes of all the congregation of the sons of Israel. And they were weeping at the opening of the tent of meeting. 7 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saw and rose up from the midst of the congregation, and took a spear in his hand. 8 And he came after the man of Israel into the domed tent, and he pierced the two of them, the man of Israel and the woman in her stomach. And the plague was stopped from on the sons of Israel. 9 And the ones who died by the plague were 24,000. 10 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 11 “Phinehas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my heat from on the sons of Israel by his being zealous with my zeal in the midst of them. And I will not make an end of the sons of Israel in my zeal. 12 Therefore say, ‘Behold, I am giving to him my covenant of peace. 13 And it will be a covenant of a priesthood of eternity for him and for his seed after him, because he was zealous for his God and he made atonement for the sons of Israel.’” 14 And the name of the man of Israel, the struck down one who was struck down with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, the leader of a house of a father of the Simeonites. 15 And the name of the woman, the struck down Midanite woman, was Kozbi the daughter of Zur, who was the head of a tribe of a house of a father in Midian. 16 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Vex the Midianites and you shall strike them down. 18 For they were vexing you by their deceitfulness when they deceived you over the matter of Peor and over the matter of Kozbi the daughter of the leader of Midian, their sister, the one struck down on the plague day over the matter of Peor.” Chapter 26 1 And it happened after the plague that Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying, 2 “Lift up the heads of all the congregation of the sons of Israel from a son of 20 years and upward according to the house of their fathers, all who go out to war in Israel.” 3 And Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab beside the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 4 “From a son of 20 years and upward, just as Yahweh commanded Moses and the sons of Israel, the ones who came out from the land of Egypt.” 5 Reuben was the firstborn of Israel. The sons of Reuben: Hanok, the clan of the Hanokite; of Pallu, the clan of the Palluite; 6 of Hezron, the clan of the Hezronite; of Karmi, the clan of the Karmite. 7 These were the clans of the Reubenite. And their counted ones were 43,730. 8 And the son of Pallu was Eliab. 9 And the sons of Eliab were Nemuel and Dathan and Abiram. This is Dathan and Abiram, the called ones of the congregation, who rebelled against Moses and against Aaron with the congregation of Korah when they rebelled against Yahweh. 10 And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and Korah when the congregation died, when the fire ate 250 men, and they became a sign. 11 And the sons of Korah did not die. 12 The sons of Simeon according to their clans: of Nemuel, the clan of the Nemuelite; of Jamin, the clan of the Jaminite; of Jakin, the clan of the Jakinite; 13 of Zerah, the clan of the Zerahite; of Shaul, the clan of the Shaulite. 14 These were the clans of the Simeonite, 22,200. 15 The sons of Gad according to their clans: of Zephon, the clan of the Zephonite; of Haggi, the clan of the Haggite; of Shuni, the clan of the Shunite; 16 of Ozni, the clan of the Oznite; of Eri, the clan of the Erite; 17 of Arod, the clan of the Arodite; of Areli, the clan of the Arelite. 18 These were the clans of the sons of Gad according to their counted ones, 40,500. 19 The sons of Judah were Er and Onan, and Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. 20 And the sons of Judah according to their clans were: of Shelah, the clan of the Shelanite; of Perez, the clan of the Perezite; of Zerah, the clan of the Zerahite. 21 And the sons of Perez were: of Hezron, the clan of the Hezronite; of Hamul, the clan of the Hamulite. 22 These were the clans of Judah according to their counted ones, 76,500. 23 The sons of Issachar according to their clans: Tola, the clan of the Tolaite; of Puah, the clan of the Puite; 24 of Jashub, the clan of the Jashubite; of Shimron, the clan of the Shimronite. 25 These were the clans of Issachar according to their counted ones, 64,300. 26 The sons of Zebulun according to their clans: of Sered, the clan of the Seredite; of Elon, the clan of the Elonite; of Jahleel, the clan of the Jahleelite. 27 These were the clans of the Zebulunite according to their counted ones, 60,500. 28 The sons of Joseph according to their clans were Manasseh and Ephraim. 29 The sons of Manasseh: of Makir, the clan of the Makirite (and Makir fathered Gilead); of Gilead, the clan of the Gileadite. 30 These were the sons of Gilead: Iezer, the clan of the Iezerite; of Helek, the clan of the Helekite; 31 and Asriel, the clan of the Asrielite; and Shechem, the clan of the Shechemite; 32 and Shemida, the clan of the Shemidaite; and Hepher, the clan of the Hepherite. 33 And there were no sons for Zelophehad the son of Hepher, but daughters. And the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milkah, and Tirzah. 34 These were the clans of Manasseh and their counted ones, 52,700. 35 These were the sons of Ephraim according to their clans: of Shuthelah, the clan of the Shuthelahite; of Beker, the clan of the Bekerite; of Tahan, the clan of the Tahanite. 36 And these were the sons of Shuthelah: of Eran, the clan of the Eranite. 37 These were the clans of the sons of Ephraim according to their counted ones, 32,500. These were the sons of Joseph according to their clans. 38 The sons of Benjamin according to their clans: of Bela, the clan of the Belaite; of Ashbel, the clan of the Ashbelite; of Ahiram, the clan of the Ahiramite; 39 of Shephupham, the clan of the Shuphamite; of Hupham, the clan of the Huphamite. 40 And the sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman: the clan of the Ardite; of Naaman, the clan of the Naamite. 41 These were the sons of Benjamin according to their clans. And their counted ones were 45,600. 42 These were the sons of Dan according to their clans: of Shuham, the clan of the Shuhamite. These were the clans of Dan according to their clans. 43 All the clans of the Shuhamite according to their counted ones were 64,400. 44 The sons of Asher according to their clans: of Imnah, the clan of the Imnite; of Ishvi, the clan of the Ishvite; of Beriah, the clan of the Beriite. 45 The sons of Beriah: of Heber, the clan of the Heberite; of Malkiel, the clan of the Malkielite. 46 And the name of the daughter of Asher was Serah. 47 These were the clans of the sons of Asher according to their counted ones, 53,400. 48 The sons of Naphtali according to their clans: of Jahzeel, the clan of the Jahzeelite; of Guni, the clan of the Gunite; 49 of Jezer, the clan of the Jezerite; of Shillem, the clan of the Shillemite. 50 These were the clans of Naphtali according to their clans. And their counted ones were 45,400. 51 These were the counted ones of the sons of Israel: 601,730. 52 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 53 “The land shall be apportioned to these ones as an inheritance by the number of the names. 54 To the numerous you shall increase his inheritance, and to the small you shall lessen his inheritance. His inheritance shall be given, a man according to the mouth of his counted ones. 55 Surely the land shall be apportioned by lots. They shall inherit according to the names of the tribes of their fathers. 56 His inheritance shall be apportioned in accordance with the mouth of the lot, between the numerous and the small.” 57 And these were the counted ones of the Levite according to their clans: of Gershon, the clan of the Gershonite; of Kohath, the clan of the Kohathite; of Merari, the clan of the Merarite. 58 These were the clans of the Levite: the clan of the Libnite, the clan of the Hebronite, the clan of the Mahlite, the clan of the Mushite, the clan of the Korahite. And Kohath fathered Amram. 59 And the name of the wife of Amram was Jochebed, a daughter of Levi, she who was born to Levi in Egypt. And she bore to Amram Aaron, and Moses, and Miriam their sister. 60 And to Aaron were born Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 61 And Nadab and Abihu died when they offered unfamiliar fire before the face of Yahweh. 62 And their counted ones were 23,000, every male from a son of a month and upward. But they were not counted in the midst of the sons of Israel because an inheritance in the midst of the sons of Israel was not given to them. 63 These are the counted ones of Moses and Eleazar the priest when they counted the sons of Israel in the plains of Moab beside the Jordan at Jericho. 64 And among these there was not a man from the counted ones of Moses and Aaron the priest when they counted the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. 65 For Yahweh had said to them, “You shall surely die in the wilderness and a man shall not remain from them, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.” Chapter 27 1 And the daughters of Zelophehad the son of Hepher the son of Gilead the son of Machir the son of Manasseh, of the clans of Manasseh the son of Joseph came near. And these were the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, and Hoglah, and Milkah, and Tirzah. 2 And they stood before the face of Moses, and before the face of Eleazar the priest, and before the face of the leaders, and all the congregation at the opening of the tent of meeting, saying, 3 “Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not in the midst of the congregation who assembled against Yahweh with the congregation of Korah. But he died in his sin and there were no sons for him. 4 Why should the name of our father be withdrawn from the midst of his clan because there is no son for him? Give to us a possession in the midst of the brothers of our father.” 5 And Moses brought near their case before the face of Yahweh. 6 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 7 “The daughters of Zelophehad are speaking rightly. You shall certainly give to them the possession of an inheritance in the midst of the brothers of their father. And you shall cause the inheritance of their father to pass over to them. 8 And you shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If a man dies and there is no son for him, then you shall cause his inheritance to pass over to his daughter. 9 And if there is no daughter for him, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. 10 And if there are no brothers for him, then you shall give his inheritance to the brothers of his father. 11 And if there are no brothers for his father, then you shall give his inheritance to his blood-relative, the nearest to him from his clan, and he shall take possession of it. And it shall be for the sons of Israel as a statute of judgment, just as Yahweh has commanded Moses.’” 12 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Go up to this mountain of Abarim, and see the land that I have given to the sons of Israel. 13 And you shall see it and be gathered to your people, also you, just as Aaron your brother was gathered. 14 because in the wilderness of Zin, in the quarrel of the congregation, you rebelled against my mouth to regard me as holy at the waters before their eyes” These are the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. 15 And Moses spoke to Yahweh, saying, 16 “May Yahweh, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, 17 who will go out before the face of them and who will come before the face of them and who will take them out and who will bring them in, and the congregation of Yahweh will not be like sheep that have no shepherd for them.” 18 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Take for yourself Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is a spirit, and lay your hand on him. 19 And you shall stand him before the face of Eleazar the priest and before the face of all the congregation. And you shall command him before their eyes. 20 And you shall give some of your authority on him, so that all the congregation of the sons of Israel will hear. 21 And he shall stand before the face of Eleazar the priest. And he shall ask for him by the judgment of the Urim before the face of Yahweh. In accordance with his mouth he shall go out and in accorordance with his mouth he shall come in, he and all the sons of Israel with him and all the congregation.” 22 And Moses did just as Yahweh had commanded him. And he took Joshua and stood him before the face of Eleazar the priest and before the face of all the congregation. 23 And he laid his hands on him and he commanded him, just as Yahweh had spoken by the hand of Moses. Chapter 28 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be careful to offer to me at its appointed time my offering, my food for my offerings made by fire, an aroma of my soothing.’ 3 And you shall say to them, ‘This is the offering made by fire that you shall offer to Yahweh: unblemished male lambs, sons of a year, two for the day, a burnt up offering continually. 4 One male lamb you shall do in the morning, and the second male lamb you shall do between the evenings, 5 and the tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with the fourth of a hin of beaten oil. 6 It is a burnt up offering of continuity, the one done at Mount Sinai for an aroma of soothing, an offering made by fire to Yahweh. 7 And its drink offering shall be the fourth of a hin for one male lamb. You shall pour out in the holy place a drink offering of intoxicating drink to Yahweh. 8 And you shall do the second male lamb between the evenings. You shall do like the grain offering of the morning and its drink offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma of soothing to Yahweh. 9 And on the Sabbath day: two unblemished male lambs, sons of a year, and two-tenths fine flour as a grain offering mixed with the oil, and its drink offering. 10 It is the burnt up offering of the Sabbath by its Sabbath, in addition to the burnt up offering of the continuity and its drink offering. 11 And at the heads of your months, you shall offer a burnt up offering to Yahweh: two bulls, sons of cattle, and one ram, seven male lambs, sons of a year, unblemished; 12 and three-tenths fine flour as a grain offering mixed with the oil for one bull, and two-tenths fine flour as a grain offering mixed with the oil for the one ram, 13 and a tenth, a tenth fine flour as a grain offering mixed with the oil for one male lamb. It is a burnt up offering, an aroma of soothing, an offering made by fire to Yahweh. 14 And their drink offerings shall be half of a hin of wine for the bull, and a third of a hin for the ram, and a fourth of a hin for the male lamb. This shall be the burnt up offering of the month by its month for the months of the year. 15 And one buck of the goats shall be done as a sin offering to Yahweh, in addition to the burnt up offering of the continuity and its drink offering. 16 And in the first month, on day 14 of the month is the Passover of Yahweh. 17 And on day 15 of this month shall be a feast. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 18 On the first day shall be a convocation of holiness. You shall not do any work of labor. 19 And you shall offer an offering made by fire, a burnt up offering to Yahweh: two bulls, sons of cattle, and one ram, and seven male lambs, sons of a year. They shall be unblemished for you. 20 And their grain offering: you shall do fine flour mixed with the oil, three-tenths for the bull and two-tenths for the ram. 21 A tenth, a tenth you shall do for one male lamb of the seven male lambs, 22 and one male goat as the sin offering to make atonement for yourselves. 23 You shall do these apart from the burnt up offering of the morning, which is for the burnt up offering of the continuity. 24 You shall do like these for the day, seven days, the food of the offering made by fire, an aroma of soothing to Yahweh. It shall be done in addition to the burnt up offering of the continuity and its drink offering. 25 And on the seventh day there shall be a convocation of holiness for you. You shall not do any work of labor. 26 And on the day of the firstfruits, when you offer the new grain offering to Yahweh in your festival of weeks, there shall be a convocation of holiness for you. You shall not do any work of labor. 27 And you shall offer a burnt up offering as an aroma of soothing to Yahweh: two bulls, sons of cattle, one ram, seven male lambs, sons of a year, 28 And their grain offering shall be fine flour mixed with the oil, three-tenths for one bull, two-tenths for the one ram, 29 a tenth, a tenth for one male lamb of the seven of the male lambs, 30 one buck of the goats to make atonement for yourselves. 31 You shall do apart from the burnt up offering of the continuity and its grain offering. They shall be unblemished for you and their drink offerings.’” Chapter 29 1 “And in the seventh month, on the first of the month, there shall be a convocation of holiness for you. You shall not do any work of labor. It shall be a day of horn blowing for you. 2 And you shall do a burnt up offering for an aroma of soothing to Yahweh: one bull, a son of cattle, one ram, seven male lambs, sons of a year, unblemished. 3 And their grain offering shall be fine flour mixed with the oil, three-tenths for the bull, two-tenths for the ram, 4 and one-tenth for one male lamb of the seven male lambs. 5 And one buck of the goats shall be a sin offering to make atonement for yourselves. 6 It is apart from the burnt up offering of the month and its grain offering, and the burnt up offering of the continuity and its grain offering, and their drink offerings according to their ordinance, for an aroma of soothing, an offering made by fire to Yahweh. 7 And on the tenth of this seventh month there shall be a convocation of holiness for you. And you shall afflict your lives. You shall not do any work. 8 And you shall offer a burnt up offering to Yahweh, an aroma of soothing: one bull, a son of cattle, one ram, seven male lambs, sons of a year. They shall be unblemished for you. 9 And their grain offering shall be fine flour mixed with the oil, three-tenths for the bull, two-tenths for the one ram, 10 a tenth, a tenth for the one male lamb, for the seven male lambs. 11 One buck of the goats shall be a sin offering, apart from the sin offering of the atonement and the burnt up offering of the continuity and its grain offering and their drink offerings. 12 And on day 15 of the seventh month there shall be for you a convocation of holiness. You shall not do any work of labor, and you shall feast a feast to Yahweh seven days. 13 And you shall offer a burnt up offering, a sacrifice made by fire, an aroma of soothing to Yahweh, 13 bulls, sons of cattle, two rams, 14 male lambs, sons of a year. They shall be unblemished. 14 And their grain offering shall be fine flour mixed with the oil, three-tenths for one bull for the 13 bulls, two-tenths for one ram for the two rams, 15 and a tenth, a tenth for one male lamb for the 14 male lambs. 16 And one buck of the goats shall be a sin offering, apart from the burnt up offering of the continuity, its grain offering, and its drink offering. 17 And on the second day: 12 bulls, sons of cattle, two rams, 14 male lambs, sons of a year, unblemished. 18 And their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the male lambs shall be by their number according to the ordinance. 19 And one buck of the goats shall be a sin offering, apart from the burnt up offering of the continuity, and its grain offering, and their drink offerings. 20 And on the third day: 11 bulls, two rams, 14 male lambs, sons of a year, unblemished. 21 And their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the male lambs shall be by their number according to the ordinance, 22 and one male goat of the sin offering, apart from the burnt up offering of the continuity and its grain offering and its drink offering. 23 And on the fourth day: 10 bulls, two rams, 14 male lambs, sons of a year, unblemished. 24 And their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, shall be by their number according to the ordinance. 25 And one buck of the goats shall be a sin offering, apart from the burnt up offering of the continuity, its grain offering, and its drink offering. 26 And on the fifth day: nine bulls, two rams, 14 male lambs, sons of a year, unblemished. 27 And their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, shall be by their number according to the ordinance, 28 and one male goat of a sin offering, apart from the burnt up offering of the continuity, and its grain offering, and its drink offering. 29 And on the sixth day: eight bulls, two rams, 14 male lambs, sons of a year, unblemished. 30 And their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, shall be by their number according to the ordinance, 31 and one male goat of a sin offering, apart from the burnt up offering of the continuity, its grain offering, and its drink offerings. 32 And on the seventh day: seven bulls, two rams, 14 male lambs, sons of a year, unblemished. 33 And their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the male lambs, shall be by their number according to their ordinance, 34 and one male goat of the sin offering, apart from the burnt up offering of the continuity, its grain offering, and its drink offering. 35 On the eighth day an assembly shall be for you. You shall not do any work of labor. 36 And you shall offer a burnt up offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma of soothing to Yahweh: one bull, one ram, seven male lambs, sons of a year, unblemished. 37 Their grain offering and their drink offerings, for the bull, for the ram, and for the male lambs, shall be by their number according to the ordinance, 38 and one male goat of the sin offering apart from the burnt up offering of the continuity and its grain offering and its drink offering. 39 You shall do these for Yahweh at your appointed times, apart from your vows and your voluntary offerings, for your burnt up offerings, and for your grain offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings.” 40 And Moses spoke to the sons of Israel according to all that Yahweh had commanded Moses. Chapter 30 1 And Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the sons of Israel, saying, “This is the word that Yahweh has commanded: 2 When a man vows a vow to Yahweh, or swears an oath to bind a binding vow on his life, he shall not profane his word. He shall do according to all that came out from his mouth. 3 And if a woman vows a vow to Yahweh and binds a binding vow in the house of her father, in her youth, 4 and her father hears her vow and her binding vow that she bound on her life and her father is silent to her, then all her vows shall stand and every binding vow that she has bound on her life shall stand. 5 And if her father forbids her on the day of his hearing, any of her vows and her binding vows that she bound on her life shall not stand. And Yahweh will forgive her because her father forbade her. 6 And if she ever belongs to a man and her vows are on her, or thoughtless speech of her lips that she has bound is on her life, 7 and her husband hears on the day of his hearing and is silent to her, then her vows shall stand, and her binding vows that she bound on her life shall stand. 8 And if her husband forbids her on the day of his hearing, then he breaks her vow which is on her and the thoughtless speech of her lips that she bound on her life. And Yahweh will forgive her. 9 And the vow of a widow and a cast out woman, all that she binds on her life shall stand on her. 10 And if she vowed or bound a binding vow on her life by an oath in the house of her husband, 11 and her husband hears and is silent to her, he does not forbid her, then all her vows shall stand, and every binding vow that she bound on her life shall stand. 12 And if her husband ever breaks them on the day of his hearing, all that went out of her lips for her vows and for the binding vow of her life shall not stand. Her husband has broken them and Yahweh will forgive her. 13 Every vow and every oath of a binding vow to afflict her life, her husband may make it stand and her husband may break it. 14 And if her husband is wholly silent to her from day to day, then he will make all her vows or all her binding vows which are on her stand. He made them stand because he was silent to her on the day of his hearing. 15 And if he ever breaks them after his hearing, then he will bear her iniquity.” 16 These are the statutes that Yahweh commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, between a father and his daughter in her youth in the house of her father. Chapter 31 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Take vengeance, the vengeance of the sons of Israel, from with the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.” 3 And Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Equip yourselves, some of the men with you, for the war. And they will be against Midian to give the vengeance of Yahweh on Midian. 4 You shall send to the war for all the tribes of Israel, a thousand for a tribe, a thousand for a tribe.” 5 And a thousand for a tribe were provided from the thousands of Israel, 12,000 equipped for battle. 6 And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand for a tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest to the war. And the vessels of holiness and the blasting trumpets were in his hand. 7 And they waged war against Midian, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. And they slew every male. 8 And they slew the kings of Midian with their pierced ones: Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. And they slew Balaam the son of Beor by the sword. 9 And the sons of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their children. And they plundered all their animals, and all their livestock, and all their wealth. 10 And they burned with the fire all their cities with their dwellings and all their encampments. 11 And they took all the spoil and all the booty of human and of animal. 12 And they brought to Moses and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the sons of Israel, the captives and the booty and the spoil to the camp at the plains of Moab which are beside the Jordan at Jericho. 13 And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation went out to meet them at the outside of the camp. 14 And Moses was furious with the appointed ones of the army, the leaders of the thousands and the leaders of the hundreds, the ones coming from the battle of the war. 15 And Moses said to them, “Have you let every woman live? 16 Look, these were by the word of Balaam for the sons of Israel to commit unfaithfuless against Yahweh concerning the matter of Peor, and the plague was among the congregation of Yahweh. 17 And now, slay every male among the children and slay every woman who has known a man by the bed of a male. 18 And keep alive for yourselves every child among the women who has not known the bed of a male. 19 And you, camp outside of the camp seven days, all who have slain a person and all who have touched a pierced one. Purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives. 20 And you shall purify every garment and every vessel of skin and every work of goats, and every vessel of wood.” 21 And Eleazar the priest said to the men of the army who had gone to the battle, “This is a statute of the law that Yahweh has commanded Moses: 22 Only the gold, and the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 23 every thing that can come through the fire you shall pass through the fire, and it will become clean. However, it must be purified with the water of purification. And all that can not come through the fire you shall pass through the water. 24 And you shall wash your garments on the seventh day, and you will be clean. And afterward you may enter into the camp.” 25 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 26 “Lift up the head of the booty of the captives, of human and of animal. You, and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the fathers of the congregation. 27 And you shall divide the booty between the wielders of the war who went out to the battle, and all the congregation. 28 And you shall raise a tax for Yahweh from with the men of the war who went out to the battle, one life from 500, from human and from cattle, and from the donkeys, and from the flock. 29 You shall take from half of them and give the contribution of Yahweh to Eleazar the priest. 30 And from the half of the sons of Israel you shall take one taken from the 50, from human, from cattle, from the donkeys, and from the flock, from every animal, and you shall give them to the Levites, the keepers of the keeping of the dwelling of Yahweh.” 31 And Moses and Eleazar the priest did just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 32 And the booty, the remainder of the plunder that the people of the army plundered, was 675,000 sheep, 33 and 72,000 cattle, 34 and 61,000 donkeys, 35 and human lives, from the women who had not known the bed of a male, every life, 32,000. 36 And the half of the portion of the ones who went out with the army: the number of the sheep was 337,500. 37 And the tax for Yahweh from the flock was 675. 38 And the cattle were 36,000 and their tax for Yahweh was 72. 39 And the donkeys were 30,500, and their tax for Yahweh was 61. 40 And the human lives were 16,000, and their tax for Yahweh was 32 lives. 41 And Moses gave the tax of the contribution of Yahweh to Eleazar the priest, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 42 And from the half of the sons of Israel whom Moses had divded from the men who waged war, 43 and the half of the congregation from the flock was 337,500, 44 and 36,000 cattle, 45 and 30,500 donkeys, 46 and 16,000 human lives. 47 And Moses took from the half of the sons of Israel the taken, one from the 50, from human and from animal. And he gave them to the Levites, the keepers of the keeping of the dwelling of Yahweh, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 48 And the appointed ones who were for the thousands of the army, the leaders of the thousands and the leaders of the hundreds, came near to Moses. 49 And they said to Moses, “Your servants have lifted up the heads of the men of the war who were in our hand, and not a man from us is missing. 50 And we have offered the offering of Yahweh, a man what he found of the objects of gold, armlet, and bracelet, signet ring, earring, and ornament, to make atonement for our lives before the face of Yahweh.” 51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from with them, every object of craft. 52 And all the gold of the contribution which they raised to Yahweh from with the leaders of the thousands and from with the leaders of the hundreds was 16,750 shekels. 53 The men of the army had plundered, a man for himself. 54 And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from with the leaders of the thousands and the hundreds. And they brought it to the tent of meeting, a memorial for the sons of Israel before the face of Yahweh. Chapter 32 1 And the livestock of the sons of Reuben and of the sons of Gad was great, very numerous. And they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place of livestock. 2 And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came and said to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying, 3 “Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Sebam, and Nebo, and Beon 4 are the land that Yahweh struck before the face of the congregation of Israel. It is a land of livestock and livestock belongs to your servants.” 5 And they said, “If we have found favor in your eyes, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not make us cross over the Jordan.” 6 And Moses said to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, “Will your brothers go to the war and you yourselves will dwell here? 7 And why do you discourage the heart of the sons of Israel from crossing over into the land that Yahweh has given to them? 8 Thus your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. 9 And they went up as far as the wadi of Eshkol. And they saw the land and discouraged the heart of the sons of Israel to not enter into the land that Yahweh had given to them. 10 And the nose of Yahweh burned on that day. And he swore, saying, 11 ‘If the men who went up from Egypt, from a son of 20 years and upward, will see the ground which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob! For they are not fully after me, 12 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun because they are fully after Yahweh.’ 13 And the nose of Yahweh burned against Israel. And he made them wander in the wilderness 40 years until the finishing of all the generation who had done evil in the eyes of Yahweh. 14 And behold, you have risen up in place of your fathers, a brood of sinful men, to add more to the burning of the nose of Yahweh toward Israel. 15 If you turn from after him, then he will yet again leave him in the wilderness and you will have destroyed all this people.” 16 And they came near to him and said, “Here we will build walls of the flock for our livestock and cities for our children. 17 And we ourselves will be equipped for war, hurrying before the face of the sons of Israel until when we have brought them into their place. And our children will dwell in the cities of the fortification because of the face of those who dwell in the land. 18 We will not return to our houses until the sons of Israel get an inheritance for themselves, a man his inheritance. 19 For we will not inherit with them from across of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance came to us from beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise.” 20 And Moses said to them, “If you do this thing, if you equip yourselves before the face of Yahweh for the war, 21 then every man equipped for war shall cross over the Jordan for you before the face of Yahweh, until he has dispossessed his enemy from his face 22 and the land is subdued before the face of Yahweh, then afterward you may return. And you will be free of obligation from Yahweh and from Israel. And this land will be for you for a possession before the face of Yahweh. 23 And if you do not do so, behold, you will have sinned against Yahweh. And know that your sin will find you. 24 Build for yourselves cities for your children and walls for your livestock. And you shall do what has gone out from your mouth.” 25 And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, “Your servants will do just as my master is commanding. 26 Our children, our wives, our livestock, and all our animals will be there in the cities of the Gilead. 27 And your servants will cross over, every man equipped for war of the army, before the face of Yahweh for the war, just as my master has spoken.” 28 And Moses commanded Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the sons of Israel concerning them. 29 And Moses said to them, “If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben cross over the Jordan with you, every equipped man for the war before the face of Yahweh, and the land is subdued before your faces, then you will give to them the land of the Gilead as a possession. 30 And if the men equipped for war do not cross over with you, then they will take possession in your midst in the land of Canaan.” 31 And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, saying, “What Yahweh has spoken to your servants, so we will do. 32 We will cross over, the men equipped for war, before the face of Yahweh into the land of Canaan. And with us will be the possession of our inheritance from beyond the Jordan.” 33 And Moses gave to them, to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, and to the half of the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon the king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og the king of the Bashan, the land of its cities with the borders of the cities of the surrounding land. 34 And the sons of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer, 35 and Atroth Shophan, and Jazer, and Jogbehah, 36 and Beth Nimrah, and Beth Haran, the cities of fortification and the walls of the flock. 37 And the sons of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kiriathaim, 38 and Nebo, and Baal Meon (names were changed) and Sibmah. And they called the names of the cities that they built by names. 39 And the sons of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and captured it and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it. 40 And Moses gave the Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he dwelled in it. 41 And Jair the son of Manasseh went and captured their tent villages. And he called them Havvoth Jair. 42 And Nobah went and captured Kenath and its daughters. And he called it Nobah, by his name. Chapter 33 1 These are the journeys of the sons of Israel who went out from the land of Egypt according to their tribes by the hand of Moses and Aaron. 2 And Moses wrote down their departure points according to their tribes in accordance with the mouth of Yahweh And these are their journeys according to their departure points. 3 And they set out from Rameses on the first month, on day 15 of the first month, from the day after the Passover the sons of Israel went out with a raised hand before the eyes of all the Egyptians. 4 And the Egyptians were burying those whom Yahweh had struck down, all the firstborn. And Yahweh enacted judgment against their gods. 5 And the sons of Israel set out from Rameses and camped at Succoth. 6 And they set out from Succoth and camped at Etham, which is at the edge of the wilderness. 7 And they set out from Etham and turned back to Pi Hahiroth, which is on the face of Baal Zephon. And they camped before the face of Migdol. 8 And they set out from the face of Hahiroth and passed through the midst of the sea to the wilderness. And they went a distance of three days in the wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah. 9 And they set out from Marah and camped at Elim. And at Elim were 12 springs of water and 70 palm trees. And they camped there. 10 And they set out from Elim and camped beside the Sea of Reeds. 11 And they set out from the Sea of Reeds and camped in the wilderness of Sin. 12 And they set out from the wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah. 13 And they set out from Dophkah and camped at Alush. 14 And they set out from Alush and camped at Rephidim, and there was no water there for the people to drink. 15 And they set out from Rephidim and camped in the wilderness of Sinai. 16 And they set out from the wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth Hattaavah. 17 And they set out from Kibroth Hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth. 18 And they set out from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah. 19 And they set out from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon Perez. 20 And they set out from Rimmon Perez and camped at Libnah. 21 And they set out from Libnah and camped at Rissah. 22 And they set out from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah. 23 And they set out from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher. 24 And they set out from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah. 25 And they set out from Haradah and camped at Makheloth. 26 And they set out from Makheloth and camped at Tahath. 27 And they set out from Tahath and camped at Terah. 28 And they set out from Terah and camped at Mithkah. 29 And they set out from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah. 30 And they set out from Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth. 31 And they set out from Moseroth and camped at Bene Jaakan. 32 And they set out from Bene Jaakan and camped at Hor Haggidgad. 33 And they set out from Hor Haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah. 34 And they set out from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah. 35 And they set out from Abronah and camped at Ezion Geber. 36 And they set out from Ezion Geber and camped in the wilderness of Zin (it is Kadesh). 37 And they set out from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, at the edge of the land of Edom. 38 And Aaron the priest went up to Mount Hor in accordance with the mouth of Yahweh and died there in the fortieth year of the going out of the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt, in the fifth month, on 1 of the month. 39 And Aaron was a son of 123 years when he died at Mount Hor. 40 And the Canaanite, the king of Arad (and he was dwelling in the Negev in the land of Canaan), heard when the sons of Israel came. 41 And they set out from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah. 42 And they set out from Zalmonah and camped at Punon. 43 And they set out from Punon and camped at Oboth. 44 And they set out from Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim, on the border of Moab. 45 And they set out from Iye and camped at Dibon Gad. 46 And they set out from Dibon Gad and camped at Almon Diblathaim. 47 And they set out from Almon Diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, before the face of Nebo. 48 And they set out from the mountains of Abarim and camped in the plains of Moab beside the Jordan at Jericho. 49 And they camped beside the Jordan, from Beth Jeshimoth to Abel Shittim in the plains of Moab. 50 And Yahweh spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab beside the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 51 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 then you shall dispossess all those who dwell in the land from your face. And you shall destroy all their carved figures, and you shall destroy all the figures of their molten metal, and you shall destroy all their high places. 53 And you shall take possession of the land and dwell in it, because I have given the land to you to possess it. 54 And you shall inherit for yourselves the land by lot, according to your clans. You shall increase his inheritance for the numerous, and you shall decrease his inheritance for the few. To there where the lot goes out for him, to him it will belong. According to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit for yourselves. 55 And if you do not disposses those who dwell in the land from your face, then whom you leave from them will be as thorns in your eyes and as pricks in your sides. And they shall vex you on the land that you are about to dwell in. 56 And it will happen that I will do to you just as I had intended to do to them.’” Chapter 34 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter into the land of Canaan, this is the land that has fallen to you as an inheritance, the land of Canaan and its borders, 3 and the corner of the south will be for you from the wilderness of Zin beside the hands of Edom. And the border of the south will be for you from the end of the Sea of Salt eastward. 4 And the border will turn for you from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim and cross over to Zin. And its outer limits will be from the south to Kadesh Barnea. And it will go out to Hazar Addar and cross over to Azmon. 5 And the border will turn from Azmon toward the wadi of Egypt and its outer limits will be to the sea. 6 And the border of the west, it will be for you the Great Sea and the border. This will be for you the border of the west. 7 And this will be for you the border of the north, from the Great Sea you shall mark out for you to Mount Hor. 8 From Mount Hor you shall mark out to Lebo Hamath, and the outer limits of the border will be to Zedad. 9 And the border will go out to Ziphron and its outer limits will be at Hazar Enan. This will be for you the border of the north. 10 And you shall mark out for you the border to the east from Hazar Enan to Shepham. 11 And the border will go down from Shepham to Riblah, from east of Ain. And the border will go down and strike on the shoulder of the Sea of Kinnereth eastward. 12 And the border will go down to the Jordan and its outer limits will be the Sea of Salt. This will be for you the land according to its borders all around.’” 13 And Moses commanded the sons of Israel, saying, “This is the land, it which you will inherit for yourselves by lot, which Yahweh has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half of the tribe. 14 For the tribe of the sons of the Reubenites according to the house of their fathers and the tribe of the sons of the Gadites according to the house of their fathers have taken, and the half of the tribe of Manasseh has taken their inheritance. 15 The two tribes and the half of the tribe have taken their inheritance from beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise.” 16 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “These are the names of the men who will divide the land for you as an inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun. 18 And you shall take one leader, one leader from a tribe to divide the land as an inheritance. 19 And these are the names of the men: of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; 20 and of the tribe of the sons of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud; 21 of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Kislon; 22 and of the tribe of the sons of Dan a leader, Bukki the son of Jogli; 23 of the sons of Joseph, of the tribe of the sons of Manasseh a leader, Hanniel the son of Ephod; 24 and of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim a leader, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan; 25 and of the tribe of the sons of Zebulun a leader, Elizaphan the son of Parnak; 26 and of the tribe of the sons of Issachar a leader, Paltiel the son of Azzan; 27 and of the tribe of the sons of Asher a leader, Ahihud the son of Shelomi; 28 and of the tribe of the sons of Naphtali a leader, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.” 29 These are whom Yahweh commanded to divide an inheritance for the sons of Israel in the land of Canaan. Chapter 35 1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab beside the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 2 “Command the sons of Israel and they shall give to the Levites cities for dwelling from the inheritance of their possession. And you shall give to the Levites pastureland for the cities, all around them. 3 And the cities will be for them for dwelling, and their pastureland will be for their livestock and for their property and for all their living things. 4 And the pasturelands of the cities that you shall give to the Levites shall be from the wall of the city and outward 1,000 cubits all around. 5 And you shall measure 2,000 by the cubit from outside of the city toward the corner of the east, and 2,000 by the cubit to the corner of the south, and 2,000 by the cubit to the corner of the west, and 2,000 by the cubit to the corner of the north, and the city will be in the middle. This will be the pastureland of the cities for them. 6 And along with the cities which you shall give to the Levites you shall give six cities of refuge to which the one who kills may flee. And in addition to them you shall give 42 cities. 7 All the cities that you shall give to the Levites shall be 48 cities, them and their pasturelands. 8 And the cities that you shall give from the possession of the sons of Israel, you shall increase from with the numerous, and you shall decrease from with the few. A man shall give from his cities to the Levites according to the mouth of his inheritance that he has inherited.” 9 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 then you shall choose for yourselves cities, they will be cities of refuge for you. And the one who kills, the one who struck down a person by mistake, shall flee to there. 12 And the cities will be for you for refuge from the avenger. And the one who kills will not die until he stands before the face of the congregation for the judgment. 13 And the cities that you shall give shall be six cities of refuge for you. 14 You shall give three cities from beyond the Jordan. And you shall give three cities in the land of Canaan. They shall be cities of refuge. 15 For the sons of Israel, and for the sojourner, and for the temporary dweller in your midst, these six cities shall be for refuge to flee to, every one who has struck down a person by mistake. 16 And if he struck him down with an object of iron and he died, he is one who murders. The one who murders shall certainly be put to death. 17 And if he struck him down with a stone in hand by which one could die and he died, he is one who murders. The one who murders shall certainly be put to death. 18 Or if he struck him down with an object of wood in hand by which one could die and he died, he is one who murders. The one who murders shall certainly be put to death. 19 The avenger of blood, he shall put the one who murders to death. When he meets him, he shall put him to death. 20 And if with hatred he pushes him or throws something at him by lying in wait and he dies, 21 or if with hostility he strikes him down with his hand and he dies, you shall certainly put to death the one who strikes down; he is one who murders. The avenger of blood shall put to death the one who murders when he meets him. 22 And if with suddenness without hostility he pushes him or throws any object at him without lying in wait, 23 or if with any stone by which one could die without seeing he drops it on him and he dies, and he was not an enemy to him and was not seeking his harm, 24 then the congregation shall judge between the one who struck down and the avenger of blood in accordance with these judgments. 25 And the congregation shall rescue the one who kills from the hand of the avenger of blood. And the congregation shall bring him back into the city of his refuge to which he had fled. And he shall dwell in it until the death of the great priest, him whom he anointed with the oil of holiness. 26 And if the one who kills ever goes out of the border of the city of his refuge to which he has fled, 27 and the avenger of blood finds him outside the border of the city of his refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the one who kills, there will be no blood against him. 28 For in the city of his refuge he must dwell until the death of the great priest, and after the death of the great priest the one who kills may return to the land of his possession. 29 And these shall be for you as a statute of judgment for your generations, in all your dwellings. 30 Every one who strikes down a person, according to the mouth of witnesses he must kill the one who kills. And one witness shall not testify against a person to put to death. 31 And you shall not take a ransom for the life of one who kills, he who is guilty to die, because he shall certainly be put to death. 32 And you shall not take a ransom for the one who flees into the city of his refuge, to return to dwell in the land until the death of the priest. 33 And you shall not pollute the land which you are in because the blood itself pollutes the land. And atonement cannot be made for the land for the blood that is poured out on it except by the blood of the one who poured it out. 34 And you shall not defile the land which you are dwelling in, which I am dwelling in the midst of, because I, Yahweh, am dwelling in the midst of the sons of Israel.’” Chapter 36 1 And the heads of the fathers of the clans of the sons of Gilead the son of Machir the son of Manasseh from the clans of the sons of Joseph came near and spoke before the face of Moses and before the face of the leaders, the heads of the fathers of the sons of Israel. 2 And they said, “Yahweh commanded my master to give the land as an inheritance by lot to the sons of Israel. And my master was commanded by Yahweh to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 3 And they will become wives for one from the sons of the tribes of the sons of Israel. And their inheritance will be withdrawn from the inheritance of our fathers, and it will be added onto the inheritance of the tribe that they belong to. And it will be withdrawn from the lot of our inheritance. 4 And when it will be the Jubilee for the sons of Israel, then their inheritance will be added onto the inheritance of the tribe which they belong to. And their inheritance will be withdrawn from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.” 5 And Moses commanded the sons of Israel in accordance with the mouth of Yahweh, saying, “What the tribe of the sons of Joseph is speaking is right. 6 This is the word that Yahweh commands to the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘They may become wives of the good one in their eyes, only they must become wives of the clan of the tribe of their father. 7 And an inheritance of the sons of Israel shall not go around from tribe to tribe, but a man of the sons of Israel shall cling to the inheritance of the tribe of his father. 8 And every daughter who possesses an inheritance from the tribes of the sons of Israel shall become a wife for one from the clan of the tribe of her father, so that the sons of Israel will have a possession, a man the inheritance of his fathers. 9 And an inheritance shall not go around from a tribe to another tribe, but each tribe of the sons of Israel shall cling to his inheritance.’” 10 Just as Yahweh commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad. 11 And Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milkah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, became wives for the sons of their uncles. 12 They became wives from the clans of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph. And their inheritance was with the tribe of the clan of their father. 13 These are the commands and the judgments that Yahweh commanded by the hand of Moses to the sons of Israel in the plains of Moab beside the Jordan at Jericho. Deuteronomy Chapter 1 1 These {are} the words that Moses spoke to all Israel across the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and between Tophel and Laban and Hazeroth and Di Zahab. 2 ({It is} 11 days from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea.) 3 And it happened, in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on {day} one of the month, Moses spoke to the sons of Israel according to all that Yahweh commanded him concerning them, 4 after defeating Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth in Edrei. 5 Across the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses began explaining this law, saying, 6 “Yahweh our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying, ‘Too long you have stayed in this mountain. 7 Turn, and make your journey, and go to the hill {country} of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in the Arabah in the hill {country} and in the lowland and in the Negev and by the shore of the sea, the land of the Canaanites and in Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 Look, I have given the land before your faces. Go and possess the land that Yahweh swore to your fathers—to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob—to give to them and to their seed after them.’ 9 And I said to you at that time, saying, ‘I am not able to carry you by myself. 10 Yahweh your God has multiplied you, and behold, you {are} today as the stars of the heavens in number. 11 Yahweh, the God of your fathers, may he add to you, as you {are}, 1000 times, and may he bless you, just as he spoke to you! 12 How will I carry by myself your loads and your burdens and your disputes? 13 Nominate for yourselves wise and understanding and well-known men from your tribes, and I will appoint them as your heads.’ 14 And you answered me and said, ‘The thing that you have spoken {is} good to do.’ 15 And I took the heads of your tribes—wise and well-known men—and gave them {as} heads over you, leaders of thousands and leaders of hundreds and leaders of fifties and leaders of tens and officers for your tribes. 16 And, I commanded your judges at that time, saying, ‘Listen in between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and between his brother, and between the foreigner with him. 17 You shall not recognize a face in the judgment; you shall hear as the small and the great alike. You shall not turn aside from the face of a man, for the judgment, it {is} before God. And the matter which is too heavy for you, you shall bring to me, and I shall hear it.’ 18 And I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do. 19 And we journeyed from Horeb and went through all that great and terrible wilderness that you saw on the way to the hill {country} of the Amorites, as Yahweh our God had commanded us; and we came to Kadesh Barnea. 20 And I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill {country} of the Amorites, which Yahweh our God is giving to us. 21 Look, Yahweh your God has set the land before your faces; go up, take possession, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you; you shall not be afraid, and you shall not be discouraged.' 22 And you drew near to me, all of you, and you said, ‘Let us send men before our faces, and they shall spy out the land for us, and return to us a word {about} the way which we will go up into, and the cities which we will come to.’ 23 And the word was good in my eyes, and I took from you 12 men, one man per tribe. 24 And they turned and went up into the hill {country}, and they came to the Valley of Eshkol, and scouted it. 25 And they took with their hands from the fruit of the land and brought {it} down to us. And they returned to us {with} a word and said, ‘Good {is} the land that Yahweh our God is giving to us.’ 26 But you were not willing to go up, and you rebelled {against} the mouth of Yahweh your God. 27 And you grumbled in your tents and said, “In the hatred of Yahweh against us he brought us from the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us. 28 Where {can} we go up? Our brothers have caused our heart to melt, saying, ‘The people {are} greater and taller than us, {with} cities great and fortified to the heavens; and also, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.’” 29 And I said to you, ‘Do not be terrified, and do not be afraid of them. 30 Yahweh your God, who walks before your faces, he will fight for you like everything that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes 31 and in the wilderness, where you have seen how Yahweh your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place.’ 32 But in this word you did not believe Yahweh your God, 33 the one who went before your faces on the way to seek out a place for you to make your camp, in fire {by} night to show you the way that you should go in it, and in a cloud {by} day. 34 And Yahweh heard the sound of your words and was angry. And he swore, saying, 35 ‘Not one man of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers 36 except Caleb son of Jephunneh; he shall see it. And to him I will give the land that he has stepped on, and to his sons, because {he is} wholly after Yahweh.’ 37 Also Yahweh was angry with me because of you, saying, ‘You also will not go in there; 38 Joshua son of Nun, who stands before your faces, he will go in there; encourage him, for he will cause Israel to inherit it. 39 And your children that you said would be plunder, and your sons who today do not know good or evil—they will go in there. And to them I will give it, and they will possess it. 40 But you, turn yourselves and journey into the wilderness on the way to the Sea of Reeds.’ 41 And you answered and said to me, ‘We have sinned against Yahweh; we shall go up and fight, according to all that Yahweh our God has commanded us.’ And {every} man girded on his weapons of war and regarded it as easy to go up to the hill {country}. 42 And Yahweh said to me, ‘Say to them, “Do not go up and do not fight, and you will not be defeated before the face of your enemies, because I will not be among you.’ 43 And I spoke to you, but you did not listen. And you rebelled against the mouth of Yahweh, and you were arrogant and went up to the hill {country}. 44 And the Amorites, who lived in that hill {country}, came out to meet you and chased you like the bees do and struck you down in Seir as far as Hormah. 45 And you returned and wept before the face of Yahweh; but Yahweh did not listen to your voice, nor did he give ear to you. 46 So you stayed in Kadesh many days, according to the days that you stayed {there}. Chapter 2 1 And we turned and journeyed into the wilderness on the way to the Sea of Reeds, as Yahweh had spoken to me. And we went around Mount Seir many days. 2 And Yahweh spoke to me, saying, 3 ‘Too long you have been going around this mountain. Turn yourselves northward. 4 And command the people, saying, “You will be crossing the border of your brothers, the sons of Esau, who live in Seir. And they will be afraid of you. And guard yourselves with strength. 5 You shall not fight them, for I will not give to you {any} of their land, {even as little} as a step of the sole of a foot, for I have given Mount Seir to Esau {as} a possession. 6 You will buy food from them with money, and you will eat. And also, you will purchase water from them with money, and you will drink. 7 For Yahweh your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He has known your walking through this great wilderness. These 40 years Yahweh your God {has been} with you. You have not lacked a thing.”’ 8 And we passed by beyond our brothers, the sons of Esau who live in Seir, from the Arabah road, from Elath and from Ezion Geber. And we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab. 9 And Yahweh said to me, ‘You shall not trouble Moab, and you shall not fight against them {in} battle. For I will not give to you from his land a possession, because I have given Ar to the sons of Lot, {as} a possession.’ 10 (The Emites lived there previously, a people great and numerous and tall as the Anakim. 11 They {are} also considered Rephaim, like the Anakim; but the Moabites call them Emites. 12 And the Horites lived in Seir previously, and the sons of Esau dispossessed them. And they destroyed them from their faces and lived in their place, like Israel did to the land of his possession that Yahweh gave to them.) 13 “‘Now rise up and cross yourselves the brook Zered.’ And we crossed the brook Zered. 14 And the days which we came from Kadesh Barnea until we crossed the brook Zered {were} 38 years, until all the generation of the men of war were finished from among the camp, as Yahweh had sworn to them. 15 And also, the hand of Yahweh was against them, to destroy them from among the camp until they came to an end. 16 And it happened, when all the men of war came to an end, dying from among the people, 17 then Yahweh spoke to me, saying, 18 ‘You are passing over today the border of Moab, Ar. 19 And you will approach on the other side of the sons of Ammon. You shall not trouble them and you shall not fight them, for I will not give to you {any} of the land of the sons of Ammon {as} a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot {as} a possession.’” 20 (Also, {it} is regarded as a land of the Rephaim. The Rephaim lived there previously—but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim— 21 a people great and numerous and tall as the Anakim. But Yahweh destroyed them before their faces, and they dispossessed them and lived in their place, 22 just as he did for the sons of Esau, who live in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before their faces, and they dispossessed them and have lived in their place until this day. 23 And the Avvites who lived in villages as far as Gaza—the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and lived in their place.) 24 “‘Rise up, journey, and pass through the Valley of the Arnon. Look, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to possess {it}, and fight against him in battle. 25 This day I will begin to put the fear {of} you and the terror {of} you on the faces of the peoples under all the heavens, that they might indeed hear {about} you and might quake and tremble from your faces.’ 26 And I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon, king of Heshbon, {with} words of peace, saying, 27 ‘Let me pass through your land on the way. On the road I will go. I will not turn right nor left. 28 You will sell me food for money, and I will eat. And give to me water for money, and I will drink. Only let me pass through on my feet 29 as the sons of Esau who live in Seir, and the Moabites who live in Ar, did for me, until I pass over the Jordan into the land that Yahweh our God is giving to us.’ 30 But Sihon, king of Heshbon, was not willing to let us pass by him, for Yahweh your God had hardened his spirit and strengthened his heart in order to give him into your hand, as this day. 31 And Yahweh said to me, ‘Look, I have begun to give before your faces Sihon and his land. Begin to possess {it}, to inherit his land.’ 32 And Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz. 33 And Yahweh our God gave him before our faces, and we struck him down and his son and all his people. 34 And we captured all his cities at that time and destroyed every city—men and the women and the children; we left no survivor. 35 We only plundered the cattle for ourselves, and the spoil of the cities that we had captured. 36 From Aroer, which {is} on the edge of the Valley of Arnon, and {from} the city that {is} in the valley, and as far as Gilead, there was not a city that {was} too high for us. Yahweh our God gave the whole before our faces. 37 {It was} only to the land of the sons of Ammon that you did not approach, all the side of the Jabbok River, and the cities of the hill {country}—and all Yahweh our God had commanded. Chapter 3 1 And we turned and went up the road of the Bashan. And Og, the king of the Bashan, came out to meet us, he and all his people, to the battle {at} Edrei. 2 And Yahweh said to me, 'You shall not fear him; for I have given him and all his people and his land into your hand. And you will do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.’ 3 And Yahweh our God also gave Og the king of Bashan and all his people into our hands. And we struck them down until not a survivor of his remained. 4 And we captured all his cities at that time. There was not a city of 60 cities that we did not take from them—all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5 These {were} all inaccessible cities {with} high walls, gates, and bars, besides very many unwalled villages. 6 And we destroyed them, as we did to Sihon king of Heshbon, destroying every city—men, the women, and the children. 7 But all the cattle and the spoil of the cities we plundered for ourselves. 8 And in that time we took the land from the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who {were} across the Jordan, from the Valley of Arnon to Mount Hermon 9 (The Sidonians call Mount Hermon Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir) 10 all the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, as far as Salekah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.” 11 (For from the remnant of the Rephaim, only Og king of Bashan had remained. Behold, his bed {was} a bed of iron. Was it not in Rabbah, of the sons of Ammon? {It was} nine cubits long and four cubits wide, in the cubit of man.) 12 “And we took in possession this land at that time—from Aroer, that {is} by the Valley of Arnon, and half the hill {country} of Gilead, and its cities—I gave to the Reubenites and to the Gadites. 13 And the rest of Gilead and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half tribe of Manasseh. (All the region of Argob, to all Bashan. The same is called the land of Rephaim. 14 Jair, son of Manasseh, took all the region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maakathites. And he called it, Bashan, by his name, Havvoth Jair, to this day.) 15 And I gave Gilead to Machir. 16 And to the Reubenites and to the Gadites I gave from Gilead and as far as the Valley of Arnon, the middle of the valley {as} a border, and as far as the Jabbok River, the border of the sons of Ammon, 17 and the Arabah, and the Jordan {as} a border, from Kinnereth and to the Sea of Arabah (the Salt Sea) under the slopes of the Pisgah eastward. 18 And I commanded you at that time, saying, ‘Yahweh your God has given to you this land to possess it. The girded ones, all the sons of bravery, will pass over before the faces of your brothers, the sons of Israel. 19 Only your women and your children, and your cattle (I know that you have much cattle), will stay in your cities that I have given to you 20 until Yahweh causes your brothers, as you, to have rest. And they will also possess the land that Yahweh your God is giving to them across the Jordan. And you will return, {every} man, to his inheritance that I have given to you.’ 21 And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, ‘Your eyes have seen all that Yahweh your God has done to these two kings. Thus Yahweh will do to all the kingdoms that you will be passing through there. 22 You will not fear them, for Yahweh your God, he will fight for you.’ 23 And I sought compassion from Yahweh at that time, saying, 24 ‘My Lord Yahweh, you have begun to show your servant your greatness and your strong hand. Which god {is} in heaven or in earth that does works as your works and as your mighty deeds? 25 Let me cross, please, and see the good land that {is} across the Jordan, that good hill {country}, and Lebanon.’ 26 But Yahweh was angry with me because of you, and he did not listen to me. And Yahweh said to me, ‘Enough for you—you shall not continue speaking to me again on this matter. 27 Go up the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward, and eastward. And look with your eyes, for you will not cross this Jordan. 28 And instruct Joshua and encourage him and strengthen him, for he will go over before the faces of this people, and he will cause them to inherit the land that you will see.’ 29 And we stayed in the valley opposite Beth Peor. Chapter 4 1 And now, Israel, listen to the statutes and to the ordinances that I will teach you to do so that you will live and go in and possess the land that Yahweh, the God of your fathers, is giving to you. 2 You shall not add onto the words that I command you, and you shall not take from them, keeping the commandments of Yahweh your God that I am commanding you. 3 Your eyes have seen what Yahweh did in Baal Peor; for all the men who walked after the Baal of Peor, Yahweh your God has destroyed them from your midst. 4 And you who clung to Yahweh your God {are} alive, all of you, today. 5 Look, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, as Yahweh my God had commanded me, to do so in the midst of the land which you are going into to possess it. 6 And you shall keep and do {them}, for it {is} your wisdom and your understanding in the eyes of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and may say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ 7 For which great nation {is there} that has a god near to it, as Yahweh our God {is} whenever we call on him? 8 And, which great nation {is there} that has statutes and ordinances righteous as all this law that I am giving before your faces today? 9 Only guard yourself and guard your spirit strongly, lest you forget the words which your eyes have seen, and lest they retreat from your heart all the days of your life. But make them known to your sons and to the sons of your sons. 10 {The} day that you stood before the face of Yahweh your God at Horeb, when Yahweh said to me, ‘Assemble for me the people, and I will make them hear my words, that they will learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and teach their sons.’ 11 And you approached and stood under the mountain. And the mountain burned with fire to the heart of the heavens, {with} darkness, cloud, and gloom. 12 And Yahweh spoke to you from the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, and you saw no form, only a voice. 13 And he declared to you his covenant that he commanded you to do, the Ten Words. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone. 14 And Yahweh commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, {so} you shall do them in the land which you are going over to possess it. 15 And strongly guard your spirits—for you did not see any form on {the} day Yahweh spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire— 16 lest you become corrupted, and make for yourselves an idol of the form of any image, a likeness of male or female, 17 a likeness of any animal that {is} on the earth, a likeness of any winged bird that flies in the heavens, 18 a likeness of any creeping thing on the ground, a likeness of any fish that {is} in the water under the earth. 19 And lest you lift up your eyes to the heavens and see the sun and the moon and the stars—all the host of the heavens—and be seduced and bow down to them and serve them, that Yahweh your God has divided them for all the peoples under all the heavens. 20 And Yahweh has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, from Egypt, to be for him a people, an inheritance, as this day. 21 And Yahweh was angry with me about your words. And he swore I would not cross the Jordan, and I would not go in to the good land that Yahweh your God is giving to you {as} an inheritance. 22 But I will die in this land. I will not cross the Jordan, but you will cross over and possess that good land. 23 Guard yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of Yahweh your God, which he cut with you, and make for yourselves an idol {in} a form of anything that Yahweh your God has commanded {against}. 24 For Yahweh your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God. 25 When you bear sons, and sons of sons, and you grow old in the land, and you become corrupted and make an idol {in} a form of anything, and do evil in the eyes of Yahweh your God, to cause him to be angry— 26 I will make the heavens and the earth witness against you today that you will surely perish quickly from off the land to which you are going over the Jordan to possess it. You will not prolong {your} days on it, but being destroyed, you will be destroyed. 27 And Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left men of {small} number in the nations, where Yahweh will drive you there. 28 And there you will serve gods, the work of the hands of man, wood and stone, which do not see and do not hear and do not eat and do not smell. 29 And from there you will search for Yahweh your God, and you will find {him} when you seek him with all your heart and with all your spirit. 30 When {there is} trouble for you, and you find all these things in the later days, then you will return to Yahweh your God and listen to his voice. 31 For Yahweh your God {is} a merciful God; he will not fail you, and he will not destroy you, and he will not forget the covenant of your fathers that he swore to them. 32 But ask, please, about previous days, which were before your faces, since the day that God created man on the earth, and from one end of the heavens and to the other end of the heavens, whether there has been a great thing as this, or {anything} like it been heard? 33 Did a people hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live? 34 Or has God attempted to go and take for himself a nation from the midst of {another} nation, by trials, by signs and by wonders and by war and by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm and by great terrors, as everything that Yahweh your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 To you these were shown, to know that Yahweh is God; there is no other besides him. 36 From the heavens he caused you to hear his voice, to instruct you. And on the earth he caused you to see his great fire, and you heard his words from the midst of the fire. 37 And because he loved your fathers, and he chose their seed after them and brought you out from Egypt with his face, with his great power 38 to drive out from before your faces nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give to you their land {as} an inheritance, as this day, 39 And know today, and return {it} to your hearts, that Yahweh is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. There is none else. 40 And you will keep his statutes and his commandments that I command you today, that it will go well for you and for your sons after you, and so that you may prolong {your} days in the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you all the days.” 41 Then Moses selected three cities on the side of the Jordan towards the rising of the sun, 42 for a manslayer, who killed his brother without knowing and he did not hate him previously before, to flee there. And he shall flee to one from these cities, and he shall live. 43 {They were} Bezer in the wilderness, in the land of the plain, for the Reubenites, and Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites. 44 And this {is} the law that Moses placed before the faces of the sons of Israel. 45 These {are} the testimonies and the statutes and the judgments that Moses spoke to the sons of Israel when they came out from Egypt, 46 across the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the sons of Israel had struck down when they came out from Egypt. 47 They took his land as a possession, and the land of Og king of Bashan—two kings of the Amorites who {were} across the Jordan {toward} the rising of the sun, 48 from Aroer, that {is} on the edge of the Valley of Arnon, and as far as Mount Sirion (that {is} Mount Hermon), 49 and all the Arabah eastward across the Jordan, to the Sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah. Chapter 5 1 Then Moses called to all Israel and said to them, “Listen, Israel, to the statutes and the ordinances that I will speak in your ears today, and you shall learn them and keep them, to do them. 2 Yahweh our God cut a covenant with us at Horeb. 3 Yahweh did not cut this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those of us here today, all who are living. 4 Yahweh spoke with you face to face on the mountain, from the midst of the fire, 5 (I stood between Yahweh and between you at that time, to reveal to you the word of Yahweh. For you were afraid of the face of the fire, and you did not go up the mountain) saying, 6 ‘I {am} Yahweh your God, who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 7 There shall be for you no other gods on my face. 8 You shall not make for yourself a carved figure of any likeness that {is} in heaven above or that {is} in the earth beneath or that {is} in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not bow down to them, and you shall not serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, {am} a jealous God. I visit the iniquity of the fathers on the sons, and on the third and on the fourth {generation} of the haters of me, 10 But I show covenant faithfulness to thousands, to lovers of me and keepers of my commandments. 11 You shall not lift up the name of Yahweh your God with emptiness, for Yahweh will not leave unpunished he who lifts up his name with emptiness. 12 Keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it, as Yahweh your God commanded you. 13 Six days you may labor and do all your work. 14 but the seventh day {is} a Sabbath for Yahweh your God. You shall not do any work—you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your cattle or a foreigner who {is} within your gates, so that your male servant and your female servant can rest like you. 15 And you will remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore, Yahweh your God has commanded you to celebrate the Sabbath day. 16 Honor your father and your mother, as Yahweh your God has commanded you, so that you may prolong your days and so that it may go well with you on the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you. 17 You shall not murder. 18 And you shall not commit adultery. 19 And you shall not steal. 20 And you shall not testify against your neighbor false testimony. 21 And you shall not desire the wife of your neighbor, and you shall not covet the house of your neighbor, his field, and his male servant and his female servant, his ox and his donkey and anything that {is} of your neighbor.’ 22 These words Yahweh spoke {in} a great voice to all your assembly on the mountain in the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the gloom, and he did not add {more}. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. 23 And it happened, when you heard the voice in the midst of the darkness, and the mountain was burning with fire, then you approached me—all the heads of your tribes and your elders. 24 And you said, ‘Behold, Yahweh our God has shown us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice from the midst of the fire. This day we have seen that God speaks to man, yet he lives. 25 And now, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us if we continue anymore to hear the voice of Yahweh our God, and we will die. 26 For who {is there of} all flesh that has heard the voice of the living God speak from the midst of the fire like us and has lived? 27 You approach and listen to everything that Yahweh our God says, and speak to us everything that Yahweh our God says to you, and we will listen and obey.’ 28 And Yahweh heard the sound of your words when you spoke to me. And Yahweh said to me, ‘I have heard the sound of the words of this people that they spoke to you. All that they have spoken is good. 29 Who will give and have this heart in them, to fear me and keep all my commandments all the days, so that it will be well for them and for their sons forever. 30 Go say to them, “Return yourselves to your tents.” 31 But you, stand here by me, and I will tell you all the commandments and the statutes and the ordinances that you will teach them and they will do in the land that I am giving to them to possess it.’ 32 And you will keep {them}, doing as Yahweh your God has commanded you; you will not turn aside, right nor left. 33 In all the ways that Yahweh your God has commanded you, you will walk so that you will live, and {it will be} good for you, and you will prolong {your} days in the land that you will possess. Chapter 6 1 And these {are} the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances that Yahweh your God has commanded to teach you to do in the land which you are going over to possess it. 2 {This is} so that you will fear Yahweh your God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments that I am commanding you and your son and the son of your son, all the days of your lives, and so that your days will be prolonged. 3 And listen, Israel, and keep doing, that it will go well for you, and that you will greatly multiply, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers spoke to you, {in} a land flowing with milk and honey. 4 Listen, Israel: Yahweh {is} our God; Yahweh {is} one. 5 And you shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your spirit and with all your strength. 6 And these words that I am commanding you today will be on your hearts. 7 And diligently teach them to your sons, and speak about them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road and when you lie down and when you get up. 8 And tie them as a sign on your hand. And they will be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 And write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. 10 And it will happen that Yahweh your God will bring you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to you, {with} large and good cities that you did not build, 11 and houses full of every good thing that you did not gather, and hewn cisterns that you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant. And you will eat and be satisfied. 12 Guard yourselves, lest you forget Yahweh, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from the house of slaves. 13 You shall fear Yahweh your God, and you shall serve him and swear by his name. 14 You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who surround you, 15 for Yahweh your God in your midst {is} a jealous God, lest the nose of Yahweh your God burns against you and he destroys you from the face of the earth. 16 You shall not test Yahweh your God as you tested {him} at Massah. 17 You shall surely keep the commandments of Yahweh your God and his testimonies and his statutes that he has commanded you. 18 And you shall do the right and the good in the eyes of Yahweh, so that it may be well for you, and you may go in and possess the good land that Yahweh swore to your fathers, 19 to thrust away all your enemies from before your faces, as Yahweh has spoken. 20 When your son asks you tomorrow, saying, ‘What {are} the testimonies and the statutes and the ordinances that Yahweh our God commanded you?’ 21 And you will say to your son, ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt. And Yahweh brought us out from Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 And Yahweh gave signs and wonders, great and terrible, on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his house, before our eyes. 23 And he brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give to us the land that he swore to our fathers. 24 And Yahweh commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Yahweh our God for good to us, all of the days, to keep us alive as this day. 25 And {it} will be righteousness to us, if we keep doing all these commandments before the face of Yahweh our God, as he has commanded us. Chapter 7 1 When Yahweh your God brings you into the land which you are going into to possess it, then he will drive out many nations from before your faces—the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites—seven nations great and mighty from you, 2 and Yahweh your God will give them before your faces, and you shall strike them down, utterly destroying them. You shall not cut with them a covenant, and you shall not show them favor. 3 And you shall not arrange marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to his son, and you shall not take his daughter for your son. 4 For they will turn away your son from after me, and they will serve other gods. And the nose of Yahweh will burn against you, and he will destroy you quickly. 5 Thus you shall do to them: You shall break down their altars and smash their pillars and cut their Asherah poles to pieces and burn their idols in the fire. 6 For you {are} a sacred nation for Yahweh your God. Yahweh your God has chosen you to be a people for his possession, above all the peoples that {are} on the face of the earth. 7 Yahweh loved you and chose you, not {that} you {were} more numerous over all the nations—for you {were} the fewest of all the peoples— 8 because Yahweh loves you, and he kept the oath that he had sworn to your fathers. Yahweh has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. 9 And you will know that Yahweh your God—he {is} God, the faithful God, who keeps covenants and faithfulness for a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commandments, 10 and he repays those who hate him to his face, to destroy him. He will not delay with him who hates him; he will repay him to his face. 11 And you shall keep the commandments and the statutes and the ordinances that I command you today, to do them. 12 And it will be, on account of you listening to these regulations and keeping and doing them, then Yahweh your God will guard for you the covenant and the faithfulness that he swore to your fathers. 13 And he will love you and bless you and multiply you. And he will bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground—your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the young of your flocks, on the land that he swore to your fathers to give to you. 14 You will be blessed more than all the peoples. There will not be a barren male or a barren female among you or among your cattle. 15 And Yahweh will take away from you all sickness. And all of the evil diseases of Egypt that you have known, he will not put them on you, and he will set them on all those who hate you. 16 And you shall consume all the peoples whom Yahweh your God will give to you; your eye shall not pity them. And you shall not serve their gods, for it will be a snare for you. 17 If you say in your heart, ‘These nations are more numerous than I; how can I dispossess them?’— 18 do not be afraid of them. You will remember, remembering what Yahweh your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, 19 the great trials that your eyes saw, and the signs and the wonders and the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which Yahweh your God brought you out. Thus Yahweh your God will do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid of their faces. 20 And also, Yahweh your God will send the hornet against them until those who are left and who hide themselves perish from your faces. 21 You will not be frightened from their faces, for Yahweh your God {is} among you, a great and fearsome God. 22 And Yahweh your God will drive out those nations from your faces little {by} little. You will not be able to finish them quickly, lest the living things of the field multiply against you. 23 And Yahweh your God will give them before your faces. And he will confuse them with great confusion, until they are destroyed. 24 And he will give their kings into your hand, and you will cause their name to perish from under the heavens. No one will stand before your faces, until you have destroyed them. 25 You will burn idols of their gods in fire—do not covet silver and gold upon them and take {it} for yourself, lest you become trapped by it—for it {is} an abomination to Yahweh your God. 26 And you will not bring an abomination to your house and become devoted like it. Detest, detesting it, and abhor, abhorring it, for it {is} devoted. Chapter 8 1 You shall keep doing all the commands that I am commanding you today so that you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land that Yahweh swore to your fathers. 2 And you shall remember all the way that Yahweh your God has led you these 40 years in the wilderness so that he might humble you, to test you to know what {was} in your heart, if you would keep his commandments {or} not. 3 And he humbled you and caused you to hunger and fed you manna, which you had not known and your fathers had not known, so that he might make you know that man does not live upon bread alone, but man lives upon everything coming out of the mouth of Yahweh. 4 Your clothing did not wear out from upon you, and your feet did not swell up these 40 years. 5 And you will know with your heart, how, as a man instructs his son, Yahweh your God instructs you. 6 And you shall keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways and to fear him. 7 For Yahweh your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, fountains and springs coming out into valleys and into hills; 8 a land of wheat and barley and vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land where you will eat bread in it with no scarcity, you will not lack anything in it; a land where its stones {are} iron, and from the hills you may dig copper. 10 And you will eat and be full, and you will bless Yahweh your God for the good land that he has given to you. 11 Guard yourself lest you forget Yahweh your God by failing to keep his commandments and his ordinances and his statutes that I am commanding you today, 12 lest you eat and are satisfied, and you build good houses and live {in them}, 13 and your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply for you, and all that you have multiplies, 14 and your heart is lifted up and you forget Yahweh your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from the house of slaves. 15 He led you in the great and terrifying wilderness, {with} fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, he brought out water for you from the rock of flint. 16 He fed you manna in the wilderness that your fathers had not known, so that he might humble you and so that he might test you, to do you good in your end. 17 And you will say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand made for me this wealth.’ 18 And you will remember Yahweh your God, for he is the one who gives to you power to make wealth so that he may establish his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as this day. 19 And it will happen, if you indeed forget Yahweh your God and walk after other gods and serve them and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will indeed perish. 20 Like the nations that Yahweh is causing to perish from before your faces, thus you will perish, because you would not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God. Chapter 9 1 Hear, Israel; you are crossing the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than you, {with} cities great and fortified up to the heavens, 2 a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and you have heard, ‘Who can stand before the face of the sons of Anak?’ 3 And know today that Yahweh your God is the one who goes over before your faces, a devouring fire; he will destroy them, and he will subdue them before your faces. And you will drive them out and exterminate them quickly, as Yahweh has spoken to you. 4 Do not say in your heart, when Yahweh your God has thrust them out from before your faces, saying, ‘In my righteousness Yahweh has brought me in to possess this land,’ for in the wickedness of these nations, Yahweh is driving them out from before your faces. 5 Not in your righteousness and the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but in the wickedness of these nations, Yahweh your God is driving them out from before your faces, and so that Yahweh may establish the word that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 6 And know that not in your righteousness is Yahweh your God giving to you this good land to possess, for you {are} a people hard of neck. 7 Remember, you shall not forget how you provoked Yahweh your God to anger in the wilderness; from the day that you went out from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against Yahweh. 8 And at Horeb you provoked Yahweh to anger, and Yahweh was angry with you to destroy you. 9 When I went up to the mountain to take the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that Yahweh cut with you, and I stayed on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights, bread I did not eat and water I did not drink. 10 And Yahweh gave to me the two tablets of stone written by the finger of God. And on them {was} just like all the words that Yahweh spoke with you on the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. 11 And it happened, at the end of 40 days and 40 nights, Yahweh gave to me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. 12 And Yahweh said to me, ‘Get up, go down quickly from here, for your people, whom you brought out from Egypt, have become corrupted. They have quickly turned aside from the path that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a cast image.’ 13 And Yahweh said to me, saying, ‘I have seen this people, and behold: it {is} a people hard of neck. 14 Leave me be, and I will destroy them and blot out their name from under the heavens, and I will make you a nation mightier and greater than they.’ 15 And I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain was burning in the fire. And the two tablets of the covenant {were} in my two hands. 16 And I looked, and behold, you had sinned against Yahweh your God. You had made for yourselves a cast-image calf. You had quickly turned aside from the path that Yahweh had commanded you. 17 And I seized the two tablets and threw them out of my two hands. And I broke them before your eyes. 18 And I fell on my knees before the face of Yahweh, as at the first, 40 days and 40 nights. I did not eat bread and I did not drink water, because of all your sin that you had committed, in doing evil in the eyes of Yahweh, to provoke him to anger. 19 For I was afraid of the face of the nose and the heat with which Yahweh was angry against you to destroy you. And Yahweh listened to me also that time. 20 And Yahweh was very angry against Aaron, to destroy him. And I interceded also for the sake of Aaron at that time. 21 And I took your sin, the calf that you had made, and burned it in the fire and crushed it and ground well, until crushed to dust. And I threw its dust into the stream coming down from the mountain. 22 And at Taberah and at Massah and at Kibroth Hattaavah, you were provoking Yahweh to anger, 23 and when Yahweh sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying, ‘Go up and take possession of the land that I have given to you,’ and you rebelled against the mouth of Yahweh your God, and you did not believe him and you did not listen to his voice. 24 You have been rebellious against Yahweh from {the} day I knew you. 25 And I fell on my knees before the face of Yahweh 40 days and 40 nights, and I prostrated myself because Yahweh had said to destroy you. 26 And I prayed to Yahweh and said, ‘My Lord Yahweh, do not destroy your people or your inheritance whom you have redeemed through your greatness, which you have brought out from Egypt with a mighty hand. 27 Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Do not turn to the hardness of this people and to their wickedness and to their sin, 28 lest the land where you brought us out from should say, “Yahweh was not able to bring them into the land that he spoke to them, and he hated them. He has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.” 29 And they {are} your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.’ Chapter 10 1 At that time Yahweh said to me, ‘Carve for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to me on the mountain, and make for yourself a box of wood. 2 And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets that you broke, and you will put them in the box.’ 3 And I made a box of acacia wood, and I carved two tablets of stone like the first, and I went up the mountain, and the two tablets {were} in my hand. 4 And he wrote on the tablets, like the first writing, the Ten Words which Yahweh had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. And Yahweh gave them to me. 5 And I turned and descended from the mountain, and put the tablets in the box that I had made. And there they are, as Yahweh commanded me.” 6 (And the sons of Israel journeyed from Beeroth Bene Jaakan to Moserah. There Aaron died, and there he was buried. And Eleazar, his son, was priest in his place. 7 From there they journeyed to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of streams of water. 8 At that time Yahweh separated the tribe of Levi to carry the box of the covenant of Yahweh, to stand before the face of Yahweh to serve him, and to bless in his name, until this day. 9 Therefore, Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brothers. Yahweh is his inheritance, as Yahweh your God spoke to him.) 10 “And I stood on the mountain as the first days, 40 days and 40 nights. And Yahweh listened to me that time also. Yahweh was not willing to destroy you. 11 And Yahweh said to me, ‘Get up, go before the faces of the people to journey. And they will go in and possess the land that I swore to their fathers to give to them.’ 12 And now, Israel, what does Yahweh your God ask from you except to fear Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways and to love him and to worship Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your spirit, 13 to keep the commandments of Yahweh and his statutes, which I am commanding you today for your good? 14 Behold, to Yahweh your God belong the heavens and the heaven of heavens, the earth, and all that {is} in it. 15 Only Yahweh took pleasure in your fathers to love them, and he chose you, their seed, after them, from all of the peoples, as this day. 16 So circumcise the foreskin of your hearts, and do not harden your necks anymore. 17 For Yahweh your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great God, the mighty one and the fearsome one, who does not lift up a face and does not take a bribe. 18 He makes a judgment {for} the fatherless and widow, and he loves a foreigner, giving to him bread and clothing. 19 And you shall love the foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. 20 You shall fear Yahweh your God, you shall serve him, and you shall cling to him and you shall swear by his name. 21 He {is} your praise, and he {is} your God, who has done for you these great and fearsome things, which your eyes have seen. 22 Your fathers went down into Egypt as 70 souls. And now, Yahweh your God has made you like the stars of the heavens in number. Chapter 11 1 And you shall love Yahweh your God and keep his charge and his statutes and his ordinances and his commandments all of the days. 2 And know today, that {this is} not to your sons, who have not known and who have not seen the discipline of Yahweh your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, or his outstretched arm, 3 and his signs and his deeds that he did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and to all his land, 4 and what he did to the army of Egypt, to its horses and to its chariots, how he caused the water of the Sea of Reeds to flow over their faces in their pursuit after you, and Yahweh has destroyed them until this day, 5 and what he did for you in the wilderness until you came to this place, 6 and what he had done to Dathan and to Abiram, the sons of Eliab son of Reuben, how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up and their houses and their tents and every living thing that {was} in their steps, in the midst of all Israel. 7 But your eyes have seen all the great works of Yahweh that he did. 8 And keep all the commandments that I am commanding you today so that you may be strong and go in and possess the land which you are going over to possess it 9 and so that you may prolong {your} days in the land that Yahweh swore to your fathers to give to them and to their seed, a land flowing {with} milk and honey. 10 For the land, where you will go in to possess, is not like the land of Egypt, from where you came, where you sowed your seed and watered with your foot, like a garden of herbs. 11 And the land which you are going over to possess it, {is} a land of hills and valleys, drinks water of the rain of the heavens, 12 a land where Yahweh your God cares for it. The eyes of Yahweh your God {are} always upon it, from the beginning of the year and to the end of the year. 13 And it will happen, if you will indeed listen to my commandments that I am commanding you today, to love Yahweh your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your spirit, 14 then I will give the rain of your land in its season, the former rain and the latter rain, and you will gather your grain and your new wine and your oil. 15 And I will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied. 16 Guard yourselves, lest your heart is deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and bow down to them. 17 And the nose of Yahweh will burn against you. And he will restrain the heavens and there will be no rain, and the land will not give its fruit, and you will perish quickly from off the good land that Yahweh is giving to you. 18 And place these words of mine on your heart and on your spirit, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they will be as frontlets between your eyes. 19 And you shall teach them to your children, speaking about them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road and when you lie down and when you get up. 20 And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 so that your days and the days of your children will be multiplied in the land that Yahweh swore to your fathers to give to them as the days of the heavens over the earth. 22 For if you will indeed keep all these commandments that I am commanding you to do them, to love Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cling to him, 23 then Yahweh will drive out all these nations from before your faces, and you will dispossess nations larger and mightier than yourselves. 24 Every place where the sole of your foot will tread upon will be yours; from the wilderness to Lebanon, from the river, the Euphrates River, and to the western sea will be your border. 25 No man will be able to stand before your faces. Yahweh your God will give the fear of you and the terror of you upon the face of all the land that you tread on, as he has spoken to you. 26 Look, I am giving before your faces today a blessing and a curse: 27 the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God that I command you today, 28 and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God and turn aside from the way that I command you today, to go after other gods that you have not known. 29 And it will happen, when Yahweh your God brings you into the land which you are going in to possess it, that you will set the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. 30 {Are} they not across the Jordan, following the road of the sun setting, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh? 31 For you are crossing over the Jordan to go in to possess the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you, and you will possess it and live in it. 32 And you will keep doing all the statutes and the ordinances that I set before your faces today. Chapter 12 1 These {are} the statutes and the ordinances that you shall keep doing in the land that Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has given to you to possess it, all the days that you live on the earth. 2 You shall surely destroy all the places that the nations that you shall dispossess them served their gods there, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. 3 And you shall break down their altars and shatter their stone pillars and burn their Asherah in the fire. And you shall cut down the carved figures of their gods and destroy their name out of that place. 4 You shall not do like so to Yahweh your God. 5 But to the place that Yahweh your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, you shall search for his dwelling, and there you shall go. 6 And there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices and your tithes and the contribution of your hand and your offerings for vows and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. 7 And there you shall eat before the face of Yahweh your God and rejoice in all the sending out of your hand, you and your households, where Yahweh your God has blessed you. 8 You shall not do as everything that we are doing here today, {every} man {doing} whatever {is} right in his eyes; 9 for until now you have not come to the rest and to the inheritance that Yahweh your God is giving to you. 10 And you will cross the Jordan and live in the land that Yahweh your God is causing you to inherit, and he will cause you to rest from all your surrounding enemies, and you will live safely. 11 And it will be that the place in which Yahweh your God will choose for His name to dwell there, there you will bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices and your tithes and the contribution of your hand and all your choice offerings for vows that you will vow to Yahweh. 12 And you will rejoice before the face of Yahweh your God—you and your sons and your daughters and your male servants and your female servants and the Levites who {are} within your gate, because he has no portion or inheritance among you. 13 Watch yourself lest you offer your burnt offerings at every place that you see; 14 except at the place that Yahweh will choose in one of your tribes, there you will offer your burnt offerings, and there you will do everything that I command you. 15 Only, you may kill and eat animals within all your gates, in all the desire of your spirit, according to the blessing of Yahweh your God that he has given to you; the unclean and the clean may eat it, such as the gazelle and the deer. 16 Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it like water on the earth. 17 You are not allowed to eat within your gates from the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil and the firstborn of your herd or flock, and any of your vows that you vow and your freewill offerings and the contribution of your hand. 18 But you shall eat them before the face of Yahweh your God in the place that which Yahweh your God will choose—you and your son and your daughter and your male servant and your female servant and the Levite who {is} within your gates; and you shall rejoice before the face of Yahweh your God in all the sending out of your hand. 19 Watch yourself lest you forsake the Levite all your days on your land. 20 When Yahweh your God broadens your borders, as he has spoken to you, and you say, ‘I will eat flesh,’ due to the desire of your spirit to eat meat, you may eat meat in all the desire of your spirit. 21 If the place that Yahweh your God chooses to put his name there is too far from you, then you may sacrifice from your herd and from your flock that Yahweh has given to you, as I have commanded you; and you may eat within your gates, in all the desire of your spirit. 22 Surely as the gazelle and the deer are eaten, so you will eat it; the unclean and the clean alike may eat it. 23 Only be strong, do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the meat. 24 You shall not eat it; you shall pour it out on the earth like water. 25 You shall not eat it, so that it may go well for you and for your children after you, when you will do {what is} right in the eyes of Yahweh. 26 But your sacred things that you have and your vow offerings—you shall take and go to the place that Yahweh chooses. 27 And you shall make your burnt offerings, the meat and the blood, on the altar of Yahweh your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of Yahweh your God, and you shall eat the flesh. 28 Keep and listen to all these words that I command you, so that it may go well for you and for your children after you until forever, when you do {what is} good and right in the eyes of Yahweh your God. 29 When Yahweh your God cuts off the nations from before your faces, when you go in there to dispossess them, and you dispossess them and live in their land, 30 watch yourself, lest you are trapped after them, after they are destroyed from before your faces, and lest you inquire for their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods? And thus I also will do.’ 31 You shall not do thus to Yahweh your God, for every abomination {to} Yahweh, which he hates—they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire for their gods. 32 Every word that I command you, keep doing it. Do not add on it and do not take away from it. Chapter 13 1 If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises from among you, and he gives to you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes about, which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods, that you have not known, and let us worship them,’ 3 do not listen to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of dreams; for Yahweh your God is testing you to know whether you love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your spirit. 4 You shall walk after Yahweh your God and honor him and keep his commandments and listen to his voice, and you shall serve him and cling to him. 5 And that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death because he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh your God—who brought you out from the land of Egypt, and who redeemed you from the house of slavery—to drive you out from the way in which Yahweh your God commanded you to walk. And you shall remove the evil from among you. 6 If your brother, the son of your mother or your son or your daughter or the wife of your bosom or your friend who {is} like your life, secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods that you have not known—you nor your fathers— 7 from the gods of the peoples that surround you, near to you or far from you, from {one} end of the earth and to the {other} end of the earth,’ 8 you shall not yield to him and you shall not listen to him, and your eye shall not pity him, and you shall not spare nor hide him. 9 Instead, you shall surely kill him. Your hand shall be the first on him to put him to death, and afterwards, the hand of all the people. 10 And you shall stone him to death with stones because he seeks to drive you away from Yahweh your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 11 And all Israel will hear and fear, and will not continue to do as the things of this wickedness among you. 12 If you hear in one of your cities that Yahweh your God gives to you to live there, saying: 13 "Men, sons of wickedness, have gone out from among you and have driven out the inhabitants of their city saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods that you have not known,’ " 14 and you shall investigate and search out and ask thoroughly, and behold, {it is} true, the matter {is} certain, this abomination has been done in your midst, 15 you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the mouth of the sword, destroying it, and all who {are} in it, and its livestock, with the mouth of the sword. 16 And you shall gather all the spoil to the middle of its street and burn the city in fire, and all its spoil completely—for Yahweh your God. And it shall be a heap forever; it shall not be built again. 17 And in your hand you shall not cling to anything from the things for destruction, so that Yahweh will turn from the burning of his nose and give to you mercy and have compassion on you and make you increase, as he has sworn to your fathers, 18 when you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep all his commandments that I am commanding you today, to do right in the eyes of Yahweh your God. Chapter 14 1 You {are} the sons of Yahweh your God. Do not cut yourselves, and do not make a baldness between your eyes for the dead, 2 for you {are} a nation set apart for Yahweh your God, and Yahweh has chosen you to be a people for his possession, over all the peoples that are on the face of the earth. 3 You must not eat any abominable thing. 4 These {are} the animals that you may eat: the ox, the sheep from the flock and the goat from the flock, 5 the deer and the gazelle and the roebuck and the wild goat and ibex and the antelope and the mountain sheep. 6 And you may eat any animal among the animals parting the hoof or {with} a cleft splitting {into} two hooves, chewing the cud. 7 Despite this, from chewers of the cud and from splitters of the hoof, the cloven-footed, you must not eat: the camel and the rabbit and the rock badger; because they cause the cud to go up and do not part the hoof, they {are} unclean to you. 8 And the pig, because he parts the hoof and {chews} not the cud, he {is} unclean to you. From their meat do not eat, and do not touch their carcasses. 9 You may eat this from all that is in the water: all that has fins and scales you may eat. 10 And all that does not have fins and scales you must not eat; it {is} unclean to you. 11 All clean birds you may eat. 12 And this {is} what you must not eat from them: the eagle and the vulture and the osprey 13 the red kite and black kite, and birds of prey in their kinds 14 and any raven in its kind 15 and the owl and the night-hawk and the gull and the hawk in their kinds 16 the little owl and the great owl and the white owl 17 and the pelican and the osprey and the cormorant 18 and the stork and the heron in its kind and the hoopoe and the bat 19 All winged, swarming things are unclean to you; they must not be eaten. 20 You may eat all clean flying things. 21 You must not eat anything dying {of itself}; you may give it to the sojourner who {is} within your gates, and he may eat it or sell to a foreigner. For you {are} a nation sanctified to Yahweh your God. You must not boil a young goat in the milk of its mother. 22 You shall surely tithe all the produce of your seed that comes out of the field year {after} year. 23 And you shall eat before the face of Yahweh your God, in the place that he will choose for his name to dwell there, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, and your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you will learn to honor Yahweh your God all the days. 24 And if the journey is too long for you—that you are not able to carry it because the place that Yahweh your God will choose to place his name there is too far from you—when Yahweh your God blesses you, 25 then you may give it in money, and bind the money in your hand, and go to the place that Yahweh your God will choose it. 26 And give the money for anything that your spirit desires: for oxen or for sheep or for wine or for strong drink or for anything that your spirit desires; and you shall eat there before the face of Yahweh your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. 27 And the Levite who {is} within your gates—do not forsake him, for he has no portion or inheritance with you. 28 At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and you shall deposit {it} within your gates; 29 and the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the foreigner and the fatherless and the widow who {are} within your gates will come and eat and be satisfied so that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the work of your hand that you do. Chapter 15 1 At the end of seven years, you must make a remission. 2 And this {is} the word of the remission: Every owner of debt shall release his hand that he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not oppress his neighbor or his brother, because the remission of Yahweh has been proclaimed. 3 You may collect {from} a foreigner; and what is yours {with} your brother your hand shall release. 4 However, there should be no poor among you (for Yahweh will surely bless you in the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you {as} an inheritance, to possess it), 5 if only you indeed listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep doing all these commandments that I am commanding you today. 6 For Yahweh your God will bless you, as he spoke to you; you will lend to many nations, and you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, and they will not rule over you. 7 If there is a poor man among you, from one of your brothers, within one of your gates in your land that Yahweh your God is giving to you, you must not harden your heart and you must not shut your hand from your poor brother; 8 but you must surely open your hand to him and surely lend him enough {for} his need that he has need. 9 Watch yourselves, lest you have a wicked matter in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of remission, {is} near,’ and you do wrong in your eyes against your poor brother and do not give to him, and he calls out to Yahweh about you, and it would be sin for you. 10 You must surely give to him, and your heart must not do evil in your giving to him; because of this matter Yahweh your God will bless you in all your work and in all the sending out of your hand. 11 For the poor will not cease to be among the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You must surely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor in your land.’ 12 If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you must send him out, free from you. 13 And when you send him out free from you, you must not send him emptily. 14 You must very liberally provide for him from your flock and from your threshing floor and from your winepress. As Yahweh your God has blessed you, you must give to him. 15 And you must remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you; therefore I am commanding you today this matter. 16 And it will be, if he says to you, ‘I will not go from you,’ because he loves you and your house, because {it is} good for him {to be} with you, 17 then you shall take an awl and put {it} in his ear and to a door, and he shall be your slave forever. And also you shall do thus to your female servant. 18 It must not seem difficult in your eyes for you to send him out free from you, because he has served you six years {with} twice the value of a hired man. And Yahweh your God will bless you in all that you do. 19 All the firstborn that are born in your herd and your flock, you shall sanctify the males to Yahweh your God. You shall not work with the firstborn of your herd, and you shall not shear the firstborn of your flock. 20 You must eat it year by year before the face of Yahweh your God in the place that Yahweh will choose, you and your household. 21 And if it has on it a blemish—lame or blind, any severe blemish—you must not sacrifice it to Yahweh your God. 22 You shall eat {it} within your gates; the unclean and the clean alike, as a gazelle or a deer. 23 Only you must not eat its blood; you must pour it out on the ground like water. Chapter 16 1 Keep the month of Aviv, and make the Passover to Yahweh your God, for in the month of Aviv, Yahweh your God brought you out from Egypt {by} night. 2 And you shall sacrifice the Passover to Yahweh your God, the flock and the herd, in the place that Yahweh will choose {for} his name to dwell there. 3 You shall not eat on it leavened bread; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread on it, the bread of affliction; for you came out from the land of Egypt in haste. Thus, you will remember the day of your exit from the land of Egypt all the days of your life. 4 And no yeast shall be seen among you in all your borders seven days; and nothing from the meat that you sacrifice in the evening on the first day shall remain until the morning. 5 You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates that Yahweh your God is giving to you. 6 Instead, at the place that Yahweh your God will choose {for} his name to dwell, there you shall sacrifice the Passover in the evening at the going down of the sun, at the appointed time of your exit from Egypt. 7 And you shall cook and eat in the place which Yahweh your God will choose it; and in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents. 8 Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day {is} a festive assembly for Yahweh your God; you shall not do work. 9 You shall count seven weeks for yourself; from the beginning of the sickle on the grain you shall start counting seven weeks. 10 And you shall make the Festival of Weeks for Yahweh your God {with} the contribution of a freewill offering of your hand that you shall give, as Yahweh your God has blessed you. 11 And you will rejoice before the face of Yahweh your God—you and your son and your daughter and your male servant and your female servant and the Levite who {is} within your gates and the foreigner and the fatherless and the widow who {are} among you, in the place that Yahweh your God will choose {for} his name to dwell there. 12 And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt; and you shall keep and do these statutes. 13 You must make the Festival of Shelters for yourselves seven days into your gathering from your threshing floor and from your winepress. 14 And you shall rejoice in your festival—you and your son and your daughter and your male servant and your female servant and the Levite and the foreigner and the fatherless and the widow who {are} within your gates. 15 Seven days you shall celebrate for Yahweh your God at the place that Yahweh will choose, because Yahweh your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and you will be completely joyful. 16 Three times in a year all your males shall appear before the face of Yahweh your God at the place that he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, and at the Festival of Weeks, and at the Festival of Shelters. And they shall not appear before the face of Yahweh emptily; 17 {every} man according to the giving of his hand, according to the blessing of Yahweh your God that he has given to you. 18 You shall set for yourself judges and officers within all your gates that Yahweh your God is giving to you, from {each of} your tribes, and they shall judge the people {with} righteous judgment. 19 You shall not twist a judgment; you shall not recognize a face and you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous. 20 You shall pursue justice, justice {alone}, so that you will live and possess the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you. 21 You shall not plant for yourselves an Asherah, any pole, beside the altar of Yahweh your God, which you shall make for yourself. 22 And you shall not erect for yourself a pillar, which Yahweh your God hates. Chapter 17 1 You shall not sacrifice to Yahweh your God an ox or a sheep that has on it a blemish, any bad thing, for it {is} an abomination to Yahweh your God. 2 If {there} is found among you, in any of your gates that Yahweh your God is giving to you, a man or a woman who does evil in the eyes of Yahweh your God, transgressing his covenant, 3 —and follows and serves other gods and bows down to them and to the sun or to the moon or to any of the host of the heavens, which I have not commanded— 4 and {it} is told to you, and you listen, and you investigate thoroughly, and behold, {it is} true {and} certain the matter has been done, this abomination in Israel, 5 then you must bring that man or that woman who has done this evil thing to your gates, the man or the woman, and you shall stone them with stones, and they shall die. 6 At the mouth of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall die. He shall not die at the mouth of one witness. 7 The hand of the witnesses shall be the first on him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people; and you shall remove the evil from among you. 8 If a case is too difficult for you to judge, between blood and blood, between a lawsuit and a lawsuit, and between an assault and an assault, cases of dispute in your gates, then you shall arise and go up to the place which Yahweh your God will choose it. 9 And you shall go to the priests, the Levites, and to the judge who will be {there} at that time; and you shall inquire, and they will tell you the word of the judgment. 10 And you shall do according to the mouth of the word that they tell you, from that place that Yahweh will choose, and keep doing according to all that they teach you. 11 According to the mouth of the law that they teach you, and according to the judgment that they say to you, you shall do. Do not turn aside from the word that they tell you, right or left. 12 And the man who does arrogantly, not listening to the priest who is standing there to serve Yahweh your God or to the judge—then that man shall die, and you shall remove the evil from Israel. 13 And all the people will hear and fear, and be arrogant no more. 14 When you have come to the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you, and you take possession of it and live in it, and you say, ‘I shall set a king over myself, like all the nations that surround me,’ 15 you shall surely set as king over yourself him whom Yahweh your God will choose. You shall set as king over yourself from among your brothers. You shall not put a foreign man, who is not your brother, over yourself. 16 Only he shall not multiply horses for himself; and he shall not cause the people to return to Egypt so that he may multiply horses, for Yahweh said to you, ‘You will no longer return that way again.’ 17 And he shall not accumulate wives for himself, and his heart will not turn away. And he shall not accumulate for himself silver and gold excessively. 18 And it will be, as he sits on the throne of his kingdom, then he shall write for himself in a scroll a copy of this law before the faces of the priests, the Levites, 19 and it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, so that he will learn to fear Yahweh his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them, 20 so that his heart is not lifted up above his brothers and so that he does not turn away from the commandments, right or left, so that he will prolong {his} days in his kingdom, he and his sons, in the midst of Israel. Chapter 18 1 The priests, the Levites, all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion nor inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the fire offerings of Yahweh as their inheritance. 2 And they shall have no inheritance among their brothers; Yahweh is their inheritance, as he spoke to them. 3 And this is the ordinance of the priests, from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, whether an oxen or a sheep: and they shall give the shoulder and the two cheeks and the innards to the priest. 4 The firstfruits of your grain, your new wine and your oil and the first of the fleece of your sheep you shall give to him. 5 For Yahweh your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand to serve in the name of Yahweh, him and his sons, all of the days. 6 And if a Levite comes from one of your towns from all Israel where he is living there and desires with all his spirit to come to the place that Yahweh will choose, 7 then he shall serve in the name of Yahweh his God as all his brothers the Levites, who stand there before the face of Yahweh. 8 They shall eat portions alike portions, besides from the sale of his fathers. 9 When you have come into the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you, you shall not learn to do as the abominations of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you one who causes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, a user of divination, a soothsayer or a diviner or a sorcerer 11 or a maker of charms or a questioner of mediums or a conjurer of spirits or a seeker of the dead. 12 For all who do these {are} an abomination {to} Yahweh; and because of these abominations, Yahweh your God is driving them out from before your faces. 13 You shall be blameless with Yahweh your God. 14 For these nations, those which you will dispossess, listen to sorcerers and to diviners; but you, thus Yahweh your God has not allowed you. 15 Yahweh your God will raise up for you a prophet from among you, from your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him, 16 according to all that you asked from Yahweh your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘We will not continue to hear the voice of Yahweh our God, and we will not see this great fire anymore or we will die.’ 17 And Yahweh said to me, ‘What they have said is good. 18 I shall raise up a prophet for them from among their brothers, just like you. And I shall set my words on his lips, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 And it will happen, the man who does not listen to my words that he speaks in my name, I will require {it} from him. 20 But the prophet who speaks a word arrogantly in my name what I have not commanded him to speak or who speaks in the name of other gods, then that prophet shall die.’ 21 And thus you must say in your heart: ‘How will we recognize a word that Yahweh has not spoken?’ 22 When a prophet speaks in the name of Yahweh, and the thing does not happen nor come to pass, it {is} a word that Yahweh has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it arrogantly; you shall not be afraid of him. Chapter 19 1 When Yahweh your God cuts off the nations, that Yahweh your God is giving their land to you, and you dispossess them and live in their cities and their houses, 2 you shall select three cities for yourself in the midst of your land that Yahweh your God is giving to you to possess it. 3 You shall prepare for yourself a road and make the borders of your land three, which Yahweh your God is causing you to inherit, and it will be, everyone who murders shall flee there. 4 And this {is} the matter of the killer who flees there and lives—who strikes his neighbor without knowledge, and he did not hate him from previous times, 5 and who goes into the forest {with} his neighbor to chop wood and his hand swings the ax to cut the wood, and the iron detaches from the wood and finds his neighbor, and he dies—he shall flee to one of these cities and live. 6 Lest the avenger of blood pursues after the killer when his heart is heated and overtakes him, because the way is long, and he strikes him, a life, and he did not have a judgment of death, for he had not hated him from previous times. 7 Therefore I command you, saying, 'Select three cities for yourself.' 8 And if Yahweh your God enlarges your borders, as he has sworn to your fathers, and gives to you all the land that he spoke {about} to give to your fathers; 9 if you keep all these commandments to do them, which I am commanding you today—to love Yahweh your God and to walk in his ways all of the days, then you shall add three more cities for yourself, more than these three. 10 And you shall not spill innocent blood in the midst of the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you {as} an inheritance, and blood will be upon you. 11 And if there is a man who hates his neighbor and ambushes him and rises up against him and strikes him, a life, and he dies, and he flees into one of these cities— 12 then the elders of his city shall send out and take him from there and give him into the hand of the redeemer of blood, then he shall die. 13 Your eye shall not pity him; and you shall remove the blood of the innocent from Israel, and it will go well for you. 14 You shall not displace the boundary of your neighbor of which he first set the bounds, in your inheritance that you will inherit, in the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you to possess it. 15 One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sins; upon the mouth of two witnesses or upon the mouth of three witnesses a matter may be raised. 16 If a false witness rises up against a man to testify falsehood against him, 17 then the two men that have the controversy shall stand before the face of Yahweh, before the faces of the priests and the judges who will be in those days. 18 And the judges shall inquire thoroughly; and behold, {if the} witness {is} false—the false witness testified against his brother— 19 then you shall do to him as he had planned to do to his brother, and you shall remove the evil from among you. 20 Then the remnant will hear and fear, and will not continue to do anymore as this evil thing among you. 21 And your eyes shall not have pity; a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot. Chapter 20 1 When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses and chariots, a people more numerous than you, you shall not be afraid of them; for Yahweh your God {is} with you, who raised you up from the land of Egypt. 2 And it will be, as you draw near to the battle, then the priest shall approach and speak to the people. 3 And he shall say to them, ‘Listen, Israel, you are approaching today to battle against your enemies. You shall not soften your hearts. You shall not fear or panic or be terrified of them, 4 for Yahweh your God goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’ 5 And the officers shall speak to the people, saying, ‘Who {is} the man that has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in battle and another man dedicates it. 6 And who {is} the man that has planted a vineyard and has not put it into use? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in battle and another man puts it to use. 7 And who {is} the man that is engaged {to} a woman and has not taken her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in battle and another man takes her.’ 8 And the officers shall continue to speak to the people and say, ‘Who {is} the man who fears and {is} soft of heart? Let him go and return to his house, and the heart of his brother will not melt like his heart.’ 9 And it will be, as the officers finish speaking to the people, then they shall appoint leaders of the armies as heads of the people. 10 When you draw near to a city to fight against it, then you shall call to it for peace. 11 And it will be, if it answers, "Peace," and opens to you, then it will be, all the people found in it shall become for you as forced labor and serve you. 12 And if it does not make peace with you and makes war with you, then you shall siege upon it, 13 and Yahweh your God will give it into your hand, and you shall strike every foreigner by the mouth of the sword. 14 But the women and the children and the cattle and everything that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall plunder for yourself, and you shall consume the spoil of your enemies, whom Yahweh your God has given to you. 15 Thus you shall do to all the cities very far from you, which {are} not from the cities of these nations here. 16 Only from the cities of these peoples that Yahweh your God is giving to you {as} an inheritance, all breathing things shall not live. 17 But, you shall indeed destroy them: the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, as Yahweh your God has commanded you 18 so that they do not teach you to do like any of their abominations that they do for their gods, for you will sin against Yahweh your God. 19 When you lay siege to a city many days, battling against it to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against it. For you shall eat from them, and you shall not cut them down. For is the tree of the field a man coming before your face to besiege? 20 But a tree that you know that is not a tree for food, you shall destroy it and cut down; and you shall build siege works against the city which it makes war with you, until it falls. Chapter 21 1 If one slain is found in the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you to possess it, fallen in the field, {and} it is not known who has struck him, 2 then your elders and your judges shall go out, and they shall measure to the cities that surround the slain. 3 And it will be, the town nearest to the slain, and the elders of that town shall take a heifer of the herd, one that has not been put to work, that has not drawn a yoke. 4 And the elders of that city shall cause the heifer to descend to a valley with running water, that has not been worked in, nor sown, and there they shall break the neck of the heifer in the valley. 5 And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for Yahweh your God has chosen them to serve him and give blessing in the name of Yahweh, and upon their mouth is every dispute and every assault. 6 And all the elders of that city, the nearest one to the slain, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley; 7 and they shall respond and say, ‘Our hands have not spilled this blood, and our eyes have not seen {it}. 8 Cover, Yahweh, your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and you will not put the blood of the innocent in the midst of your people Israel.’ And the blood will be covered for them. 9 And you shall remove the blood of the innocent from your midst, when you do right in the eyes of Yahweh. 10 When you go out to battle against your enemies, and Yahweh your God gives them into your hands and you deport it {as} captive, 11 and you see among the captives a woman of beautiful form, and you desire her and take for yourself as a wife, 12 then you shall bring her to the midst of your house. And she shall shave her head and do her nails, 13 and she shall remove the clothes of her captivity from upon her, and she shall live in your house and weep {for} her father and her mother a month of days. And afterwards, you shall go in to her and marry her, and she shall be your wife. 14 And it will be, if you do not delight in her, then you shall send her to her desires, but you surely shall not sell her for money, you shall not mistreat her in return for humiliating her. 15 If a man has two wives, one loved and one hated, and they have borne him sons—the loved and the hated—and it happens that the firstborn son {is} of the hated, 16 then it will be, on the day he causes his sons to inherit what he has, he shall not {make} the son of the beloved as the firstborn upon the face of the son of the hated, the firstborn. 17 But, he shall recognize the firstborn, the son of the hated, giving to him a double portion of all that is found of his; for he {is} the beginning of his strength; the regulation of the firstborn {is} his. 18 If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and they chastise him but he will not listen to them, 19 then his father and his mother shall seize him and bring him to the elders of his city and to the gate of his place. 20 And they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours {is} stubborn and rebellious; he will not listen to our voice; {he is} a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, and he shall die; and you shall remove the evil from among you. And all Israel will hear and fear. 22 And if a man has sinned, a judgment of {which is} death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his corpse shall not remain on the tree. Instead, you shall surely bury him that day; for cursed of God {is} a hanged man. And you shall not defile your land that Yahweh your God is giving to you {as} an inheritance. Chapter 22 1 You shall not see the ox of your brother or his sheep be scattered and hide yourself from them; you shall surely return them to your brother. 2 And if your brother {is} not near to you, or you do not know him, then gather it to the middle of your house, and it must be with you until your brother seeks it, and you shall return it to him. 3 And thus you shall do for his donkey; and thus you shall do for his clothing; and thus you shall do for every lost thing of your brother, which is lost from him and you have found it; you shall not hide yourself. 4 You shall not see the donkey of your brother or his ox fallen down in the road and hide yourself from them; you shall surely lift it up. 5 The garments of a man shall not be on a woman, and neither shall a man wear the clothing of a woman; for all who do these {are} an abomination to Yahweh your God. 6 If the nest of a bird is encountered before your face on the road, in any tree or on the ground, {with} young ones or eggs, and the mother lying down on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the children. 7 You shall surely send out the mother, but the children you may take for yourself, so that it may go well with you, and you may prolong {your} days. 8 When you build a new house, then you shall make a railing for your roof, and you will not bring blood on your house if one who falls falls from it. 9 You shall not plant your vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest all the produce of the seed that you have sown and the yield of the vineyard is made holy. 10 You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together. 11 You shall not wear mixed material⁠—wool and linen together. 12 You shall make tassels for yourself on the four corners of your garment with which you cover {yourself}. 13 If a man takes a wife, and he goes in to her and hates her 14 and accuses her of shameful things and brings against her a bad name and says, ‘I took this woman, and I came near to her, and I did not find her virginity,’ 15 then the father of the girl and the mother shall take and bring the virginity of the girl to the elders {at} the city gate. 16 And the father of the girl shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man as a wife, and he hates her. 17 And behold, he has set forth shameful things, saying, “I did not find virginity in your daughter.” But these {are} the virginity of my daughter.’ And they shall spread the garment out before the faces of the elders of the city. 18 And the elders of that city shall take the man and rebuke him; 19 and they shall fine him 100 silvers, and give them to the father of the girl, because he has brought a bad name upon a virgin of Israel. And she shall be his wife; he shall not send her away all his days. 20 But if this thing is true, virginity was not found in the girl, 21 then they shall bring out the girl to the door of the house of her father, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones, and she shall die, because she has done a disgraceful thing in Israel, to commit fornication {in} the house of her father; and you shall remove the evil from among you. 22 If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall die, even the two of them, the man lying with the woman and the woman; and you shall remove the evil from Israel. 23 If {there} is a virgin girl, engaged to a man, and {another} man finds her in the city and lies with her, 24 then you shall take both of them to the gate of that city, and stone them with stones, and they shall die⁠—the girl, on account of the matter that she did not cry out in the city, and the man, on account of the matter that he humiliated the wife of his neighbor; and you shall remove the evil from among you. 25 And if the man finds the engaged girl in the field, and the man seizes her and lies with her, then only the man who lies with her shall die. 26 But to the girl you shall not do a thing; there is no sin of death in the girl. For as a man rises up against his neighbor and murders him, the life, thus {is} this matter. 27 For he found her in the field; the engaged girl cried out, {but there} was no one to save her. 28 If a man finds a virgin girl that is not engaged, and he seizes her and lies with her, and they are discovered, 29 then the man who lay with her shall give 50 silvers to the father of the girl, and she shall be his wife, because he has violated her. He may not send her away all his days. 30 A man shall not take the wife of his father; and he shall not uncover the hem of his father. Chapter 23 1 The injured {by} mutilation or male organ being cut off shall not enter the assembly of Yahweh. 2 No illegitimate child shall enter the assembly of Yahweh; even his tenth generation shall not enter the assembly of Yahweh. 3 An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter the assembly of Yahweh; even their tenth generation shall not enter the assembly of Yahweh, until forever 4 on account of the matter that they did not meet you with bread and with water on the road when you had come out from Egypt, and that they hired against you Balaam son of Beor from Pethor {in} Aram Naharaim, to curse you. 5 But Yahweh your God was not willing to listen to Balaam; and, Yahweh your God turned the curse into a blessing for you because Yahweh your God loved you. 6 You shall not seek their peace or their prosperity, all your days, to forever. 7 You shall not detest an Edomite, for he {is} your brother; you shall not detest an Egyptian, because you were a foreigner in his land. 8 The sons that are born to them, the third generation, they may enter the assembly of Yahweh. 9 When you go out, encamped against your enemies, then you shall keep from every evil thing. 10 If there is among you a man who is not clean, happening {at} night, then he shall go to the outside of the camp; he shall not come to the middle of the camp. 11 And it will happen, turning evening, he shall bathe himself in water, and as the sun goes, he shall go in to the middle of the camp. 12 And you shall have a place outside the camp, and you may go outside there. 13 and you shall have a spade among your tools, and it happens when you are sitting yourself out, then you shall dig with it and put back and cover up your excrement. 14 For Yahweh your God walks in the midst of your camp to give you victory and to give your enemies before your faces. And your camp shall be holy, and he will not see an unclean thing among you and turn away from you. 15 You shall not deliver a slave to his master who has escaped to you from his master. 16 He shall live with you, in your midst, in the place that he chooses, in one of your gates as good to him. Do not oppress him. 17 No cultic prostitute shall be from the daughters of Israel, and no cultic prostitute shall be from the sons of Israel. 18 You shall not bring the wages of a prostitute or the price of a dog {into} the house of Yahweh your God for any vow; for even both of them {are} abominations to Yahweh your God. 19 You shall not charge interest to your brother—interest of money, interest of food, interest of any thing that is charged interest. 20 You may charge interest to a foreigner; but to your brother you shall not charge interest, so that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the sending out of your hand, in the land which you are going into to possess it. 21 When you vow a vow to Yahweh your God, you shall not delay to fulfill it, for Yahweh your God shall surely require it from you; and {it} would be sin for you. 22 And if you refrain from vowing, {it} will not be sin for you. 23 What has gone out from your lips you shall keep and do as you have vowed to Yahweh your God, a vow that you have spoken with your mouth. 24 When you go into the vineyard of your neighbor, then you may eat grapes as your spirit {is} satisfied, but you shall not put {any} in your vessel. 25 When you go in the stalks of your neighbor, then you may pluck ears of wheat with your hand, but you shall not wave a sickle on the stalks of your neighbor. Chapter 24 1 When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens, if she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found an indecent thing in her, then he shall write for her a letter of divorce and put {it} into her hand and send her out from his house. 2 And she shall go out from his house and she may go and be another man's. 3 And {if} the latter husband hates her and writes her a letter of divorce and puts {it} into her hand and sends her out from his house; or if the latter husband dies, who took her as his wife, 4 her first husband, who had sent her away, shall not be able to take her again to be his wife after she has become impure; for it {is} an abomination before the face of Yahweh, and you shall not make the land sinful, which Yahweh your God is giving to you {as} an inheritance. 5 When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out with the army, neither shall he pass on himself any matter; he shall be free for his house one year and will cheer his wife whom he has taken. 6 He shall not impound a mill or an upper millstone, for it {is} a life for a pledge. 7 If a man is found stealing a life from his brothers from the sons of Israel, and mistreats him and sells him, then that thief shall die; and you shall remove the evil from among you. 8 Guard against a plague of skin disease, to firmly keep and do according to all that the priests, the Levites, teach you; as I commanded them, you shall keep doing. 9 Remember what Yahweh your God did to Miriam on the way when you were coming out from Egypt. 10 When you lend to your neighbor any loan, you shall not go into his house to collect his pledge. 11 You shall stand outside, and the man whom you have lent to shall bring the pledge outside to you. 12 And if he {is} a poor man, you shall not lie asleep with his pledge. 13 You shall certainly restore to him the pledge as the sun goes down, and he will sleep in his cloak and bless you; and it will be righteousness for you before the face of Yahweh your God. 14 You shall not oppress a poor and needy hired man from your brothers or from the foreigners who {are} in your land, within your gates. 15 In his day you shall give his wage, and the sun shall not go down on it, for he {is} poor and he lifts up his life to it. Then he will not call against you to Yahweh and have it be for you a sin. 16 Fathers shall not be put to death on account of sons, and sons shall not be put to death on account of fathers. A man shall be put to death for his sin. 17 You shall not twist the judgment of the foreigner {or} the fatherless, and you shall not take for a pledge the garment of a widow. 18 And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you from there. Therefore, I command you to do this word. 19 When you reap your harvest in your field, and you forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to take it; it shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, or for the widow, so that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat your olive tree, you shall not go over the branches after yourself; it shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, or for the widow. 21 When you gather your vineyard, you shall not glean after yourself. It shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, or for the widow. 22 And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. Therefore, I command you to do this word. Chapter 25 1 If there is a dispute between men and they go to the judgment, and they judge them, then they shall declare the righteous as just and declare the wicked as unjust. 2 And if the wicked man is a son of striking, then the judge shall cause him to lie down and be beaten before his face as {is} enough in number {for} his wickedness. 3 He shall not add to his 40 blows, lest he add his striking of him {with} many {more} blows than these, and your brother is humiliated before your eyes. 4 You shall not muzzle an ox in his threshing. 5 If brothers live together and one of them dies, and he does not have a son, the wife of the dead man shall not be for a strange man from outside. Her brother-in-law shall go in to her and take her for himself as a wife, and {be} her brother in law. 6 And it will happen, the firstborn that she bears will rise up upon the name of his brother who died, and his name will not be wiped out from Israel. 7 But if the man does not delight in taking his brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall go up to the gate to the elders and say, ‘My brother-in-law refuses to raise up for his brother a name in Israel; he is not willing {to be} my brother-in-law.’ 8 And the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him. If he stands and says, ‘I do not delight in taking her.' 9 Then his brother’s wife shall come to him before the eyes of the elders and take off his sandal from his foot and spit in his face. And she shall respond and say, ‘Thus is done to the man who does not build up the house of his brother.’ 10 And his name will be called in Israel, ‘The house of the sandal taken off.’ 11 If men fight with each other, a man and his brother, and the wife of one comes to rescue her husband from the hand of his attacker, and she stretches out her hand and seizes him by his genitals, 12 then you shall cut off her hand; your eye shall have no pity. 13 You shall not have in your bag a weight and a weight, a large and a small. 14 You shall not have in your house a measure and a measure, a large and a small. 15 A perfect and just weight you shall have; a perfect and just measure you shall have, so that your days will be long in the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you. 16 For all who do these, all who do injustice {are} an abomination {to} Yahweh your God. 17 Remember what Amalek did to you on the road as you came out from Egypt, 18 how he met you on the road and attacked you from behind, all the stragglers following you, and you {were} faint and weary; and he did not fear God. 19 And it will happen, when Yahweh your God has given to you rest from all your surrounding enemies, in the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you to possess {as} an inheritance, you shall wipe out the memory of Amalek from under the heavens; you shall not forget. Chapter 26 1 And it will happen, when you have come into the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you {as} an inheritance and you possess it and live in it, 2 then you shall take from the first of all the harvest of the land that you have brought in from the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you. And you shall put {it} in a basket and go to the place that Yahweh your God will choose {for} his name to dwell there. 3 And you shall go to the priest who will be in those days and say to him, ‘I declare today to Yahweh your God that I have come to the land that Yahweh swore to our fathers to give to us.’ 4 And the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it before the face of the altar of Yahweh your God. 5 And you shall respond and say before the face of Yahweh your God, ‘My father {was} a wandering Aramean. And he went down to Egypt and stayed there—his people {were} few—and there he became a great, mighty, and numerous nation. 6 And the Egyptians treated us badly and afflicted us. And they set it—hard work—upon us. 7 And we cried out to Yahweh, the God of our fathers, and Yahweh heard our voice and saw our affliction and our labor and our oppression. 8 And Yahweh brought us out from Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with great fearsomeness and with signs and with wonders; 9 and he has brought us to this place and has given to us this land, a land flowing {with} milk and honey. 10 And now, behold, I have brought the first of the harvest of the land that Yahweh has given to me.’ And you shall set it down before the face of Yahweh your God and bow down before the face of Yahweh your God; 11 and you shall rejoice in all the good that Yahweh your God has given to you and to your house—you and the Levite and the foreigner who {is} among you. 12 When you have finished tithing all the tithe of your harvest in the third year—the year of tithing—then you shall give {it} to the Levite, to the foreigner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, and they may eat within your gates and be satisfied. 13 And you shall say before the face of Yahweh your God, ‘I have removed from my house the things set apart, and also have given it to the Levite, and to the foreigner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all your commandments that you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, neither have I forgotten. 14 I have not eaten from it in my mourning, nor have I removed from it in sin, nor have I given from it to the dead. I have listened to the voice of Yahweh my God; I have done according to all that you have commanded me. 15 Look down from your holy habitation, from the heavens, and bless your people, Israel, and the land that you have given to us, as you had sworn to our fathers, a land flowing {with} milk and honey.’ 16 This day Yahweh your God is commanding you to obey these statutes and ordinances; and you shall keep and do them with all your heart and with all your spirit. 17 You have declared today: Yahweh is your God, and you shall walk in his ways and keep his statutes and his commandments and his ordinances, and you shall listen to his voice. 18 Today Yahweh has declared that you are his, a people for a possession, as he had spoken to you, and to keep all his commandments, 19 and he will set you high above all the nations that he has made, for praise and for a name and for beauty. And you will be a sanctified people for Yahweh your God, just as he has spoken.” Chapter 27 1 And Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, “Keep all the commandments that I command you today. 2 And it will be, on the day when you cross the Jordan to the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you, then you shall erect for yourself large stones and plaster them with plaster. 3 And you shall write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over; so that you may go into the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you, a land flowing {with} milk and honey, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. 4 And it will be, when you have crossed the Jordan, erect these stones that I am commanding you today, on Mount Ebal, and plaster them with plaster. 5 And there you shall build an altar to Yahweh your God, an altar of stones; you shall not brandish an iron tool on them. 6 You shall build the altar of Yahweh your God of untouched stones; and you shall sacrifice burnt offerings on it to Yahweh your God, 7 and you shall sacrifice peace offerings and eat there; and you shall rejoice before the face of Yahweh your God. 8 And you shall write on the stones all the words of this law very plainly.” 9 And Moses and the priests, the Levites, spoke to all Israel, saying, “Be silent and listen, Israel: This day you have become the people of Yahweh your God. 10 And hear the voice of Yahweh your God and do his commandments and statutes that I am commanding you today.” 11 And Moses commanded the people on that day, saying, 12 “These shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people when you have crossed the Jordan: Simeon and Levi and Judah and Issachar and Joseph and Benjamin. 13 And these shall stand for the curse on Mount Ebal: Reuben, Gad and Asher and Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali. 14 And the Levites shall respond and say to all the men of Israel {in} a loud voice: 15 ‘Cursed {is} the man who makes a carved image or cast figure, an abomination {to} Yahweh, the work of the hands of a craftsman, and sets up secretly.’ And all the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’ 16 ‘Cursed {is} the one who dishonors his father or his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 17 ‘Cursed {is} the one who displaces the boundary of his neighbor.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 18 ‘Cursed {is} the one who misleads a blind man on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 19 ‘Cursed {is} the one who twists a judgment of a foreigner, fatherless, or widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 20 ‘Cursed {is} the one who lies with the wife of his father, because he has uncovered the hem of his father.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 21 ‘Cursed {is} the one who lies with any beast.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 22 ‘Cursed {is} the one who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 23 ‘Cursed {is} the one who lies with his mother-in-law.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 24 ‘Cursed is the one who strikes his neighbor secretly.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 25 ‘Cursed is the one who takes a bribe to strike a life of innocent blood.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 26 ‘Cursed is the one who does not keep the words of this law, to do them.' And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ Chapter 28 1 And it will be, if you indeed listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep doing all his commandments that I am commanding you today, then Yahweh your God will set you higher than all the nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings will come on you and reach you, if you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God. 3 Blessed you {will be} in the city, and blessed you {will be} in the field. 4 Blessed {will be} the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your beasts, the increase of your cattle and the young of your flock. 5 Blessed {will be} your basket and your kneading trough. 6 Blessed you {will be} in your coming in, and blessed you {will be} in your going out. 7 Yahweh shall let your enemies who rise up against you be struck down before your faces; they will come out against you one way but will flee before your faces seven ways. 8 Yahweh will command for you the blessing in your barns and in all the sending out of your hand; and he will bless you in the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you. 9 Yahweh will establish you as his sanctified people, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and walk in his ways. 10 And all the peoples of the earth will see that the name of Yahweh is called on your side, and they will be afraid of you. 11 And Yahweh will make you abound in prosperity in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground, in the land that Yahweh swore to your fathers to give to you. 12 Yahweh will open to you his treasure, the good of the heavens, to give rain {for} your land at the appointed time, and to bless all the work of your hand; and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow. 13 And Yahweh will set you as head, and not as tail; and you will be only above, and you will not be beneath, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God that I am commanding you today, to keep and do. 14 and do not turn away from any of the words that I am commanding you today, right or left, going after other gods to serve them. 15 And it will happen, if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep doing all his commandments and his statutes that I am commanding you today, then all these curses will come upon you and overtake you. 16 Cursed you {shall be} in the city, and cursed you {shall be} in the field. 17 Cursed {shall be} your basket and your kneading trough. 18 Cursed {shall be} the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your cattle, and the young of your flock. 19 Cursed you {shall be} in your coming in, and cursed you {shall be} in your going out. 20 Yahweh will send against you curses, confusion, and rebukes in all the sending out of your hand that you will do until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly from the faces of your wicked deeds by which you will have forsaken me. 21 Yahweh will make the plague cling to you until he has finished you from off the land which you are going into to possess it. 22 Yahweh will smite {you} with emaciation and with fever and with inflammation and with fiery heat and with a sword and with scorching winds and with mildew. And they will pursue you until you perish. 23 And your skies that {are} over your head shall be bronze, and the earth that {is} under you {shall be} iron. 24 Yahweh will allow the rain of your land {to be} powder and dust; from the heavens it will come down on you until you are destroyed. 25 Yahweh shall let you be struck down before the faces of your enemies; you will go out one way against him but will flee before his face seven ways. And you will be trembling before all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 And your corpse will be as food for all the birds of the heavens and for the beasts of the earth; and there will be none to startle {them}. 27 Yahweh will smite {you} with the boils of Egypt and with ulcers and with rash and with itch, from which you are not able to be healed. 28 Yahweh will smite {you} with madness and with blindness and with confusion of heart. 29 And you will be groping about at noon like the blind grope in the darkness, and you will not succeed in your ways; and you shall be again oppressed and robbed all of the days, and there will be no deliverer. 30 You shall betroth a woman, but another man will violate her. You shall build a house but not live in it; you shall plant a vineyard but not use it. 31 Your ox {shall be} slain before your eyes, but you will not eat from it. Your donkey shall be robbed from before your face, and will not be returned to you. Your sheep {shall be} given to your enemies, and there will be no deliverer for you. 32 Your sons and your daughters {shall be} given to other peoples, and your eyes will look on and will long for them all the day, and your hand will have no strength. 33 A nation that you do not know shall eat the fruit of your land and all your labor, and you will be only oppressed and crushed all the days. 34 And you shall become insane from the view of your eyes that you will see. 35 Yahweh will smite {you} with bad boils on the knees and on the legs that you will not be able to heal, from the bottom of your foot and to the top of your head. 36 Yahweh will lead you and your king that you will raise up over yourself to a nation that you have not known, you nor your fathers; and there you shall serve other gods, {of} wood and stone. 37 And you shall become a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where Yahweh will drive you there. 38 You shall take much seed out {into} the field, but will gather little seed in, for the locusts will consume it. 39 You shall plant vineyards and cultivate {them}, but you will not drink the wine nor harvest, for the worms will eat it. 40 You shall have olive trees within all your territory, but you will not grease yourself {with} the oil, for your olives will become detached. 41 You shall bear sons and daughters, but they will not be yours, for they will go into captivity. 42 All your trees and the fruit of your ground—the crickets will take possession. 43 The foreigner who {is} among you will rise up above you higher {and} higher; and you will descend lower {and} lower. 44 He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him; he will be the head, and you will be the tail. 45 And all these curses shall come on you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed because you did not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you. 46 And they shall be on you as signs and as wonders, and on your seed until forever. 47 Because you did not serve Yahweh your God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart from the abundance of everything. 48 so you shall serve your enemies that Yahweh will send against you: in hunger and in thirst and in nakedness and in lacking everything. And he will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he destroys you. 49 Yahweh will lift up a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, like an eagle flies, a nation whose language you do not understand; 50 a nation fierce of face, that does not lift up a face for the elder and does not favor the young. 51 And it shall eat the fruit of your cattle and the fruit of your land until you are destroyed, which will leave for you no grain, new wine, or oil, young of your cattle or young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish. 52 And it shall besiege you within all your gates until your high and fortified walls, in which you had trusted, come down in all your land. And it shall besiege you within all your gates, in all your land that Yahweh your God has given to you. 53 And you will eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and your daughters, whom Yahweh your God gave to you, in the siege and in the distress when your enemies oppress you. 54 The tender man among you and the very delicate, his eye shall do wrong against his brother and against the wife of his bosom and against the remainder of his children that remain. 55 without giving to any of them from the flesh of his children that he will eat, since nothing remains for himself {at} all in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will oppress you within all your gates. 56 The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not attempt to set the bottom of her foot on the ground because of delicateness and tenderness—her eye shall do wrong against the husband of her bosom and against her son and against her daughter 57 and against her afterbirth coming out from between her legs and against the children whom she will bear, for she will secretly eat them {for} lack of anything else, in the siege and in the distress which your enemy will set upon you within your gates. 58 If you do not keep doing all the words of this law that are written in this book, to fear this glorious and dreaded name, Yahweh your God, 59 then Yahweh will cause wonderful afflictions— your plagues and the plagues of your seed {will be} great and enduring plagues and great and enduring sicknesses. 60 And he will bring back to you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid of their faces; and they will cling to you. 61 Also every sickness and every plague that {is} not written in the scroll of this law, Yahweh will cause them to rise against you until you are destroyed. 62 And you shall remain few in number, although you were like the stars of the heavens in number, because you did not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God. 63 And it will happen, as Yahweh rejoiced over you in doing you good, and in multiplying you, so Yahweh will rejoice over you in causing you to perish and in destroying you. And you will be torn away from the land which you are going into to possess it. 64 And Yahweh will scatter you among all the peoples from {one} end of the earth and to the {other} end of the earth; and there you will serve other gods of wood and stone that you have not known, you or your fathers. 65 And among these nations you will not have peace, and there will be no rest for the sole of your foot. And there Yahweh will give you a trembling heart and failing eyes and a mourning spirit. 66 And it will happen, your life will hang before you, and you will fear, night and day, and you will have no certainty in your life. 67 In the morning you will say, ‘Who gives evening!’ and in the evening you will say, ‘Who gives morning!’ because of the fear in your hearts that you fear and the view of your eyes that you will see. 68 And Yahweh will bring you back {to} Egypt by ships, by the route which I had said to you, ‘You will not continue to see it again.’ And there you will sell yourselves to your enemies as male slaves and female slaves, but there will be no buyers.” Chapter 29 1 These {are} the words of the covenant that Yahweh commanded Moses to cut {with} the sons of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant that he had cut with them at Horeb. 2 And Moses called to all Israel and said to them, “You have seen everything that Yahweh did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land— 3 the great sufferings that your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. 4 But until this day Yahweh has not given to you a heart to know or eyes to see or ears to hear. 5 And I have led you 40 years in the wilderness; your clothes did not wear out on you, and your sandals did not wear out on your feet. 6 You did not eat bread, and you did not drink wine or alcohol, so that you might know that I {am} Yahweh your God. 7 And you came to this place, and Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out against us for the battle, and we struck them down. 8 And we took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites and to the Gadites and to the half tribe of Manasseh. 9 And you shall keep the words of this covenant and do them so that you may prosper in everything that you do. 10 You stand today, all of you, before the face of Yahweh your God—your chiefs, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel, 11 your children, your wives, and the foreigner who {is} among you in your camp, from him who cuts your wood to him who draws your water— 12 to enter into the covenant of Yahweh your God and into the oath that Yahweh your God is cutting with you today 13 so that he may raise you up today into a people for himself and he may be God for you, as he spoke to you and as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, 14 and not only with you am I cutting this covenant and this oath, 15 but {with} those who are standing here with us today before the face of Yahweh our God, and {with} those who are not here with us today. 16 For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we went through in the midst of the nations which you passed through, 17 and you have seen their abominations and their idols of wood and stone, silver and gold, that {were} among them, 18 lest there is among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from Yahweh our God to go serve the gods of those nations, lest there is among you a root bearing gall and wormwood. 19 And it will be, when he hears the words of this curse, then he will bless himself in his heart, saying, ‘I will have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart,’ so that the wet {and} the dry are swept away. 20 Yahweh is not willing to forgive him. Instead, the nose of Yahweh and his jealousy will smolder against that man, and all the curses written in this book will rest on him, and Yahweh will blot out his name from under the heavens. 21 And Yahweh will separate him for disaster from all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this book of the law. 22 And the latter generation, your children who will rise up after you and the foreigner who comes from a distant land, will say, when they see the plagues of that land and the diseases with which Yahweh has made it sick, 23 "All its land {is} sulfur and burning salt; no one sows and nothing sprouts and not any grass grows in it, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, which Yahweh destroyed in his nose and in his wrath," 24 and all the nations will say, ‘Because of what has Yahweh done such to this land? What {is} the heat of this great nose?’ 25 And they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, that he cut with them when he brought them out from the land of Egypt, 26 and they went and served other gods and bowed down to them, gods that they had not known and they had no portion of. 27 So the nose of Yahweh burned against that land to bring on it all the curses written in this book, 28 and Yahweh has torn them away from their land in nose and in wrath and in great fury and has thrown them into another land, as this day.’ 29 The secret things {are} of Yahweh our God; but the revealed things {are} for us and for our sons until forever, in order to do all the words of this law. Chapter 30 1 When it happens that all these things have come on you—the blessings and the curses that I have set before your faces—and you return to your heart among all the nations where Yahweh your God has driven you there, 2 and you return to Yahweh your God and listen to his voice, according to all that I am commanding you today—you and your sons—with all your heart and with all your spirit, 3 then Yahweh your God will turn back your captivity and have compassion on you, and he will return and gather you from all the peoples where Yahweh your God has scattered you there. 4 If your scattered people are in the end of the heavens, from there Yahweh your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. 5 And Yahweh your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, and you will possess it; and he will do you good and will multiply you more than your fathers. 6 And Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your seed, to the love of Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your spirit, so that you may live. 7 And Yahweh your God will put all these curses on your enemies and on haters of you, who pursued you. 8 And you will return and listen to the voice of Yahweh, and you will do all his commandments that I am commanding you today. 9 And Yahweh your God will give you prosperity in all the work of your hand and in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground, for goodness; for Yahweh will again rejoice over you for goodness, as he rejoiced over your fathers, 10 if you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, keeping his commandments and his statutes written in this book of the law, if you return to Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your spirit. 11 For this commandment that I am commanding you today is not {too} wonderful for you, and it is not far away. 12 It {is} not in heaven, saying, ‘Who will go up for us to heaven and take it to us and cause us to hear it, and let us do it?’ 13 Neither{is} it beyond the sea, saying, ‘Who will go over to beyond the sea for us and take it to us and cause us to hear it, and let us do it?' 14 But the word {is} very near to you, in your mouth and your heart, so that you may do it. 15 See, today I have placed before your faces life and good and death and evil. 16 For I am commanding you today to love Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, and you will live and multiply, and Yahweh your God will bless you in the land which you are going into to possess it. 17 But if your heart turns away and you do not listen but are drawn away and bow down to other gods and serve them, 18 I announce to you today that you will surely perish; you will not prolong {your} days in the land which you are crossing over the Jordan to go into to possess it. 19 I call the heavens and the earth to witness against you today: I have set before your faces life and death, the blessings and the curses; and choose life so that you may live, you and your seed, 20 to love Yahweh your God, to listen to his voice, and to cling to him—for he {is} your life and the length of your days—so you may live in the land that Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them.” Chapter 31 1 Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. 2 And he said to them, “I am 100 and 20 years old today; I am not able anymore to go out and come in; and Yahweh has said to me, ‘You will not go over this Jordan.’ 3 Yahweh your God, he will go over before your faces; he will destroy these nations from before your faces, and you will dispossess them. Joshua, he will go over before your faces, as Yahweh has spoken. 4 And Yahweh will do to them as he did to Sihon and to Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, that which he destroyed. 5 And Yahweh will give them before your faces, and you shall do to them according to all the commandments that I commanded you. 6 Be strong and courageous, you shall not fear, and you shall not be afraid of their faces; for Yahweh your God, he goes with you; he will not fail you nor forsake you.” 7 And Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the eyes of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will go {with} this people into the land that Yahweh has sworn to their fathers to give to them; and you will cause them to inherit it. 8 And Yahweh, he goes before your faces; he will be with you; he will not fail you nor abandon you; you shall not fear and you shall not be dismayed.” 9 And Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carry the box of the covenant of Yahweh, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 And Moses commanded them, saying, “At the end of seven years, at the appointed time of year of the remission, during the Festival of Shelters, 11 when all Israel shall come to appear {before} the face of Yahweh your God in the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their ears. 12 Assemble the people, the men, and the women, and the children, and your foreigner who is within your gates, so that they may hear and so that they may learn and fear Yahweh your God and keep doing all the words of this law. 13 And their sons, who do not know, may hear and learn to fear Yahweh your God all the days that you live in the land to which you are crossing over the Jordan to possess it.” 14 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, your dying day is approaching; call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, and I will command him.” And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting. 15 And Yahweh appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud; and the pillar of cloud stood over the door of the tent. 16 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, you will sleep with your fathers; and this people will rise up and whore after the strange gods of the land in the midst of which it is going to. And they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have cut with them. 17 And, on that day, my nose will burn against them and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured, and many disasters and troubles will find them. And they will say on that day, ‘Have not these disasters found us because my God is not in my midst?’ 18 And I will surely hide my face on that day because of all the evil that they will have done, because they have turned to other gods. 19 And now, write this song for yourselves and teach it to the sons of Israel. Put it in their mouths, so that this song may be a witness for me against the sons of Israel. 20 When I bring them to the land that I swore to their fathers, flowing {with} milk and honey, and they eat and become satisfied and fat, then they will turn to other gods and they will serve them and they will despise me and break my covenant. 21 And it will be, when many evils and troubles find it, then this song will testify before its face as a witness (for it will not be forgotten from the mouths of its seed). For I know the intent that it is making today, before I have brought them into the land that I promised.” 22 And Moses wrote this song on that day and taught it to the sons of Israel. 23 And he commanded Joshua son of Nun and said, “Be strong and courageous; for you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land that I swore to them, and I will be with you.” 24 And it happened as Moses finished writing the words of this law in a scroll until {it was} complete, 25 that Moses commanded the Levites, who carried the box of the covenant of Yahweh, saying, 26 “Take this scroll of the law and put it by the side of the box of the covenant of Yahweh your God, and {it} will be there as a witness against you. 27 For I know your rebellion and your hard neck; behold, while I am still alive with you today, you have been rebellious against Yahweh; and also surely after my death. 28 Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, and let me speak these words in their ears and call the heavens and the earth to witness against them. 29 For I know that after my death you will surely corrupt yourselves and turn aside from the path that I have commanded you; and disaster will meet you in the following days, because you will do evil in the eyes of Yahweh, provoking him to anger through the work of your hands.” 30 And Moses spoke in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song until {it was} finished. Chapter 32 1 Give ear, heavens, and let me speak, and let the earth listen to the utterances of my mouth. 2 Let my teaching drop like rain, my saying mist like dew, like sprinkling on the green, and like downpours on the grass. 3 For the name of Yahweh I proclaim, ascribe greatness to our God! 4 The Rock, his work {is} perfect, for all his ways {are} just. A faithful God without iniquity, righteous and upright {is} he. 5 Did he act corruptly to him? No, his sons {are} the disgrace, a perverse and crooked generation. 6 {Is} this how you reward Yahweh, people foolish and without wisdom? {Is} he not your father, your shaper? He made you and established you. 7 Remember the days of eternity, consider the years of generation upon generation. Ask your father, and he will inform you, your elders, and they will tell you. 8 When the Most High gave the nations an inheritance— when he divided the sons of man, he defined the boundaries of the peoples, numbered the sons of Israel. 9 For the portion of Yahweh {is} his people, Jacob {is} his allotted inheritance. 10 He found him in a wilderness land, and in the barren, howling desert. He surrounded him and gave mind to him, watched over him as the apple of his eye. 11 Like an eagle rouses his nest, over his young he hovers, {He} spread his wings, {he} took him, carried him on his pinions. 12 Yahweh alone led him, and no foreign god with him. 13 He placed him on heights of the land, and fed {him} the fruits of the field, and he nourished him {with} honey from the crag, and oil from the flinty stone, 14 curd of cattle and milk of flocks, with fat of lambs, and rams of the sons of Bashan, and goats, with fat kernels of wheat— and the blood of grapes you drank {as} mead. 15 And Jeshurun fattened and kicked— you were fat, you thickened, you gorged— and he abandoned the God {who} made him, and he rejected the Rock of his salvation. 16 He provoked him with strangers. With their abominations they angered him. 17 They sacrificed to demons, not God— gods they had not known, new ones come recently, {whom} your fathers had not feared. 18 The Rock, your bearer, you neglected and you forgot the God {who} gave you birth. 19 And Yahweh saw, and he spurned, from the provocation of his sons and his daughters. 20 And he said, “Let me hide my face from them,” “I shall see what their end {will be;} for a perverse generation {are} they, children {with} no faithfulness in them. 21 They provoked me with a not-god, angered me by their worthless things, so I will provoke them with a not-people; by a foolish nation I will anger them, 22 for a fire flares in my nose, and burns to the lowest Sheol, and devours the earth and its yield, and scorches the foundations of the mountains. 23 I will increase disasters on them; I will spend my arrows on them, 24 wasted {by} hunger and weakened {by} plague and bitter contagion, and on the teeth of beasts I will send them, with the poison of crawlers {in the} dust. 25 Outside the sword will bereave, and in the bedrooms, terror, both young man and virgin, the suckling, with the gray-haired man. 26 I said I would wipe them out. I would remove from mankind their memory 27 if the provocation of the enemy I did not fear, lest their adversaries misjudge, lest they say, ‘Our hand {is} exalted, and Yahweh did not carry out all this.' 28 For a nation devoid of counsel {are} they, and without understanding in them. 29 If they were wise, they would comprehend this; they would understand their latter days! 30 How could one chase a thousand, or two put to flight ten thousands, unless their Rock sold them, and Yahweh gave them up? 31 For not like our Rock {is} their rock, and {thus} our enemies assess. 32 For from the vine of Sodom {is} their vine, and from the vineyards of Gomorrah; their grapes {are} grapes of poison; their clusters {are} bitter. 33 The venom of serpents {is} their wine, and the cruel poison of vipers. 34 Is it not concealed with me, sealed up among my treasures? 35 Mine {is} vengeance and recompense, at the time when their foot slips, for the day of their disaster {is} near, and the things prepared for them hasten.” 36 For Yahweh vindicates his people, and by his servants he is grieved. For he will see that gone is {their} hand, and none {are} kept back or let free. 37 And he will say, “Where {are} their gods, the rock in whom they took refuge?— 38 who ate the fat of their sacrifices, drank the wine of their libations? Let them rise up and help you; let them be for you protection. 39 See, now, that I, I {am} he, and there is no god besides me. I put to death and give life. I wound, and I heal, and no one rescues from my hand, 40 for I lift up my hand to heaven and say, ‘{As} I live forever.' 41 When I sharpen my glittering sword, and my hand seizes justice, I will return vengeance on my enemies, and I will pay back those who hate me. 42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword will devour flesh, with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the heads of the leaders of the enemy.’” 43 Rejoice, nations, {with} his people, for the blood of his servants he will avenge, and vengeance he will return on his enemies, and he will cover his land, his people. 44 And Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he, and Joshua son of Nun. 45 And Moses finished speaking all these words to all Israel. 46 And he said to them, “Set your hearts on all the words which I bore witness to you today, that you may command your children to keep doing all the words of this law. 47 For it {is} no empty thing for you, because it {is} your life, and through this thing you may prolong {your} days in the land to which you are crossing over the Jordan to possess it.” 48 And Yahweh spoke to Moses on this same day, saying, 49 “Go up to this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which {is} in the land of Moab, that {is} on the face of Jericho. And you will see the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel as a possession. 50 And you will die on the mountain which you are going up to, and you will be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people. 51 Because you were unfaithful to me among the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah {in} Kadesh, {in the} wilderness of Zin; because you did not honor me among the sons of Israel. 52 For you will see the land from the front, but you will not go there, into the land that I am giving to the sons of Israel.” Chapter 33 1 And this {is} the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the sons of Israel before the face of his death. 2 And he said: "Yahweh from Sinai came and rose from Seir to them, shone forth from Mount Paran, and came with ten thousands of holy ones, in his right hand, lightning for them. 3 Yes, he loves the peoples. All his sanctified {are} in your hand, and they will be tied to your feet, he is lifted up by your words. 4 'A law Moses commanded to us, a possession for the assembly of Jacob.' 5 And he became a king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people had gathered, together the tribes of Israel. 6 Let Reuben live and not die, but let his men be few." 7 And this {is} for Judah. And he said: "Listen, Yahweh, {to} the voice of Judah, and to his people bring him. Let his hand strive for himself, and a help against his enemies you will be." 8 And for Levi, {he} said: "Your Thummim and your Urim are of your godly man, whom you tested at Massah. You strove against him {at} the waters of Meribah 9 who said of his father and of his mother, 'I have not seen them,' and his brothers he did not acknowledge, and his sons he did not know, for he guarded your speech and your covenant he kept. 10 He teaches your ordinances to Jacob, and your law to Israel. He will put incense before your nose, and whole offerings on your altar. 11 Bless, Yahweh, his possessions, and the work of his hands accept. Shatter the loins of those who rise up against him, and haters of him, lest they rise up." 12 To Benjamin, he said: "The beloved of Yahweh lives in security beside him. He covers him all the day, and between his shoulders he lives." 13 And to Joseph, he said: "Blessed of Yahweh {be} his land, from the bounty of heaven, from dew, and from the deep lying beneath, 14 and from the bounty of the harvest of the sun, and from the bounty of the produce of the months, 15 and from the heads of ancient mountains, and from the bounty of eternal hills, 16 and from the bounty of earth and from its fullness, and the favor of the bush-dweller. Let them come on the head of Joseph, and on the top of the head of the prince of his brothers. 17 His firstborn ox {is} his majesty, and the horns of a wild ox {are} his horns. With them he will ram the peoples together to the ends of the earth, And they {are} the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they {are} the thousands of Manasseh." 18 And to Zebulun, he said: "Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out, and Issachar, in your tents. 19 Peoples they will call {to} the mountain. There they will sacrifice sacrifices of righteousness. For the abundance of the seas they suckle, and treasures hidden {in the} sand." 20 And to Gad, he said: "Blessed be the increaser of Gad. Like a lioness he will live, and tear off an arm, also a head. 21 And he saw the first for himself, for there the decreed portion {is} reserved. And he came {with} the heads of the people. The justice of Yahweh he carried out, and his judgments with Israel." 22 And to Dan, he said: "Dan {is} a lion cub leaping out from Bashan." 23 And to Naphtali, he said: "Naphtali, satisfied {with} favor, and full of the blessing of Yahweh, the west and the south, you will possess." 24 And to Asher, he said: "Blessed among sons {is} Asher. Let him be favored {among} his brothers, and bathe in oil his foot. 25 Iron and bronze your gate-bolts, and as your days, your security. 26 "{There is} no one like God of Jeshurun, riding the heavens to your help, and in his majesty {on} the clouds. 27 A refuge {is} the God of ancient days, and underneath {are} the eternal arms. And he thrust out the enemy from before your faces, and he said, 'Destroy!' 28 And Israel dwelt {in} safety secure, the spring of Jacob in a land of grain and new wine. Indeed, let his heavens drop dew. 29 Your happiness, Israel! Who {is} like you, a people saved by Yahweh, the shield of your help, and who {is} the sword of your majesty? And your enemies will fawn over you, but you, on their high places will trample." Chapter 34 1 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, {to} the top of Pisgah, which {is} against the face of Jericho. And Yahweh showed him all the land of Gilead as far as Dan, 2 and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, to the western sea, 3 and the Negev, and the plain of the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar. 4 And Yahweh said to him, “This {is} the land that I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your seed.’ I have showed you, to your eyes, but you will not go over there.” 5 And Moses, the servant of Yahweh, died there in the land of Moab, according to the mouth of Yahweh. 6 And he buried him in the valley, in the land of Moab opposite Beth Peor, but no one knows {where} his grave is to this day. 7 And Moses {was} 100 and 20 years old when he died; his eye was not dim, nor had his vigor fled. 8 And the sons of Israel mourned Moses in the plains of Moab 30 days, and the days of the tears of mourning {for} Moses were finished. 9 And Joshua son of Nun {was} full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. And the sons of Israel listened to him and did what Yahweh had commanded Moses. 10 And a prophet like Moses has not arisen in Israel since, whom Yahweh knew face to face, 11 for all the signs and wonders that Yahweh sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, 12 and for all the mighty hand and for all the fearsome {and} great {things} that Moses did before the eyes of all Israel. Joshua Chapter 1 1 Now it happened after the death of Moses the servant of Yahweh, that Yahweh spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, saying, 2 “Moses, my servant, is dead. So now, rise, cross over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land that I am about to give to them, to the sons of Israel. 3 Every place on which the sole of your foot will tread, I give it to you just as I spoke to Moses. 4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon and as far as the great river, the Euphrates River, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the great sea, the going of the sun, will be your boundary. 5 A man will not station himself against your face all the days of your life. I will be with you just as I was with Moses. I will not abandon you and I will not leave you. 6 Be strong and be courageous, for you yourself will cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give to them. 7 Only be strong and be very courageous, watching to do according to all the law that Moses, my servant, commanded you. Do not turn aside from it right or left, so that you may be wise in every place where you go. 8 This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth and you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you will watch to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your ways prosperous and then you will be wise. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and be courageous! Do not tremble and do not be dismayed. For Yahweh your God is with you in every place where you go.” 10 And Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, 11 “Pass over within the camp and command the people, saying, ‘Prepare provisions for yourselves because in yet three days you will be about to cross over this Jordan to enter to possess the land that Yahweh your God is about to give to you to possess it.’” 12 And to the Reubenite and to the Gadite and to the half of the tribe of Manasseh, Joshua spoke, saying, 13 “Remember the word that Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you, saying, ‘Yahweh your God is about to give rest to you and he will give to you this land.’ 14 Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock will stay in the land that Moses gave to you on the other side of the Jordan. But you, you shall cross over before the face of your brothers arrayed for battle, all the mighty men of the army, and shall help them 15 until when Yahweh gives rest to your brothers as you, and they, they also, possess the land that Yahweh your God is about to give to them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession and shall possess it, which Moses the servant of Yahweh gave to you on the other side of the Jordan, the rising place of the sun.” 16 And they answered Joshua, saying, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and to every place where you send us we will go. 17 As in everything that we listened to Moses so we will listen to you. But Yahweh your God will be with you, just as he was with Moses. 18 Every man who rebels against your mouth and will not hear your words for all that you command him will be put to death. Only be strong and be courageous.” Chapter 2 1 And Joshua the son of Nun secretly sent from the Shittim two men, spies, saying, “Go, see the land and Jericho.” And they went and entered the house of a woman, a prostitute, and her name was Rahab, and they lay down there. 2 And it was said to the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, men have come here tonight from the sons of Israel to search the land.” 3 And the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men, the ones coming to you, who came to your house, because they have come to search all the land.” 4 And the woman took the two men and hid them. And she said, “Indeed, the men came to me and I did not know from where they were. 5 And the gate was to shut at the darkness and the men went out. I do not know to where the men went. Pursue after them quickly for you will overtake them.” 6 (Now she had brought them up to the roof and had hidden them in the flaxes of the stalk arranged by her on the roof.) 7 And the men pursued after them on the road of the Jordan to the fords. And they had shut the gate after when the pursuers had gone out after them. 8 Now before they had laid down she went up to them on the roof. 9 And she said to the men, “I know that Yahweh has given to you the land and that dread of you has fallen on us and that all who dwell in the land have melted from your face. 10 For we have heard that Yahweh dried up the water of the Sea of Reeds from before your face when you went out from Egypt, and what you did to two of the kings of the Amorite who were on the other side of the Jordan, to Sihon and to Og, them whom you completely destroyed. 11 And we have heard and our hearts have melted and the spirit in a man no longer stands from your face. For Yahweh your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth below. 12 And now, please swear to me by Yahweh because I am doing kindness with you, that you also will do kindness with the house of my father and will give to me a sign of truth, 13 and you will keep alive my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters and all who belong to them. And you will rescue our lives from death.” 14 And the men said to her, “Our lives in place of yours to death! If you do not tell this matter of ours, then it will happen when Yahweh gives to us the land that we will do kindness and faithfulness with you.” 15 And she lowered them down by a rope out through the window because her house was in the side of the wall, and she was dwelling in the wall. 16 And she said to them, “Go to the mountain lest the ones pursuing meet you. And hide there three days until the ones pursuing have returned. And after you may go to your way.” 17 And the men said to her, “We will be innocent from this oath of yours which you have caused us to swear: 18 Behold, we are about to come into the land! You shall tie this cord of thread of crimson in the window by which you lowered us down, and your father and your mother and your brothers and all the house of your father you shall gather to you at the house. 19 And it will be that anyone who goes out from the doors of your house to the outside, his blood will be on his head and we will be innocent. But anyone who is with you in the house, his blood will be on our heads if a hand should be on him. 20 And if you tell this matter of ours, then we will be innocent from the oath of yours which you caused us to swear.” 21 And she said, “According to your words, so be it.” And she sent them away and they went. And she tied the cord of crimson in the window. 22 And they went and came to the mountain and they stayed there three days until the pursuers had returned. And the ones pursuing searched in all the road and did not find them. 23 And the two men returned and went down from the mountain and crossed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun. And they recounted to him all that was finding them. 24 And they said to Joshua, “Truly Yahweh has given all the land into our hand. And also all those who dwell in the land are melting away from our face.” Chapter 3 1 And Joshua got up early in the morning and they set out from the Shittim. And they came as far as the Jordan, he and all the sons of Israel, and they stayed overnight there before they crossed over. 2 And it happened at the end of three days, that the officers passed through the midst of the camp. 3 And they commanded the people, saying, “As soon as you see the Box of the Covenant of Yahweh your God and the priests, the Levites, lifting it, then you yourselves shall set out from your place and shall go after it. 4 But a distance shall be between you and it of about 2,000 cubits in measurement. Do not come near to it, so that you will know the way in which you should go, since you have not passed over by the way from yesterday or the day before.” 5 And Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow Yahweh will do wonders in your midst.” 6 And Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, “Lift up the Box of the Covenant and cross over before the face of the people.” And they lifted up the Box of the Covenant and went before the face of the people. 7 And Yahweh said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to make you great in the eyes of all Israel who will know that just as I was with Moses, I am with you. 8 And as for you, you shall command the priests who lift the Box of the Covenant, saying, ‘As soon as you come as far as the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand in the Jordan.’” 9 And Joshua said to the sons of Israel, “Come near to here and hear the words of Yahweh your God.” 10 And Joshua said, “By this you will know that the living God is in your midst and will surely dispossess from your face the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Hivite and the Perizzite and the Girgashite and the Amorite and the Jebusite. 11 Behold, the Box of the Covenant of the Lord of all the earth is about to cross over before your face in the Jordan. 12 And now, take for yourselves 12 men from the tribes of Israel, one man, one man for the tribe. 13 And it will happen as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who lift the Box of Yahweh the Lord of all the earth rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, the waters going down from above. And they will stand as one heap.” 14 And it happened when the people set out from their tents to cross over the Jordan, that the priests lifting the Box of the Covenant were before the face of the people. 15 And as soon as those lifting the Box came as far as the Jordan then the feet of the priests lifting the Box were dipped in the edge of the water. (Now the Jordan was full over all its banks all the days of the harvest.) 16 Then the waters going down from above stood. They rose up as one heap at a great distance away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those going down to the sea of the Arabah, the Sea of Salt, were completely cut off. (Now the people crossed over opposite Jericho.) 17 So the priests lifting the Box of the Covenant of Yahweh stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan. And all Israel was crossing over on dry ground until when all the nation had finished crossing over the Jordan. Chapter 4 1 And it happened just as all the nation finished crossing over the Jordan that Yahweh spoke to Joshua, saying, 2 “Take 12 men for yourselves from the people, one man, one man from a tribe. 3 And command them saying: ‘Lift up for yourselves 12 stones from here, from the midst of the Jordan, from the firm standing place of the feet of the priests. And you shall bring them over with you and you shall rest them in the lodging place in which you will lodge tonight.’” 4 And Joshua called out to the 12 men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man, one man from a tribe. 5 And Joshua said to them, “Cross over before the face of the Box of Yahweh your God into the midst of the Jordan. And lift up for yourselves, one stone a man upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel, 6 so that this will be a sign in your midst. When your sons ask tomorrow, saying, ‘What are these stones to you?’ 7 Then you will say to them, ‘When the waters of the Jordan were cut off from the face of the Box of the Covenant of Yahweh, when it crossed over in the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ And these stones will be for a memorial for the sons of Israel until eternity.” 8 And the sons of Israel did thus, just as Joshua commanded. And they lifted up 12 stones from the midst of the Jordan, just as Yahweh said to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel. And they brought them over with them to the lodging place and they rested them there. 9 And Joshua set up 12 stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place of the standing place of the feet of the priests who carried the Box of the Covenant. And they are there until this day. 10 And the priests who carried the Box stood in the midst of the Jordan until every thing that Yahweh commanded Joshua to speak to the people was finished, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. And the people hurried and crossed over. 11 And it happened just as all the people had finished crossing over, that the Box of Yahweh with the priests crossed over before the face of the people. 12 And the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the half of the tribe of Manasseh, armed men, crossed over before the face of the sons of Israel, just as Moses had spoken to them. 13 About 40,000 men equipped for war of the army crossed over before the face of Yahweh to the plains of Jericho for the battle. 14 On that day Yahweh made Joshua great in the eyes of all Israel. And they feared him just as they had feared Moses all the days of his life. 15 And Yahweh spoke to Joshua, saying, 16 “Command the priests who carry the Box of the Testimony and they shall come up from the Jordan.” 17 And Joshua commanded the priests, saying, “Come up from the Jordan.” 18 And it happened that when the priests carrying the Box of the Covenant of Yahweh came up from the midst of the Jordan, the soles of the feet of the priests were drawn out to dry ground, then the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and went over all its banks, as yesterday and three days ago. 19 Now the people came up from the Jordan on ten of the first month. And they camped at the Gilgal, at the end of the sunrise of Jericho. 20 And Joshua set up in the Gilgal these 12 stones that they had taken from the Jordan. 21 And he spoke to the sons of Israel, saying, “When your sons ask their fathers tomorrow, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ 22 then you shall cause your sons to know, saying, ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ 23 For Yahweh your God dried up the waters of the Jordan from your face until you crossed over, just as Yahweh your God did to the Sea of Reeds, which he dried up before us until we crossed over, 24 so that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of Yahweh, that it is mighty, so that you will fear Yahweh your God all the days.” Chapter 5 1 And it happened that when all the kings of the Amorite who were on the other side of the Jordan toward the sea, and all the kings of the Canaanite who were beside the sea, heard that Yahweh had dried up the waters of the Jordan from the face of the sons of Israel until they had crossed over, then their heart melted, and there was no longer a spirit in them from the face of the sons of Israel. [1] 2 At that time Yahweh said to Joshua, “Make for yourself knives of flint and return, circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.” 3 And Joshua made for himself knives of flint. And he circumcised the sons of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. 4 And this is the reason that Joshua circumcised: All the people who had gone out from Egypt, the males, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way, when they had gone out from Egypt. 5 For all the people who went out were circumcised, but all the people who were born in the wilderness on the way as they went out from Egypt had not been circumcised. 6 For the sons of Israel had walked in the wilderness 40 years, until the finishing of all the nation of the men of war who had gone out from Egypt, who had not listened to the voice of Yahweh, to whom Yahweh had sworn to not let them see the land that Yahweh had sworn to their fathers to give to us, a land flowing with milk and honey. 7 And he raised up their sons instead of them, them Joshua circumcised. For they were uncircumsized because they had not circumcised them on the way. 8 And it happened just as all the nation had finished being circumcised, that they stayed under them in the camp until their recovering. 9 And Yahweh said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the disgrace of Egypt from on you.” And the name of that place is called Gilgal until this day. 10 And the sons of Israel camped at the Gilgal and they performed the Passover on day 14 of the month, in the evening, in the plains of Jericho. 11 And they ate from the produce of the land, from the next day of the Passover, unleavened bread and roasted grain, on this same day. 12 And the manna stopped from the day after when they ate from the yield of the land, and there was no longer manna for the sons of Israel. And they ate from the produce of the land of Canaan in that year. 13 And it happened when Joshua was in Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing in front of him and his drawn sword was in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” 14 And he said, “No, but I, the leader of the army of Yahweh, now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the ground and bowed down. And he said to him, “What is my lord going to speak to his servant?” 15 And the leader of the army of Yahweh said to Joshua, “Slip off your sandal from on your foot, because the place on which you are standing, it is holy.” And Joshua did thus. 5:1 [1] until they had crossed over or perhaps until we had crossed over (Hebrew Ketiv). Chapter 6 1 And Jericho was shut and shut up from the face of the sons of Israel. There was no going out and there was no coming in. 2 And Yahweh said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, and its king, the mighty ones of the army. 3 And you shall go around the city, all the men of war, going around the city one time. Thus you shall do six days. 4 And seven priests shall lift seven horns of rams before the face of the Box. And on the seventh day you shall go around the city seven times and the priests shall blow with the horns. 5 And it will happen that when sounding a blast with the horn of the ram, as soon as you hear the sound of the horn, all the people shall shout a great shout. And the wall of the city will fall under itself and the people will go up, a man straight in front of him.” 6 And Joshua the son of Nun called to the priests and said to them, “Lift the Box of the Covenant, and seven priests shall lift seven horns of rams before the face of the Box of Yahweh.” 7 And he said to the people, “Pass over and go around the city, and the men equipped for war will pass over before the face of the Box of Yahweh.” 8 And it happened that, as soon as Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying seven horns of rams before the face of Yahweh passed over and blew with the horns. And the Box of the Covenant of Yahweh was going behind them. 9 And the men equipped for war were walking before the face of the priests, blowing the horns. And the rear guard were walking behind the Box, walking and blowing with the horns. 10 And Joshua commanded the people, saying, “You shall not shout and you shall not make your voice heard, and a word shall not go out from your mouth until the day I say to you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout.” 11 And he brought the Box of Yahweh around the city, circling one time. And they entered the camp and they stayed the night in the camp. 12 And Joshua got up early in the morning. And the priests lifted up the Box of Yahweh. 13 And the seven priests who were carrying the seven horns of rams before the face of the Box of Yahweh were walking continually and blowing with the horns. And the men equipped for war were walking before their face, and the rear guard was walking behind the Box of Yahweh, walking and blowing with the horns. 14 And they went around the city one time on the second day and returned to the camp. Thus they did six days. 15 And it happened on the seventh day that they got up early as soon as the dawn had risen, and they went around the city according to this manner seven times. Only on that day they went around the city seven times. 16 And it happened that on the seventh time, the priests blew with the horns. And Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for Yahweh has given to you the city! 17 And the city, it and all that is in it, is a banned thing for Yahweh. Only Rahab the prostitute will live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers whom we sent. 18 But only you, keep from the banned thing, lest you put under the ban and take from the banned thing and make the camp of Israel into a banned thing and trouble it. 19 And all the silver and gold and objects of bronze and iron, it is a holy thing for Yahweh. It shall enter the storehouse of Yahweh.” 20 And the people shouted and they blew with the horns. And it happened as soon as the people heard the sound of the horn, that the people shouted with a great shout. And the wall fell under itself, and the people went up to the city, a man straight in front of him, and they captured the city. 21 And they completely destroyed all that was in the city by the mouth of the sword, from man and as far as woman, from young and as far as old, and as far as ox and sheep and donkey. 22 And Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Enter the house of the woman, the prostitute, and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her, just as you swore to her.” 23 And the young men, the ones who had spied, entered and brought out Rahab and her father and her mother and her brothers and all who belonged to her. And they brought out all her relatives and rested them outside the camp of Israel. 24 And they burned with fire the city and all that was in it. Only the silver and the gold and the objects of bronze and iron they gave to the storehouse of the house of Yahweh. 25 And Joshua kept alive Rahab the prostitute and the house of her father and all who belonged to her. And she has dwelt in the midst of Israel to this day because she hid the messengers whom Joshua had sent to spy on Jericho. 26 And Joshua made them take an oath at that time, saying, “Cursed is the man before the face of Yahweh who rises up and builds this city, Jericho. With his firstborn he will found it and with his youngest he will set up its doors.” 27 And Yahweh was with Joshua. And the report of him was in all the land. Chapter 7 1 And the sons of Israel were unfaithful in unfaithfulness with the banned thing. And Achan the son of Karmi the son of Zabdi the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took from the banned thing. And the nose of Yahweh burned against the sons of Israel. 2 And Joshua sent men from Jericho to the Ai, which was near Beth Aven, from the east of Bethel. And he spoke to them, saying, “Go up and spy out the land.” And the men went up and spied out the Ai. 3 And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not let all the people go up. About 2,000 men or about 3,000 men should go up and strike the Ai. Do not cause all the people to be weary there because they are few.” 4 And some from the people went up to there, about 3,000 men, and they fled before the face of the men of the Ai. 5 And the men of the Ai struck down from them about 36 men and they pursued them before the face of the gate as far as the Shebarim. And they struck them down on the slope. And the heart of the people melted and became water. 6 And Joshua tore his garments and fell on his face to the earth before the face of the Box of Yahweh until the evening, he and the elders of Israel. And they caused dust to go up on their heads. 7 And Joshua said, “Ah, my Lord Yahweh! Why at all did you bring this people across the Jordan to give us into the hand of the Amorite, to cause us to perish? And if only we had been content and had stayed on the other side of the Jordan! 8 Please, my Lord! What can I say, after Israel has turned the back of the neck before the face of its enemies? 9 And the Canaanite and all those who dwell in the land will hear and will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will you do for your great name?” 10 And Yahweh said to Joshua, “Get yourself up! Why is this—you are falling on your face? 11 Israel has sinned and also passed over my covenant, which I commanded them, and also taken from the banned thing and also stolen and also deceived and also placed among their things. 12 And the sons of Israel were not able to stand before the face of their enemies. They turned the back of the neck before the face of their enemies because they have become a banned thing. I will not be with you again if you do not destroy the banned thing from your midst. 13 Get up! Consecrate the people and you shall say, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, because thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, “A banned thing is in your midst, Israel. You will not be able to stand before the face of your enemies until you remove the banned thing from your midst.” 14 And you shall be brought near in the morning by your tribes. And it will happen that the tribe that Yahweh catches shall come near by the clans. And the clan that Yahweh catches shall come near by the houses. And the house that Yahweh catches shall come near by the men. 15 And it will happen that the one who is caught with the banned thing shall be burned with the fire, he and all that belongs to him, because he has crossed over the covenant of Yahweh, and because he has done a disgraceful thing in Israel.’” 16 And Joshua got up early in the morning and brought Israel near by its tribes. And the tribe of Judah was caught. 17 And he brought near the clans of Judah and the clan of the Zerahite was caught. And he brought near the clan of the Zerahite by the men and Zabdi was caught. 18 And he brought near his house by the men and Achan the son of Karmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, was caught. 19 And Joshua said to Achan, “My son, now give glory to Yahweh the God of Israel and give thanks to him. And tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me.” 20 And Achan answered Joshua and said, “Truly, I have sinned against Yahweh the God of Israel. And like this and like this I did: 21 And I saw among the spoil one good coat of Shinar and 200 shekels silver and one tongue-shaped piece of gold (50 shekels was its weight). And I desired them and took them. And behold, they are hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent and the silver is under it.” 22 And Joshua sent messengers and they ran to the tent. And behold, it was hidden in his tent and the silver was under it. 23 And they took them from the midst of the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the sons of Israel. And they poured them out before the face of Yahweh. 24 And Joshua took Achan the son of Zerah and the silver and the coat and the tongue-shaped piece of gold and his sons and his daughters and his ox and his donkey and his sheep and his tent and all that was for him, and all Israel with him. And they brought them to the Valley of Trouble. 25 And Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? Yahweh will trouble you on this day.” And all Israel stoned him with stone. And they burned them with the fire and they stoned them with the stones. 26 And they raised up over him a great pile of stones until this day. And Yahweh turned from the burning of his nose. Therefore the name of that place is called the Valley of Trouble until this day. Chapter 8 1 And Yahweh said to Joshua, “Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Take with you all the people of war and rise, go up to the Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of the Ai and his people and his city and his land. 2 And you shall do to the Ai and its king just as you have done to Jericho and its king, except you will plunder its spoil and its livestock for yourselves. Set for yourselves an ambush against the city from behind it.” 3 And Joshua and all the people of war rose to go up to the Ai. And Joshua chose 30,000 men, mighty ones of the army, and sent them at night. 4 And he commanded them, saying, “See, you lie in ambush against the city from behind the city. You shall not be very far from the city. And all of you shall be ready. 5 As for me and all the people who are with me, we will come near to the city. And it will happen when they come out to meet us just as at the first, that we will flee before their face. 6 And they will come out after us until we have drawn them from the city. For they will say, ‘They are fleeing before our face just as at the first.’ And we will flee before their face. 7 And you will rise from ambush and take possession of the city. And Yahweh your God will give it into your hand. 8 And it will happen that when you capture the city, you will kindle the city with fire. You will do according to the word of Yahweh. See, I have commanded you.” 9 And Joshua sent them and they went to the ambush place and they stayed between Bethel and the Ai from west of the Ai. And Joshua stayed overnight that night in the midst of the people. 10 And Joshua got up early in the morning and mustered the people. And he and the elders of Israel went up before the face of the people to the Ai. 11 And all the people of war who were with him went up and approached and came before the city. And they camped from north of the Ai and the valley was between them and the Ai. 12 And he took about 5,000 men. And he set them in ambush between Bethel and the Ai, from west of the city. 13 And the people set all the camp that was from north of the city and its rear guard from west of the city. And Joshua went in that night into the midst of the valley. 14 And it happened that as soon as the king of the Ai saw, then the men of the city hurried and got up early and went out to meet Israel for the battle, he and all his people, at an appointed place before the face of the Arabah. Now he did not know that an ambush was against him from behind the city. 15 And Joshua and all Israel let themselves be struck before the face of them. And they fled the way of the wilderness. 16 And all the people who were in the city were summoned to pursue after them. And they pursued after Joshua and were drawn away from the city. 17 And there was not a man left in the Ai or Bethel who had not pursued after Israel. And they left the city open and they pursued after Israel. 18 And Yahweh said to Joshua, “Stretch out with the javelin that is in your hand toward the Ai, because I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out with the javelin that was in his hand toward the city. 19 And the ambush rose quickly from its place and they ran when he stretched out his hand. And they entered the city and captured it and hurried and kindled the city with fire. 20 And the men of the Ai turned behind them and looked, and behold, the smoke of the city went up to the heavens! And it was not in their hands to flee here or there. And the people who had fled to the wilderness turned around toward the pursuers. 21 And Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had captured the city, and that the smoke of the city went up. And they turned back and struck down the men of the Ai. 22 And these came out from the city to meet them and they were in the midst of Israel, these from here and these from there. And they struck them down until he left no survivor or refugee of them. 23 And they seized the king of the Ai alive. And they brought him near to Joshua. 24 And it happened when Israel had finished slaying all those who dwelled in the Ai in the field in the wilderness in which they pursued them, and all of them had fallen by the mouth of the sword until they were finished, that all Israel returned to the Ai and struck it with the mouth of the sword. 25 And it happened that all the ones who fell on that day, from man and as far as woman, were 12,000, all the men of the Ai. 26 And Joshua did not turn back his hand which he had stretched out with the javelin, until when he had completely destroyed all those who dwelled in the Ai. 27 Israel plundered for themselves only the livestock and the spoil of that city, according to the word of Yahweh which he had commanded Joshua. 28 And Joshua burned the Ai. And he made it a mound of eternity, a desolation until this day. 29 And he hanged the king of the Ai on a tree until the time of the evening. And when the sun was going, Joshua commanded and they brought down his corpse from the tree and threw it at the opening of the gate of the city and raised over it a great pile of stones until this day. 30 Then Joshua built an altar to Yahweh the God of Israel on Mount Ebal. 31 It was just as Moses the servant of Yahweh had commanded the sons of Israel, as written in the book of the law of Moses: “An altar of whole stones, over which no one has wielded an iron tool.” And they offered up on it burnt up offerings to Yahweh and sacrificed peace offerings. 32 And there on the stones he wrote a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote before the face of the sons of Israel. 33 And all Israel and its elders and officers and its judges were standing from here and from there at the Box in front of the priests and the Levites who carried the Box of the Covenant of Yahweh, like the foreigner so the native, half of them toward the front of Mount Gerizim and half of them toward the front of Mount Ebal. It was just as Moses the servant of Yahweh had commanded to bless the people of Israel at the first. 34 And afterward, he read all the words of the law, the blessings and the curses, according to all that is written in the book of the law. 35 There was not a word from all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read in front of all the assembly of Israel and the women and the children and the sojourners who are going in the midst of them. Chapter 9 1 And it happened that as soon as all the kings heard it who were on the other side of the Jordan, in the hill country, and in the lowlands and in all the coast of the great sea toward the front of the Lebanon (the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite), 2 then they gathered themselves together as one mouth to fight against Joshua and against Israel. 3 And those who dwelled in Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to the Ai. 4 And they, even they, acted with cunning. And they went and acted as envoys and took worn-out sacks for their donkeys and worn-out and torn and mended skins of wine. [1] 5 And worn-out and patched sandals were on their feet, and worn-out garments were on them, and all the bread of their provisions was dry and had become crumbs. 6 And they went to Joshua in the camp at the Gilgal. And they said to him and to a man of Israel, “We have come from a distant land, and now cut a covenant for us.” 7 And they said, a man of Israel, to the Hivite, “Perhaps you are dwelling among us. And how can I cut a covenant for you?” 8 And they said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” And Joshua said to them, “Who are you? And where did you come from?” 9 And they said to him, “Your servants have come from a very distant land for the name of Yahweh your God. For we have heard a report of him and all that he did in Egypt, 10 and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorite who were on the other side of the Jordan, to Sihon the king of Heshbon, and to Og the king of the Bashan who was in Ashtaroth. 11 And our elders and all those who dwell in our land spoke to us, saying, ‘Take provisions in your hand for the road and go to meet them. And you shall say to them, “We are your servants. And now cut a covenant for us.”’ 12 This bread of ours was hot, we took it as our provision from our houses on the day of our going out to come to you. And now, behold, it is dry and has become crumbs. 13 And these skins of wine that we filled were new, and behold, they are torn. And these, our garments and our sandals, are worn-out from the very great length of the road.” 14 And the men took from their provisions. But they did not ask the mouth of Yahweh. 15 And Joshua made peace for them, and cut a covenant for them to let them live. And the leaders of the congregation swore to them. 16 And it happened from the end of three days after when they had cut a covenant for them, that they heard that they were near to them and they were dwelling among them. 17 And the sons of Israel set out and came to their cities on the third day. And their cities were Gibeon and Kephirah and Beeroth and Kiriath Jearim. 18 And the sons of Israel did not strike them down because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by Yahweh the God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured against the leaders. 19 And all the leaders said to all the congregation, “We ourselves have sworn to them by Yahweh the God of Israel. And now we are not able to touch them. 20 We will do this to them and let them live. And wrath will not be on us on account of the oath which we swore to them.” 21 And the leaders said to them, “Let them live.” And they became cutters of trees and drawers of water for all the congregation, just as the leaders had spoken to them. 22 And Joshua called to them and spoke to them, saying, “Why did you deceive us, saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ but you are dwelling among us? 23 And now you are cursed. And a slave will not be cut off from you, and cutters of trees and drawers of water for the house of my God.” 24 And they answered Joshua and said, “Because it was clearly told to your servants that Yahweh your God commanded his servant Moses to give to you all the land and to destroy all those who dwell in the land from before your face. And we were very afraid for our lives because of your face, so we did this thing. 25 And now, behold, we are in your hand. Do to us as is good and as is right in your eyes to do.” 26 And he did thus to them. And he rescued them from the hand of the sons of Israel and they did not slay them. 27 And on that day Joshua made them cutters of trees and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of Yahweh, until this day, in the place that he would choose. 9:4 [1] Instead of acted as envoys, some versions have, took provisions. Chapter 10 1 And it happened that as soon as Adoni-Zedek the king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured the Ai and had completely destroyed it (just as he had done to Jericho and to its king, so he had done to the Ai and to its king), and that those who dwelled in Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, 2 then they were very afraid because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the cities of the kingdom, and because it was greater than the Ai, and all its men were mighty ones. 3 And Adoni-Zedek the king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham the king of Hebron and to Piram the king of Jarmuth and to Japhia the king of Lachish and to Debir the king of Eglon, saying, 4 “Come up to me and help me. And let us strike Gibeon. For it has made peace with Joshua and with the sons of Israel.” 5 And the five kings of the Amorites gathered and went up: the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon—they and all their camps. And they camped against Gibeon and fought against it. 6 And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua, to the camp at the Gilgal, saying, “Do not let your hand drop from your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us and help us because all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the hill country have gathered against us.” 7 And Joshua went up from the Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him and all the mighty ones of the army. 8 And Yahweh said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid from them, for they are given into your hand. Not a man from them will stand before you.” 9 And Joshua came to them suddenly, all the night he went up from the Gilgal. 10 And Yahweh confused them before the face of Israel and struck them down with a great blow in Gibeon. And he pursued them on the road going up to Beth Horon and he struck them down as far as Azekah and as far as Makkedah. 11 And it happened when they fled from the face of Israel, they were on the slope of Beth Horon, that Yahweh threw large stones on them from the heavens as far as Azekah and they died. There were more who died by the stones of hail than the sons of Israel slew with the sword. 12 Then Joshua spoke to Yahweh on the day Yahweh gave the Amorites before the face of the sons of Israel. And he said before the eyes of Israel, “Sun, be still in Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.” 13 And the sun was still and the moon stood until the nation took vengeance on its enemies. Is it not written in the Book of the Upright? “And the sun stood in the middle of the heavens, and it did not hurry to go for about a whole day.” [1] 14 And there has been no day like this before the face of it or after it, when Yahweh listened to the voice of a man. For Yahweh fought for Israel. 15 And Joshua and all Israel with him returned to the camp at the Gilgal. 16 And these five kings had fled and hidden themselves in the cave in Makkedah. 17 And it was told to Joshua, saying, “The five kings have been found hidden in the cave in Makkedah.” 18 And Joshua said, “Roll large stones to the mouth of the cave and assign men beside it to guard them. 19 But you, do not stay! Chase after your enemies and strike their rear. Do not allow them to enter into their cities for Yahweh your God has given them into your hand.” 20 And it happened as soon as Joshua and the sons of Israel finished striking them down with a very great blow until they had finished, that the escapees escaped from them and entered into the cities of fortification. 21 And all the people returned in peace to the camp to Joshua at Makkedah. No man sharpened his tongue against the sons of Israel. 22 And Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave. And bring out to me these five kings from the cave.” 23 And they did so and brought out to him these five kings from the cave: the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon. 24 And it happened as soon as they brought out these kings to Joshua, that Joshua called to every man of Israel and said to the commanders of the men of war, the ones who had gone with him, “Come near. Set your feet on the necks of these kings.” So they came near and set their feet on their necks. 25 And Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Be strong and be courageous, for thus Yahweh will do to all your enemies, they whom you are about to fight.” 26 And Joshua struck them down afterward and he put them to death and hanged them on five trees. And they were hanging on the trees until the evening. 27 And it happened that at the time of the going of the sun Joshua commanded and they brought them down from on the trees and threw them into the cave there where they were hidden. And they set large stones over the mouth of the cave until this same day. 28 And Joshua captured Makkedah on that day. And he struck down it and its king by the mouth of the sword. He completely destroyed them and all the life that was in it; he did not leave a survivor. And he did to the king of Makkedah just as he had done to the king of Jericho. 29 And Joshua and all Israel with him passed over from Makkedah to Libnah. And he fought against Libnah. 30 And Yahweh also gave it and its king into the hand of Israel, and he struck it down with the mouth of the sword and all the life that was in it; he did not leave a survivor in it. And he did to its king just as he had done to the king of Jericho. 31 And Joshua and all Israel with him passed over from Libnah to Lachish. And he camped against it and fought against it. 32 And Yahweh gave Lachish into the hand of Israel and he captured it on the second day. And he struck it down by the mouth of the sword and all the life that was in it like all that he had done to Libnah. 33 Then Horam the king of Gezer went up to help Lachish. And Joshua struck him and his people down until he left no survivor for him. 34 And Joshua and all Israel with him passed over from Lachish to Eglon. And they camped against it and fought against it. 35 And they captured it on that day and struck it down by the mouth of the sword. And he completely destroyed all the life that was in it on that day like all that he had done to Lachish. 36 And Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron. And they fought against it. 37 And they captured it and struck it down by the mouth of the sword and its king and all its cities and all the life that was in it. He did not leave a survivor, like all that he had done to Eglon. And he completely destroyed it and all the life that was in it. 38 And Joshua and all Israel with him turned to Debir. And he fought against it. 39 And they captured it and its king and all its cities and struck them down by the mouth of the sword and completely destroyed all the life that was in it; he did not leave a survivor. Just as he had done to Hebron, thus he did to Debir and to its king, and just as he had done to Libnah and to its king. 40 And Joshua struck down all the land: the hill country, and the Negev, and the lowlands, and the slopes, and all their kings. He did not leave a survivor. And he completely destroyed every breathing thing, just as Yahweh the God of Israel had commanded. 41 And Joshua struck them down from Kadesh Barnea and as far as Gaza and all the land of Goshen and as far as Gibeon. 42 And Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time. For Yahweh the God of Israel fought for Israel. 43 And Joshua and all Israel with him returned to the camp at the Gilgal. 10:13 [1] the Book of the Upright or perhaps the Book of Jashar Chapter 11 1 And it happened as soon as Jabin the king of Hazor heard, that he sent to Jobab the king of Madon and to the king of Shimron and to the king of Akshaph 2 and to the kings who were from the north in the hill country and in the Arabah south of Kinnereth and in the lowlands and in the heights of Dor from the west, 3 the Canaanite from sunrise and from the west, and the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Jebusite in the hill country and the Hivite below Hermon in the land of the Mizpah. 4 And they went out, they and all their camps with them, many people like the sand that is on the shore of the sea with respect to abundance and very many horses and chariots. 5 And all these kings gathered by appointment and came and camped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel. 6 And Yahweh said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid because of their face, because tomorrow at this time I am going to make all of them pierced ones before the face of Israel. You will hamstring their horses and you will burn their chariots with fire.” 7 And Joshua and all the people of war with him came against them suddenly beside the waters of Merom. And they fell on them. 8 And Yahweh gave them into the hand of Israel and they struck them down and chased them as far as Great Sidon and as far as Misrephoth Maim and as far as the Valley of Mizpah toward sunrise. And they struck them down until he did not leave a survivor for them. 9 And Joshua did to them just as Yahweh said to him. He hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire. 10 And Joshua returned at that time and captured Hazor, and struck down its king with the sword because Hazor, it was formerly the head of all these kingdoms. 11 And they struck down all the life that was in it by the mouth of the sword, destroying completely, there was not left any breathing thing. And he burned Hazor with fire. 12 And Joshua captured all the cities of these kings and all their kings and struck them down by the mouth of the sword. He completely destroyed them just as Moses the servant of Yahweh had commanded. 13 Only all the cities standing on their mounds, Israel did not burn them, except Hazor, it alone Joshua burned. 14 And all the spoil of these cities and the livestock, the sons of Israel plundered for themselves. Only every man they struck down by the edge of the sword until they had annihilated them. They did not leave any breathing thing. 15 Just as Yahweh had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He did not remove a thing from all that Yahweh had commanded Moses. 16 And Joshua took all this land: the hill country, and all the Negev, and all the land of Goshen, and the lowlands, and the Arabah, and the hill country of Israel, and its lowlands; 17 from Mount Halak the ascent to Seir, and as far as Baal Gad in the valley of the Lebanon below Mount Hermon. And he captured all their kings and struck them down and put them to death. 18 Joshua made war with all these kings many days. 19 There was not a city that made peace with the sons of Israel except the Hivites who dwelled in Gibeon. They took all in battle. 20 For it was from Yahweh to harden their heart to meet battle with Israel in order to completely destroy them, so that there would not be favor for them. But it was in order to annihilate them just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 21 And Joshua came at that time and cut off the Anakites from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua completely destroyed them with their cities. 22 No Anakites were left in the land of the sons of Israel, except they remained in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod. 23 And Joshua took all the land, according to all that Yahweh had spoken to Moses, and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their portions by their tribes. And the land was at rest from war. Chapter 12 1 And these are the kings of the land, whom the sons of Israel struck down and dispossessed of their land on the other side of the Jordan toward the rising of the sun, from the wadi of Arnon to Mount Hermon, and all the Arabah toward sunrise: 2 Sihon the king of the Amorites, who dwelled in Heshbon, who ruled from Aroer, which is on the lip of the wadi of Arnon and the middle of the wadi, and half of the Gilead and up to the Jabbok wadi, the border of the sons of Ammon, 3 and the Arabah to the Sea of Kinnereth toward sunrise, and to the Sea of the Arabah (the Sea of Salt) toward sunrise, the road to Beth Jeshimoth, and from the south below the slopes of the Pisgah. 4 And the territory of Og the king of the Bashan, from the remnant of the Rephaites, who dwelled in Ashtaroth and in Edrei, 5 and who ruled in Mount Hermon, and in Salekah, and in all the Bashan, as far as the border of the Geshurite and the Maacathite, and half of the Gilead, the border of Sihon the king of Heshbon. 6 Moses the servant of Yahweh and the sons of Israel had struck them down. And Moses the servant of Yahweh had given it as a possession to the Reubenite and to the Gadite and to the half of the tribe of Manasseh. 7 And these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the sons of Israel struck down on the other side of the Jordan, to the west, from Baal Gad in the valley of the Lebanon, and to Mount Halak, which ascends toward Seir. And Joshua gave it to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their portions, 8 in the hill country, and in the lowlands, and in the Arabah, and in the slopes, and in the wilderness, and in the Negev—the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: 9 the king of Jericho, one; the king of the Ai, which is from the side of Bethel, one; 10 the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one; 11 the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one; 12 the king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one; 13 the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one; 14 the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one; 15 the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one; 16 the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one; 17 the king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one; 18 the king of Aphek, one; the king of Lasharon, one; 19 the king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one; 20 the king of Shimron Meron, one; the king of Akshaph, one; 21 the king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one; 22 the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam of Carmel, one; 23 the king of Dor of Naphoth Dor, one; the king of the Nations of Gilgal, one; 24 and the king of Tirzah, one. All the kings were 31. Chapter 13 1 Now Joshua was old and had come in the days. And Yahweh said to him, “You are old and have come in the days and very much land remains to take possession of. 2 This is the remaining land: all the territories of the Philistine, and all of the Geshurite, 3 from Shihor, which is on the face of Egypt, and as far as the border of Ekron to the north (it is counted as Canaanite), the five rulers of the Philistines, the Gazite, and the Ashdodite, the Ashkelonite, the Gathite, and the Ekronite, and the Avvites; 4 from the south, all the land of the Canaanite, and a cave that is for the Sidonians, as far as Aphek, as far as the border of the Amorite; 5 and the land of the Gebalite, and all the Lebanon toward the rising of the sun, from Baal Gad below Mount Hermon as far as Lebo Hamath. 6 All those who dwell in the hill country from the Lebanon as far as Misrephoth Maim, all the Sidonians, I myself will dispossess them from the face of the sons of Israel. Only you shall cause it to fall to Israel as an inheritance, just as I commanded you. 7 And now apportion this land as an inheritance to the nine tribes and the half of the tribe of Manasseh.” 8 With him the Reubenite and the Gadite had taken their inheritance that Moses gave to them on the other side of the Jordan toward sunrise, just as Moses the servant of Yahweh had given to them: 9 from Aroer, which is on the lip of the wadi of Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the wadi, and all the plateau of Medeba to Dibon; 10 and all the cities of Sihon the king of the Amorite, who reigned in Heshbon, as far as the border of the sons of Ammon; 11 and the Gilead, and the territory of the Geshurite and the Maacathite, and all Mount Hermon, and all the Bashan as far as Salekah; 12 all the kingdom of Og in the Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei (he remained from the remnant of the Rephaites) and Moses struck them down and dispossessed them. 13 But the sons of Israel did not dispossess the Geshurite and the Maacathite. And Geshur and Maacath dwell in the midst of Israel to this day. 14 Only to the tribe of Levi he did not give an inheritance. The offerings made by fire to Yahweh the God of Israel, they are his inheritance, just as he spoke to him. 15 And Moses gave to the tribe of the sons of Reuben, according to their clans. 16 And the territory for them was from Aroer, which is on the lip of the wadi of Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the wadi, and all the plateau beside Medeba, 17 Heshbon and all its cities that are in the plateau, Dibon, and Bamoth Baal, and Beth Baal Meon, 18 and Jahaz, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath, 19 and Kiriathaim, and Sibmah, and Zereth Shahar on the hill of the valley, 20 and Beth Peor, and the slopes of the Pisgah, and Beth Jeshimoth, 21 and all the cities of the plateau, and all the kingdom of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses had struck down, he and the leaders of Midian: Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba (the princes of Sihon who had dwelled in the land). 22 And the sons of Israel slew with the sword Balaam the son of Beor, the diviner, with their pierced ones. 23 And it happened that the border of the sons of Reuben was the Jordan and the border. This is the inheritance of the sons of Reuben according to their clans—the cities and their villages. 24 And Moses gave to the tribe of Gad, to the sons of Gad according to their clans. 25 And the territory for them was Jazer and all the cities of the Gilead and half of the land of the sons of Ammon, as far as Aroer, which is on the face of Rabbah, 26 and from Heshbon to Ramath Mizpah and Betonim, and from Mahanaim to the border of Debir, 27 and in the valley, Beth Haram, and Beth Nimrah, and Succoth, and Zaphon, and the rest of the kingdom of Sihon the king of Heshbon, with the Jordan and the border, as far as the end of the Sea of Kinnereth, beyond the Jordan toward sunrise. 28 This is the inheritance of the sons of Gad according to their clans—the cities and their villages. 29 And Moses gave to the half of the tribe of Manasseh, and it was to the half of the tribe of the sons of Manasseh according to their clans. 30 And their territory was from Mahanaim, all the Bashan, all the kingdom of Og the king of the Bashan, and all the towns of Jair, which are in the Bashan, 60 cities; 31 and half of the Gilead, and Ashtaroth, and Edrei (the cities of the kingdom of Og in the Bashan) were for the sons of Machir the son of Manasseh, for half of the sons of Machir according to their clans. 32 These are what Moses gave as an inheritance in the plains of Moab, from the other side of the Jordan, Jericho toward sunrise. 33 But Moses did not give an inheritance to the tribe of the Levite. Yahweh the God of Israel, he is their inheritance, just as he spoke to them. Chapter 14 1 And these are what the sons of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the sons of Israel gave them as an inheritance. 2 Their inheritance was by lot for the nine tribes and the half of the tribe, just as Yahweh had commanded by the hand of Moses. 3 For Moses had given the inheritance of the two tribes and the half of the tribe from the other side of the Jordan. But to the Levites he had not given an inheritance in the midst of them. 4 For the sons of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim. And they did not give a portion to the Levites in the land, but rather cities to dwell in, and their pasturelands for their livestock and for their property. 5 Just as Yahweh had commanded Moses, so the sons of Israel did. And they apportioned the land. 6 And the sons of Judah came near to Joshua in the Gilgal, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You yourself know the word which Yahweh spoke to Moses the man of God on account of me and on account of you at Kadesh Barnea. 7 I was a son of 40 years when Moses the servant of Yahweh sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land. And I brought back word to him just as was in my heart. 8 And my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt. But I was fully after Yahweh my God. 9 And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden will be for an inheritance for you and for your sons until eternity. For you were fully after Yahweh my God.’ 10 And now, behold! Yahweh has kept me alive these 45 years, just as he spoke, from when Yahweh spoke this word to Moses, when Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold! Today I am a son of 85 years. 11 I am still as strong today just as on the day Moses sent me. As my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war, and for going out, and for coming in. 12 And now, give to me this hill country of which Yahweh spoke on that day. For you yourself heard on that day that the Anakites were there and great fortified cities. Perhaps Yahweh will be with me and I will dispossess them, just as Yahweh has spoken.” 13 And Joshua blessed him and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance. 14 Therefore, Hebron belongs to Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite for an inheritance until this day, because he was fully after Yahweh the God of Israel. 15 (And the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath Arba. He was a great man among the Anakites.) And the land was at rest from war. Chapter 15 1 And the lot for the tribe of the sons of Judah, according to their clans, was to the border of Edom, from the wilderness of Zin in the Negev, from the end of the south. 2 And the border of the south for them was from the end of the Sea of Salt, from the tongue turning to the south. 3 And it went out to the south to the Ascent of Scorpions and passed over to Zin, and went up from the south to Kadesh Barnea, and passed over to Hezron, and went up to Addar, and went around to the Karka. 4 And it passed over to Azmon, and went out the wadi of Egypt, and the exits of the border were at the sea. This will be for you the border of the south. 5 And the border of the east was the Sea of Salt, as far as the end of the Jordan. And the border to the side of the north was from the tongue of the sea from the end of the Jordan. 6 And the border went up to Beth Hoglah and passed over from the north to Beth Arabah. And the border went up to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. 7 And the border went up to Debir from the Valley of Trouble, and to the north, turning to the Gilgal, which is in front of the ascent of Adummim, which is from the south of the wadi. And the border passed over to the waters of En Shemesh and its exits are at En Rogel. 8 And the border went up the valley of Ben Hinnom to the shoulder of the Jebusites from the south (it is Jerusalem). And the border went up to the head of the hill that is on the face of the valley of Hinnom, to the west, which is at the end of the valley of the Rephaites to the north. 9 And the border turned from the head of the hill to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah, and went out to the cities of Mount Ephron. And the border turned to Baalah (it is Kiriath Jearim). 10 And the border went around from Baalah to the west to Mount Seir, and passed over to the shoulder of Mount Jearim from the north (it is Kesalon), and went down to Beth Shemesh, and passed over to Timnah. 11 And the border went out to the shoulder of Ekron to the north. And the border turned toward Shikkeron and passed over to Mount Baalah, and went out to Jabneel. And the exits of the border were at the sea. 12 And the border of the west was the great sea and the border. This is the border of the sons of Judah all around, according to their clans. 13 And to Caleb the son of Jephunneh he gave a portion in the midst of the sons of Judah according to the mouth of Yahweh to Joshua: Kiriath Arba (the father of the Anak), it is Hebron. 14 And Caleb dispossessed from there the three sons of the Anak: Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai, the children of the Anak. 15 And he went up from there against those dwelling in Debir. And the name of Debir was formerly Kiriath Sepher. 16 And Caleb said, “Whoever strikes down Kiriath Sepher and captures it, I will give to him Aksah my daughter for a wife.” 17 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, captured it. And he gave to him Aksah his daughter for a wife. 18 And it happened when she came to him, that she incited him to ask for a field from with her father. And she got down from on the donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What is for you?” 19 And she said, “Give to me a blessing. Because you have given me the land of the Negev, then you must give to me springs of water.” And he gave to her the upper springs and lower springs. 20 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Judah, according to their clans: 21 And the cities were at the end of the tribe of the sons of Judah, toward the border of Edom in the Negev: Kabzeel and Eder and Jagur 22 and Kinah and Dimonah and Adadah 23 and Kedesh and Hazor and Ithnan, 24 Ziph and Telem and Bealoth 25 and Hazor Hadattah and Kerioth Hezron (it is Hazor), 26 Amam and Shema and Moladah 27 and Hazar Gaddah and Heshmon and Beth Pelet 28 and Hazar Shual and Beersheba and Biziothiah, 29 Baalah and Iyim and Ezem 30 and Eltolad and Kesil and Hormah 31 and Ziklag and Madmannah and Sansannah 32 and Lebaoth and Shilhim and Ain and Rimmon. All the cities were 29 and their villages. 33 In the lowlands: Eshtaol and Zorah and Ashnah 34 and Zanoah and En Gannim, Tappuah and the Enam, 35 Jarmuth and Adullam, Sokoh and Azekah 36 and Shaaraim and Adithaim and the Gederah and Gederothaim; 14 cities and their villages. 37 Zenan and Hadashah and Migdalgad 38 and Dilean and the Mizpah and Joktheel, 39 Lachish and Bozkath and Eglon 40 and Kabbon and Lahmas and Kitlish 41 and Gederoth, Beth Dagon and Naamah and Makkedah;16 cities and their villages. 42 Libnah and Ether and Ashan 43 and Iphtah and Ashnah and Nezib 44 and Keilah and Akzib and Maresha; nine cities and their villages. 45 Ekron, and its daughters and its villages; 46 from Ekron and to the sea, all that were on the hand of Ashdod and their villages. 47 Ashdod and its towns and its villages, Gaza and its towns and its villages, as far as the wadi of Egypt and the great sea and the border. 48 And in the hill country: Shamir and Jattir and Sokoh 49 and Dannah and Kiriath Sannah (it is Debir) 50 and Anab and Eshtemoh and Anim 51 and Goshen and Holon and Giloh; 11 cities and their villages. 52 Arab and Dumah and Eshan 53 and Janim and Beth Tappuah and Aphekah 54 and Humtah and Kiriath Arba (it is Hebron) and Zior; nine cities and their villages. 55 Maon, Carmel and Ziph and Juttah 56 and Jezreel and Jokdeam and Zanoah, 57 the Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah; ten cities and their villages. 58 Halhul, Beth Zur and Gedor 59 and Maarath and Beth Anoth and Eltekon; six cities and their villages. 60 Kiriath Baal (it is Kiriath Jearim) and the Rabbah; two cities and their villages. 61 In the wilderness: Beth Arabah, Middin and Secacah 62 and Nibshan and the City of Salt and En Gedi; six cities and their villages. 63 And the Jebusites who dwelled in Jerusalem, the sons of Judah were not able to dispossess them, so the Jebusites have dwelled with the sons of Judah in Jerusalem until this day. Chapter 16 1 And the lot for the sons of Joseph went out from the Jordan at Jericho, to the waters of Jericho toward sunrise, the wilderness going up from Jericho in the hill country of Bethel. 2 And it went out from Bethel to Luz and passed over to the border of the Arkites at Ataroth. 3 And it went down to the west to the border of the Japhletite, as far as the border of Lower Beth Horon, and as far as Gezer, and its exits were at the sea. 4 And the sons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, received an inheritance. 5 And the border of the sons of Ephraim was according to their clans. And the border of their inheritance toward sunrise was Ataroth Addar as far as Upper Beth Horon, 6 And the border went out to the sea, the Mikmethath from the north, and the border went around toward sunrise at Taanath Shiloh and passed by it from the sunrise to Janoah. 7 And it went down from Janoah to Ataroth and Naarah and reached Jericho and came out at the Jordan. 8 From Tappuah the border went to the west to the wadi of Kanah and its exists were at the sea. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim, according to their clans, 9 and the cities that were set apart for the sons of Ephraim in the midst of the inheritance of the sons of Manasseh, all the cities and their villages. 10 And they did not dispossess the Canaanite who dwelled in Gezer, so the Canaanite has dwelled within Ephraim until this day, and he has become a forced laborer who serves. Chapter 17 1 And the lot was for the tribe of Manasseh (because he was the firstborn of Joseph), for Makir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of the Gilead. And the Gilead and the Bashan were given to him because he himself was a man of war. 2 And it was for the remaining sons of Manasseh, according to their clans, for the sons of Abiezer and for the sons of Helek and for the sons of Asriel and for the sons of Shechem and for the sons of Hepher and for the sons of Shemida. These were the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the males according to their clans. 3 And for Zelophehad the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, there were no sons for him, but rather daughters. And these were the names of his daughters: Mahlah and Noah, Hoglah, Milkah and Tirzah. 4 And they came near before the face of Eleazar the priest and before the face of Joshua the son of Nun and before the face of the leaders, saying, “Yahweh commanded Moses to give to us an inheritance in the midst of our brothers.” And he gave to them an inheritance according to the mouth of Yahweh in the midst of the brothers of their father. 5 And ten measured portions of Manasseh fell, apart from the land of the Gilead and the Bashan, which were from the other side of the Jordan. 6 For the daughters of Manasseh inherited an inheritance in the midst of his sons. And the land of the Gilead was for the remaining sons of Manasseh. 7 And the border of Manasseh was from Asher to the Mikmethath, which is on the face of Shechem. And the border went to the right to those dwelling at the spring of Tappuah. 8 (The land of Tappuah was for Manasseh. And Tappuah at the border of Manasseh was for the sons of Ephraim.) 9 And the border went down to the wadi of Kanah, to the south of the wadi. These cities were for Ephraim in the midst of the cities of Manasseh. And the border of Manasseh was from north of the wadi, and its exits were at the sea. 10 To the south was for Ephraim, and to the north was for Manasseh, and the sea was its border. And it meets with Asher from the north and with Issachar from the sunrise. 11 And for Manasseh in Issachar and in Asher was Beth Shan and its daughters and Ibleam and its daughters and those who dwelled in Dor and its daughters and those who dwelled in En Dor and its daughters and those who dwelled in Taanach and its daughters and those who dwelled in Megiddo and its daughters, the three of Napheth. 12 And the sons of Manasseh were not able to take possession of these cities. And the Canaanite was determined to dwell in this land. 13 And it happened when the sons of Israel were strong, that they put the Canaanite to forced labor. And they did not completely dispossess them. 14 And the sons of Joseph spoke with Joshua, saying, “Why have you given to me one lot and one measured portion as an inheritance, and I am a numerous people, Yahweh has blessed me until up to now?” 15 And Joshua said to them, “If you are a numerous people, go up for yourself to the forest and clear for yourself there in the land of the Perizzite and the Rephaites. For the hill country of Ephraim is narrow for you.” 16 And the sons of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us, and the chariot of iron is with every Canaanite who dwells in the land of the valley, for those who are in Beth Shan and its daughters and those who are in the valley of Jezreel.” 17 And Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, “You are a numerous people and great power is for you. There will not be one lot for you. 18 But the hill country will be for you, though it is a forest, and you will clear it and its exits will be for you. For you will dispossess the Canaanite, though the chariot of iron is for him, though he is strong.” Chapter 18 1 And all the congregation of the sons of Israel assembled at Shiloh and placed the Tent of Meeting there. And the land was subdued before their face. 2 And seven tribes remained among the sons of Israel that had not apportioned their inheritance. 3 And Joshua said to the sons of Israel, “Until when will you be showing yourselves slack to enter to possess the land that Yahweh the God of your fathers has given to you? 4 Provide for yourselves three men according to the tribe. And I will send them out and they will rise and walk about in the land and write it down according to the mouth of their inheritance and come to me. 5 And they will apportion it among themselves for seven portions. Judah will stand on its border from the south, and the house of Joseph will stand on their border from the north. 6 And you will write down the land in seven portions and bring them here to me. And I will throw a lot for you here before the face of Yahweh our God. 7 But there is no portion within you for the Levites because the priesthood of Yahweh is their inheritance. And Gad and Reuben and the half of the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance from the other side of the Jordan toward sunrise, which Moses the servant of Yahweh gave to them.” 8 And the men rose and went. And Joshua commanded the ones who went to write down the land, saying, “Go and walk about in the land and write it down and return to me. And I will throw a lot for you here before the face of Yahweh in Shiloh.” 9 And the men went and passed over in the land and wrote it down on a book according to the cities in seven portions. And they came to Joshua, to the camp at Shiloh. 10 And Joshua threw a lot for them in Shiloh before the face of Yahweh. And there Joshua apportioned the land to the sons of Israel according to their portions. 11 And the lot of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin according to their clans went up. And the border of their lot went out between the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph. 12 And the border for them was to the side to the north from the Jordan. And the border went up to the shoulder of Jericho from the north and went up in the hill country to the west. And its exits were at the wilderness of Beth Aven. 13 And the border passed over from there toward Luz, to the shoulder of Luz to the south (it is Bethel). And the border went down to Ataroth Addar, beside the mountain that is from south of Lower Beth Horon. 14 And the border turned and went around at the side of the west toward the south, from the mountain that is on the face of Beth Horon to the south. And its exits were at Kiriath Baal (it is Kiriath Jearim, a city of the sons of Judah). This was the side of the west. 15 And the side to the south was from the end of Kiriath Jearim. And the border went out to the west and went out to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah. 16 And the border then went down to the end of the mountain that is on the face of the valley of Ben Hinnom, which is in the valley of the Rephaites to the north. And it went down the valley of Hinnom to the shoulder of the Jebusite to the south and went down En Rogel. 17 Then it turned northward and went out to En Shemesh and went out to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim. Then it went down to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. 18 And it passed over to the shoulder of the front of the Arabah to the north and went down to the Arabah. 19 And the border passed over to the shoulder of Beth Hoglah to the north. And the exits of the border were at the tongue of the Sea of Salt to the north, at the end of the Jordan to the south. This was the border of the south. 20 And the Jordan borders it to the side toward the east. This was the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin, according to its borders all around, according to their clans. 21 And the cities of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin, according to their clans, were: Jericho and Beth Hoglah and the valley of Keziz 22 and Beth Arabah and Zemaraim and Bethel 23 and the Avvim, and the Parah, and Ophrah, 24 and Kephar Ammoni and the Ophni and Geba; 12 cities and their villages. 25 Gibeon and the Ramah and Beeroth 26 and the Mizpah and the Kephirah and the Mozah 27 and Rekem and Irpeel and Taralah 28 and Zelah, Haeleph, and the Jebusite (it is Jerusalem), Gibeah, Kiriath; 14 cities and their villages. This was the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin according to their clans. Chapter 19 1 And the second lot went out for Simeon, for the tribe of the sons of Simeon according to their clans. And their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the sons of Judah. 2 And with their inheritance for them was Beersheba and Sheba and Moladah 3 and Hazar Shual and Balah and Ezem 4 and Eltolad and Bethul and Hormah 5 and Ziklag and Beth Markaboth and Hazar Susah 6 and Beth Lebaoth and Sharuhen; 13 cities and their villages. 7 Ain, Rimmon and Ether and Ashan; four cities and their villages 8 and all the villages that were around these cities as far as Baalath Beer (Ramah of the Negev). This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Simeon according to their clans. 9 Some of the measured portion of the sons of Judah was the inheritance of the sons of Simeon. For the portion of the sons of Judah was greater than them, so the sons of Simeon inherited in the midst of their inheritance. 10 And the third lot went up for the sons of Zebulun according to their clans. And the border of their inheritance was up to Sarid. 11 And their border went up toward the sea and Maralah and it met with Dabbesheth and met at the wadi that is on the face of Jokneam. 12 And it turned from Sarid toward the east, the rising of the sun, beside the border of Kisloth Tabor. And it went out to the Daberath and went up Japhia. 13 And from there it passed over toward the east, toward the sunrise, to Gath Hepher, to Eth Kazin. And it went out to Rimmon, turning toward Neah. 14 And the border went around it from the north of Hannathon (and its exits were the valley of Iphtah El), 15 and Kattath and Nahalal and Shimron and Idalah and Bethlehem; 12 cities and their villages. 16 This was the inheritance of the sons of Zebulun according to their clans—these cities and their villages. 17 The fourth lot went out for Issachar, for the sons of Issachar according to their clans. 18 And their border was toward Jezreel and the Chesulloth and Shunem 19 and Hapharaim and Shion and Anaharath 20 and the Rabbith and Kishion and Ebez 21 and Remeth and En Gannim and En Haddah and Beth Pazzez. 22 And the border met with Tabor, and Shahazumah and Beth Shemesh. And the exits of their border were at the Jordan; 16 cities and their villages. 23 This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Issachar according to their clans—their cities and their villages. 24 And the fifth lot went out for the tribe of the sons of Asher according to their clans. 25 And their border was Helkath and Hali and Beten and Akshaph 26 and Allammelek and Amad and Mishall. And it met with Carmel toward the sea and with Shihor Libnath. 27 And it turned back toward the rising of the sun to Beth Dagon and it met with Zebulun and with the valley of Iphtah El to the north, Beth Emek, and Neiel. And it went out to Kabul from the left 28 and Abdon and Rehob and Hammon and Kanah, as far as Great Sidon. 29 And the border turned back to the Ramah and up to the city of fortification of Tyre. And the border turned back to Hosah, and its exits were to the sea, from the measured portion of Akzib 30 and Ummah and Aphek and Rehob; 22 cities and their villages. 31 This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Asher according to their clans—these cities and their villages. 32 The sixth lot went out for the sons of Naphtali, for the sons of Napthali according to their clans. 33 And their border was from Heleph, from the oak in Zaanannim and Adami Nekeb and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum. And its exits were at the Jordan. 34 And the border turned back toward the west to Aznoth Tabor and went out from there to Hukkok. And it met with Zebulun from the south and met with Asher from the west and with Judah at the Jordan at the rising of the sun. 35 And the cities of fortification were the Ziddim, Zer and Hammath, Rakkath and Kinnereth 36 and Adamah and the Ramah and Hazor 37 and Kedesh and Edrei and En Hazor 38 and Yiron and Migdal El, Horem and Beth Anath and Beth Shemesh; 19 cities and their villages. 39 This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Naphtali according to their clans—the cities and their villages. 40 The seventh lot went out for the tribe of the sons of Dan according to their clans. 41 And the border of their inheritance was Zorah and Eshtaol and Ir Shemesh 42 and Shaalabbin and Aijalon and Ithlah 43 and Elon and Timnah and Ekron 44 and Eltekeh and Gibbethon and Baalath 45 and Jehud and Bene Berak and Gath Rimmon 46 and the waters of the Jarkon and the Rakkon with the territory in front of Joppa. 47 And the border of the sons of Dan went out from them. And the sons of Dan went up and fought against Leshem and captured it and struck it down by the mouth of the sword. And they possessed it and settled in it and called Leshem Dan, like the name of Dan their father. 48 This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Dan according to their clans—these cities and their villages. 49 And they finished inheriting the land according to its borders. And the sons of Israel gave an inheritance to Joshua the son of Nun in the midst of them. 50 In accordance with the mouth of Yahweh they gave to him the city that he asked for: Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim. And he built the city and dwelled in it. 51 These are the inheritances that Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the sons of Israel apportioned as an inheritance by lot in Shiloh before the face of Yahweh at the opening of the tent of meeting. And they finished from apportioning the land. Chapter 20 1 And Yahweh spoke to Joshua, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘Give for yourselves the cities of refuge, which I spoke about to you by the hand of Moses, 3 so that the one who kills, who strikes down a person by mistake without knowledge, may flee to there. And they will be for you as a refuge from the avenger of blood. 4 And he shall flee into one from these cities and stand at the opening of the gate of the city and speak his words in the ears of the elders of that city. And they shall gather him into the city to themselves and give to him a place and he shall dwell with them. 5 And if the avenger of blood pursues after him, then they shall not deliver the one who kills into his hand. For without knowledge he struck down his neighbor and he was not hating him from yesterday and three days ago. 6 And he shall dwell in that city until he stands before the face of the congregation for judgment, until the death of he who is the great priest in those days. Then the one who kills may return and enter into his city and into his house, into the city that he fled from.’” 7 And they set apart Kedesh in the Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and Kiriath Arba (it is Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. 8 And from the other side of the Jordan, to Jericho toward the sunrise, they gave Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau from the tribe of Reuben and Ramoth in the Gilead from the tribe of Gad and Golan in the Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh. 9 These were the cities of appointment for all the sons of Israel and for the sojourner who sojourned in the midst of them, so that all who struck down a person by mistake could flee to there and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stood before the face of the assembly. Chapter 21 1 And the heads of the fathers of the Levites came near to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the sons of Israel. 2 And they spoke to them in Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, “Yahweh commanded by the hand of Moses to give to us cities to dwell in, with their pasturelands for our livestock.” 3 And the sons of Israel gave these cities and their pasturelands to the Levites from their inheritance, according to the mouth of Yahweh. 4 And the lot went out for the clans of the Kohathites. And there were 13 cities by the lot for the sons of Aaron the priest (from the Levites) from the tribe of Judah and from the tribe of the Simeonite and from the tribe of Benjamin. 5 And for the remaining sons of Kohath were ten cities by the lot from the clans of the tribes of Ephraim and from the tribe of Dan and from the half of the tribe of Manasseh. 6 And for the sons of Gershon were 13 cities by the lot from the clans of the tribe of Issachar and from the tribe of Asher and from the tribe of Naphtali and from the half of the tribe of Manasseh in the Bashan. 7 For the sons of Merari according to their clans were 12 cities from the tribe of Reuben and from the tribe of Gad and from the tribe of Zebulun. 8 And the sons of Israel gave to the Levites by the lot these cities and their pasturelands, just as Yahweh had commanded by the hand of Moses. 9 And they gave from the tribe of the sons of Judah and from the tribe of the sons of Simeon these cities, them which were called by name. 10 And they were for the sons of Aaron from the clans of the Kohathites from the sons of Levi because the first lot was for them. 11 And they gave to them Kiriath Arba, the father of the Anak (it is Hebron), in the hill country of Judah and its pasturelands around it. 12 And the field of the city and its villages they had given to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his possession. 13 And to the sons of Aaron the priest they gave a city of refuge of the one who kills, Hebron and its pasturelands and Libnah and its pasturelands 14 and Jattir and its pasturelands and Eshtemoa and its pasturelands 15 and Holon and its pasturelands and Debir and its pasturelands 16 and Ain and its pasturelands and Juttah and its pasturelands and Beth Shemesh and its pasturelands; nine cities from with the two of these tribes. 17 And from the tribe of Benjamin were Gibeon and its pasturelands, Geba and its pasturelands, 18 Anathoth and its pasturelands, and Almon and its pasturelands; four cities. 19 All the cities of the sons of Aaron, the priests, were 13 cities and their pasturelands. 20 And for the clans of the sons of Kohath, the Levites, the remaining ones from the sons of Kohath, were the cities of their lot from the tribe of Ephraim. 21 And they gave to them a city of refuge of the one who kills, Shechem and its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim and Gezer and its pasturelands 22 and Kibzaim and its pasturelands and Beth Horon and its pasturelands; four cities. 23 And from the tribe of Dan were Eltekeh and its pasturelands, Gibbethon and its pasturelands, 24 Aijalon and its pasturelands, Gath Rimmon and its pasturelands; four cities. 25 And from the half of the tribe of Manasseh were Taanach and its pasturelands and Gath Rimmon and its pasturelands; two cities. 26 All the ten cities and their pasturelands were for the remaining clans of the sons of Kohath. 27 And for the sons of Gershon from the clans of the Levites, from the half of the tribe of Manasseh was a city of refuge of the one who kills, Golan in the Bashan and its pasturelands, and Be Eshterah and its pasturelands; two cities. 28 And from the tribe of Issachar were Kishion and its pasturelands, Daberath and its pasturelands, 29 Jarmuth and its pasturelands, En Gannim and its pasturelands; four cities. 30 And from the tribe of Asher were Mishal and its pasturelands, Abdon and its pasturelands, 31 Helkath and its pasturelands, and Rehob and its pasturelands; four cities. 32 And from the tribe of Naphtali were a city of refuge of the one who killed, Kedesh in the Galilee and its pasturelands and Hammoth Dor and its pasturelands and Kartan and its pasturelands; three cities. 33 All the cities of the Gershonites according to their clans were 13 cities and their pasturelands. 34 And for the clans of the sons of Merari, the remaining Levites, from with the tribe of Zebulun were Jokneam and its pasturelands, Kartah and its pasturelands, 35 Dimnah and its pasturelands, Nahalal and its pasturelands; four cities. 36 And from the tribe of Reuben were Bezer and its pasturelands and Jahaz and its pasturelands, 37 Kedemoth and its pasturelands and Mephaath and its pasturelands; four cities. 38 And from the tribe of Gad were a city of refuge of the one who killed, Ramoth in the Gilead and its pasturelands and Mahanaim and its pasturelands, 39 Heshbon and its pasturelands, Jazer and its pasturelands; all of the cities were four. 40 All the cities for the sons of Merari according to their clans, the remaining ones from the clans of the Levites, were 12 cities by their lot. 41 All the cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the sons of Israel were 48 cities and their pasturelands. 42 These cities were city by city, and its pasturelands were around it. It was so for all these cities. 43 And Yahweh gave to Israel all the land that he had sworn to give to their fathers. And they possessed it and dwelled in it. 44 And Yahweh gave rest to them from all around, according to all that he had sworn to their fathers. And a man did not stand against their face from all their enemies. Yahweh gave all their enemies into their hand. 45 A word did not fall from every good word that Yahweh had spoken to the house of Israel The whole came to be. Chapter 22 1 Then Joshua called to the Reubenite and to the Gadite and to the half of the tribe of Manasseh. 2 And he said to them, “You yourselves have kept all that Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you. And you have listened to my voice according to all that I have commanded you. 3 You have not forsaken your brothers this many days, until this day. And you have kept the keeping of the commandments of Yahweh your God. 4 And now Yahweh your God has given rest to your brothers, just as he spoke to them. And now, turn and go for yourselves to your tents, to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of Yahweh gave to you on the other side of the Jordan. 5 Only watch exceedingly to do the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you, to love Yahweh your God and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your self.” 6 And Joshua blessed them. And he sent them away and they went to their tents. 7 Now to the half of the tribe of Manasseh, Moses had given in the Bashan, and to the half of him, Joshua gave with their brothers on the other side of the Jordan to the sea. And when Joshua had also sent them away to their tents, then he blessed them. 8 And he spoke to them, saying, “Return to your tents with many riches and with very much livestock, with silver and with gold and with bronze and with iron and with very many garments. Apportion the spoil of your enemies with your brothers.” 9 And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half of the tribe of Manasseh turned back and went from with the sons of Israel, from Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of the Gilead, to the land of their possession, it which they had seized for themselves in accordance with the mouth of Yahweh by the hand of Moses. 10 And they entered into the territories of the Jordan that are in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half of the tribe of Manasseh built there an altar beside the Jordan—an altar large of appearance. 11 And the sons of Israel heard, saying, “Behold, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half of the tribe of Manasseh have built the altar at the front of the land of Canaan, at the territories of the Jordan, at the side of the sons of Israel.” 12 And the sons of Israel heard and all the congregation of the sons of Israel assembled at Shiloh to go up for war against them. 13 And the sons of Israel sent Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the half of the tribe of Manasseh, into the land of the Gilead. 14 And ten leaders were with him, one leader by one leader of the house of the father of all the tribes of Israel. And they were each a man of the head of the house of their fathers of the thousands of Israel. 15 And they came to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the half of the tribe of Manasseh, into the land of the Gilead. And they spoke with them, saying, 16 “Thus says all the congregation of Yahweh, ‘What is this unfaithfulness that you have done unfaithfully against the God of Israel, to turn today from after Yahweh when you built for yourselves an altar today for your rebelling against Yahweh? 17 Was the iniquity of Peor little for us, it from which we have not purified ourselves until this day? And there was a plague among the congregation of Yahweh. 18 But as for you, you are turning from after Yahweh today! And it will happen that you yourselves will rebel against Yahweh today and tomorrow he will be furious toward all the congregation of Israel. 19 However, if the land of your possession is defiled, cross over for yourselves into the land of the possession of Yahweh, there where the dwelling of Yahweh dwells, and take possession in the midst of us. But do not rebel against Yahweh and do not rebel against us by your building an altar for yourselves apart from the altar of Yahweh our God. 20 Did not Achan the son of Zerah act unfaithfully in unfaithfulness with the banned thing and wrath was on all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish as one man in his iniquity.’” 21 And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half of the tribe of Manasseh answered and spoke with the heads of the thousands of Israel: 22 “Yahweh is God of gods! Yahweh is God of gods! He knows, and as for Israel, let it know! If it was in rebellion or if in unfaithfulness against Yahweh, do not save us this day! 23 If it was to build an altar for ourselves to turn from after Yahweh, or if to offer on it burnt up offerings or grain offerings or if to make on it the sacrifices of peace offerings, Yahweh himself will seek out. 24 But no! Because of anxiety from a matter we did this, saying, ‘Tomorrow your sons might say to our sons, saying, “What is for you and for Yahweh, the God of Israel? 25 And Yahweh has given a border between us and between you sons of Reuben and sons of Gad, the Jordan. There is no portion for you in Yahweh.”’ And your sons might make our sons cease so that they are not fearing Yahweh. 26 And we said, ‘Let us now prepare for ourselves to build the altar, not for a burnt up offering and not for a sacrifice. 27 But it will be a witness between us and between you and between our generations after us, to serve the service of Yahweh before his face, with our burnt up offerings and with our sacrifices and with our peace offerings. And your sons will not say to our sons tomorrow, “There is no portion for you in Yahweh.”’ 28 And we said, ‘And it will happen if they speak to us or to our generations of tomorrow, that we will say, “See the copy of the altar of Yahweh, which our fathers made, not for a burnt up offering and not for a sacrifice, but it is a witness between us and between you.” 29 May it be far from us for us to rebel against Yahweh, and turn today from after Yahweh to build an altar for a burnt up offering, for a grain offering, or for a sacrifice, apart from the altar of Yahweh our God that is before the face of his dwelling!’” 30 And Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the congregation and the heads of the thousands of Israel who were with him heard the words that the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the sons of Manasseh spoke. And it was good in their eyes. 31 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Manasseh, “Today we know that Yahweh is in the midst of us, that you have not acted unfaithfully in this unfaithfulness against Yahweh. Therefore you have rescued the sons of Israel from the hand of Yahweh.” 32 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest and the leaders returned from with the sons of Reuben and from with the sons of Gad, from the land of the Gilead, to the land of Canaan, to the sons of Israel. And they brought them back a word. 33 And the word was good in the eyes of the sons of Israel. And the sons of Israel blessed God and did not speak of going up against them for war to destroy the land in which the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad were dwelling. 34 And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad called the altar “Truly it is a witness between us that Yahweh is God.” Chapter 23 1 And it happened from many days afterward, when Yahweh had given rest to Israel from all their enemies from all around, that Joshua was old, he came into the days. 2 And Joshua called for all Israel, for its elders and for its heads and for its judges and for its officers. And he said to them, “I am old, I have come into the days. 3 But as for you, you have seen all that Yahweh your God has done to all these nations from your face. For Yahweh your God, he is the one who fights for you. 4 See, I have caused to fall for you these remaining nations as an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan and all the nations that I cut off and the great sea, from the going of the sun. 5 And Yahweh your God, he will push them from your face and will dispossess them from before your face. And you will possess their land, just as Yahweh your God spoke to you. 6 And you shall be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, to not turn aside from it right or left, 7 to not go among these nations, these remaining ones with you. And by the name of their gods you shall not mention and not swear. And you shall not serve them and not bow down to them. 8 But rather to Yahweh your God you shall cling, just as you have done until this day. 9 And Yahweh has dispossessed great and numerous nations from your face. And as for you, a man has not stood against your face until this day. 10 One man from you pursues a thousand. For Yahweh is your God. He is the one who fights for you, just as he has spoken to you. 11 And you shall keep yourselves exceedingly for your selves, to love Yahweh your God. 12 For if you ever turn back and cling to the remainder of these nations, these remaining ones with you, and you intermarry with them and you go among them and they among you, 13 you shall know assuredly that Yahweh your God will not continue to dispossess these nations from before your face. And they will be to you as a trap and as a snare and as a whip on your sides and as thorns in your eyes, until you perish from on this good ground that Yahweh your God has given to you. 14 And behold, today I am about to go the way of all the earth. And you know with all your heart and with all your soul that not one word has fallen from all the good words that Yahweh your God spoke concerning you. The whole has come to you, not one word from it has fallen. 15 And it will happen that just as all the good word that Yahweh your God spoke to you has come upon you, so Yahweh will bring upon you all the evil word until he has destroyed you from this good ground that Yahweh your God has given to you. 16 When you pass over the covenant of Yahweh your God that he commanded you and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, then the nose of Yahweh will burn against you. And you will quickly perish from the good land that he has given to you.” Chapter 24 1 And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem. And he called for the elders of Israel, and for its heads, and for its judges, and for its officers. And they presented themselves before the face of God. 2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Your fathers dwelled beyond the river from long ago—Terah the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor. And they served other gods. 3 And I took your father Abraham from beyond the river and brought him into all the land of Canaan. And I multiplied his seed and gave to him Isaac. 4 And I gave Jacob and Esau to Isaac. And I gave to Esau the hill country of Seir to possess it. And Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt. 5 And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I struck Egypt just as I did within it. And afterward I brought you out. 6 And I brought your fathers out from Egypt, and you came to the sea. And Egypt chased after your fathers with chariot and horsemen to the sea of reeds. 7 And they cried out to Yahweh, and he put darkness between you and the Egyptians. And he brought the sea over him and covered him. And Your eyes saw what I did against Egypt. And you dwelled in the wilderness many days. 8 And I brought you to the land of the Amorite, the ones who dwelled on the other side of the Jordan, and they fought with you. And I gave them into your hand, and you possessed their land, and I destroyed them from before your face. 9 And Balak the son of Zippor, the king of Moab, got up and fought against Israel. And he sent and called for Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. 10 And I was not willing to listen to Balaam. And he blessed you repeatedly, and I rescued you from his hand. 11 And you crossed over the Jordan and came to Jericho. And the men of Jericho, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Girgashite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, fought against you. And I gave them into your hand. 12 And I sent the hornet before your face and it drove them out from before your face—two kings of the Amorite. It was not by your sword and not by your bow. 13 And I gave to you a land for which you did not labor, and cities that you did not build and you dwell in them. You are eating vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.’ 14 And now, you shall fear Yahweh and serve him with completeness and with faithfulness. And you shall remove the gods that your fathers served beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve Yahweh. 15 But if it is evil in your eyes to serve Yahweh, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorite in whose land you are dwelling. But as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh.” 16 And the people answered and said, “Far be it for us from leaving Yahweh to serve other gods! 17 For Yahweh is our God, he is the one who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery, and who did these great signs before our eyes. And he kept us in all the way in which we went, and among all the peoples among whom we passed. 18 And Yahweh drove out from our face all the peoples, even the Amorite who dwelled in the land. We too, we will serve Yahweh because he is our God.” 19 And Joshua said to the people, “You will not be able to serve Yahweh because he is a holy God. He is a jealous God, he will not lift your transgressions and your sins. 20 If you forsake Yahweh and serve the gods of the foreigner, then he will turn and do harm to you and finish you, after he has done good to you.” 21 And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve Yahweh.” 22 And Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you yourselves have chosen for yourselves Yahweh, to serve him.” And they said, “Witnesses.” 23 “And now, remove the gods of the foreigner that are among you. And bend your heart to Yahweh the God of Israel.” 24 And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve Yahweh our God, and we will listen to his voice.” 25 And Joshua cut a covenant for the people on that day. And he set for them a statute and a judgment in Shechem. 26 And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God. And he took a large stone and set it up there beneath the oak tree that was at the Holy Place of Yahweh. 27 And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone will be for a witness against us, because it has heard all the words of Yahweh which he spoke to us. And it will be for a witness against you, lest you act deceptively against your God.” 28 And Joshua sent the people away, a man to his inheritance. 29 And it happened after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died, a son of 110 years. 30 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance, in Timnath Serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, from the north of Mount Gaash. 31 And Israel served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who lengthened days after Joshua, and who knew every deed of Yahweh that he had done for Israel. 32 And the bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried in Shechem, in the portion of the field that Jacob had bought from with the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, with a hundred pieces of money. And it became an inheritance for the sons of Joseph. 33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron died. And they buried him in Gibeah of Phinehas his son, which had been given to him in the hill country of Ephraim. Judges Chapter 1 1 Now it happened that after the death of Joshua, the sons of Israel asked Yahweh, saying, “Who will go up for us first against the Canaanite, to fight him?” 2 Yahweh answered, “Judah will go up, Behold, I have given the land into his hand.” 3 Then Judah said to Simeon, his brother, “Go up with me into my alloted territory, and let us fight together against the Canaanite. I will fight likewise myself, with you in your alloted territory.” So Simeon went with him. 4 Judah went up, and Yahweh gave the Canaanite and the Perizzite into their hand. They smote ten thousand men at Bezek. 5 They found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and they fought against him. They smote the Canaanite and the Perizzite. 6 Then Adoni-Bezek fled, but they pursued after him. They seized him, and they chopped off the thumbs of his hands and the big toes of his feet. 7 Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings with the thumbs of their hands and the big toes of their feet chopped off were gathering scraps of food beneath my table. Just as I have done, so God has repaid to me.” Then they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there. 8 The sons of Judah fought against Jerusalem and they took it. They smote it with the mouth of the sword and they sent the city into fire. 9 Afterwards, the sons of Judah went down to fight them, against the Canaanites living in the hill country region, the southern wilderness, and the western lowland. 10 Then Judah went down to the Canaanite that lived in Hebron (the name of Hebron before was Kiriath Arba), and they smote Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. 11 He went from there to those living in Debir; the name of Debir before was Kiriath Sepher. 12 Then Caleb said, “Whoever will smite Kiriath Sepher and capture it, I will give him Aksah, my daughter, for a wife.” 13 Othniel, the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb younger than him, captured it, so he gave him Aksah his daughter for a wife. 14 Now it happened that at her coming she incited him to ask for a field from her father. She descended from atop the donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What can I do for you?” 15 Then she said to him, “Give me a blessing. Although you have given me the land of the Negev, you shall also me springs of waters.” So Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. 16 The sons of the Kenite, the father-in-law of Moses, went up from the city of palm trees with the sons of Judah, to the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south country of Arad. So he went and he dwelt with the people. 17 Then Judah went with Simeon his brother and they smote the Canaanite dwelling in Zephath. So they devoted it to destruction and they called the name of the city Hormah. 18 Judah also captured Gaza and the territory of it, Ashkelon and the territory of it, and Ekron and the territory of it. 19 Now it happened that Yahweh was with Judah and he took possession of the hill country, but he did not dispossess those dwelling in the valley because of their chariotry of iron. 20 They gave Hebron to Caleb just as Moses had directed, and he dispossessed from there the three sons of the Anak. 21 But the Jebusite dwelling in Jerusalem, the sons of Benjamin did not dispossess. So the Jebusite have dwelt with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem until this day. 22 Likewise, the house of Joseph went up against Bethel, even they, and Yahweh was with them. 23 The house of Joseph sent out spies to assess Bethel; the name of the city before was Luz. 24 The observers saw a man going out from the city, and they said to him, “Show us, please, the entrance of the city, and we will extend kindness to you.” 25 So he showed them the entrance of the city, and then they smote the city with the mouth of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go free. 26 Then the man went to the land of the Hittites and he built a city. He called its name Luz, which is its name until this day. 27 But Manasseh did not take possession of Beth Shan and its daughters, or Taanach and its daughters, or the one dwelling in Dor and its daughters, or those dwelling in Ibleam and its daughters, or those dwelling in Megiddo and its daughters, because the Canaanite had resolved to dwell in that land. 28 Now it happened that when Israel became strong, he imposed tribute upon the Canaanite, but he did not take possession of him. 29 Neither did Ephraim dispossess the Canaanite who dwelled in Gezer, so the Canaanite dwelled in Gezer in the midst of him. 30 Zebulun did not dispossess those dwelling in Kitron, or those dwelling in Nahalol, so the Canaanite dwelled in his midst. But they were subject to tribute. 31 Asher did not dispossess those dwelling in Akko, or those dwelling in Sidon, or Ahlab, or Akzib, or Helbah, or Aphek, or Rehob. 32 So the Asherite dwelled in the midst of the Canaanite who dwelled in the land, because he did not dispossess him. 33 Naphtali did not dispossess those dwelling in Beth Shemesh, or those dwelling in Beth Anath. So he dwelled in the midst of the Canaanite who dwelled in the land. However, those dwelling in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were subject to tribute to them. 34 The Amorite pressed the sons of Dan to the hill country, for he did not permit him to go down into the valley. 35 The Amorite resolved to dwell at Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the hand of the house of Joseph became heavy and they were subject to tribute. 36 The border of the Amorite was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the cliff and upward. Chapter 2 1 The messenger of Yahweh went up from the region of Gilgal to the region of Bokim, and said, “I am leading you up from Egypt, and I have brought you to the land that I have sworn to your fathers. I have said, ‘I will not break my covenant with you for eternity. 2 You must not cut a covenant with those dwelling in this land. Their altars you must surely tear down.’ But you have not heeded my voice. What is this you have done? 3 Furthermore, I have said, ‘I will not drive them out from before you, but they will be against you as adversaries, and their gods will be against you as a snare’.” 4 Now it happened that when the messenger of Yahweh spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people lifted up their voice and wept. 5 So they called the name of that place Bokim, and they offered a sacrifice there to Yahweh. 6 Then Joshua dismissed the people, and the sons of Israel went each to his inheritance to posses the land. 7 The people served Yahweh all the days of Joshua and all of the days of the elders who had prolonged their days after Joshua, who had seen all of the great deeds of Yahweh that he had done for Israel. 8 Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died a son of one hundred ten years. 9 Then they buried him within the border of his inheritance in Timnath Heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, to the north of Mount Gaash. 10 When all of that generation had also been gathered to his fathers, another generation rose up after them who did not know Yahweh or even the deed that he had done for Israel. 11 The sons of Israel did the wickedness in the sight of Yahweh and they served the Baals. 12 Thus they forsook Yahweh, the God of their fathers, the One Who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods from the gods of the people groups who were around them, and they bowed down to them. They provoked Yahweh to anger. 13 They forsook Yahweh and they served the Baal and the Ashtoreths. 14 Then the anger of Yahweh burned against Israel, so he gave them into the hand of plunderers, and they plundered them. He surrendered them into the hand of their enemies from all around, so that they were not able any longer to stand before their enemies. 15 In every way, whenever they went out the hand of Yahweh was against them for calamity, just as Yahweh had spoken and just as Yahweh had sworn to them. Thus he pressed them exceedingly. 16 Then Yahweh raised up judges, and they saved them from the hand of their plunderers. 17 Even to their judges they would not listen. For they pursued adulterously after other gods and they bowed down to them. They turned away quickly from the way that their fathers had walked. They did not do likewise to heed the commands of Yahweh. 18 When Yahweh raised up judges for them, Yahweh would be with the judges and he would save them from the hand of their enemies all of the days of the judges. For Yahweh would become remorseful on account of their groaning from the presence of those tormenting them and oppressing them. 19 Now it would happen that at the death of the judge, they would turn back and behave corruptly more than their fathers, walking after other gods to serve them and to bow down to them. They did not drop any of their evil deeds or their shameless behavior. 20 As a result the anger of Yahweh burned against Israel, and he said, “In that this nation transgressed my covenant that I had commanded their fathers, but they have not heeded my voice, 21 I also will not continue to drive out anyone out of their presence from the nations that Joshua left when he died. 22 in order to test Israel by them, whether they are observing the way of Yahweh, walking in them just as their fathers observed, or not.” 23 So Yahweh allowed those nations to stay, not dispossessing them hastily and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua. Chapter 3 1 Now those nations which Yahweh allowed to remain in order to test Israel by them, all who had not known any of the wars of Canaan, 2 only for the sake of the generations of the sons of Israel knowing, to teach them warfare, only who formerly had not experienced them, 3 the five governors of the Philistines, and all of the Canaanite, the Sidonian, and the Hivite dwelling in the mountain of Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon as far as Lebo Hamath. 4 They were to test Israel by them, to know whether they would heed the commandments of Yahweh, which He had commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. 5 So the sons of Israel settled in the midst of the Canaanite, the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 6 Then their daughters they took for themselves as wives, and their daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods. 7 So the sons of Israel did this evil in the eyes of Yahweh and they forgot Yahweh their God. They served the baals and the asherahs. 8 Therefore, the anger of Yahweh blazed against Israel, so he sold them into the hand of Cushan-Rishathaim, the king of Aram Naharaim. The sons of Israel served Cushan-Rishathaim eight years. 9 When the sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh, Yahweh raised up a deliverer for the sons of Israel, and he delivered them: Othniel, the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb younger than him. 10 The spirit of Yahweh came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went forth to battle and Yahweh gave Cushan-Rishathaim, the king of Aram, into his hand. Thus his hand prevailed over Cushan-Rishathaim. 11 So the land had tranquility forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died. 12 Then the sons of Israel started again to do this evil in the eyes of Yahweh. So Yahweh strengthed Eglon, the king of Moab against Israel, because they did this evil in the eyes of Yahweh. 13 Then he mobilized to himself the sons of Ammon and Amalek and he went and attacked Israel, and they took possession of the city of the palm trees. 14 So the sons of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. 15 When the sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh, Yahweh raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a man impeded in his right hand. The sons of Israel sent tribute by his hand to Eglon, the king of Moab. 16 Then Ehud made for himself a sword and it had two edges, a span was its length. He bound it on from beneath his clothing on his right thigh. 17 Then he bought the tribute near to Eglon, the king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. 18 Now it happened that when he had completed bringing over the tribute, he sent away the people, the bearers of the tribute. 19 But he himself turned back from the quarries which were near the Gilgal, and he said, “I have a private message for you, O king.” He said, “Silence!” So all those who were standing around him went out from around him. 20 So Ehud came to him. Now he was sitting in the roof chamber in the coolness, which was for him alone. Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you,” and he rose up from upon the seat. 21 Then Ehud stretched out his left hand and took the sword from upon his right thigh, and he thrust it into his belly. 22 Also the handle went in following the blade, and the fat closed up over the handle because he did not pull the sword out of his belly. Then he proceeded to the vestibule, 23 and Ehud went out to the porch and he closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him and locked them. 24 After he had gone out, his servants came. They inspected and behold, the doors of the roof chamber were locked. So they said, “Surely he is covering his feet in the chamber in the coolness.” 25 They waited until it was inappropriate, but behold, he was not opening the doors of the roof chamber. So they took the key and they opened them, and behold, their majestic lord had fallen to the floor, dead. 26 Meanwhile Ehud had escaped during their tarrying and he passed beyond the quarries, then he fled to Seirah. 27 Now it happened that at his coming in, he blew on the shofar in the hill country of Ephraim. Then the sons of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was before them. 28 Then he said to them, “Follow after me, for Yahweh has given your enemies, Moab, into your hand.” So they went down after him and they captured the fords of the Jordan opposite Moab. Thus they did not allow anyone to cross over. 29 So they routed Moab at that time, about ten thousand men. All were robust and all were men of strength, but not anyone escaped. 30 Moab was subdued on that day under the hand of Israel, and the land was tranquil eighty years. 31 After him was Shamgar, the son of Anath, and he smote Philistines, 600 men with a cattle prod. Thus he also delivered Israel. Chapter 4 1 Then the sons of Israel resumed once again to do this evil in the eyes of Yahweh, after Ehud died. 2 So Yahweh handed them over into the hand of Jabin, the king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. Now the commander of his army was Sisera, and he was residing in Harosheth Haggoyim. 3 Then the sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh, because he had nine hundred chariots of iron and he oppressed the sons of Israel with severe might twenty years. 4 Now Deborah was a woman, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth. She was judging Israel at that time. 5 She would sit beneath the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the sons of Israel came up to her for justice. 6 She sent and called for Barak, the son of Abinoam, from Kedesh Naphtali. She said to him, “Has Yahweh, the God of Israel, not commanded: ‘Go and draft at Mount Tabor, and you shall take with you ten thousand men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun’? 7 ‘I will draw out Sisera, the commander of the army of Jabin, to you along the Kishon River, and his chariot and his multitude, and I will give him into your hand’.” 8 Barak replied to her, “If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” 9 She declared, “I will indeed go with you, for naught, since it will not be your honor on the way which you are going, but with a hand of a woman Yahweh will give over Sisera.” Then Deborah rose up and she went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 Then Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. He went up, ten thousand men were at his feet, and Deborah went up with him. 11 Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from Cain, from the sons of Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses. He pitched his tent as far as an oak tree in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh. 12 When they reported to Sisera that Barak, the son of Abinoam, had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 Sisera summoned all of his chariotry, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all of the people who were with him, from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon River. 14 Then Deborah directed to Barak, “Arise! For this day when Yahweh has given Sisera into your hand, has not Yahweh gone forth before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor along with ten thousand men beside him. 15 Yahweh dismayed Sisera and all of the chariotry and all of the army with an edge of a sword before Barak. So Sisera dismounted from atop the chariot and fled away on his feet. 16 But Barak pursued after the chariotry and after the army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim, and the entire army of Sisera fell by an edge of a sword, not even one remained. 17 However Sisera had fled on his feet to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 18 Jael went out to meet Sisera and she said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me. Do not fear.” So he turned to her, into the tent, and she concealed him with the coverlet. 19 He requested of her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened the leather bag of milk and gave him drink, and then she covered him. 20 Then he directed her, “Stand at the entrance of the tent. It shall be if anyone should come and ask you and say, ‘Is there anyone here?’, then you shall say ‘There is not’.” 21 Then Jael, the wife of Heber, took the peg of the tent and she put the hammer in her hand. She came to him in the silence, and she drove the peg into his temple and pounded down to the ground. For he had been soundly sleeping and weary, instead he died. 22 Then, behold, Barak was pursuing Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him and she said to him, “Come, and let me show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he came to her, and behold, Sisera had fallen dead, and the peg was in his temple. 23 So on that day God vanquished Jabin, the king of Canaan, before the sons of Israel. 24 Thus the hand of the sons of Israel had gone on becoming increasingly severe against Jabin, the king of Canaan, up to the point that they had destroyed Jabin, the king of Canaan. Chapter 5 1 So Deborah sang with Barak, the son of Abinoam, on that day, saying: 2 “When long hair flowed freely in Israel, as people enlisted themselves willingly, everyone bless Yahweh! 3 Hear, O kings! Give ear, O rulers! I, unto Yahweh, even I, I will sing, I will make music unto Yahweh, the God of Israel. 4 Yahweh, because of your going forth out of Seir, because of your marching out of the open land of Edom, the earth quaked, the heavens also dripped, also the dark clouds dripped down water. 5 Mountains flowed because of the presence of Yahweh, this Sinai, because of the presence of Yahweh, the God of Israel. 6 In the days of Shamgar, the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, main roads were abandoned, and walkers of footpaths would walk crooked paths. 7 Rural people ceased to be in Israel, they ceased to be until when I arose, Deborah, when I arose, a mother in Israel! 8 When he chose new gods, then there was fighting at the city gates, neither shield nor spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel. 9 My heart is alongside those pledging order in Israel, those freely enlisting themselves among the people. Everyone bless Yahweh! 10 Riding on white donkeys, sitting on carpets, or walking along a road, sing of this, 11 louder than the sound of those distributing water from watering places. There they continuously celebrate the righteous deeds of Yahweh, the righteous actions of his rural people in Israel. Then the people of Yahweh went down to the gates. 12 Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, utter a song! Arise, Barak, and lead away captive your prisoner, the son of Abinoam. 13 Then a survivor prevails over nobles, the people of Yahweh prevail at my side against the warriors. 14 From Ephraim, their root was against Amalek; after you, Benjamin, among your peoples. From Machir those with resolve came down, and from Zebulun those who wield the scepter of a scribe. 15 My princes in Issachar were with Deborah; and Issachar was also with Barak into a plain he was sent out on his feet. Among the divisions of Reuben there were great resolutions of heart. 16 Why did you sit among the campfires, in order to hear signaling for flocks? As for the divisions of Reuben there were great resolutions of heart. 17 Gilead settled in the region beyond the Jordan; but Dan, why does he sojourn on ships? Asher dwelt at the coast of the seas and he resides along his harbors. 18 Zebulun was a people willfully scorning its soul even to death, also Naphtali on the elevated places of the battlefield. 19 Kings came, they did battle; at that time the kings of Canaan did battle at Taanach along the waters of Megiddo. Plunder of silver they did not take. 20 From the heavens the stars did battle, from their courses they did battle against Sisera. 21 The Kishon River swept them away, the ancient river, the Kishon River. Tread on, O my soul, in strength! 22 Then hooves of a horse beat down, from rushing, the rushing of his valiant ones. 23 ‘Curse Meroz!’ said the messenger of Yahweh. ‘You shall surely curse those dwelling in it, because they did not come to the aid of Yahweh— to the aid of Yahweh against the mighty men.’ 24 Jael is most blessed of women, the wife of Heber, the Kenite, out of women in the tent she is blessed. 25 Water he requested, milk she gave, in a bowl suitable for nobles, she brought curdled milk. 26 They reached out, her hand to the tent peg, and her right hand to a hammer of workmen; she struck Sisera, she shattered his head. She struck through and she pierced his temple. 27 Between her feet, he bowed, he fell, he lay down. Between her feet he bowed, he fell; at the place where he bowed, there he fell violently destroyed. 28 Through the window she had looked down and lamented, the mother of Sisera through the lattice window. ‘Why has his chariot delayed in coming? Why are the hoofbeats of his chariots late?’ 29 The wisest of her princesses answered, yet she continued her utterance to herself: 30 ‘Are they not finding, are they dividing up spoil, a maiden, two maidens for every warrior, spoil of dyed fabrics for Sisera, spoil of dyed fabrics, embroidered, dyed fabric embroidered on both sides for the necks as spoil?’ 31 So may all of your enemies perish, Yahweh! But may those who love him be as the coming forth of the sun in its strength.” Then the land was tranquil forty years. Chapter 6 1 The sons of Israel did this evil in the eyes of Yahweh, so Yahweh gave them over into the hand of Midian seven years. 2 Then the hand of Midian prevailed over Israel. On account of the presence of Midian, the sons of Israel made the dens for themselves which were in the mountains, the caves, and the strongholds. 3 Now it would happen whenever Israel sowed, that Midian and Amalek would come up, even sons of the east would come up against him. 4 They encamped around them and they ruined the produce of the land as far as your coming into Gaza. As a result means of sustaining life would not remain in Israel, neither sheep, nor cattle, nor donkey. 5 When they and their livestock would come up, along with their tents, they would come up as an abundance of a locust swarm because of the multitude. Of them and of their camels there was no counting thus they came into the land in order to destroy it. 6 Israel was severely impoverished because of the presence of Midian, so the sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh. 7 Now it happened that when the sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh on account of Midian, 8 that Yahweh sent a man, a prophet to the sons of Israel. He said to them, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: ‘I myself, have brought you up out of Egypt, and I have brought you out of the house of slavery. 9 I rescued you from the hand of Egypt, and from the hand of all of those oppressing you. I drove them out of your presence, and I have surely given to you their land. 10 I said to you, “I am Yahweh your God; you shall not revere the gods of the Amorite, when you are dwelling in their land.” But you have not heeded my voice.’” 11 Now the messenger of Yahweh came and sat beneath the oak which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash, the Abiezrite. Meanwhile Gideon, his son, was threshing out wheat at the winepress in order to hide from the presence of Midian. 12 Then the messenger of Yahweh appeared to him and declared to him, “Yahweh is with you, O warrior of valor!” 13 Gideon said to him, “With me, my lord? If Yahweh is with us, then why has all of this come to us? Where are all of his miraculous workings that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not Yahweh bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now Yahweh has forsaken us and given us over into the grasp of Midian.” 14 Then Yahweh turned to him and said, “Go in this strength of yours and you shall deliver Israel from the grasp of Midian. Have I not sent you?” 15 Then he replied to him, “Please, my lord! In what manner will I deliver Israel? See, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the most insignificant in the house of my father.” 16 Then Yahweh said to him, “Because I will be with you, indeed you shall destroy Midian as one man.” 17 He replied to him, “If indeed I have found favor in your eyes, then perform a sign for me that it is you speaking to me. 18 Please, do not depart from this place, until my coming to you then I will bring out my offering and I will set it before you.” So he said, “Myself, I will stay until your returning.” 19 Then Gideon went and he prepared a young goat and from an ephah of flour, unleavened bread. He placed the meat in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot and brought them out to him to beneath the oak tree, and he presented them. 20 Then the messenger of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and place them on this rock, and pour out the broth,” and he did so. 21 Then the messenger of Yahweh stretched out the edge of the staff that was in his hand. He touched the meat and the unleavened bread; the fire went up out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the messenger of Yahweh went away out of his sight. 22 When Gideon saw that he was the messenger of Yahweh, Gideon lamented, “Alas, O my Lord Yahweh, for because of this I have seen the messenger of Yahweh face to face!” 23 But Yahweh replied to him, “Peace be unto you! Do not be afraid, you will not die.” 24 So Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh and he named it Yahweh is Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah of the Abiezerite. 25 Now it happened on that night that Yahweh said to him, “Take the young bull that belongs to your father, and the second bull seven years old, break into pieces the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it. 26 You shall build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this place of refuge in the usual arrangement. Then you shall take the second bull and you shall offer a whole burnt offering, on the wood pieces from the Asherah that you shall cut down.” 27 So Gideon took ten men out of his servants and did just as Yahweh had instructed to him. Now it happened that because he was afraid of the household of his father and the men of the city to do it by day, he did it by night. 28 When the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was torn down, the Asherah that was beside it had been cut down, and the second bull had been offered on the altar that had been built. 29 As a result each man said to his neighbor, “Who has done this thing?” When they inquired and searched, they said, “Gideon, the son of Joash has done this thing.” 30 Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son so that he may die, because he tore down the altar of Baal, and because he cut down the Asherah that was beside it.” 31 Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you really contend on behalf of Baal? Will you really help him? Whoever contends for him, he will be put to death while it is still the morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself when someone tears down his altar.” 32 Therefore on that day he called him “Jerub Baal,” saying, “May the Baal contend against him,” because he had torn down his altar. 33 Now all of Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east assembled themselves together, and they crossed over and they camped in the Valley of Jezreel. 34 But the Spirit of Yahweh clothed Gideon. As a result he blew the shofar, thus he summoned Abiezer after him. 35 Then he sent messengers in all of Manasseh, and he summoned him also after him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them. 36 Then Gideon said to the true God, “If it is you delivering Israel by my hand, just as you have spoken, 37 Look, I am putting this fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If dew shall be upon the fleece, only it, but on all of the ground it is dry, then I will know that you will deliver Israel by my hand, just as you have spoken.” 38 Now it happened afterwards that he rose early on the next day, and he pressed the fleece together. He wrung out dew from the fleece, the amount that fills the basin with water. 39 Then Gideon said to the true God, “Do not let your anger burn against me, but may I speak only this time. May I please test only this time with the fleece? May it be, I pray, dry on the fleece, only it, but on all of the ground may there be dew.” 40 So God did this during that night. It was dry on the fleece, only it, but on all of the ground there was dew. Chapter 7 1 Then Jerubbaal, that is, Gideon, rose up early, and all of the people who were with him, and they encamped beside the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was northward from him, toward the hill of Moreh in the valley. 2 Yahweh said to Gideon, “Too many are the people who are with you for my giving Midian ino their hand, lest Israel get glory themselves over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ 3 Now therefore, announce in the ears of the people saying, ‘Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand of the people turned back, but ten thousand remained. 4 Then Yahweh said to Gideon, “Still the people are too numerous. Bring them down to the water, and I will further refine him for you there. So it will be whoever I will say to you, ‘This one will go with you,’ he will go with you. But anyone of whom I will say to you, ‘This one will not go with you,’ he will not go.” 5 So he brought the people down to the water, and Yahweh said to Gideon, “Anyone who laps up with his tongue from the water, just as would lap the dog, you shall set him apart, likewise anyone who kneels down on his knees to drink.” 6 Now it happened that the number of those who lapped with their hand to their mouth was three hundred men, but all of the rest of the people knelt down on their knees to drink water. 7 Then Yahweh said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men those who lapped, I will deliver you and I will give Midian over into your hand. So let the other people go back each one to his own place.” 8 Then the people took provision into their hand and their shofars but the other men of Israel he sent away, each man to his tents, except for the three hundred of the men he retained. Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley. 9 Now it happened during that night Yahweh said to him, “Arise! Go down into the camp, for I have given him over into your hand. 10 But if you are afraid to go down, go down, you and Purah your armor bearer to the camp, 11 and you shall hear what they are speaking, and afterwards your hands will be encouraged and you shall go down against the camp.” So he went down, he and Purah his armor bearer, to the edge of the fifty who were in the camp. 12 Now Midian, Amalek, and all of the sons of the east were lying down in the valley, as a locust swarm in abundance. As far as their camels they were innumerable, as the sand that is along the edge of the sea in abundance. 13 Gideon came, and look, a man was telling a dream to his neighbor. He said, “Look! I have dreamed a dream, and look, a round loaf of barley bread was tumbling into the camp of Midian. It came as far as the tent, and struck it so that it fell and turned it upside down, so that the tent collapsed.” 14 His neighbor answered and said, “There is nothing else this can be if not the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, the man of Israel. The true God has given Midian into his hand and all of the camp.” 15 Now it happened when Gideon heard the narration of the dream and its interpretation, that he bowed down in worship. He returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Rise up! For Yahweh has given the camp of Midian into your hand.” 16 Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put shofars into the hand of all of them as well as empty jars, with torches inside of the jars. 17 He said to them, “You shall look to me and thus you shall do. Watch! When I am coming along the edge of the camp, it shall be just as I do, thus you must do. 18 When I blow the shofar, I and everyone who is with me, then you shall blow the shofars, also you around all of the camp. Then you shall shout, ‘For Yahweh and for Gideon!’” 19 So Gideon and one hundred men who were with him came to the edge of the camp, at the beginning of the middle nightwatch. They had only just stationed the guards, when they blew the shofars and they shattered the jars that were in their hand. 20 Then the three companies blew the shofars and they broke the jars. They held the torches in their left hand and the shofars in their right hand to blow. They shouted out, “A sword for Yahweh and for Gideon.” 21 Each man stood in his place around the camp and all of the camp ran. They shouted and fled away. 22 When they blew the three hundred shofars, Yahweh set the sword of each man against his comrade and against all of the camp. As a result the army fled as far as Beth Shittah toward Zererah, as far as the edge of Abel Meholah, towards Tabbath. 23 Then the men of Israel from Naphtali, and from Asher, and from all of Manasseh were summoned, and they pursued after Midian. 24 Also Gideon sent messengers throughout all of the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Go down opposite Midian and seize before them the waters, as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan.” Thus all of the men of Ephraim were summoned and they captured the waters, as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan. 25 They captured the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and they killed Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued after Midian, and they brought the head of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, from across the Jordan. Chapter 8 1 The men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this thing you have done to us, not summoning us when you went to fight against Midian?” Then they complained forcefully against him. 2 He said to them, “What have I done now according to you? Are not the grape gleanings from Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? 3 God has given over the princes of Midian into your hand, Oreb and Zeeb! So what was I able to do compared to you?” Then their spirit concerning him abated when he was speaking this word. 4 Then Gideon came to the Jordan, crossing over, he and the three hundred men who were with him. They were weary, yet they continued pursuing. 5 Then he said to the men of Succoth, “Please give round loaves of bread to the people who are at my feet, for they are weary, yet I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” 6 The princes of Succoth replied, “Is the palm of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand that we should give bread to your army?” 7 So Gideon declared, “Assuredly when Yahweh has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will thresh your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and briers.” 8 Then he went up from there to Penuel and also spoke to them in this manner, but the men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth had answered. 9 So he declared also to the men of Peniel saying, “When I return in peace, I will tear down this tower.” 10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor and their troops were with them, about fifteen thousand, all the remaining out of all of the camp of the sons of the east, for the fallen were one hundred twenty thousand men drawing a sword. 11 Then Gideon went up the road of those dwelling in the tents, from the east to Nobah and Jogbehah. He struck the camp, when the camp was feeling secure. 12 Zebah and Zalmunna fled, but he pursued after them and he captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna. Thus he caused all of the camp to tremble in terror. 13 Then Gideon, the son of Joash, returned from the battle, going through the ascent of Heres. 14 He captured a young man out of the men of Succoth and he interrogated him. He wrote down for him the princes of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men. 15 Then he came to the men of Succoth and he said, “Look at Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me saying, ‘Is the palm of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand that we should give bread to your weary men.’” 16 He took the elders of the city and the thorns of the wilderness and the briers, and he made the men of Succoth undergo them. 17 Then he tore down the tower of Peniel and he killed the men of the city. 18 Next he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What sort were the men who you killed at Tabor?” They replied, “As you are, so were they. Each one was as the form of the sons of the king.” 19 So he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As Yahweh lives, if only you had let them live, I would not have killed you.” 20 Then he said to Jether his firstborn, “Arise, kill them!” But the young man did not pull out his sword because he was afraid, for he was still a youth. 21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Arise yourself and fall upon us! Truly like a man with his own power.” So Gideon rose up and he killed Zebah and Zalmunna. He also took the crescent-shaped ornaments that were on the necks of their camels. 22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, both you and your son, and even the son of your son, because you have delivered us out of the hand of Midian.” 23 But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you myself, neither will my son rule over you. Yahweh will rule over you.” 24 Then Gideon said to them, “Let me ask a request of you, that each man give me the earring from his spoil.” For they had earrings of gold because they were Ishmaelites. 25 They replied, “We will surely give them.” So they spread out the garment and each man threw the earring from his spoil onto there. 26 Now the weight of the earrings of gold that he requested was one thousand seven hundred pieces of gold, besides that of the crescent-shaped ornaments, the pendants, the dyed purple garments that were upon the kings of Midian, and besides that of the collars that were around the necks of their camels. 27 Then Gideon made it into an ephod and placed it in his city, in Ophrah, and all of Israel pursued adulterously after it there. It became as a snare for Gideon and for his house. 28 So Midian was subdued before the sons of Israel and they did not continue to raise up their heads. So the land was tranquil forty years during the days of Gideon. 29 Jerubbaal, the son of Joash, went and lived in his house. 30 Now Gideon had seventy sons coming forth from his loins, for he had many wives. 31 His concubine, who was in Shechem, even she bore him a son, and he made his name Abimelech. 32 Gideon, the son of Joash, died at a good old age and he was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, at Ophrah of the Abiezerite. 33 Now it happened that when Gideon had died, the sons of Israel turned back again and pursued adulterously after the Baals. They made Baal-Berith for themselves as a god. 34 The sons of Israel did not remember Yahweh, their God, the one who had delivered them from the hand of all of their enemies all around. 35 They did not show lasting loyalty with the house of Jerubbaal, Gideon, in accordance with all of the good that he did within Israel. Chapter 9 1 Now Abimelech, the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to the brothers of his mother and he spoke to them and to all of the family of the house of the father of his mother saying, 2 “Please speak in the ears of all of the citizens of Shechem, ‘What is better for you, seventy men ruling over you, all of the sons of Jerubbaal, or one man ruling over you? Remember that I am your bone and your flesh.” 3 The brothers of his mother spoke all of these things on his behalf in the ears of all of the citizens of Shechem, and their heart turned aside after Abimelech, for they said, “He is our brother.” 4 Then they gave him seventy pieces of silver from the house of Baal Berith, and Abimelech hired with them unprincipled and undisciplined men, so they went after him. 5 Then he went to the house of his father at Ophrah, and he killed his brothers, the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men upon one stone. But Jotham was left, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, for he had hidden himself. 6 Then all of the prominent citizens of Shechem and all of Beth Millo assembled themselves and they went and installed Abimelech as king beside an oak tree near the standing pillar that was in Shechem. 7 When they told Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim. He lifted up his voice and cried out and said to them, “Listen to me, citizens of Shechem, so God will listen to you. 8 Once the trees went about in order to anoint a king over themselves. So they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’ 9 But the olive tree replied to them, ‘Have I stopped producing my fatness, when by me they honor gods and men, that I should go to wave over the trees?’ 10 So the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come! Reign over us.’ 11 But the fig tree said to them, ‘Have I stopped producing my sweetness and my good fruit, that I should go to wave over the trees?’ 12 Then the trees said to the vine, ‘You come! Reign over us.’ 13 Then the vine said to them, ‘Have I stopped producing my new wine, which cheers gods and man, that I should go to wave over the trees?’ 14 Then all of the trees said to the thornbush, ‘You come, reign over us.’ 15 The thornbush said to the trees, ‘If in truth you are anointing me as king over you, come, seek refuge in my shade. But if not, may fire go forth from the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon.’ 16 Therefore, now if in truth and in integrity you have acted when you installed Abimelech as king, and if you have done well concerning Jerubaal and with his household, and if according to the deed of his hands you have done to him, 17 that my father fought on your behalf, and threw aside his life even out front, when he delivered you out of the hand of Midian, 18 but today you have risen up against the house of my father and have killed his sons, seventy men, upon one stone. Then you have installed Abimelech, the son of his female servant, as king over the citizens of Shechem, because he is your brother. 19 Now if you have acted in truth and in integrity with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, rejoice about Abimelech, and he himself will also rejoice about you. 20 But if not, fire shall come forth from Abimelech and it shall consume the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo. Fire shall also come forth from the citizens of Shechem and from Beth Millo and it shall consume Abimelech.” 21 Then Jotham fled away and escaped, and he went to Beer. He settled there away from the presence of Abimelech, his brother. 22 Now Abimelech ruled over Israel three years. 23 Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and between the citizens of Shechem so that the citizens of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, 24 by revisiting the violent treatment of the seventy sons of Jerubbaal and by putting their blood upon Abimelech their brother, who had killed them, and upon the citizens of Shechem who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers. 25 So the citizens of Shechem positioned men in ambush after him along the tops of the hills. They robbed everyone who would pass by them along the road, and it was reported to Abimelech. 26 Then Gaal, the son of Ebed came along with his brothers and they went over to Shechem. The citizens of Shechem trusted him. 27 They went out into the field and they picked grapes from their vineyards, and they pressed them. They celebrated harvest festivals and they went into the house of their gods, then they ate and they drank, and they cursed Abimelech. 28 Then Gaal, the son of Ebed, said, “Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal and Zebul his deputy? Serve the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem. Why should we serve him, ourselves? 29 Who will give this people into my hand? Then I would depose Abimelech. He said to Abimelech, ‘Enlarge your army and come forth.’” 30 When Zebul, the prince of the city, heard the words of Gaal, the son of Ebed, his anger burned. 31 So he sent messengers to Abimelech in secret, saying, “Look, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brothers are coming to Shechem, and look, they are inciting the city against you. 32 Therefore, now, rise up by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in ambush in the field. 33 Then it shall happen, in the morning, at the rising of the sun, you shall set out early and you shall spread out in an attack against the city. Watch, when he and the people who are with him are coming out to you, then you do to him just as your hand finds occasion.” 34 So Abimelech and all of the people who were with him rose up by night, and they set up an ambush against Shechem. They were four units. 35 Gaal, the son of Ebed, went out and he stood in the entrance of the gate of the city. Then Abimelech and the people who were with him rose up from the ambush. 36 When Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, “Look, a group of people is coming down from the tops of the hills!” Zebul said to him, “You are seeing the shadow of the hills as men.” 37 Again, Gaal continued to speak and said, “Look, groups of people are coming down from beside the summit of the land, and one unit is coming from the way of the oak of the diviners.” 38 Then Zebul said to him, “Where then is your mouth, with which you said, ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Is this not the people who you regard it with contempt? Indeed, go out now and fight against him.” 39 So Gaal went out before the citizens of Shechem, and he fought against Abimelech. 40 Abimelech pursued him, and he fled from his presence. Many fell fatally wounded as far as the entrance of the city gate. 41 Then Abimelech settled in Arumah. Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers away from dwelling in Shechem. 42 Now it happened that the next day the people went out into the field, and they reported it to Abimelech. 43 So he took the people, and he split up into three units. Then he waited in ambush in the field. When he saw and look, the people were going out of the city, then he rose up against them and he killed them. 44 Abimelech and the units that were with him spread out and they stood at the entrance of the gate of the city. But two units spread out against everyone who was in the field and they killed them. 45 Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He captured the city, and he killed the people who were in it. Then he tore down the city and scattered salt on it. 46 When all the lords of the tower of Shechem heard, they went into the citadel of the house of El-Berith. 47 Then it was reported to Abimelech that all the lords of the tower of Shechem had assembled themselves. 48 So Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him. Abimelech took the proper ax in his hand and cut off a branch from the trees. He lifted it and set it upon his shoulder and said to the people who were with him, “Whatsoever you have seen that I have done, hurry, do the same as me.” 49 So all the people also each cut off a branch and they went after Abimelech. Then they piled them on top of the underground chamber, thus on account of them they burned the underground chamber with fire. As a result all the distinguished people in the tower of Shechem also died, about a thousand men and women. 50 Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and he set up camp around Thebez and he captured it. 51 But there was a strong tower in the midst of the city, so all of the men and the women and all the prominent citizens of the city fled to there. They closed it up behind themselves and they went up on the roof of the tower. 52 Then Abimelech came towards the tower and he fought against it, and he approached as far as the entrance of the tower in order to burn it with fire. 53 But one woman threw down an upper millstone onto the head of Abimelech and it crushed his skull. 54 Then he cried out hurriedly to the young man bearing his armor, and he said to him, “Draw out your sword and put me to death, lest they will say about me, ‘A woman killed him.’” So his young man stabbed him so that he died. 55 When the men of Israel saw that Abimelech had died, they went each to his own place. 56 Thus God avenged the evil of Abimelech that he did to his father by killing his seventy brothers. 57 All the evil of the men of Shechem God caused to return back upon their own heads and on them came the curse of Jotham, the son of Jerubbaal. Chapter 10 1 Now after Abimelech, Tola, the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, arose in order to deliver Israel. He settled in Shamir, in the hill country of Ephraim. 2 He judged Israel twenty-three years. He died and was buried in Shamir. 3 Then arose after him Jair the Gileadite. He judged Israel twenty-two years. 4 Now he had thirty sons, riding on thirty donkeys. There were thirty cities for them, they call them Havvoth Jair to this day, that are in the land of the Gilead. 5 Then Jair died and he was buried in Kamon. 6 The sons of Israel continued to do this evil in the eyes of Yahweh: they worshiped the Baals, the Ashtoreths, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the sons of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines. They forsook Yahweh and did not serve him. 7 The anger of Yahweh burned against Israel, so he gave them over into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the sons of Ammon. 8 They shattered and oppressed the sons of Israel in that year, and for eighteen years all the sons of Israel who were on the opposite side of the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in the Gilead. 9 Then the sons of Ammon also crossed over the Jordan to fight against Judah, against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim, and as a result there was for Israel exceedingly great distress. 10 Then the sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh, saying, “We have sinned against you, because we have forsaken our God and we have served the Baals.” 11 Then Yahweh said to the sons of Israel, “Was it not from the Egyptians, from the Amorite, from the sons of Ammon, from the Philistines, 12 the Sidonians and Amalek and Maon, when they oppressed you that you cried out to me, and I delivered you from their hand? 13 Yet you have abandoned me and you have served other gods. Therefore, I will not continue to deliver you. 14 Go and cry out to the gods that you have chosen for yourselves. They should deliver you at the time of your distress.” 15 Then the sons of Israel said to Yahweh, “We have sinned. You do to us according to all that is good in your eyes. Only rescue us please this day.” 16 They removed the foreign gods from their midst and they worshiped Yahweh. Then His soul became dismayed with the suffering of Israel. 17 Now the sons of Ammon were summoned and they encamped in Gilead. So the sons of Israel gathered together and they encamped at Mizpah. 18 Then the people, the princes of Gilead each said to his fellow man, “Who is the man who will begin to fight against the sons of Ammon? He will become the leader over all who are residing in Gilead.” Chapter 11 1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a warrior of strength, but he was the son of a woman committing fornication. Gilead begat Jephthah. 2 The wife of Gilead also gave birth to his sons. When the sons of the wife grew up, they drove out Jephthah and they said to him, “You will not inherit from the house of our father since a son of another woman are you.” 3 So Jephthah fled from the presence of his brothers and he settled in the land of Tob. Unprincipled men associated around Jephthah and they went about with him. 4 Now it happened after some days that the sons of Ammon fought with Israel. 5 It was when the sons of Ammon fought with Israel, that the elders of Gilead went to summon Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6 Then they said to Jephthah, “Come and you will be for us as commander so we may fight against the sons of Ammon.” 7 But Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead, “Do you yourselves not hate me since you drove me out of the house of my father? Why have you come to me now when you have trouble?” 8 Then the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “Rightly, now we have turned back to you; so come with us and fight against the sons of Ammon, and you will become commander for us over all residing in Gilead.” 9 Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me back to fight against the sons of Ammon, and Yahweh gives them over before me, I will actually be your leader?” 10 Then the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “Yahweh will be a witness between us, surely according to your word, thus we will do!” 11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people set him as commander and leader over themselves. Jephthah spoke all his words before Yahweh in the Mizpah. 12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, “What has happened with respect to me and to you, that you have come against me to fight over my land?” 13 The king of the sons of Ammon responded to the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel seized my land at his going up out of Egypt, from Arnon up to the Jabbok, and over to the Jordan. Now return them in peace.” 14 Then Jephthah continued again and sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon, 15 and he said to him, “Thus Jephthah said: Israel did not take the land of Moab or the land of the sons of Ammon. 16 However in their coming up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness as far as the Sea of Reeds and he came to Kadesh. 17 When Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please may I pass through your land,’ the king of Edom would not listen. He likewise sent to the king of Moab, but he was not willing. So Israel stayed at Kadesh. 18 Then he went through the wilderness and turned away from the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and he went to the place of the rising of the sun for the land of Moab. They camped on the other side of the Arnon, but they did not go within the border of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. 19 Israel sent messengers to Sihon, the king of the Amorite, the king of Heshbon. Israel said to him, ‘Please, let us pass through your land as far as my place.’ 20 But Sihon did not trust Israel passing through within his border. So Sihon assembled all of his people together and they camped at Jahaz, and he fought with Israel. 21 Then Yahweh, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all of his people over into the hand of Israel and they defeated them. Thus Israel possessed all of the land of the Amorite inhabiting that region. 22 They possessed everything within the territory of the Amorite, from the Arnon to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness as far as the Jordan. 23 Since therefore Yahweh, the God of Israel, has expelled the Amorite out of the presence of his people Israel, will you indeed possess it? 24 Will you not take possession if Chemosh, your god, allows you to possess it? So all that Yahweh our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess it. 25 Now are you really better than Balak, the son of Zippor, the king of Moab? Did he dare contend with Israel or did he ever wage war against them? 26 While Israel resided three hundred years in Heshbon and in its villages, and in Aroer and in its villages, and in all the cities that are along the banks of the Arnon—why then did you not repossess during that time? 27 I have not sinned against you, but you are doing wrong in dealing with me by fighting against me. Yahweh, the judge, will decide today between the sons of Israel and between the sons of Ammon.” 28 But the king of the sons of Ammon did not listen to the words of Jephthah that he had sent to him. 29 Then the Spirit of Yahweh came on Jephthah, and he passed through the Gilead and Manasseh, and he passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed through the sons of Ammon. 30 Jephthah vowed a vow to Yahweh and said, “If you truly give the sons of Ammon into my hand, 31 then it shall be the one who comes out, whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, that he will belong to Yahweh, and I will offer him up as a whole burnt offering.” 32 So Jephthah passed through to the sons of Ammon to fight against them, and Yahweh gave them into his hand. 33 Then he attacked them from Aroer and as far as your coming in to Minnith, twenty cities, and up to Abel Keramim, an exceedingly great slaughter. So the sons of Ammon were subdued by the presence of the sons of Israel. 34 Jephthah came into the Mizpah area, to his house, and look, his daughter was coming out to meet him with tambourines and with dancing. However, she was an only child; he did not have a son or daughter apart from her. 35 Now it happened when he saw her that he tore his garments and he said, “Alas, my daughter! Indeed, you have made me bow in grief, and you are among those who cause me pain! For I have opened my mouth to Yahweh and I am not able to turn back.” 36 Then she said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to Yahweh. Do to me according to what came forth from your mouth, after what Yahweh has done for you: complete vengeance against your enemies, against the sons of Ammon.” 37 She said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me. Release me for two months, so I may go away and I will fall prostrate on the hills and I will weep on account of my virginity, I and my companions.” 38 He replied, “Go.” Then he sent her away for two months. She went, she and her companions, and she wept on account of her virginity on the hills. 39 Now it happened at the end of two months that she returned to her father, and he carried out his vow with respect to her that he had vowed. She did not know a man, and it became a custom in Israel. 40 From time to time the daughters of Israel went to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for four days during the year. Chapter 12 1 Now the men of Ephraim were summoned and they passed northward and they said to Jephthah, “Why did you pass through in order to fight against the sons of Ammon but you did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house down over you with fire.” 2 Jephthah said to them, “A man in exceedingly great dispute I have been, I and my people and the sons of Ammon. When I summoned you, you did not rescue me from their hand. 3 When I saw that you were not coming to assist, I put my life in my own hand. I passed through to the sons of Ammon, and Yahweh gave them over into my hand. Now why have you come up to me to fight against me this day?” 4 Then Jephthah assembled all of the men of Gilead and he fought Ephraim. The men of Gilead struck Ephraim because they had said, “Fugitives of Ephraim are you, O people of Gilead, in the midst of Ephraim, in the midst of Manasseh.” 5 Gilead captured the crossing places of the Jordan along Ephraim. It happened when any of the survivors of Ephraim would say, “May I cross over,” that the men of Gilead would say to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,” 6 then they would say to him, “Please say: Shibboleth.” But if he said “Sibboleth,” for he was not prepared to pronounce it correctly, they would seize him and they would slaughter him at the crossing places of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand from Ephraim fell at that time. 7 Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and he was buried among the cities of Gilead. 8 Then after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. 9 Now he had thirty sons. He sent away thirty daughters to the outside, and he brought in thirty daughters for his sons from the outside. He judged Israel seven years. 10 Then Ibzan died and he was buried in Bethlehem. 11 After him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel. He judged Israel ten years. 12 Then Elon the Zebulunite died and he was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun. 13 After him, Abdon, the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel. 14 Now he had forty sons and thirty sons of sons, who rode on seventy young male donkeys. He judged Israel eight years. 15 Then Abdon, the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and he was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekite. Chapter 13 1 The sons of Israel continued to do this evil in the eyes of Yahweh, so Yahweh gave them over into the hand of the Philistines forty years. 2 Now there was one man from Zorah, of the families of the Danites, and his name was Manoah. His wife was barren and she had never given birth. 3 The messenger of Yahweh appeared to the wife and he said to her, “Look, please, you are barren and you have not given birth, but you will conceive and you will bear a son. 4 Now take care that you surely do not drink wine or strong drink, and you do not eat anything unclean. 5 For surely you are pregnant and you will bear a son. A razor will not go up upon his head, for a Nazirite to God from the womb the boy will be. He will begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” 6 Then the woman came in and she explained to her husband saying, “The man of God came to me. His appearance was as the appearance of the messenger of God, exceedingly fearsome, so I did not ask him from where he had come. He did not reveal to me his name. 7 Then he said to me, ‘Surely, you are pregnant, and you will bear a son. So now, you must not drink wine or strong drink, and you must not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the womb until the day of his death.’” 8 Then Manoah prayed to Yahweh and he said, “Oh please, my Lord, please let the man of God who you sent come again to us so that he may instruct us about what we must do for the boy who is to be born.” 9 The true God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the messenger of God came to the woman again when she was sitting in the field. But Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 So the woman hurried and she ran and she reported to her husband, and she said to him, “Look! The man has appeared to me who came to me that day!” 11 So Manoah rose up and he went after his wife. When he came to the man, he said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to this woman?” He replied, “I am.” 12 Then Manoah said, “Now may your words come to pass. What will be the protocol for the boy, and his work?” 13 The messenger of Yahweh replied to Manoah, “Because of all that I have said to the woman, she must take heed herself. 14 From anything that comes forth from the vine of the wine, she must not consume. She must not drink wine or strong drink, and anything unclean she must not eat. Everything that I have commanded her, she must do.” 15 Then Manoah said to the messenger of Yahweh, “Please let us detain you, so that we may prepare a young kid from the goats on account of your presence.” 16 The angel of Yahweh replied to Manoah, “Even if you would detain me, I will not eat your bread. But if you would prepare a burnt offering for Yahweh, you may offer it.” For Manoah did not know that he was the messenger of Yahweh. 17 Then Manoah said to the messenger of Yahweh, “What is your name, that when your words come to pass we may honor you?” 18 The messenger of Yahweh replied to him, “Why is this, you are asking about my name, but it is incomprehensible!” 19 Manoah took the young kid from the goats and the offering and he brought up a sacrifice upon the rock to Yahweh. Meanwhile he was about to perform an act causing wonder while Manoah and his wife were watching. 20 Now it happend when the flame went up from upon the altar towards the heavens, that the messenger of Yahweh went up in the flame of the altar while Manoah and his wife were watching. As a result they fell on their faces to the ground. 21 But the messenger of Yahweh did not continue to appear any longer to Manoah or to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the messenger of Yahweh. 22 Manoah said to his wife, “Surely we will die, because we have seen God!” 23 But his wife replied to him, “If Yahweh had desired to kill us, he would not have taken from our hand the whole burnt offering and the offering. He would not have shown us all these things, and at this time would he have not allowed us to hear about this.” 24 The woman gave birth to a son, and she called his name Samson. The boy grew up and Yahweh blessed him. 25 Now the Spirit of Yahweh began to tap him in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and between Eshtaol. Chapter 14 1 Samson went down to Timnah, and he saw a woman in Tinmah, from the daughters of the Philistines. 2 Then he went back up and he reported to his father and to his mother, and he said, “I saw a woman in Timnah, among the daughters of the Philistines. So now take her for me for a wife.” 3 His father and his mother replied to him, “Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all of my people, that you are going to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” Samson said to his father, “Take her for me, because she is right in my eyes.” 4 But his father and his mother did not know that this matter was from Yahweh, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel. 5 Then Samson went down along with his father and his mother to Timnah. They came as far as the vineyards of Timnah, and look, a young lion among the lions was roaring when encountering him. 6 The Spirit of Yahweh rushed upon him, and he tore it to pieces like butchering a young goat. There was not anything in his hand, but he did not disclose to his father or to his mother what he had done. 7 Then he went down and he spoke to the woman, and she seemed right in the eyes of Samson. 8 Then he returned after some days to take her. He turned aside to look for the carcass of the lion, and look, there was a swarm of bees in the dead body of the lion and honey. 9 He scraped it into the palms of his hands and he went along, walking and eating as he went to his father and to his mother. He even gave some to them so that they ate, but he did not disclose to them that he had scooped the honey out of the dead body of the lion. 10 Then his father went down to the woman, and there Samson prepared a drinking feast, because so would do the young men. 11 Now it happened when they saw him, that they brought thirty close friends and they were with him. 12 Samson said to them, “Let me propose to you a riddle. If indeed you explain it to me during the seven days of the drinking feast, and truly you have found out, then I will give to you thirty linen outer garments and thirty changes of clothes. 13 But if you are not able to provide an explanation to me, then you must yourselves give to me thirty linen outer garments and thirty changes of clothes.” They said to him, “Set forth your riddle, so we may hear it.” 14 He said to them, “From the eater came forth food; and from a strong one came forth sweetness.” But they were not able to explain the riddle in three days. 15 Now it happened on the seventh day that they said to the wife of Samson, “Entice your husband so he may reveal to us the riddle, lest we burn you and the house of your father with fire. Have you invited us in order to dispossess us or not?” 16 Then the wife of Samson wept beside him and she said, “Surely you hate me! You do not love me! You have put forth a riddle to the sons of my people, but you have not informed me.” He said to her, “Look, I have not informed my father or my mother, should I inform you?” 17 She continued to weep beside him during the seven days that they had the drinking feast. Now it happened on the seventh day that he informed her because she pressed him, with the result that she revealed the riddle to the sons of her people. 18 Then the men of the city said to him before the sun went down on the seventh day, “What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion?” So he said to them, “If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle.” 19 Then the Spirit of Yahweh rushed upon him. He went down to Ashkelon and he struck down thirty of their men. He took their spoil, and he gave the changes of clothes from the riddle. His anger blazed, and he went up to the house of his father. 20 Then the wife of Samson came to be the wife of his close friend, who associated with him. Chapter 15 1 Now it happened after some days, during the days of the harvest of wheat, that Samson visited his wife with a kid from the goats. for he said, “I will go in to my wife, to the inner room.” But her father did not allow him to go in. 2 Her father said, “Truly I said that surely you hated her, so I gave her to your close friend. Is not her younger sister better than she? Please may she be yours in her place.” 3 Samson said to them, “This time I am blameless concerning the Philistines when I am inflicting calamity against them.” 4 Then Samson went and captured three hundred foxes and he made them turn tail to tail. He took torches, and he set one torch between two of the tails in the middle. 5 He kindled fire in the torches, he let them loose into the standing grain of the Philistines. As a result he burned both the stack of sheaves and also the standing grain, even a vineyard, and olive orchard. 6 So the Philistines said, “Who has done this?”, and they replied “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he took his wife and he gave her to his close friend.” As a result the Philistines went up and they burned her and her father with fire. 7 Samson said to them, “Since you have actually acted like this, surely I have avenged myself against you, and afterwards, I will stop.” 8 He struck them on the lower leg as well as the thigh, a great slaughter. Then he went down and he remained in the cleft of the rock of Etam. 9 But the Philistines went up and they encamped in Judah and they had spread themselves out in Lehi. 10 Now the men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” They replied, “We have come up in order to bind Samson, to do to him just as he has done to us.” 11 Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and they said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines are ruling over us? What is this you have done to us?” He replied to them, “Just as they have done to me, so I have done to them.” 12 They replied to him, “We have come down to bind you in order to give you over into the hand of the Philistines.” But Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not instead attack me yourselves.” 13 They replied to him saying, “No, however surely we will bind you and we will give you over into their hand. But truly we will not kill you.” Then they bound him with two new ropes and they brought him up from the rock. 14 He had come as far as Lehi, and then the Philistines shouted as they encountered him. Then the Spirit of Yahweh rushed upon him. The ropes which were on his arms became as flax stalks which they had burned in fire, so his bands were loosed from upon his hands. 15 He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and he stretched forth his hand and he took it and he slaughtered a thousand men with it. 16 Then Samson said, “With the jawbone of the donkey, one heap, two heaps, with the jawbone of the donkey I have slaughtered a thousand men.” 17 Now it happened when he finished speaking that he hurled the jawbone out of his hand, and he named that place Ramath Lehi. 18 Then he was very thirsty and cried out to Yahweh and he said, “You Yourself have given this great victory into the hand of Your servant. But now must I die with this thirst so that I will fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?” 19 So God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi and water came out of it. When he drank, his spirit returned so that he revived. Therefore he called the name of it En Hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day. 20 Thus he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years. Chapter 16 1 Now Samson went to Gaza and he saw a woman there, a harlot, and he went in to her. 2 Thus the Gazites were saying, “Samson has come here.” So they encircled and they laid in wait for him all the night at the gate of the city. They kept themselves quiet all the night, saying, “At the light of the morning, then we will kill him.” 3 Samson lay down until the middle of the night. Then he arose in the middle of the night and he seized the doors of the gate of the city and the two doorposts. He pulled them up along with the bolt, he hoisted them upon his shoulders, and he brought them up to the top of the hill which is in front of Hebron. 4 Now it happened after this that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek. Her name was Delilah. 5 The governors of the Philistines came up to her, and they said to her, “Make him open up. See by what means is his great strength, and how we can prevail over him, so that we may bind him in order to weaken him. Then we will each give you one thousand one hundred silver pieces.” 6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Please, tell me by what means is your great strength, and how can you be bound in order to weaken you?” 7 Samson replied to her, “If they would bind me with seven fresh cords that have not been dried, then I would become weak and I would be just as one of the other men.” 8 Then the governors of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh cords that had not been dried, and she tied him up with them. 9 Now she had the ambush group staying in the room when she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he tore the cords to shreds just as a wick of flax fiber is torn to shreds when it draws in fire. So his strength did not become known. 10 As a result Delilah said to Samson, “Look, you have deceived me and you have spoken lies to me. Now tell me, please, by what means you can be bound.” 11 He replied to her, “If in fact they would bind me with new cords with which work has not been done with them, I would become weak and I would be just as one of the other men.” 12 So Delilah took new cords and she bound him with them. She said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” with the ambush group staying in the room. But he flicked them off from upon his arms like they were thread. 13 Then Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have dealt deceitfully with me and you have spoken lies to me. Reveal to me in what manner you may be bound.” So he said to her, “If you would only weave seven of the locks of hair from my head with the loom.” 14 She fastened them together with a pin, and she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” However he woke from his sleep and he pulled out the pin from the weaving and the warp of the loom. 15 Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ yet your heart is not with me? You have dealt deceitfully with me these three times and you have not revealed to me by what means is your great strength.” 16 Now it happened that she pressured him with her speech throughout the day. She also continually pressed him so that his soul was vexed to death. 17 So he told her everything in his heart and he said to her, “A razor has never gone up upon my head, because I have been a Nazirite to God from the womb of my mother. If I would be completely shaved, then my strength would leave me, and I would become weak. I would be just as any of the other men.” 18 When Delilah perceived that he had told her everything in his heart, she sent and she called to the governors of the Philistines, saying, “Come up one more time, for he has told me everything in his heart.” Then the rulers of the Philistines came up to her, and they brought the silver in their hand. 19 Then she made him fall asleep on her knees and she called to the man while she shaved off the seven locks from his head. Thus she had begun to weaken him, and his strength departed from upon him. 20 Then she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” He woke up from his sleep and he said, “I will escape like time after time and I will shake myself loose.” But he did not know that Yahweh had departed from upon him. 21 The Philistines seized him and they gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and they bound him with a pair of bronze fetters. Now it happened that he was grinding at the house of the prisoners. 22 However, the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved. 23 The governors of the Philistines assembled themseleves together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and for a celebration. They said, “Our god has given Samson into our hand, our great enemy.” 24 When the people saw him, they praised their god, for they said, “Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the devastator of our land, who heaped up our slain ones.” 25 Now it happened when their heart was merry, that they said, “Call for Samson, that he may make us laugh.” So they called for Samson from the house of the prisoners and he caused laughter in front of them. They had made him stand between the columns. 26 Samson said to the young man who was holding onto his hand, “Let me rest! Let me touch the columns, those which the building is situated upon them, so that I may support myself on them.” 27 Now the building was full of the men and the women, and situated there were all of the governors of the Philistines. On the roof there were about three thousand men and women, who were watching while Samson was entertaining. 28 Then Samson called out to Yahweh and he said, “My Lord Yahweh, remember me, please! Strengthen me please, just this time, O God, so that I may avenge myself by one act of vengence on the Philistines because of my two eyes.” 29 Samson took hold of the two center columns on which the building was situated on them. He leaned himself against them, one in his right hand, and one in his left. 30 Then Samson said, “My soul will die with the Philistines!” He stretched out with his strength and the building fell on the governors and on all of the people who were in it. So the ones who died that he killed at his death were more than those he killed during his life. 31 Then his brothers and all the house of his father went down. They carried him, as they went back up. They buried him between Zorah and between Eshtaol in the burial place of Manoah, his father. He had judged Israel twenty years. Chapter 17 1 Now there was a man from the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Micah. 2 He said to his mother, “The one thousand one hundred silver pieces that were taken from you, about which you swore a curse, and moreover you uttered it in my ears—look! The silver is with me. I took it myself.” His mother said, “Blessed is my son by Yahweh!” 3 Then he brought back the one thousand one hundred silver pieces to his mother and his mother said, “I had entirely consecrated the silver to Yahweh, from my hand to my son in order to make an idol and a cast image. So now, I will return it back to you.” 4 Even so he restored the silver to his mother, his mother took two hundred silver pieces and she gave them to the refiner. He made it into an idol and a cast image, and so it was in the house of Micah. 5 Now the man Micah he had a house of gods. He made an ephod and family idols, and he even filled the hand of one of his sons so he was as a priest for him. 6 In those days there was not a king in Israel. Each man would do whatever was right in his eyes. 7 Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, from the family of Judah, and he was a Levite. He was sojourning there. 8 The man went out of the city, from Bethlehem in Judah to sojourn in whatever place he might find. He came to the hill country of Ephraim as far as the house of Micah as he made his way. 9 Micah said to him, “Where have you come from?” He replied to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to sojourn in whatever place I might find.” 10 Micah said to him, “Stay with me, and be as a father and as a priest to me. I myself will give to you ten silver pieces for the days, and provision of garments and your sustanance.” So the Levite went in. 11 So the Levite was willing to stay with the man, and the young man became to him as one of his sons. 12 Micah filled the hand of the Levite, and the young man became as a priest for him. So it was in the house of Micah. 13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that Yahweh will cause success for me, because I have this Levite as a priest.” Chapter 18 1 In those days there was not a king in Israel. Now in those days the tribe of the Danite was looking for a territory for itself to settle, because up to that day one had not fallen to it among the tribes of Israel for an inheritance. 2 The sons of Dan sent five men from their family, from their members men, sons of valor from Zorah and from Eshtaol, to scout out the land on foot, and to examine it thoroughly. They said to them, “Go! Search out the land thoroughly.” They came to the hill country of Ephraim, as far as the house of Micah, and they spent the night there. 3 They were among the house of Micah and they recognized the voice of the young Levite man. So they turned aside there and they said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What do you have here?” 4 He replied to them, “Like this and like this Micah has done for me; he has hired me and I am to him as a priest.” 5 They said to him, “Inquire, please, of God, that we may know whether our journey will have success, which we are going on it.” 6 The priest said to them, “Go in peace, before Yahweh is your journey which you are going on it.” 7 Then the five men left and they came to Laish. They saw the people who were in the midst of it were living in safety as the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure. There was no one causing them shame in any way in the land. Possessing restraint, they were far away from the Sidonians and there was no interaction for them with anyone. 8 Then they went to their brothers in Zorah and Eshtaol. Their brothers said to them, “How are you?” 9 They responded, “Get up at once that we may go up against them! For we have seen the land and look, it is exceedingly good. Yet you are keeping still. You must not be sluggish to go to enter in to possess the land. 10 When you go, you will come to a people living securely, and the land is spacious on both hands! For God has given it into your hands, a place where there is not a lack of any thing that is on the earth.” 11 So they journeyed away from there, six hundred men from the family of the Danite, out from Zorah and Eshtaol, girded with weapons of war. 12 They went up and they camped at Kiriath Jearim, in Judah. On account of this they call that place Mahaneh Dan to this day. It is back behind Kiriath Jearim. 13 They crossed over from there to the hill country of Ephraim, and they came up to the house of Micah. 14 Then the five men who had gone to scout out the land of Laish on foot responded to their brothers and they said, “Do you know that there are in these houses an ephod, family idols, a carved image, and a cast image? So now, consider what you will do.” 15 So they turned in there and they came to the house of the young man, the Levite, at the house of Micah, and they asked about his welfare. 16 Now six hundred men who were from the sons of Dan, the ones who were girded in their weapons of war, were stationed at the entrance of the gate. 17 The five men who had gone to scout out the land by foot went up, they came there. They took the carved image, the ephod, the family idols, and the cast image, while the priest was standing at the entrance of the gate along with the six hundred men who were girded with the weapons of war. 18 When these came into the house of Micah, and they took the carved image, the ephod, the family idols, and the cast image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” 19 They said to him, “Be quiet! Put your hand over your mouth and come with us, and be for us as a father and as a priest. Is it better your being a priest for the house of one man, or your being a priest for a tribe and for a family in Israel?” 20 The heart of the priest was agreeable, so he took the ephod, the family idols, and the carved image, and he went in the midst of the people. 21 Then they turned and they went away. They put the little children, the catle, and the property of value in front of themselves. 22 They had gone a great distance from the house of Micah, when the men who were in the houses which were near the house of Micah were called together, and they overtook the sons of Dan. 23 They called to the sons of Dan. They turned their faces around and they said to Micah, “What has happened to you that you have assembled together?” 24 He replied, “You took my gods that I made, and the priest, and you left. What do I have any longer? So how is it you can say to me, ‘What has happened to you?’” 25 The sons of Dan responded to him, “You should not make your voice heard among us, lest some men fierce in temperment will come with hostility against you, with the result that you would reap the destruction of your soul and the soul of your household.” 26 So the sons of Dan went their way since Micah perceived that they were stronger than him. He turned back and he returned to his house. 27 Now they had taken what Micah had made, and the priest who was his, and they came to Laish, to a people living undisturbed and feeling secure. They slaughtered them with the mouth of the sword and they burned the city with fire. 28 There was not a deliverer because it was far from Sidon, and there was no involvement for them with any man. It was in the valley that is near Beth Rehob. They rebuilt the city and they lived in it. 29 They called the name of the city Dan, in honor of the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel. However Laish was the name of the city at the first. 30 The sons of Dan raised up the carved image for themselves. Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manesseh, he along with his sons were priests for the tribe of the Danite until the day of the exile of the land. 31 So they set up for themselves the carved image belonging to Micah that he had made, all the days of the house of the true God being at Shiloh. Chapter 19 1 Now it happened in those days, when there was no king over Israel, that there was a man, a Levite, sojourning in the remotest parts of the hill country of Ephraim. He took for himself a woman, a concubine, from Bethlehem in Judah. 2 However, his concubine played the harlot against him and she went away from being with him to the house of her father, to Bethlehem in Judah. She was there for a period of days, four months. 3 Then her husband rose up and he went after her, to speak to her heart, in order to persuade to return to him. His young man was with him, and a team of donkeys. She brought him into the house of her father, and when the father of the young woman saw him, he was glad to meet him. 4 His father-in-law, the father of the young woman, prevailed against him so he stayed with him three days. They ate and they drank, and they spent the night there. 5 Now it happend on the fourth day that they got up early in the morning and he rose up to go, however the father of the young woman said to his son-in-law, “Strengthen your heart with a piece of bread, then afterwards you shall go.” 6 So the two of them sat down and they ate together, and they drank. Then the father of the young woman said to the man, “Please be willing and spend the night and your heart will be glad.” 7 Then the man rose up in order to leave,however his father-in-law urged him. So he stayed and he spent the night there. 8 He got up early in the morning on the fifth day in order to leave, but the father of the young woman said, “Please strengthen your heart.” So they lingered until the turning aside of the day, and the two of them ate. 9 When the man rose up to go, he and his concubine and his young man, his father-in-law, the father of the young woman said to him, “Look, please, the day has drawn toward evening. Please stay the night. See, the day is declining. Spend the night here and your heart will be glad. Then make an early start tomorrow for your journey and go to your tent.” 10 But the man was not willing to spend the night. So he got up and he left. He came as far as the region opposite Jebus, that is Jerusalem. Now with him was a team of donkeys equipped for riding, and also his concubine was with him. 11 They were near Jebus,and the daylight had greatly diminshed. So the young man said to his master, “Come, please, we should turn aside into this city of the Jebusite so we can spend the night in it.” 12 However his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into a city of a foreigner, where there are none here from the sons of Israel. Instead we will pass by until reaching Gibeah.” 13 Then he said to his young man, “Come, let us draw near to one of these places, and we will spend the night in either Gibeah or in Ramah.” 14 So they passed by and they went on. But the sun went down with regard to them in proximity to the region of Gibeah, which belonged to Benjamin. 15 As a result they turned aside there to come in to spend the night in the Gibeah area. They came in and they sat down in the open plaza of the city, but no one was receiving them into the house to spend the night. 16 Now, look, an old man was coming from his work, from the field at the evening. The man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was sojurning in the Gibeah area. But the men of the place were Benjamite. 17 He raised his eyes and he saw the traveling man in the open plaza of the city. Then the old man said, “Where are you going and from where are you coming?” 18 He said to him, “We are passing through from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim. I am from there. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to the house of Yahweh. However there is no one receiving me into the house. 19 Moreover, there is straw, also fodder for our donkeys. There is even bread and wine for me and for your maidservant, and for the young man with your servants. There is no lack of anything.” 20 The old man said, “Peace to you! Surely all of your need is upon me. Only you must not spend the night in the open plaza.” 21 So he brought him into his house and he poured out feed for the donkeys. They washed their feet and they ate and they drank. 22 They were making their heart glad, but look, the men of the city, men of sons of wickedness, had encircled themselves around the house, pounding repeatedly on the door. They said to the old man, the master of the house, saying, “Bring out the man who came to your house, so we will know him.” 23 The man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, please you must not act wickedly! Seeing that this man has come into my house, you must not do this disgraceful thing! 24 Here is my virgin daughter and his concubine. Please let me bring them out so you can violate them and do to them what is good in your eyes. But to this man do not do this wicked thing!” 25 But the men were not willing to listen to him, so the man seized his concubine and made her go forth to them who were outside. They knew her and they abused her the whole night until the morning. Then they sent her away at the rising of the dawn. 26 The woman came at the changing of the morning and she fell down at the entrance of the house of the man where her master was there, until the daylight. 27 Her master rose up in the morning and he opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way. But look, the woman, his concubine had fallen at the entrance of the house, and her hands were on the threshold. 28 He said to her, “Get up and let us go!” But there was no answering, so he took her on the donkey. Thus the man rose up and he went to his place. 29 When he came to his house, he took the knife, and he seized his concubine, and he cut her in pieces to her bones, into twelve pieces, and he sent her into all of the territory of Israel. 30 Now it would happen, everyone who saw it said, “Nothing has happened and never has been seen anything like this from the day of the coming up of the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt until this day. Consider about it for yourselves! Make a plan and speak up!” Chapter 20 1 Then all of the sons of Israel came forth, and the company was assembled as one man, from Dan and as far as Beersheba and the land of Gilead, before Yahweh at Mizpah. 2 The leaders of all of the people, of all of the tribes of Israel, stationed themselves among the company of the people of the true God, four hundred thousand, each a footsoldier wielding a sword. 3 Now the sons of Benjamin heard that the sons of Israel had gone up to Mizpah. Then the sons of Israel said, “Explain how this wicked thing has been brought about.” 4 So the Levite man, the husband of the woman who had been murdered, answered. He said, “I came, myself and my concubine, to the Gibeah region that belongs to Benjamin, to spend the night. 5 The citizens of the Gibeah region rose up against me. They surrounded the house at night because of me. They intended to kill me. Instead they assaulted my concubine so that she died. 6 I took back my concubine and cut her in pieces, and I sent her out into every territory of the inheritance of Israel, because they have committed a heinous crime and a disgrace in Israel. 7 Look, all of you sons of Israel, decide for yourselves advice and a plan here.” 8 All of the people rose up as one man, saying, “We will not go back, each one to his tent, and we will not return, each one to his house! 9 Instead now this is the thing that we should do to the Gibeah region, against it by lot. 10 We will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and one hundred of a thousand, and one thousand of ten thousand, to get provision for the people, in order to do at their coming to Gibeah in Benjamin, according to all the disgrace that it committed in Israel.” 11 So every man of Israel was assembled against the city, as one man, united companions. 12 The tribes of Israel sent men into all the tribes of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that has been done among you? 13 Therefore, now, give over the men, the sons of worthlessness, who are in the region of Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and thus we may incinerate evil out of Israel.” But they were not willing, Benjamin, to heed the voice of their brothers, the sons of Israel. 14 Then the sons of Benjamin assembled themselves out of the cities to the region of Gibeah, coming out to the battle against the sons of Israel. 15 The sons of Benjamin mobilized together from the cities on that day twenty-six thousand men wielding a sword. In addition, out of the inhabitants of the Gibeah region seven hundred chosen men had been mobilized. 16 Among all of these people were seven hundred chosen men, impeded in his right hand, each of whom could sling with a stone at a specific hair and he would not miss. 17 The men of Israel, besides Benjamin, mustered up for themselves four hundred thousand men wielding a sword, all of whom were men of war. 18 Then they arose and they went up to Bethel. The sons of Israel asked God and they said, “Who should go up for us at the beginning to the battle with the sons of Benjamin?” Yahweh directed, “It shall be Judah at the beginning.” 19 So the sons of Israel arose in the morning and they encamped near the region of Gibeah. 20 The men of Israel went forth to the battle against Benjamin. The men of Israel set themselves up for a battle against those in Gibeah. 21 But the sons of Benjamin came forth out of the Gibeah region, and they struck down among Israel twenty-two thousand men to the ground on that day. 22 However the people, the men of Israel, strengthened themselves and they continued to set up for battle at the place where they had set up there on the first day. 23 Then the sons of Israel went up and they wept before Yahweh until evening. They asked Yahweh, saying, “Should I continue to attack, to the battle against the sons of Benjamin, my brother?” Yahweh replied, “Go up against him!” 24 So the sons of Israel drew near to the sons of Benjamin on the second day. 25 Benjamin came forth to confront them from the Gibeah region on the second day, and against the sons of Israel they struck down to the ground another eighteen thousand men. All of these were wielders of a sword. 26 Then the sons of Israel and all the people went up and they came to Bethel. They wept, and they sat there before Yahweh. They fasted on that day until the evening, then they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before Yahweh. 27 The sons of Israel asked Yahweh, for the ark of the covenant of the true God was there in those days, 28 when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, was serving before it in those days, saying, “Should I continue to go forth to the battle once more against the sons of Benjamin, my brother, or should I stop?” Yahweh said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will give him into your hand.” 29 So Israel set groups in ambush around the Gibeah region on all sides. 30 The sons of Israel went up against the sons of Benjamin on the third day, and they set up for battle against the Gibeah region as was time after time. 31 The sons of Benjamin went forth to confront the people. They were lured away from the city, and they began to strike down some of the people. About thirty men of Israel were slain as was the other time on the roads, of which one went up to Bethel, and one went to the Gibeah region through the field. 32 Then the sons of Benjamin said, “They have been defeated before us, just as at the first.” But the sons of Israel said, “Let us flee so that we will draw him away from the city to the roads.” 33 Then every man of Israel rose up out of his place and they set up battle lines at Baal Tamar. The one hiding in ambush of Israel burst forth out of his place from Maareh Gibeah. 34 Ten thousand men, chosen out of all Israel came out in the sight of the Gibeah region, and the battle was heavy. But they did not know that this calamity was coming near to them. 35 Thus Yahweh defeated Benjamin before Israel. The sons of Israel destroyed Benjamin on that day, twenty five thousand one hundred men, everyone of those were wielding a sword. 36 So the sons of Benjamin saw that they were defeated. The men of Israel had given a place to Benjamin, because they were confident in the group hiding in ambush that they had placed around the Gibeah region. 37 Then the group hiding in ambush hurried and they spread out around the Gibeah region. The group hiding in ambush marched out and it struck all of the city with the edge of the sword. 38 Now there was the prearranged plan for the men of Israel on behalf of the group hiding in ambush: load up so that they would send the rising column of the smoke up out of the city, 39 when the men of Israel retreated from the battle. Then Benjamin began to attack, among the men of Israel about thirty men were slain. For they said, “Surely he is absolutely defeated before us, as in the first battle.” 40 But when the signal began to rise up out of the city, a pillar of smoke, then Benjamin retreated away from it. Indeed, look, the entirety of the city had gone up to the heavens. 41 Then the men of Israel turned back. Each man of Benjamin was horrified, for he saw that the calamity had come upon them. 42 So they retreated before the men of Israel to the way of the wilderness, but the fighting overtook him. Meanwhile those coming out from the cities were destroying him in the very midst of him. 43 They surrounded Benjamin, they put him to flight. With ease they trampled him down as far as opposite the Gibeah region, in the direction of the rising sun. 44 They fell from Benjamin, eighteen thousand men, all of these were men of valor. 45 Then they turned and they fled to the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon. They gleaned along the pathways five thousand men. They pursued closely after him as far as Gidom, and they struck down from him two thousand more men. 46 So it happened that all of the fallen ones of Benjamin were twenty-five thousand men wielding a sword, on that day. All of these were men of valor. 47 But six hundred men turned back and they fled to the wilderness, toward the rock of Rimmon. They stayed at the rock of Rimmon four months. 48 Then the men of Israel returned to the sons of Benjamin. They struck them down with the edge of the sword, even a city in entirety, including cattle as well as everything that was found. Also all of the cities that were found, they set on fire. Chapter 21 1 Now each man of Israel bound himself by an oath at Mizpah, saying, “Everyone of us shall not give his daughter to Benjamin for a wife.” 2 Then the people came to Bethel and they sat there until the evening before the true God. They lifted up their voices and they wept, a loud weeping. 3 They said, “Why, O Yahweh, God of Israel, has this happened to Israel, to be missing today one tribe from Israel?” 4 Now it happened the next day that the people rose up early and they built an altar there and they offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings. 5 The sons of Israel said, “Who is it that did not go up with the assembly out of all the tribes of Israel to Yahweh?” For the great oath was against whoever did not go up to Yahweh at Mizpah, saying, “Surely he must be put to death.” 6 The sons of Israel were moved to pity towards Benjamin, his brother. They said, “Today one tribe has been hewn down from Israel. 7 What can we do for them, for the ones remaining, for a wife, since we have put ourselves under an oath to Yahweh to not give to them from our daughters for a wife?” 8 They said, “Who is anyone from the tribes of Israel who did not go up to Yahweh at Mizpah?” Now look, not anyone had gone to the camp, to the assembly, from Jabesh Gilead. 9 When the people inspected themselves, look, not anyone was there from the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead. 10 So the assembly sent twelve thousand men there, from the sons of the army, and they instructed them, saying, “Go, and you must strike down the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, even the women and the children. 11 This is the thing that you must do: every male, and every woman who has known the bed of a male, you must ban for destruction.” 12 They found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young women, virgins, who had not known a man by lying with a male, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh which was in the land of Canaan. 13 The entire assembly reached out and they spoke to the sons of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon, and they proclaimed peace to them. 14 Benjamin returned at that time and they gave to them the women who were alive from the women of Jabesh Gilead. But they had not found sufficient for them. 15 Now the people were sorry for Benjamin, because Yahweh had made a breach between the tribes of Israel. 16 Then the elders of the assembly said, “How can we provide wives for the remaining ones, since women from Benjamin have been exterminated?” 17 They said, “There must be an inheritance for the escaped remnant of Benjamin, so that a tribe is not blotted out from Israel. 18 But we are not able to give them wives from our daughters, because the sons of Israel are bound to an oath, saying, ‘Cursed is anyone who gives a wife to Benjamin.’” 19 So they said, “Look, there is a feast for Yahweh from time to time at Shiloh, which is on the north of Bethel, to the direction of the rising of the sun on the road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.” 20 They instructed the sons of Benjamin, saying, “Go and wait in hiding in the vineyards. 21 You must watch, and look when the daughters of Shiloh are coming forth to dance in the dances, then you come forth out of the vineyards. You will catch for yourselves, each one his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and then you can go back to the land of Benjamin. 22 It will happen, when their fathers or their brothers come out to argue with us, that we will say to them, ‘Give them freely to us, because we did not take for each man his wife in the battle. Since you did not give them at that time, you would be guilty.’” 23 The sons of Benjamin did so. They carried off wives sufficient for their number from the ones who were dancing, who they snatched away. Then they went and they returned to their inheritance. They rebuilt the cities and they lived in them. 24 Then the sons of Israel disbursed themselves from there at that time, each one to his tribe and to his family. Thus they went away from there each one to his inheritance. 25 In those days there was not a king in Israel. Each one would do what was right in his own eyes. Ruth Chapter 1 1 Now it happened in the days of the ruling of the judges that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man from Bethlehem of Judah went to live in the fields of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2 And the name of the man was Elimelek, and the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. All of them were Ephrathites from Bethlehem of Judah. So they traveled to the fields of Moab and lived there. 3 Then Elimelek, the husband of Naomi, died. And she was left, her and her two sons. 4 And they took wives for themselves from the women of Moab; the name of the first woman was Orpah, and the name of the second woman was Ruth. And they lived there for about ten years. 5 And the two of them, Mahlon and Kilion, also died, and the woman was left without her two children or her husband. 6 Then she and her daughters-in-law arose to return from the fields of Moab, for she had heard in a field of Moab that Yahweh had visited his people, giving them bread. 7 So she went out from the place where she had been living, and her two daughters-in-law were with her. And they traveled down the road to return to the land of Judah. 8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return, each woman to the house of her mother. May Yahweh act with you in covenant faithfulness as you have acted with the dead and with me. 9 May Yahweh grant to you that you shall find rest, each woman in the house of her husband.” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and cried. 10 But they said to her, “Rather, we will return with you to your people.” 11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters! Why would you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb, that they may become husbands for you? 12 Turn back, my daughters, go! For I am too old to belong to a husband. If I said I have hope, and if I belonged to a husband even tonight, and even if I would give birth to sons, 13 would you therefore wait until the time when they are grown? Would you for this reason keep yourselves from belonging to a husband? No, my daughters! For it is exceedingly bitter for me, more than for you, that the hand of Yahweh has gone out against me.” 14 Then they lifted up their voices and cried again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. 15 Then she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has turned back to her people and to her gods. Go back after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said, “Do not press me to forsake you or to turn back from following you. For I will go to the place where you go, and I will stay in the place where you stay. Your people are my people, and your God is my God. 17 In the place where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May Yahweh do thus to me, and thus may he add, if death separates between me and between you.” 18 Then she saw that she was determined to go with her, and she refrained from speaking to her. 19 So the two of them traveled until they came to Bethlehem. And it happened that, as soon as they came to Bethlehem, the entire town was very excited on account of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” 20 But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi. Call me Mara, for the Almighty has acted exceedingly bitterly to me. 21 As for me, I went out full, but Yahweh has brought me back empty. Why would you call me Naomi? But as for Yahweh, he has testified against me, and the Almighty has done evil to me.” 22 So Naomi returned, with Ruth the Moabite woman her daughter-in-law, with her, the woman who returned from the fields of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the harvest of barley. Chapter 2 1 Now Naomi had a relative of her husband, a man of great worth from the clan of Elimelek. And his name was Boaz. [1] 2 And Ruth, the Moabite woman, said to Naomi, “Please, I want to go to the field and glean heads of grain after the one in whose eyes I find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 So she left and went to glean in the field after the reapers. And by chance, she came to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek. 4 Then behold, Boaz coming from Bethlehem! And he said to the reapers, “Yahweh be with you.” And they said to him, “May Yahweh bless you.” 5 Then Boaz said to his servant who was set over the reapers, “Who does this young woman belong to?” 6 Then the servant who was set over the reapers answered and said, “She is a young Moabite woman, the woman who came back with Naomi from the land of Moab. 7 And she said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the bundles of grain after the reapers.’ And she came and has continued from then, in the morning, until now. This is her resting in the house a little.” [2] 8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Will you not listen to me, my daughter? Do not go to glean in another field, and do not even go away from here. But do this: stick closely to my young female workers. 9 Keep your eyes on the field where they are reaping and follow behind them. Have I not instructed the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the waterpots and drink from what the young men draw.” 10 Then she fell on her face and bowed down to the ground and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” 11 Then Boaz answered and said to her, “Everything that you have done with your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully reported to me. You left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and you came to a people whom you did not know the day before yesterday. 12 May Yahweh reward your work, and may your full wages come from Yahweh, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.” 13 Then she said, “May I find favor in your eyes, my lord, since you have comforted me, and since you have spoken to the heart of your female servant. But as for me, I am not even like one of your female servants.” 14 Then, at the time of the meal, Boaz said to her, “Come here, and eat from the bread, and dip your piece in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he offered to her some roasted grain. And she ate, and she was satisfied, and she had some left over. 15 Then she got up to glean. Then Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the bundles, and do not shame her. 16 Even be sure to pull some out from the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her!” 17 So she gleaned in the field until the evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18 And she lifted it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. Then she took out what she had left over after she was satisfied, and she gave it to her. 19 Then her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today, and where did you work? May the one who noticed you be blessed.” Then she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked. And she said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by Yahweh, who has not forsaken his covenant faithfulness both with the living and with the dead.” Naomi also said to her, “That man is closely related to us. He is one of our kinsman-redeemers.” 21 Then Ruth the Moabite woman said, “In addition, he said to me, ‘You should keep close by the servants who belong to me until the time when they have finished all of the harvest that belongs to me.’” 22 Then Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young female workers, so that they do not harm you in any other field.” 23 So she stayed close by the young female workers of Boaz to glean until the harvest of barley and the harvest of wheat were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law. 2:1 [1] a relative of her husband or perhaps an acquaintance of her husband (Hebrew Ketiv) 2:7 [2] This is her … a little meaning of Hebrew uncertain Chapter 3 1 Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek a resting place for you, that will be good for you? 2 So now, is not Boaz our relative, the one with whose young female workers you have been working? Look, he will be winnowing barley at the threshing floor tonight. 3 Now wash yourself, and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak, and go down to the threshing floor. Do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. [1] 4 And let it be that when he lies down, you know the exact place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet, and lie down. Then he, himself, will tell you what you should do.” 5 And she said to her, “Everything that you say, I will do.” 6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to everything that her mother-in-law had instructed her. 7 And Boaz ate and drank, and his heart was good, and he went to lie down at the end of the pile of grain. Then she came secretly, and uncovered his feet, and lay down. 8 Then it happened in the middle of the night that the man was startled and turned over. And behold, a woman was lying at his feet! 9 And he said, “Who are you?” Then she said, “I am Ruth, your female servant. And you can spread the edge of your cloak over your female servant, for you are a kinsman-redeemer.” 10 Then he said, “Blessed be you by Yahweh, my daughter! You have made your covenant faithfulness better at the end than at the beginning by not going after the young men, either poor or rich. 11 So now, my daughter, do not be afraid! Everything that you say, I will do for you; for the whole gate of my people knows that you are a woman of worth. 12 And now, it is indeed true that I am a kinsman-redeemer, but there is a kinsman-redeemer even nearer than I. 13 Stay here tonight. And when it is morning, if he will redeem you, good, let him redeem you. But if he does not want to redeem you, then I will redeem you myself, as Yahweh lives. Lie down until morning.” 14 So she lay at his feet until the morning, but she got up before a man could recognize his friend. And he said, “Do not let it be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” 15 Then he said, “Bring the cloak that is on you, and hold it.” So she held it. And he measured six measures of barley and put it on her. Then he went into the city. [2] 16 Then she came to her mother-in-law, and she said, “Who are you, my daughter?” Then she told her everything that the man had done for her. 17 And she said, “He gave to me these six measures of barley, for he said, ‘You must not go empty to your mother-in-law.’” 18 Then she said, “Sit, my daughter, until the time when you know how the matter falls. For the man will not rest unless he has finished this matter today.” 3:3 [1] your cloak or perhaps your clothes (Hebrew Qere) 3:15 [2] Then he went or perhaps Then she went (variant Hebrew manuscripts) Chapter 4 1 Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. And behold, the kinsman-redeemer was passing by, the same man about whom Boaz had spoken earlier. And he said, “Turn aside and sit down here, a certain someone.” So he turned aside and sat down. 2 Then he took ten men from the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. 3 Then he said to the kinsman-redeemer, “Naomi, the woman who has returned from the fields of Moab, is selling the portion of the field that belonged to our brother Elimelek. 4 Now as for me, I said that I should uncover your ear, saying, ‘Buy it,’ in the presence of those who are sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you will not redeem it, then tell me so that I may know, for there is no one to redeem it besides you, and I am after you.” Then he said, “I will redeem it myself.” [1][2] 5 Then Boaz said, “On the day that you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite woman, the wife of the dead man, in order to raise up the name of the dead over his inheritance.” [3] 6 Then the kinsman-redeemer said, “I am not able to redeem it for myself without damaging my own inheritance. You redeem for yourself my right of redemption, for I am not able to redeem it.” 7 Now, in earlier times in Israel, this is how any matter was confirmed concerning redemption and concerning the exchange of goods: a man took off his sandal and gave it to his friend. So this was the form of legal agreement in Israel. 8 So the kinsman-redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” and he took off his sandal. 9 Then Boaz said to the elders and to all the people, “You are witnesses today that I am buying from the hand of Naomi everything that belonged to Elimelek and everything that belonged to Kilion and Mahlon. 10 And Ruth, the Moabite woman, the widow of Mahlon, I am also acquiring as my wife, in order to raise up the name of the dead man over his inheritance, so that the name of the dead man will not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his place. Today you are witnesses!” 11 And all the people who were in the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May Yahweh make this woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who built up the house of Israel. Achieve honor in Ephrathah, and be renowned in Bethlehem! 12 And may your house become like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, from the offspring that Yahweh gives you from this young woman.” 13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her. Then Yahweh gave her conception, and she bore a son. 14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be Yahweh, who has not left you today without a kinsman-redeemer. May his name be renowned in Israel! 15 Now he will be for you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you, has borne him—she who is better to you than seven sons.” 16 And Naomi took the child and put him on her lap, and she became his nurse. 17 So the neighbor women called out a name for him, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” And they called his name Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. 18 Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron; 19 and Hezron fathered Ram; and Ram fathered Amminadab; 20 and Amminadab fathered Nahshon; and Nahshon fathered Salmon; 21 and Salmon fathered Boaz; and Boaz fathered Obed; 22 and Obed fathered Jesse; and Jesse fathered David. 4:4 [1] if you will not redeem it or perhaps if he will not redeem it (variant Hebrew manuscripts) 4:4 [2] so that I may know or perhaps and let me know (Hebrew Qere) 4:5 [3] you also must acquire or perhaps then I am acquiring (Hebrew Ketiv) 1 Samuel Chapter 1 1 Now there was one man from the Ramathaim, the Zuphites, from the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. [1] 2 And for him were two wives: the name of the first was Hannah and the name of the second was Peninnah. And it happened that for Peninnah were children, but for Hannah there were no children. 3 And that man went up from his city from days to days to worship and to sacrifice to Yahweh of hosts in Shiloh. And the two of the sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, priests of Yahweh, were there. 4 And it happened the day when Elkanah sacrificed that he gave portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters. 5 But to Hannah he would give one portion of two faces, for he loved Hannah. (Now Yahweh had shut her womb.) 6 And her rival would provoke her, even with provocation in order to cause her to thunder, because Yahweh had shut up her womb. 7 And thus it would be year by year, as often as she went up in the house of Yahweh, thus she would provoke her. And she would weep and would not eat. 8 And Elkanah her husband would say to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart displeased? Am I not better to you than ten sons?” 9 And Hannah got up after eating and after drinking in Shiloh. (Now Eli the priest was sitting upon the seat by the doorway to the temple of Yahweh.) 10 And she was bitter of spirit, and she prayed to Yahweh and wept abundantly. 11 And she vowed a vow and said, “Yahweh of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your female servant and remember me, and not forget your female servant, and give to your female servant a seed of men, then I will give him to Yahweh all the days of his life, and a razor will not go up on his head.” 12 And it happened when she increased to pray before the face of Yahweh that Eli was watching her mouth. 13 Now Hannah, she was speaking to her heart, only her lips were quivering and her voice was not heard. So Eli thought of her as drunk. 14 And Eli said to her, “Until when will you make yourself drunk? Remove your wine from with you!” 15 And Hannah answered and said, “No, my master, a woman difficult of spirit am I. And wine and intoxicating drink I have not drunk, but I have been pouring out my soul before the face of Yahweh. 16 Do not give your female servant to the face of a daughter of worthlessness. For I have been speaking from the abundance of my complaint and my provocation until now.” 17 And Eli answered and said, “Go in peace. And may the God of Israel grant your request that you requested from with him.” 18 And she said, “May your female servant find favor in your eyes.” And the woman went to her way and she ate. And her face was no longer against her. 19 And they rose early in the morning and worshiped before the face of Yahweh. And they returned and came to their house in the Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife and Yahweh remembered her. 20 And it happened at the turning of the days that Hannah conceived and bore a son. And she called his name Samuel, for, “I requested him from Yahweh.” 21 And the man Elkanah and all his house went up to sacrifice to Yahweh the sacrifice of the days and his vow. 22 But Hannah did not go up. For she had said to her husband, “Until the boy is weaned, then I will bring him. And he will appear with the face of Yahweh and dwell there until eternity.” 23 And Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do the good thing in your eyes. Stay until you have weaned him. Only, may Yahweh raise up his word.” And the woman stayed and nursed her son until she weaned him. 24 And she brought him up with her when she had weaned him, with three bulls and one ephah of flour and a skin of wine. And she brought him to the house of Yahweh in Shiloh. (Now the boy was a boy.) 25 And they slaughtered the bull. And they brought the boy to Eli. 26 And she said, “Please, my master! As your spirit is alive, my master! I am the woman who was standing with you at here to pray to Yahweh. 27 For this boy I prayed and Yahweh gave to me my request which I had requested from with him. 28 And also I have lent him to Yahweh all the days that he is lent to Yahweh.” And he worshiped Yahweh there. 1:1 [1] Some modern versions have Ramathaim Zophim, but it is understood that Zophim really refers to the region in which the clan descended from Zuph resided. Chapter 2 1 And Hannah prayed and said, “My heart exults in Yahweh. My horn is exalted in Yahweh. My mouth is wide against my enemies. For I rejoice in your salvation. 2 There is no one holy like Yahweh. Indeed, there is no one besides you. And there is no rock like our God. 3 Do not speak so much very proudly! Let arrogance go out from your mouth. For Yahweh is a God of knowledge. And by him actions are weighed. 4 Mighty men are shattered of bow. But those who stumble gird on strength. 5 The satisified ones hired themselves out for bread, but the hungry ones cease. Even the barren woman bears seven, but the woman of many sons languishes. 6 Yahweh puts to death and brings to life, brings down to Sheol and brings up. 7 Yahweh makes poor and makes rich, makes low, but also lifts up. 8 Raising the lowly from the dust, he lifts up the needy from the trash heap to make sit with nobles and causes them to inherit the seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are for Yahweh and he has set the world on them. 9 He will keep the feet of his loyal ones, but the wicked ones will be silenced in the darkness. For not by strength does a man prevail. 10 By Yahweh the ones who oppose him will be shattered. He makes thunder against him in the heavens. Yahweh will judge the ends of the earth. And he will give strength to his king and lift up the horn of his anointed one.” 11 And Elkanah went to the Ramah, to his house. And the boy was serving Yahweh with the face of Eli the priest. 12 Now the sons of Eli were sons of worthlessness. They did not know Yahweh. 13 And the custom of the priests with the people was: when any man was sacrificing a sacrifice, then the servant of the priest would come with a fork of three prongs in his hand as soon as the meat was boiling. 14 And he would stick it into the pan, or into the kettle, or into the cauldron, or into the pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take with him. Thus they did to all Israel, the ones who came there at Shiloh. 15 Also, before they burned the fat, the servant of the priest would come, and he would say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat to roast for the priest. And he will not take boiled meat from you, but only living.” 16 And the man would say to him, “Let them burn the fat completely as the day, then take for yourself what your self desires,” And he would say, “No, rather now you will give it; and if not, I will take it by force.” 17 And the sin of the young men was very great with the face of Yahweh. For the men spurned the offering of Yahweh. 18 And Samuel was serving with the face of Yahweh, a boy girded with an ephod of linen. 19 And his mother would make a small robe for him and she would bring it to him from days to days, when she came up with her husband to sacrifice the sacrifice of the days. 20 And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and would say, “May Yahweh set seed from this woman for you in place of the request that he requested to Yahweh.” And they would go to his place. 21 Because Yahweh visited Hannah, she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew with Yahweh. 22 Now Eli was very old. And he heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel and that they were lying with the women who were serving at the opening of the Tent of Meeting. 23 And he said to them, “Why do you do like these things that I am hearing, your evil things, from with all these people? 24 No, my sons! For the report is not good that I am hearing the people of Yahweh passing on. 25 If a man sins against a man, then God will mediate for him; but if a man sins against Yahweh, who will intercede for him?” And they would not listen to the voice of their father, for Yahweh desired to put them to death. 26 Now the boy Samuel was going and growing, and good, both with Yahweh and also with men. 27 And a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Did I clearly reveal myself to the house of your father, when they were in Egypt for the house of Pharaoh? 28 And I chose him from all the tribes of Israel to be for me for a priest, to bring up on my altar, to burn incense, to carry an ephod before my face. And I gave to the house of your father all the offerings made by fire of the sons of Israel. 29 Why do you kick at my sacrifice and at my offering that I commanded for the Dwelling, and honor your sons more than me by fattening yourselves from the first of every offering of Israel, of my people?’ 30 Therefore, this is the declaration of Yahweh the God of Israel: ‘I indeed said your house and the house of your father would walk about before my face until eternity.’ But now this is the declaration of Yahweh: ‘Far be it for me! For I will honor those who honor me, but those who despise me will be slighted. 31 Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your arm and the arm of the house of your father from there being an old man in your house. 32 And you will see the distress of the Dwelling, in all that he will do good with Israel. And there will not be an old man in your house all the days. 33 But I will not cut off a man from near my altar for you, to cause your eyes to fail and to cause your spirit to grieve. But all the increase of your house will die as men. 34 And this is the sign for you that will come to the two of your sons, to Hophni and Phinehas: in one day the two of them will die. 35 And I will raise up for myself a priest who is faithful. He will do just as is in my heart and in my self. And I will build for him a house that is faithful; and he will walk before the face of my anointed one all the days. 36 And it will happen that all the ones who remain in your house will come to bow down to him for a payment of silver and a round loaf of bread. And he will say, “Please assign me to one of the priestly positions to eat a bit of bread.”’” Chapter 3 1 Now the boy Samuel was serving Yahweh before the face of Eli. And the word of Yahweh was rare in those days; there was no widespread vision. 2 And it happened in that day, that Eli was lying down in his place. And his eyes had begun to be dim; he was not able to see. 3 And before the lamp of God had gone out Samuel was lying down in the temple of Yahweh, there where the Box of God was. 4 And Yahweh called to Samuel. And he said, “Here I am.” 5 And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called to me.” And he said, “I did not call. Go back, lie down.” And he went and lay down. 6 And Yahweh did again call again, “Samuel.” And Samuel rose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called to me.” And he said, “I did not call, my son. Go back, lie down.” 7 (Now it was before Samuel knew Yahweh, and before the word of Yahweh had been revealed to him.) 8 And Yahweh did again call Samuel at the third time. And he rose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called to me.” And Eli understood that Yahweh was calling to the boy. 9 And Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down. And it will happen that, if he calls to you, then you shall say, ‘Speak, Yahweh, for your servant is listening.’” And Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10 And Yahweh came and stationed himself and called as time on time, “Samuel, Samuel.” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” 11 And Yahweh said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel that everyone who hears it, the two of his ears will tingle. 12 In that day I will raise against Eli all that I have spoken against his house, beginning and ending. 13 And I have told him that I am about to judge his house until eternity because of the iniquity that he knew. For his sons were cursing against themselves and he did not rebuke them. 14 And therefore, I have sworn to the house of Eli: The iniquity of the house of Eli will not be covered by sacrifice or by offering until eternity.” 15 And Samuel lay down until the morning, and he opened the doors of the house of Yahweh. And Samuel was afraid of telling the vision to Eli. 16 And Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.” 17 And he said, “What is the word that he spoke to you? Do not hide it from me! Thus may God do to you and thus may he add, if you hide from me a word of all the word that he spoke to you.” 18 And Samuel told him all the words, and did not hide it from him. And he said, “It is Yahweh. May he do the good in his eyes.” 19 And Samuel grew. And Yahweh was with him and he did not cause any of his words to fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan and as far as Beersheba knew that Samuel was faithful as a prophet of Yahweh. 21 And Yahweh continued to appear in Shiloh. For Yahweh revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of Yahweh. Chapter 4 1 And the word of Samuel was to all Israel. And Israel went out to meet the Philistines for the battle. And they camped at Ebenezer and the Philistines camped at Aphek. 2 And the Philistines lined up to meet Israel and the battle spread and Israel was defeated before the face of the Philistines. And they struck down about 4,000 men in the battle line in the field. [1] 3 And the people came into the camp and the elders of Israel said, “Why did Yahweh strike us today before the face of the Philistines? Let us take for ourselves the Box of the Covenant of Yahweh from Shiloh. And it will come in our midst and it will save us from the palm of our enemies.” 4 And the people sent to Shiloh and from there they lifted the Box of the Covenant of Yahweh of hosts, who sits on the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the Box of the Covenant of God. 5 And it happened as soon as the Box of the Covenant of Yahweh came into the camp, that all Israel shouted a great shout. And the earth resounded. 6 And the Philistines heard the sound of the shout, and they said, “What is the sound of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews?” Then they knew that the Box of Yahweh had come into the camp. 7 And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “A god has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! For it was not like this yesterday and three days ago! 8 Woe to us! Who will rescue us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are they: the gods who struck the Egyptians with every plague in the wilderness. 9 Strengthen yourselves and become men, Philistines, lest you serve for the Hebrews, just as they have served for you. Now become men and fight!” 10 And the Philistines fought, and Israel was struck and fled, a man to his tent, and it was a very great blow. And 30,000 foot soldiers from Israel fell. 11 And the Box of God was taken. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died. 12 And a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh on that day. And his clothing was torn and earth was on his head. 13 And he came, and behold, Eli was sitting on the seat at the hand of the road watching because his heart was trembling concerning the Box of God. Now the man came to report in the city, and all the city cried out. 14 And Eli heard the sound of the outcry, and he said, “What is the sound of this tumult?” And the man hurried and came and reported to Eli. 15 Now Eli was a son of 98 years. And his eyes were set and he was not able to see. 16 And the man said to Eli, “I am the one who has come from the battle line. As for me, I fled from the battle line today.” And he said, “What was the matter, my son?” 17 And the one who brought news answered and said, “Israel fled before the face of the Philistines. And also, there has been a great blow among the people. And also, the two of your sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died, and the Box of God was taken.” 18 And it happened, as soon as he mentioned the Box of God, that he fell backward from on the seat beside the hand of the gate. And his neck was broken and he died, because the man was old and heavy. And he had judged Israel 40 years. 19 Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant, about to give birth. And she heard the news about the Box of God being taken and that her father-in-law and her husband died. And she knelt down and gave birth, for her pains had turned on her. 20 And about the time of her dying, the women who stood over her said, “Do not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son.” But she did not answer and did not put her heart. 21 And she called the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!” about the Box of God being taken, and about her father-in-law and her husband. 22 And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, because the Box of God has been taken.” 4:2 [1] and … spread meaning of Hebrew uncertain Chapter 5 1 Now the Philistines had taken the Box of God. And they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2 And the Philistines took the Box of God, and brought it to the house of Dagon. And they placed it beside Dagon. 3 And the Ashdodites rose early on the next day, and behold, Dagon had fallen to his face to the ground before the face of the Box of Yahweh! And they took Dagon and returned him to his place. 4 And they rose early in the morning on the next day, and behold, Dagon had fallen to his face to the ground before the face of the Box of Yahweh! And the head of Dagon and the two of the palms of his hands were cut off, on the threshhold. Only Dagon was left on him. 5 Therefore, the priests of Dagon and all the ones who enter the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshhold of Dagon in Ashdod, until this day. 6 And the hand of Yahweh was heavy on the Ashdodites and he devastated them. And he struck them with tumors, Ashdod and its territories. 7 And the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, and they said, “The Box of the God of Israel should not stay with us because his hand is hard on us and on Dagon our god.” 8 And they sent and gathered all of the rulers of the Philistines to them. And they said, “What should we do with the Box of the God of Israel?” And they said, “Let the Box of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath.” And they brought around the Box of the God of Israel. 9 And it happened after they brought it around, that the hand of Yahweh was on the city, a very great tumult. And he struck the men of the city from small and as far as great. And tumors broke out to them. 10 And they sent the Box of God to Ekron. And it happened as soon as the Box of God entered Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought around to me the Box of the God of Israel to put me and my people to death!” 11 And they sent and gathered all the rulers of the Philistines. And they said, “Send away the Box of the God of Israel, and let it return to its place, and it will not put me and my people to death.” For there was a tumult of death in all the city. The hand of God was very heavy there. 12 And the men who did not die were struck with the tumors. And the cry of the city went up to the heavens. Chapter 6 1 And the Box of Yahweh was in the field of the Philistines seven months. 2 And the Philistines called to the priests and to the ones who practice divination, saying, “What should we do for the Box of Yahweh? Make known to us with what we should send it away to its place.” 3 And they said, “If you are about to send away the Box of the God of Israel, do not send it away empty, but surely return to him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why his hand has not turned aside from you.” 4 And they said, “What is the guilt offering that we should return to him?” And they said, “Five tumors of gold and five mice of gold, from the number of the rulers of the Philistines, for one plague was for all of them and for your rulers. 5 And you shall make images of your tumors and images of your mice, the ones destroying the land, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will lighten his hand from on you and from on your gods and from on your land. 6 And why do you make heavy your heart, just as the Egyptians and Pharaoh made their heart heavy? When he dealt severely with them, did they not send them away and they went? 7 So now, take and make one new cart with two nursing cows on which a yoke has not gone up. And tie the cows to the cart and return their sons from behind them to the house. 8 And take the Box of Yahweh and put it into the cart, and set the objects of gold that you are returning to him as a guilt offering in the box by its side. And send it away and it will go. 9 And look; if it goes up the way of its own territory, Beth Shemesh, he has done this great evil to us. But if not, then we will know that his hand did not strike us. It happened to us by chance.” 10 And the men did thus, and they took two nursing cows, and tied them to the cart. But they shut up their sons in the house. 11 And they set the Box of Yahweh into the cart with the box and the mice of gold and the images of their tumors. 12 And the cows went straight in the way, on the road of Beth Shemesh. They went in one highway, going and lowing, and they did not turn aside right or left. And the rulers of the Philistines were going after them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh. 13 Now Beth Shemesh was reaping the harvest of wheat in the valley. And they lifted up their eyes and saw the Box, and they rejoiced to see it. 14 And the cart came into the field of Joshua the Bethshemite and stood there, and a large stone was there. And they split the wood pieces of the cart, and offered up the cows as a burnt up offering to Yahweh. 15 And the Levites brought down the Box of Yahweh and the box that was with it, in which was the objects of gold, and they set them on the large stone. And the men of Beth Shemesh offered up burnt up offerings and sacrificed sacrifices on that day to Yahweh. 16 And the five rulers of the Philistines saw and returned to Ekron on that day. 17 And these are the tumors of gold which the Philistines returned as a guilt offering to Yahweh: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron. 18 And the mice of gold were from the number of all the cities of the Philistines of the five rulers, from the cities of fortification and as far as the villages of the open country, and as far as the great Abel on which they rested the Box of Yahweh. It is in the field of Joshua the Bethshemite until this day. 19 And he struck among the men of Beth Shemesh because they had looked in the Box of Yahweh. And he struck 50,070 men among the people. And the people mourned because Yahweh had stricken a great blow among the people. [1] 20 And the men of Beth Shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before the face of Yahweh, this holy God? And to whom will he go up from on us?” 21 And they sent messengers to those dwelling in Kiriath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the Box of Yahweh; come down and bring it up to you.” 6:19 [1] Instead of 50,070 men , a few later copies and modern versions have, 70 men . Chapter 7 1 And the men of Kiriath Jearim came and lifted up the Box of Yahweh, and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill. And they consecrated Eleazar his son to keep the Box of Yahweh. 2 And it happened from the day of the dwelling of the Box in Kiriath Jearim, that the days were numerous, and they were 20 years. And all the house of Israel lamented after Yahweh. 3 And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, saying “If you are going to return to Yahweh with all your heart, remove the gods of the foreigner and the Ashtoreths from your midst. And make firm your heart to Yahweh, and serve him alone, then he will rescue you from the hand of the Philistines.” 4 And the sons of Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtoreths. And they served Yahweh alone. 5 And Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to the Mizpah. And I will pray for you to Yahweh.” 6 And they gathered at the Mizpah, and drew water and poured it out before the face of Yahweh. And they fasted on that day and said there, “We have sinned against Yahweh.” And Samuel judged the sons of Israel in the Mizpah. 7 And the Philistines heard that the sons of Israel had gathered at the Mizpah, and the rulers of the Philistines went up against Israel. And the sons of Israel heard, and they were afraid because of the face of the Philistines. 8 And the sons of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not be silent from us, from crying out to Yahweh our God! And may he save us from the hand of the Philistines.” 9 And Samuel took one lamb of milk and he offered it up, a whole burnt up offering to Yahweh. And Samuel cried out to Yahweh for Israel, and Yahweh answered him. 10 (Now Samuel was offering up the burnt up offering, and the Philistines approached for the battle with Israel.) And Yahweh thundered with a great sound on that day against the Philistines and confused them, and they were struck before the face of Israel. 11 And the men of Israel went out from the Mizpah, and they pursued the Philistines and struck them down as far as below Beth Kar. 12 And Samuel took one stone and set it between the Mizpah and the Shen. And he called its name Ebenezer, and he said, “As far as here Yahweh has helped us.” 13 And the Philistines were subdued and did not do again to enter the border of Israel. And the hand of Yahweh was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. 14 And the cities that the Philistines had taken from with Israel were returned to Israel, from Ekron and as far as Gath. And Israel rescued their territory from the hand of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites. 15 And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. 16 And he went as often as year by year and went around Bethel, and the Gilgal, and the Mizpah. And he judged Israel, all these places. 17 And his returning place was the Ramah, because his house was there; and there he judged Israel. And he built an altar there to Yahweh. Chapter 8 1 And it happened when Samuel was old, that he appointed his sons judges of Israel. 2 And the name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not walk in his ways, and they reached out after dishonest gain. And they took a bribe and perverted justice. 4 And all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at the Ramah. 5 And they said to him, “Behold, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 And the matter was evil in the eyes of Samuel when they said, “Give to us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to Yahweh. 7 And Yahweh said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people according to all that they say to you. For they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from reigning over them. 8 Like all the deeds that they have done from the day I brought them up from Egypt and until this day, they have forsaken me and served other gods. So they are doing also to you. 9 And now, listen to their voice. However, solemnly warn them and tell them the custom of the king who will rule over them.” 10 And Samuel said all the words of Yahweh to the people who were requesting a king from him. 11 And he said, “This will be the custom of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them for himself in his chariots and among his horsemen, and they will run before the face of his chariot; 12 and appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and to plow his plowing, and to harvest his harvest, and to make the implements of his warfare and the implements of his chariot. 13 And he will take your daughters for perfumers and for cooks and for bakers. 14 And your fields and your vineyards and your olive orchards, the good ones, he will take and give to his servants. 15 And he will take a tenth of your seeds and your vineyards, and give to his officials and to his servants. 16 And your male servants and your female servants and your young men, the good ones, and your donkeys he will take and make for his work. 17 He will take a tenth of your flock. And you yourselves will be for him for servants. 18 And on that day you will cry out from before the face of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves. But Yahweh will not answer you on that day.” 19 And the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But a king will be over us. 20 And we also, we will be like all the nations. And our king will judge us and go out before our face and fight our battles.” 21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people. And he spoke them in the ears of Yahweh. 22 And Yahweh said to Samuel, “Listen to their voice and cause a king to reign for them.” And Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Go, a man to his city.” Chapter 9 1 And there was a man from Benjamin and his name was Kish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bekorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a man of a Yaminite, a mighty one of strength. 2 And for him was a son and his name was Saul, a young man and good. And there was no man from the sons of Israel better than him. From his shoulder and upward he was taller than all the people. 3 Now the female donkeys of Kish, the father of Saul, were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, “Take now one from the servants with you, and rise, go seek the female donkeys.” 4 And he passed through the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they did not find them. And they passed through the land of Shaalim, but there was nothing. And he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they did not find them. 5 They themselves entered in the land of Zuph, and Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come, let us return, lest my father cease about the female donkeys and worry about us.” 6 And he said to him, “Behold, please, a man of God is in this city, and the man is honored; all that he speaks certainly comes. Let us go there now. Perhaps he will tell us our way on which we have gone.” 7 And Saul said to his servant, “Now behold, we will go, but what will we bring to the man? For the bread is gone from our vessels and there is no gift to bring to the man of God. What is with us?” 8 And the servant added to answer Saul, and he said, “Behold, one-fourth of a shekel of silver has been found in my hand. And I will give it to the man of God and he will tell us our way.” 9 (Before in Israel, a man said thus when he went to seek God, “Come and let us go to the seer.” For the prophet today was called the seer before.) 10 And Saul said to his servant, “Your word is good. Come, let us go.” And they went to the city there where the man of God was. 11 They were going up on the ascent to the city, and they themselves found young women going out to draw water. And they said to them, “Is the seer in this place?” 12 And they answered them, and said, “There is, behold, before your face. Hurry now, for today he has come to the city, because the sacrifice of the day is for the people at the high place. 13 As soon as you enter the city then you will find him, before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat until he comes, because he himself will bless the sacrifice; afterwards the ones who are called will eat. So now go up, for, as for him, you will find him as soon as today.” 14 And they went up to the city. They were entering in the midst of the city, and behold, Samuel was going out to meet them to go up to the high place. 15 Now Yahweh had uncovered the ear of Samuel one day before the coming of Saul, saying: 16 “About this time tomorrow I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be ruler over my people Israel. And he will save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen my people, for its cry has come to me.” 17 And Samuel saw Saul, and Yahweh answered him, “Behold, the man whom I said to you! This one will restrain my people.” 18 And Saul approached Samuel in the midst of the gate. And he said, “Please tell me, where is the house of the seer?” 19 And Samuel answered Saul and said, “I am the seer. Go up before my face to the high place, and you will eat with me today. And I will send you away in the morning, and I will tell you all that is in your heart. 20 As for your female donkeys that were lost three days ago, do not set your heart to them, for they have been found. Now for whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not for you and for all the house of your father?” 21 And Saul answered and said, “Am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my clan the least from all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Yet why have you spoken to me like this word?” 22 And Samuel took Saul and his servant and brought them to the room. And he gave to them a place at the head of the ones who had been called. (Now they were about 30 men.) 23 And Samuel said to the cook, “Give the portion which I gave to you, of which I said to you, ‘Set it with you.’” 24 And the cook lifted the thigh and what was on it and set it before the face of Saul. And he said, “Behold, what has been left over is set before your face. Eat, because it has been kept for you for the appointed time, saying, ‘I have called the people.’” And Saul ate with Samuel on that day. 25 And they came down from the high place to the city. And he spoke with Saul on the roof. 26 And they rose early. And it happened as soon as the dawn went up that Samuel called to Saul on the roof, saying, “Get up and I will send you away.” And Saul got up, and the two of them went out, he and Samuel, to the outside. 27 They were going down to the end of the city, and Samuel said to Saul, “Speak to the servant so he may pass on before our face,”and he passed on. “But you stand now, and I will cause you to hear the word of God.” Chapter 10 1 And Samuel took a flask of oil, and poured it on his head, and kissed him. And he said, “Is it not Yahweh who has anointed you to be ruler over his inheritance? 2 When you go today from with me, then you will find two men near the tomb of Rachel in the territory of Benjamin in Zelzah. And they will say to you, ‘The female donkeys that you went to seek have been found. And behold, your father has stopped the matter of the female donkeys and is worried about you, saying, “What should I do about my son?”’ 3 And you will go on from there and further, and you will come as far as the oak of Tabor. And you will find three men there going up to God at Bethel, one carrying three young goats, and one carrying three round loaves of bread, and one carrying a skin of wine. 4 And they will ask about you with respect to well-being and give to you two bread loaves, and you will take from their hand. 5 Afterward you will come to the hill of God, there where the garrisons of the Philistines are. And it will happen as soon as you come there to the city, that you will meet a group of prophets going down from the high place. And before their face will be a harp and a tambourine and a flute and a lyre. And they will be prophesying. 6 And the spirit of Yahweh will rush on you, and you will prophesy with them. And you will be changed into another man. 7 And it will happen that when these signs come to you, do for yourself what your hand finds, for God is with you. 8 And go down before my face to the Gilgal. And behold, I will come down to you to offer up burnt up offerings, to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings. Wait seven days until my coming to you and I will make known to you what you shall do.” 9 And it happened as soon as he turned his shoulder to go from with Samuel, that God turned for him another heart. And all these signs came on that day. 10 And they came there to the hill, and behold, a group of prophets met him. And the spirit of God rushed on him and he prophesied in their midst. 11 And it happened that every one who knew him from yesterday and three days ago saw, and behold, he prophesied with the prophets! And the people said, a man to his neighbor, “What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” 12 And a man from there answered and said, “And who is their father?” Therefore, it became a proverb, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” 13 And he finished from prophesying, and he came to the high place. 14 And the uncle of Saul said to him and to his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, “To seek the female donkeys. And we saw that there was nothing, and we went to Samuel.” 15 And the uncle of Saul said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.” 16 And Saul said to his uncle, “He told us indeed that the female donkeys had been found.” But he did not tell him the word of the kingship, which Samuel had said. 17 And Samuel called together the people to Yahweh at the Mizpah. 18 And he said to the sons of Israel, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: ‘I myself brought up Israel from Egypt. And I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from the hand of all the kingdoms that oppressed you.’ 19 But you today have rejected your God, him who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses. And you have said to him, ‘Rather set a king over us.’ And now station yourselves before the face of Yahweh according to your tribes and according to your thousands.” 20 And Samuel brought near all the tribes of Israel. And the tribe of Benjamin was taken. 21 And he brought near the tribe of Benjamin according to its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken. And Saul the son of Kish was taken and they sought him, but he was not found. 22 And they asked of Yahweh again, “Has a man come here yet?” And Yahweh said, “Behold, he has hidden himself with the things.” 23 And they ran and took him from there. And he stationed himself in the midst of the people. And he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders and upward. 24 And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom Yahweh has chosen? Indeed there is no one like him among all the people!” And all the people saw and said, “May the king live!” 25 And Samuel spoke to the people the ordinance of the kingship, and he wrote it in the book, and rested it before the face of Yahweh. And Samuel sent away all the people, a man to his house. 26 And Saul also went to his house at Gibeah. And with him went the mighty whose hearts God had touched. 27 But the sons of worthlessness said, “How can this one save us?” And they despised him and did not bring to him a gift. But he was like one being silent. Chapter 11 1 And Nahash the Ammonite went up and camped against Jabesh Gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Cut a covenant for us, and we will serve you.” 2 And Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “By this will I cut for you, by gouging out for you every right eye. And I will set it as a disgrace against all Israel.” 3 And the elders of Jabesh said to him, “Leave us alone seven days, so that we may send messengers through all the territory of Israel. And if there is no one to save us, then we will go out to you.” 4 And the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, and they spoke the words in the ears of the people. And all the people lifted up their voice and wept. 5 And behold, Saul was coming behind the cattle from the field. And Saul said, “What is for the people that they are weeping?” And they recounted to him the words of the men of Jabesh. 6 And the Spirit of God rushed on Saul when he heard these words. And his nose burned exceedingly. 7 And he took a pair of cattle, and cut it into pieces, and sent away through all the territory of Israel by the hand of the messengers, saying, “Whoever is not coming out behind Saul and behind Samuel, thus will be done to his cattle.” And the dread of Yahweh fell on the people, and they went out as one man. 8 And he mustered them at Bezek. And the sons of Israel were 300,000, and the men of Judah were 30,000. 9 And they said to the messengers who had come, “Thus you will say to the men of Jabesh Gilead, ‘Tomorrow deliverance will be for you, at the heat of the sun.’” And the messengers went and told the men of Jabesh, and they rejoiced. 10 And the men of Jabesh said, “Tomorrow we will go out to you. And you may do to us according to all the good in your eyes.” 11 And it happened from the next day that Saul set the people in three heads. And they came into the midst of the camp at the watch of the morning, and they struck down Ammon until the heat of the day. And it happened that the remaining ones were scattered, and two among them did not remain together. 12 And the people said to Samuel, “Who are those who said, ‘Will Saul reign over us?’ Give the men, and we will put them to death.” 13 And Saul said, “A man shall not be put to death on this day. For today Yahweh has done a deliverance in Israel.” 14 And Samuel said to the people, “Come, and let us go to the Gilgal. And let us renew the kingship there.” 15 And all the people went to the Gilgal and caused Saul to reign there before the face of Yahweh in the Gilgal. And there they sacrificed sacrifices, peace offerings, before the face of Yahweh. And there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced up to abundance. Chapter 12 1 And Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have listened to your voice, according to all that you said to me. And I have caused a king to reign over you. 2 And now, behold the king is walking about before your face. And as for me, I am old and gray; and my sons, behold they are with you. And I myself have walked about before your face from my youth until this day. 3 Here I am! Testify against me in front of Yahweh and in front of his anointed one. Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed or from whose hand have I taken a bribe so that I hid my eyes with it? And I will restore to you.” 4 And they said, “You have not defrauded us, and have not oppressed us, and have not taken anything from the hand of a man.” 5 And he said to them, “Yahweh is a witness against you, and his anointed one is a witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And he said,“Witness.” 6 And Samuel said to the people, “It is Yahweh who made Moses and Aaron, and who brought up your fathers from the land of Egypt. 7 And now, station yourselves so that I may be judged with you before the face of Yahweh with all the righteous deeds of Yahweh, which he did with you and with your fathers. 8 When Jacob came to Egypt, and your fathers cried out to Yahweh, then Yahweh sent Moses and Aaron, and they brought out your fathers from Egypt and they caused them to dwell in this place. 9 And they forgot Yahweh their God. And he sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them. 10 And they cried out to Yahweh and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken Yahweh and have served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. And now rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve you.’ 11 And Yahweh sent Jerub Baal and Bedan and Jephthah and Samuel. And he rescued you from the hand of your enemies from all around you, and you dwelled securely. 12 And you saw that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon came against you, and you said to me, ‘No! Rather a king will reign over us.’ But Yahweh your God was your king. 13 And now, behold the king whom you have chosen, whom you have requested! And behold, Yahweh has given a king over you! 14 If you fear Yahweh and serve him and listen to his voice and do not rebel against the mouth of Yahweh, then both you and the king who reigns over you will be after Yahweh your God. 15 But if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh, and you rebel against the mouth of Yahweh, then the hand of Yahweh will be against you and against your fathers. 16 Even now station yourselves and see this great thing that Yahweh is about to do before your eyes. 17 Is it not the harvest of wheat today? I will call to Yahweh, and he will give thunder and rain. And know and see that your evil is great, which you have done in the eyes of Yahweh, by requesting a king for yourselves.” 18 And Samuel called to Yahweh, and Yahweh gave thunder and rain on that day. And all the people greatly feared Yahweh and Samuel. 19 And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to Yahweh your God, so that we may not die. For we have added evil onto all our sins by requesting a king for ourselves.” 20 And Samuel said to the people, “Do not fear. You yourselves have done all this evil. Only do not turn aside from after Yahweh, but serve Yahweh with all your heart. 21 And do not turn aside! For it is after the empty thing that does not profit and does not rescue, because they are emptiness. 22 For Yahweh will not leave his people, for the sake of his great name. For Yahweh was pleased to make you into a people for himself. 23 Also me, far be it for me from sinning against Yahweh by ceasing to pray for you. And I will instruct you in the good and straight way. 24 Only fear Yahweh and serve him in faithfulness with all your heart. Indeed, see what he has made great with you! 25 But if you continually do evil, both you and your king will be carried away.” Chapter 13 1 Saul was a son of a year when he reigned. And he reigned over Israel two years. [1] 2 And Saul chose for himself 3,000 from Israel. And 2,000 were with Saul in Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and 1,000 were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. And the rest of the people he sent away, a man to his tent. 3 And Jonathan struck down the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba and the Philistines heard. And Saul blew with the horn in all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!” 4 And all Israel heard, saying, “Saul struck down the garrison of the Philistines, and also Israel has become a stench among the Philistines.” And the people were called together after Saul at the Gilgal. 5 And the Philistines gathered to fight against Israel: 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen and a people like the sand that is on the shore of the sea wiith respect to abundance. And they went up and camped at Michmash, east of Beth Aven. 6 And the men of Israel saw that it was narrow for them, for the people were hard-pressed. And the people hid themselves in the caves and in the thornbushes and in the cliffs and in the underground chambers and in the pits. 7 And Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. But Saul was still at the Gilgal and all the people trembled after him. 8 And he waited seven days to the appointed time when Samuel would be there, but Samuel did not come to the Gilgal. And the people scattered from beside him. 9 And Saul said, “Bring near to me the burnt up offering and the peace offerings.” And he offered up the burnt up offering. 10 And it happened as soon as he finished offering up the burnt up offering that, behold, Samuel came! And Saul went out to meet him to bless him. 11 And Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people scattered from beside me, and you, you did not come by the appointed time of days, and the Philistines were gathering at Michmash, 12 then I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at the Gilgal, and I have not appeased the face of Yahweh.’ So I forced myself and offered up the burnt up offering.” 13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have acted foolishly! You have not kept the command of Yahweh your God that he commanded you. For then Yahweh would have established your reign over Israel until eternity. 14 But now your reign will not stand. Yahweh has sought for himself a man according to his heart, and Yahweh has commanded him to be leader over his people, for you did not keep what Yahweh commanded you.” 15 And Samuel rose and went up from the Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul mustered the people who were found with him, about 600 men. 16 Now Saul and Jonathan his son and the people who were found with him were staying in Geba of Benjamin. And the Philistines camped at Michmash. 17 And destroyers went out from the camp of the Philistines, three heads. One head turned to the way of Ophrah, to the land of Shual. 18 And one head turned the way of Beth Horon. And one head turned the way of the border that looks down over the valley of Zeboyim, toward the wilderness. 19 Now a blacksmith could not be found in all the land of Israel. For the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make sword or spear.” 20 And all Israel used to go down to the Philistines, a man to sharpen his plow and his mattock and his axe and his sickle. 21 And the charge was a pim for the plowshares and for the mattocks and for three picks and for the axes and for straightening the goads. 22 And it happened on the day of battle that a sword or spear was not found in the hands of any of the people who were with Saul and with Jonathan, but was found for Saul and for his son Jonathan. 23 And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash. 13:1 [1] Saul was a son of a year appears to be missing a number in the Hebrew text. Some ancient versions are missing the verse entirely, while others have 30 years. Chapter 14 1 And it happened one day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to his servant who carried his equipment, “Come, and let us cross over to the garrison of the Philistines that is on the other side from here.” But he did not tell his father. 2 Now Saul was staying at the end of the Gibeah under the pomegranate tree that is in Migron. And the people who were with him were about 600 men, 3 and Ahijah the son of Ahitub the brother of Ichabod the son of Phinehas the son of Eli, the priest of Yahweh at Shiloh who was carrying an ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone. 4 Now between the passes that Jonathan sought to pass over to the garrison of the Philistines was the tooth of the cliff on one side from this and the tooth of the cliff on the other side from this. And the name of one was Bozez and the name of one was Seneh. 5 The tooth of the one was a pillar from the north in front of Michmash. And the one from the south was in front of Geba. 6 And Jonathan said to his servant who carried his equipment, “Come, and let us pass over to the garrison of these uncircumcised ones! Perhaps Yahweh will act for us, for there is no hindrance for Yahweh to save by many or by few.” 7 And the one who carried his equipment said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Turn for yourself; behold, I am with you according to your heart.” 8 And Jonathan said, “Behold, we will cross over to the men. And we will reveal ourselves to them. 9 If thus they say to us, ‘Be still until we reach you,’ then we will stand under ourselves and not go up to them. 10 But if thus they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for Yahweh has given them into our hand. And this will be the sign for us.” 11 And the two of them revealed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, “Behold, Hebrews are coming out from the holes there where they have hidden themselves.” 12 And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and the one who carried his equipment, and said, “Come up to us, and we will cause you to know a thing.” And Jonathan said to the one who carried his equipment, “Go up behind me, for Yahweh has given them into the hand of Israel.” 13 And Jonathan went up on his hands and on his feet, and the one who carried his equipment was behind him. And they fell before the face of Jonathan, and the one who carried his equipment was putting to death behind him. 14 And the first blow that Jonathan and the one who carried his equipment struck was about 20 men in about half of a furrow, a yoke of a field. 15 And a trembling was in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and the destroyers, even they trembled. And the earth quaked and it became a trembling of God. 16 And the lookouts of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and behold, the crowd melted away and went even here. 17 And Saul said to the people who were with him, “Muster now and see who has gone from with us.” And they mustered, and behold, there was no Jonathan or the one who carried his equipment! 18 And Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring near the Box of God.” For on that day the Box of God was with the sons of Israel. 19 And it happened while Saul spoke to the priest, that the tumult that was in the camp of the Philistines was going continually and increasingly. And Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.” 20 And Saul and all the people who were with him were called together and came to the battle. And behold, the sword of a man was against his companion, a very great confusion. 21 Now some Hebrews were for the Philistines according to yesterday and three days ago, who had gone up with them into the camp all around. But even they were to be with Israel, who were with Saul and Jonathan. 22 And all the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines fled, and they also pursued after them in the battle. 23 And Yahweh saved Israel on that day. And the battle passed over Beth Aven. 24 And the men of Israel were hard-pressed on that day. And Saul had made the people swear, saying, “Cursed is the man who eats food until the evening and I take vengeance from my enemies.” So all the people had not tasted food. 25 And all the land entered into the forest. And honey was on the face of the field. 26 And the people entered into the forest, and behold, the flowing of honey! But no one reached his hand to his mouth for the people feared the oath. 27 But Jonathan had not heard when his father had made the people swear. And he extended the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb of the honey. And he returned his hand to his mouth and his eyes became bright. 28 And a man from the people answered and said, “Your father surely made the people swear, saying, ‘Cursed is the man who eats food today.’ So the people are faint.” 29 And Jonathan said, “My father has troubled the land. See now that my eyes have become bright because I tasted a little of this honey. 30 How much more if the people had eaten freely today from the plunder of their enemies that they found? For now the blow has not been great among the Philistines.” 31 And on that day they struck down the Philistines from Michmash to Aijalon. And the people were very faint. 32 And the people rushed with shouting on the plunder and took sheep and cattle and sons of cattle, and they slaughtered on the ground. And the people ate with the blood. 33 Then they told Saul, saying, “Behold, the people are sinning against Yahweh by eating with the blood!” And he said, “You have acted deceptively. Roll a big stone to me today.” 34 And Saul said, “Disperse among the people and say to them, ‘Bring near to me, a man his ox and a man his sheep, and slaughter here and eat. And you shall not sin against Yahweh by eating with the blood.’” And all the people brought near, a man his ox by his hand that night and they slaughtered there. 35 And Saul built an altar to Yahweh, it he began to build an altar to Yahweh. 36 And Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until the light of morning. And let us not leave a man among them.” And they said, “Do all the good in your eyes.” And the priest said, “Let us draw near to God here.” 37 And Saul asked of God, “Should I go down after the Philistines? Will you give them into the hand of Israel?” But he did not answer him on that day. 38 And Saul said, “Come near here, all the corners of the people! And know and see by what this sin has happened today. 39 For, as Yahweh is alive, the one who saves Israel, even if it is by Jonathan my son, indeed he will surely die.” But there was no one answering him from all the people. 40 And he said to all Israel, “You will be on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on one side.” And the people said to Saul, “Do the good in your eyes.” 41 And Saul said to Yahweh the God of Israel, “Give a perfect one!” And Jonathan and Saul were taken, but the people went out. 42 And Saul said, “Cause it to fall between me and Jonathan my son.” And Jonathan was taken. 43 And Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.” And Jonathan told him and said, “Indeed I tasted a little honey with the end of the staff that was in my hand. Here I am; I will die.” 44 And Saul said, “May God do so and may he add so, for you shall surely die, Jonathan.” 45 And the people said to Saul, “Should Jonathan die, who has made this great salvation in Israel? Far from it! As Yahweh is alive, a hair of his head will not fall to the ground! For he has worked with God this day.” And the people ransomed Jonathan and he did not die. 46 And Saul went up from after the Philistines. And the Philistines went to their place. 47 Now Saul had taken the kingship over Israel. And he fought against all his enemies all around: against Moab and against the sons of Ammon and against Edom and against the kings of Zobah and against the Philistines. And he inflicted punishment against everywhere he turned. 48 And he acted strongly and struck down the Amalekites. And he rescued Israel from the hand of those who plundered it. 49 Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan and Ishvi and Malki-Shua. As for the names of the two of his daughters: the name of the firstborn was Merab and the name of the younger was Michal. 50 The name of the wife of Saul was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. And the name of the commander of his army was Abner the son of Ner the uncle of Saul. 51 And Kish was the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel. 52 And the battle was strong against the Philistines all the days of Saul. When Saul saw any man of might, or any son of strength, then he gathered him to himself. Chapter 15 1 And Samuel said to Saul, “Yahweh sent me to anoint you as king over his people, over Israel. And now, listen to the voice of the words of Yahweh. 2 Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel when he set against him on the way when he came up from Egypt. 3 Now go and strike down Amalek and completely destroy all that is for him, and do not have compassion on him. But put to death from man as far as woman, from child and as far as infant, from ox and as far as sheep, from camel and as far as donkey.’” 4 And Saul caused the people to hear and mustered them at the Telaim: 200,000 on foot, and 10,000 men of Judah. 5 Then Saul came as far as the city of Amalek and he lie in ambush in the wadi. 6 And Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart, go down from the midst of the Amalekite, lest I remove you with him. As for you, you did kindness with all the sons of Israel when they came up from Egypt.” And the Kenites departed from the midst of Amalek. 7 And Saul struck down Amalek, from Havilah as you enter Shur, which is on the face of Egypt. 8 And he seized Agag the king of Amalek alive. But he completely destroyed all the people by the mouth of the sword. 9 And Saul and the people had compassion on Agag and on the best of the sheep and the cattle and the second ones and on the young rams and on all the good, and they were not willing to completely destroy them. But all the despised and weak property, it they completely destroyed. [1] 10 And the word of Yahweh was to Samuel, saying, 11 “I regret that I have caused Saul to reign as king, for he has turned from after me and has not raised up my words.” And it was hot for Samuel, and he cried out to Yahweh all the night. 12 And Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul. And it was told to Samuel, saying, “Saul came to the Carmel, and behold, he is setting up a monument for himself! And he turned around and passed over and went down to the Gilgal.” 13 And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you by Yahweh! I have raised up the word of Yahweh.” 14 And Samuel said, “And what is the sound of this flock in my ears? And the sound of the cattle that I am hearing?” 15 And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekite. For the people had compassion on the best of the sheep and the cattle, in order to sacrifice to Yahweh your God. But the excess we have completely destroyed.” 16 And Samuel said to Saul, “Stop, and let me tell you what Yahweh spoke to me at night.” And he said to him, “Speak!” 17 And Samuel said, “Although you are small in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? And Yahweh anointed you as king over Israel. 18 And Yahweh sent you on your way. And he said, ‘Go and completely destroy the sinners, Amalek. And fight against them until they have finished them.’ 19 And why did you not listen to the voice of Yahweh? But you rushed with shouting on the spoil and you did evil in the eyes of Yahweh.” 20 And Saul said to Samuel, “I have listened to the voice of Yahweh, and have gone on the way that Yahweh sent me. And I have brought Agag the king of Amalek and have completely destroyed Amalek. 21 And the people took from the spoil sheep and cattle, the first of the banned thing, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God at the Gilgal.” 22 And Samuel said, “Is the delight of Yahweh in burnt up offerings and sacrifices, as in listening to the voice of Yahweh? Behold, listening is better than sacrifice, paying attention is more than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is the sin of divination, and to display pushing is iniquity and idols. Because you have rejected the word of Yahweh, he has rejected you from being king.” 24 And Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned! For I have passed over the mouth of Yahweh and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice. 25 And now, please lift up my sin. And return with me so I may worship Yahweh.” 26 And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. For you have rejected the word of Yahweh, and Yahweh has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27 And Samuel turned around to go. And he grabbed the edge of his robe, and it was torn. 28 And Samuel said to him, “Yahweh has torn the kingdom of Israel from on you today. And he has given it to your companion, the better one than you. 29 And also, the Perpetual One of Israel will not act falsely and will not change his mind. For he is not a man, changing his mind.” 30 And he said, “I have sinned! Now please honor me in front of the elders of my people and in front of Israel. And return with me, so I may worship Yahweh your God.” 31 And Samuel returned behind Saul. And Saul worshiped Yahweh. 32 And Samuel said, “Bring near to me Agag the king of Amalek.” And Agag went to him in bonds. And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death has turned aside.” 33 And Samuel said, “Just as your sword has made women childless, so will your mother be made childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the face of Yahweh at the Gilgal. 34 And Samuel went to the Ramah. And Saul went up to his house at Gibeah of Saul. 35 And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel mourned for Saul. And Yahweh regretted that he had caused Saul to reign over Israel. 15:9 [1] and the second ones or perhaps and the fatlings (variant Hebrew manuscripts and other ancient versions) Chapter 16 1 And Yahweh said to Samuel, “Until when will you be mourning for Saul, while I myself have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have seen among his sons a king for me.” 2 And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears, then he will slay me.” And Yahweh said, “Take a heifer of the cattle in your hand and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh.’ 3 And call for Jesse at the sacrifice, and I myself will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me whom I say to you.” 4 And Samuel did what Yahweh had spoken and he came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the city trembled to meet him and said, “Are you coming in peace?” 5 And he said, “In peace; I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and called them to the sacrifice. 6 And it happened when they came, that he saw Eliab. And he said, “Surely in front of Yahweh is his anointed one.” 7 And Yahweh said to Samuel, “Do not look on his outward appearance or on the height of his stature because I have rejected him. For it is not what the man sees, for the man sees by the eyes, but Yahweh sees to the heart.” 8 And Jesse called for Abinadab and made him pass over before the face of Samuel. And he said, “Also Yahweh has not chosen this one.” 9 And Jesse made Shammah pass over. And he said, “Also Yahweh has not chosen this one.” 10 And Jesse made seven of his sons pass over before the face of Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “Yahweh has not chosen among these.” 11 And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are your young men complete?” And he said, “The youngest one still remains, and behold, he is tending among the flock.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not turn around until he comes here.” 12 And he sent and brought him. (Now he was ruddy with beautiful eyes and a good appearance.) And Yahweh said, “Rise, anoint him, for this is he.” 13 And Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the middle of his brothers. And the Spirit of Yahweh rushed on David from that day and onward. And Samuel rose and went to the Ramah. 14 Now the Spirit of Yahweh turned aside from with Saul, and a spirit of evil from with Yahweh terrified him. 15 And the servants of Saul said to him, “ “Behold, an evil spirit of God is terrifying you. 16 Let our master please say to your servants before your face, “, ‘Seek a man who knows how to play on the lyre.’ And it will happen that when the evil spirit of God is on you, then he will play by his hand and it will be good for you.” 17 And Saul said to his servants, “See now for me a man who is good at playing and bring him to me.” 18 And one from the young men answered and said, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, knowing how to play and mighty of strength and a man of war and discerning of word and a man of appearance. And Yahweh is with him.” 19 And Saul sent messengers to Jesse. And he said, “Send to me David your son, who is with the flock.” 20 And Jesse took a donkey, bread, and a skin of wine, and one kid of the goats, and he sent them by the hand of David his son to Saul. 21 And David came to Saul and he stood before his face. And he loved him greatly, and he became for him one who carried the equipment. 22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David now stand before my face, for he has found favor in my eyes.” 23 And it happened that whenever the spirit of God was on Saul, then David took the lyre and played by his hand. And it would be relief for Saul and good for him, and the spirit of evil would turn aside from on him. Chapter 17 1 And the Philistines gathered their camps for the battle. And they were gathered at Sokoh, which is of Judah. And they camped between Sokoh and Azekah in Ephes Dammim. 2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered and they camped in the valley of Elah. And they arranged for battle to meet the Philistines. 3 Now the Philistines were standing on this mountain, and Israel was standing on that mountain. And the valley was between them. 4 And a man of the space between came out from the camp of the Philistines, Goliath was his name, from Gath. His height was six cubits and a span. 5 And a helmet of bronze was on his head and he was wearing body armor of scales. And the weight of the body armor was 5,000 shekels of bronze. 6 And shin guards of bronze were on his legs. And a javelin of bronze was between his shoulders. 7 And the wood of his spear was like the beam of those who weave. And the point of his spear was 600 iron shekels. And the one who carried his shield was going before his face. 8 And he stood and called out to the ranks of Israel, and he said to them, “Why have you come out to arrange for battle? Am not I a Philistine, and you, servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight with me and strike me down, then we will become servants for you. But if I prevail against him and strike him down, then you will become servants for us and you will serve us.” 10 And the Philistine said, “I myself taunt the ranks of Israel this day. Give to me a man so we may fight together.” 11 And Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine. And they were dismayed and feared greatly. 12 Now David was the son of this Ephrathite man from Bethlehem in Judah, and his name was Jesse. And eight sons were for him. And the man was old in the days of Saul, coming among men. 13 And the oldest three of the sons of Jesse had gone, they went after Saul to the battle. And the names of the three of his sons who went into the battle were Eliab the firstborn and his second Abinadab and the third Shammah. 14 Now David, he was the youngest. And the three oldest ones had gone after Saul. 15 But David was going and returning from with Saul to tend the flock of his father at Bethlehem. 16 And the Philistine came near at early morning and at evening. And he stationed himself 40 days. 17 And Jesse said to David his son, “Take now to your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and ten loaves of this bread, and bring quickly to the camp, to your brothers. 18 And bring these ten cuts of cheese to the commander of the thousand. And observe your brothers with respect to well-being and take their pledge. 19 Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel are in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.” 20 And David rose early in the morning and left the flock with one who keeps. And he carried and went, just as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the entrenchment and the army was going out to the battle line and they shouted in the battle. 21 And Israel and the Philistines arranged, battle line to meet battle line. 22 And David left the equipment from on him on the hand of one who keeps the equipment, and he ran to the battle line. And he came and asked his brothers with respect to well-being. 23 And he was speaking with them, and behold, the man of the between space was coming up, Goliath the Philistine was his name, from Gath, from the ranks of the Philistines, and he spoke like these words. And David heard. 24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, they fled from his face and feared greatly. 25 And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who is coming up? Surely he is coming up to taunt Israel! And it will happen that the king will make rich with great wealth the man who strikes him down, and he will give his daughter to him, and he will make the house of his father free in Israel.” 26 And David said to the men who were standing with him, saying, “What will be done for the man who strikes down this Philistine and removes the disgrace from on Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should taunt the ranks of the living God?” 27 And the people said to him like this word, saying, “Thus it will be done for the man who strikes him down.” 28 And Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And the nose of Eliab burned against David, and he said, “Why is this—you came down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I myself know your presumtuousness and the evil of your heart, for you have come down in order to see the battle!” 29 And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not a word?” 30 And he turned around from beside him toward the front of another and spoke like this word. And the people returned a word to him like the first word. 31 And they heard the words that David spoke. And they told before the face of Saul, and he took him. 32 And David said to Saul, “Do not let the heart of a man fall on himself. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him. For you are a boy, but he a man of war from his youth.” 34 And David said to Saul, “Your servant has been tending for his father among the flock. And the lion or the bear has come and has carried a sheep from the flock. 35 And I have gone out after it and struck it and rescued from its mouth. If it rose against me, then I would grasp its jaw and strike it down and put it to death. 36 Your servant has struck down both the lion and the bear. And this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has taunted the ranks of the living God.” 37 And David said, “Yahweh who has rescued me from the hand of the lion and from the hand of the bear, he will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and Yahweh be with you.” 38 And Saul clothed David with his garments and put a helmet of bronze on his head. And he clothed him with body armor. 39 And David strapped on his sword over his garments and he undertook to walk because he had not trained. And David said to Saul, “I am not able to walk with these, for I have not trained.” And David removed them from on him. 40 And he took his staff in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the wadi, and he put them in the bag of the shepherds that belonged to him, even in the pouch, and his sling was in his hand. And he came near to the Philistine. 41 And the Philistine came, coming on and near to David. And the man who carried the shield was before his face. 42 And the Philistine looked and saw David, and he despised him, for he was a boy, and ruddy with a beautiful appearance. 43 And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you are coming to me with staves?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 And the Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and let me give your flesh to the bird of the heavens and to the beast of the field.” 45 And David said to the Philistine, “You are coming to me with sword and with spear and with javelin. But I am coming to you in the name of Yahweh of hosts, the God of the ranks of Israel, whom you have taunted. 46 This day Yahweh will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and remove your head from on you. And this day I will give the corpse of the army of the Philistines to the bird of the heavens and to the living thing of the earth. And all the earth will know that there is a God for Israel. 47 And all this assembly will know that Yahweh does not save by sword or by spear. For the battle belongs to Yahweh, and he will give you into our hand.” 48 And it happened when the Philistine rose and went and came near to meet David, that David hurried and ran to the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And David sent his hand into his bag, and took a stone from there, and slung. And it struck the Philistine on his forehead. And the stone sank into his forehead and he fell on his face to the ground. 50 And David was stronger than the Philistine with the sling and with the stone. And he struck down the Philistine and put him to death. (Now there was no sword in the hand of David.) 51 And David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it from its sheath and put him to death and cut off his head with it. And the Philistines saw that their strong man was dead and they fled. 52 And the men of Israel and Judah rose and they shouted and pursued the Philistines as far as your coming to the valley and as far as the gates of Ekron. And the pierced ones of the Philistines fell on the way of Shaaraim and as far as Gath and as far as Ekron. 53 And the sons of Israel returned from burning after the Philistines. And they plundered their camp. 54 And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem. And he set his equipment in his tent. 55 Now as soon as Saul saw David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner the commander of the army, “This boy is the son of whom, Abner?” And Abner said, “As your self is alive, king, if I know!” 56 And the king said, “You ask the son of whom is this boy.” 57 And as soon as David returned from striking down the Philistine, then Abner took him and brought him before the face of Saul. And the head of the Philistine was in his hand. 58 And Saul said to him, “The son of whom are you, boy?” And David said, “The son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.” Chapter 18 1 And it happened as soon as he finished speaking to Saul, that the self of Jonathan was bound to the self of David. And Jonathan loved him like his own self. 2 And Saul took him on that day. And he did not give him to return to the house of his father. 3 And Jonathan cut a covenant with David because he loved him like his own self. 4 And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and he gave it to David, and his garments and even to his sword and even to his bow and even to his belt. 5 And David went out, he succeeded at wherever Saul sent him. And Saul set him over the men of war. And he was good in the eyes of all the people and also in the eyes of the servants of Saul. 6 And it happened when they came, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, that the women came out from all the cities of Israel to sing with the dancing ones, to meet Saul the king, with tambourines, with joy, and with three-stringed instruments. 7 And the women sang who were playing, and said: “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” 8 And it burned greatly for Saul, and this thing was evil in his eyes. And he said, “They have given to David ten thousands, but to me they have given the thousands. And only the kingship is yet for him!” 9 And it happened that Saul looked at David with suspicion from that day and onward. 10 And it happened from the next day that an evil spirit of God rushed on Saul and he prophesied in the midst of the house. And David was playing by his hand, as day by day. And the spear was in the hand of Saul. 11 And Saul hurled the spear, and he said, “I will strike David, even into the wall!” But David turned around from his face two times. 12 And Saul was afraid from before the face of David. For Yahweh was with him but had turned aside from with Saul. 13 And Saul removed him from with him and set him as a commander of a thousand for himself. And he went out and came in before the face of the people. 14 And David was succeeding in all his ways. And Yahweh was with him. 15 And Saul saw that he was succeeding greatly. And he dreaded his face. 16 But all Israel and Judah were loving David, for he was going out and coming in before their face. 17 And Saul said to David, “Behold, my oldest daughter Merab. I will give her to you for a wife. Only become for me a son of strength and fight the battles of Yahweh.” And Saul said, “Let not my hand be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.” 18 And David said to Saul, “Who am I, and who are my relatives of the clan of my father in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?” 19 And it happened at the time to give Merab the daughter of Saul to David, that she was given to Adriel the Meholathite for a wife. 20 And Michal the daughter of Saul loved David. And they told Saul and the matter was right in his eyes. 21 And Saul said, “I will give her to him and may she become a snare for him and may the hand of the Philistines be against him.” And Saul said to David a second time, “You will be a son-in-law of mine today.” 22 And Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David in secrecy, saying, ‘Behold, the king delights in you and all his servants love you. And now, become a son-in-law of the king.’” 23 And the servants of Saul spoke these words in the ears of David. And David said, “Is it insignificant in your eyes to be a son-in-law of the king? And I am a poor man and lightly esteemed.” 24 And the servants of Saul told him, saying, “Like these words David spoke.” 25 And Saul said, “Thus you shall say to David, ‘There is no desire of the king for the bride price, except for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged on the enemies of the king.’” (Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.) 26 And his servants told David these words, and the word was right in the eyes of David, to become son-in-law of the king. And the days were not fulfilled. 27 And David rose and went, he and his men, and he struck down 200 men among the Philistines. And David brought their foreskins and they fulfilled them for the king, to become son-in-law of the king. And Saul gave to him Michal his daughter for his wife. 28 And Saul saw and he knew that Yahweh was with David and Michal the daughter of Saul loved him. 29 And Saul added to be more afraid from the face of David. And Saul was being hostile to David all the days. 30 And the commanders of the Philistines came out. And it happened that as often as they came out, David was more successful than all the servants of Saul and his name became greatly esteemed. Chapter 19 1 And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants to put David to death. But Jonathan the son of Saul delighted greatly in David. 2 And Jonathan told David, saying, “Saul my father is seeking to put you to death. And now, please be on guard in the morning and stay in the hiding place and hide yourself. 3 As for me, I will go out and stand by the hand of my father in the field there where you are, and I myself will speak of you to my father. And I will see whatever and I will tell you.” 4 And Jonathan spoke good of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Do not let the king sin against his servant, against David. For he has not sinned against you and indeed his deeds were very good for you. 5 And he set his life in his palm and struck down the Philistine. And Yahweh made a great salvation for all Israel. You saw and rejoiced. And why would you sin against innocent blood by putting David to death without cause?” 6 And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan. And Saul swore, “As Yahweh is alive, he shall not be put to death!” 7 And Jonathan called out to David, and Jonathan told him all these words. And Jonathan brought David to Saul and he was before his face as yesterday and three days ago. 8 And there was war again. And David went out and fought with the Philistines and struck them a great blow. And they fled from his face. 9 And an evil spirit of Yahweh was on Saul and he was sitting in his house and his spear was in his hand. And David was playing by hand. 10 And Saul sought to strike into David with the spear, even into the wall, but he escaped from the face of Saul, and he struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and slipped away on that night. 11 And Saul sent messengers to the house of David to watch him and to put him to death in the morning. And Michal his wife told David, saying, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be put to death.” 12 And Michal lowered David out through the window. And he went and fled and slipped away. 13 And Michal took the household idol and put it on the bed. And she put a quilt of the goats at the place of its head. And she covered it with the clothes. 14 And Saul sent messengers to take David. And she said, “He is sick.” 15 And Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed to put him to death.” 16 And the messengers came, and behold, the household idol was on the bed! And the quilt of the goats was at the place of its head. 17 And Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like so and sent away my enemy, so that he slipped away?” And Michal said to Saul, “He himself said to me, ‘Send me away. Why should I put you to death?’” 18 Now David fled and slipped away and came to Samuel in the Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth. 19 And it was told to Saul, saying, “Behold, David is in Naioth in the Ramah.” 20 And Saul sent messengers to take David. And they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel was standing, stationed over them. And the Spirit of God was on the messengers of Saul and they also prophesied. 21 And they told Saul and he sent other messengers and they also prophesied. And Saul did again and sent messengers a third time, and they also prophesied. 22 And he went, he also, to the Ramah and came as far as the great cistern that is in Seku. And he asked and said, “Where are Samuel and David?” And one said, “Behold, in Naioth in the Ramah.” 23 And he went there to Naioth in the Ramah. And the Spirit of God was on him, him also, and he went along and he prophesied until he entered in Naioth in the Ramah. 24 And he also stripped off his clothes and he also prophesied before the face of Samuel. And he lay naked all that day and all the night. Therefore they said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” Chapter 20 1 And David fled from Naioth in the Ramah. And he came and said before the face of Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my iniquity? And what is my sin before the face of your father, that he is seeking my life?” 2 And he said to him, “Far from it! You will not die. Behold, my father does not do a great thing or a small thing and not uncover my ear. And why would my father hide this thing from me? There is not this!” 3 And David swore again and said, “Your father surely knows that I have found favor in your eyes. And he said, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But indeed, as Yahweh is alive, and as your soul is alive, surely between me and death is like a step!” 4 And Jonathan said to David, “Whatever your self says, I will do for you.” 5 And David said to Jonathan, “Behold, the new moon is tomorrow, and surely I should sit with the king to eat. But you shall send me away and I will hide myself in the field until the third evening. 6 If your father misses me at all, then you shall say, ‘David earnestly asked from me to run to Bethlehem, his city, for the sacrifice of the days is there for all the clan.’ 7 If thus he says, ‘Good,’ peace is for your servant. But if it burns intensely for him, know that the evil is completed from with him. 8 And you shall do covenant faithfulness with your servant. For you have brought your servant into a covenant of Yahweh with you. But if there is iniquity in me, put me to death yourself. And why should you bring me as far as your father?” 9 And Jonathan said, “Far be it for you! For if I ever know that the evil has been completed from with my father to come on you, then will I not tell it to you?” 10 And David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if what your father answers you is harsh?” 11 And Jonathan said to David, “Come and let us go out to the field.” And the two of them went out to the field. 12 And Jonathan said to David, “By Yahweh the God of Israel, surely I will sound out my father around this time tomorrow, or the third. If behold, good is to David, then will I not then send to you and uncover your ear? 13 Thus may Yahweh do to Jonathan and thus may he add if the evil on you is good to my father and I do not uncover your ear and send you away, so you may go in peace! And may Yahweh be with you just as he was with my father. 14 And if I am still alive, then you will do the covenant faithfulness of Yahweh with me, and I will not die. [1] 15 And you shall not cut off your covenant faithfulness from with my house until eternity, not even when Yahweh cuts off the enemies of David, a man from on the face of the ground.” 16 And Jonathan cut with the house of David, “And may Yahweh seek from the hand of the enemies of David!” 17 And Jonathan caused David to swear again because he loved him. For he loved him like the loving of his self. 18 And Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon. And you will be missed because your seat will be missing. 19 And the third day you shall go down greatly and come to the place there where you hid yourself on the day of the deed. And you shall stay beside the stone Ezel. 20 And as for me, I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as sending forth for me to a target. 21 And behold, I will send the boy, ‘Go find the arrows.’ If I say clearly to the boy, ‘Behold, the arrows are on this side from you; take them,’ then come; for peace is for you and there is no matter, as Yahweh is alive. 22 But if I say thus to the boy, ‘Behold, the arrows are beyond from you,’ go, for Yahweh has sent you away. 23 As for the word which I and you have spoken, behold, Yahweh is between me and you until eternity.” 24 And David hid himself in the field. And it was the new moon, and the king sat at the food to eat. 25 And the king sat on his seat, as time by time, on the seat by the wall. And Jonathan rose, and Abner sat by the side of Saul. And the place of David was missing. 26 And Saul did not speak anything on that day, for he said, “It is an accident. He is not clean, surely not clean.” 27 And it happened on the next day of the new moon, the second, that the place of David was missing. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to the food both yesterday and today?” 28 And Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked from with me as far as Bethlehem. 29 And he said, ‘Please send me away. For the sacrifice of our clan is in the city, and he, my brother, has commanded me. And now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me slip away and let me see my brothers.’ Therefore he has not come to the table of the king.” 30 And the nose of Saul burned against Jonathan, and he said to him, “Son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you are choosing the son of Jesse to your shame, and to the shame of the nakedness of your mother? 31 For all the days that the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you and your kingdom will not be established. And now, send and take him to me, for he is a son of death.” 32 And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and he said to him, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 33 And Saul hurled the spear at him to strike him down. And Jonathan knew that it was completed from with his father to put David to death. 34 And Jonathan rose from with the table with a burning nose. And he did not eat food on the second day of the new moon, for he was grieved for David, because his father had dishonored him. 35 And it happened in the morning, that Jonathan went out to the field to the appointment with David. And a small boy was with him. 36 And he said to his boy, “Run, find now the arrows that I am about to shoot.” The boy ran and he shot the arrow to pass over him. 37 And the boy came as far as the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot. And Jonathan called after the boy and said, “Is not the arrow beyond from you?” 38 And Jonathan called after the boy, “Quickly hurry! Do not stay!” And the boy of Jonathan picked up the arrows and came to his master. 39 Now the boy did not know anything. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 40 And Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy who was for him. And he said to him, “Go, bring to the city.” 41 The boy went, and David rose from beside the south, and fell before his face to the ground, and bowed three times. And they kissed, a man with his companion. And they wept, a man with his companion, until David did the most. [2] 42 And Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we, the two of us, have sworn in the name of Yahweh, saying, ‘Yahweh is between me and you, and between my seed and your seed until eternity.’” And he rose and went, and Jonathan came to the city. [3] 20:14 [1] then … and not meaning of Hebrew uncertain 20:41 [2] Modern versions interpret this passage in different ways because the Hebrew text is difficult to understand. It most likely refers to the south side of the rock Ezel referred to in verse 19. 20:42 [3] And he rose and went … to the city The Hebrew text makes this verse 1 in chapter 21. Chapter 21 1 And David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech trembled to meet David and said to him, “Why are you by yourself and there is no man with you?” [1] 2 And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has commanded me with a matter and has said to me, ‘Do not let a man know anything about the matter which I am sending you, and which I have commanded you.’ And I have caused the young men to know about a certain place, a certain one. 3 And now what is there under your hand? Give five bread loaves into my hand, or the found thing.” 4 And the priest answered David and said, “There is no common bread toward under my hand. But there is the holy bread, if the young men have kept themselves only from women.” 5 And David answered the priest and said to him, “Surely a woman has been kept away with respect to us as yesterday and three days ago, as whenever I have gone out. And the vessels of the men have been holy, even though it was a common journey. And how much more today will it be holy with the vessels!” 6 And the priest gave to him the holy thing. For bread was not there except the bread of the face, which was removed from before the face of Yahweh, in order to put hot bread on the day it was taken away. 7 Now a man from the servants of Saul was there on that day, he was detained before the face of Yahweh. And his name was Doeg the Edomite, a powerful one of the herders who were for Saul. 8 And David said to Ahimelech, “Now is there not here under your hand a spear or sword? For both my sword and my weapons I did not take in my hand, because the matter of the king was urgent.” 9 And the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the valley of Elah, behold, it is wrapped in the cloak behind the ephod. If you want to take it for yourself, take, for there is no other except it in this place.” And David said, “There is none like it. Give it to me.” 10 And David rose and fled on that day from the face of Saul. And he came to Achish the king of Gath. 11 And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing with respect to this one in the dances, saying, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands?’” 12 And David put these words in his heart and was very afraid from the face of Achish the king of Gath. 13 And he changed his behavior in their eyes and pretended to be insane in their hand. And he made marks on the doors of the gate and caused his saliva to go down to his beard. 14 And Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see a man being insane. Why did you bring him to me? 15 Do I lack insane men, so that you have brought this one to be insane near me? Should this one enter into my house?” 21:1 [1] Verses 1 to 15 in modern versions are verses 2 to 16 in the Hebrew text. Chapter 22 1 And David went from there and slipped away to the cave of Adullam. And his brothers and all the house of his father heard, and they went down there to him. 2 And they gathered to him: every man of distress, and every man for whom was a creditor, and every man bitter of spirit. And he became commander over them. And they were with him, about 400 men. 3 And David went from there to Mizpah of Moab. And he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother go out with you until when I know what God will do for me.” 4 And he led them into the face of the king of Moab. And they stayed with him all the days of David being in the stronghold. 5 And Gad the prophet said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold. Go and come for yourself to the land of Judah.” And David went and came to the forest of Hereth. 6 And Saul heard that David was known, and the men who were with him. Now Saul was sitting in the Gibeah under the tamarisk tree on the height, and his spear was in his hand, and all his servants were stationed beside him. 7 And Saul said to his servants who were stationed beside him, “Listen now, Benjaminites! Will the son of Jesse give fields and vineyards even to all of you? Will he make all of you commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds? 8 For all of you have conspired against me! And there was no uncovering my ear when my son cut with the son of Jesse. And there was no grieving from you for me or uncovering my ear that my son has raised up my servant against me to lie in ambush as this day.” 9 And Doeg the Edomite answered (now he was stationed beside the servants of Saul) and said, “I saw the son of Jesse. He came to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. 10 And he inquired of Yahweh for him, and he gave provisions to him. And he gave to him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.” 11 And the king sent to call Ahimelech the son of Ahitub the priest and all the house of his father, the priests who were in Nob. And all of them came to the king. 12 And Saul said, “Listen now, son of Ahitub.” And he said, “Here I am, my master.” 13 And Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, by your giving to him bread, and a sword, and inquiring of God for him, to rise up against me, to lie in ambush, as this day?” 14 And Ahimelech answered the king and said, “Now who among all your servants is faithful like David, the son-in-law of the king, and commander over your guards, and is honored in your house? 15 Did I begin to inquire of God for him today? Far be it for me! Do not let the king set a word against his servant, against all the house of my father. For your servant does not know of any of this, small matter or great.” 16 And the king said, “You will surely die, Ahimelech, you and all the house of your father!” 17 And the king said to the ones who run, the ones who were stationed beside him, “Turn around and put to death the priests of Yahweh, because their hand also is with David, and because they knew that he was fleeing, but did not uncover my ear.” But the servants of the king were not willing to send forth their hand to attack the priests of Yahweh. 18 And the king said to Doeg, “You turn around and attack the priests!” And Doeg the Edomite turned around and he himself attacked the priests. And on that day he put to death 85 men who carried the linen ephod. 19 And Nob, the city of the priests, he struck down by the mouth of the sword, from man and as far as woman, from child and as far as infant, and ox and donkey and sheep by the mouth of the sword. 20 And one son of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub slipped away, and his name was Abiathar. And he fled after David. 21 And Abiathar told David that Saul had slain the priests of Yahweh. 22 And David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I myself have turned around against all the life of the house of your father! 23 Stay with me, do not be afraid. For who seeks my life seeks your life. Surely you will be kept safe with me.” Chapter 23 1 And they told David, saying, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and they are plundering the threshing floors.” 2 And David inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Should I go and strike these Philistines?” And Yahweh said to David, “Go and strike the Philistines and save Keilah.” 3 And the men of David said to him, “Behold, we are afraid here in Judah. And the more so if we go to Keilah against the ranks of the Philistines!” 4 And David did yet again inquire of Yahweh. And Yahweh answered him and said, “Rise, go down to Keilah, for I am about to give the Philistines into your hand.” 5 And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines. And he drove off their livestock and struck them a great blow. And David saved those who dwelled in Keilah. 6 And it happened that when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah an ephod came down in his hand. 7 And it was told to Saul that David had gone to Keilah. And Saul said, “God has alienated him into my hand. For he has shut himself in by entering into a city of doors and a bar.” 8 And Saul caused all the people to hear for the battle, to go down to Keilah, to lay seige against David and against his men. 9 And David knew that Saul was plotting evil against him. And he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring near the ephod.” 10 And David said, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, your servant has certainly heard that Saul is seeking to come to Keilah, to destroy the city because of me. 11 Will the masters of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? Will Saul come down, just as your servant has heard? Yahweh, the God of Israel, please tell your servant.” And Yahweh said, “He will come down.” 12 And David said, “Will the masters of Keilah deliver me and my men up into the hand of Saul?” And Yahweh said, “They will deliver up.” 13 And David and his men, about 600 men, rose and went out from Keilah, and they walked about in wherever they could walk about. And it was told to Saul that David had slipped away from Keilah, and he stopped going out. 14 And David stayed in the wilderness in the strongholds, and he stayed in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him all the days, but God did not give him into his hand. 15 And David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. Now David was in the wilderness of Ziph in the wood. 16 And Jonathan the son of Saul rose and went to David at the wood. And he strengthened his hand in God. 17 And he said to him, “Do not be afraid, for the hand of Saul my father will not find you. As for you, you will reign over Israel, but I will be as second to you. And even Saul my father knows so.” 18 And the two of them cut a covenant before the face of Yahweh. And David stayed in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house. 19 And Ziphites went up to Saul at the Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding himself among us in the strongholds in the wood, on the hill of the Hakilah, which is south of the Jeshimon? 20 And now, the king, according to all the desire of your soul to come down, come down! And it is for us to deliver him up into the hand of the king.” 21 And Saul said, “May you be blessed by Yahweh. For you have had compassion on me. 22 Go now, confirm again, and know, and see his place where his foot is. Who has seen him there? For one has said to me, ‘He is very crafty.’ 23 And see and know of all the hiding places there where he hides himself. And return to me with certain information, and I will go with you. And it will happen that if there is he in the land, then I will search for him in all the thousands of Judah.” 24 And they rose and went to Ziph before the face of Saul. Now David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah, to the south of the Jeshimon. 25 And Saul and his men went to seek. And they told David, and he went down to the crag and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. And Saul heard and pursued after David from the wilderness of Maon. 26 And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men were on that side of the mountain. And it happened that David was hurrying away to go from the face of Saul. And Saul and his men were circling in on David and on his men to capture them. 27 And a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and go, for the Philistines have raided against the land.” 28 And Saul returned from pursuing after David and went to meet the Philistines. Therefore they called that place the crag of the divisions. 29 And David went up from there and stayed in the strongholds of Engedi. [1] 23:29 [1] The Hebrew text makes this verse 1 in chapter 24. Chapter 24 1 And it happened when Saul returned from after the Philistines, that they told him, saying, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” [1] 2 And Saul took 3,000 men chosen from all Israel. And he went to seek David and his men on the face of the rocks of the wild goats. 3 And he came to the pens of the sheep on the way, and a cave was there. And Saul entered to cover his feet. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost part of the cave. 4 And the men of David said to him, “Behold, today is what Yahweh said to you, ‘Behold, I am about to give your enemy into your hand, and you will do to him as is good in your eyes.’” And David rose and cut off the edge of the robe which belonged to Saul in secrecy. 5 And it happened after thus that the heart of David struck him because he had cut off the edge, which belonged to Saul. 6 And he said to his men, “Far be it for me from Yahweh if I do this thing to my master, to the anointed one of Yahweh, to stretch out my hand against him. For he is the anointed one of Yahweh.” 7 And David divided his men with the words and did not give them to rise against Saul. And Saul rose from the cave and went in the way. 8 And David rose after thus and went out from the cave. And he called out behind Saul, saying, “My master the king!” And Saul looked behind him, and David bowed, nostrils to the ground, and he bowed down. 9 And David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of a man, saying, ‘Behold, David is seeking your harm?’ 10 Behold, this day your eyes have seen that Yahweh gave you into my hand today in the cave. And some said to slay you, but it looked on you with compassion. And I said, ‘I will not stretch out my hand against my master, for he is the anointed one of Yahweh.’ 11 And see, my father, even see the edge of your robe in my hand! For when I cut off the edge of your robe I did not slay you. Know and see that there is no evil or transgression in my hand, and I have not sinned against you, and you are lying in wait to take my life. 12 May Yahweh judge between you and me, and may Yahweh avenge me against you, but my hand will not be against you. 13 As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘From the wicked ones goes out wickedness.’ But my hand will not be against you. 14 After whom does the king of Israel come out? After whom are you pursuing? After a dead dog? After one flea? 15 And may Yahweh become judge and judge between me and you. And may he see and argue my case and judge me out of your hand.” 16 And it happened as soon as David had finished speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. 17 And he said to David, “You are more righteous than I. For you did good to me, but I did evil to you. 18 And you have declared today that you have done good with me, that Yahweh delivered me into your hand but you did not slay me. 19 And if a man finds his enemy, will he send him away on the good way? And may Yahweh reward you with good in return for what you have done for me this day. 20 And now, behold, I know that you will surely reign and the kingdom of Israel will rise in your hand. 21 And now, swear to me by Yahweh, that you will not cut off my seed after me, and that you will not destroy my name from the house of my father.” 22 And David swore to Saul. And Saul went to his house, and David and his men went up on the stronghold. 24:1 [1] Verses 1 to 22 in modern versions are verses 2 to 23 in the Hebrew text. Chapter 25 1 And Samuel died, and all Israel gathered and mourned for him, and they buried him in his house in the Ramah. And David rose and went down to the wilderness of Paran. 2 Now a man was in Maon and his work was in the Carmel, and the man was very great. And for him were 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats. And he was shearing his sheep in the Carmel. 3 And the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife was Abigail. Now the woman was good of insight and beautiful of form. But the man was harsh and evil of deeds, and he was a Calebite. 4 And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. 5 And David sent ten young men. And David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and ask him in my name with respect to well-being. 6 And you shall say thus, ‘To life! And peace to you and peace to your house and peace to all that is for you. 7 And now, I have heard that those who shear belong to you. Now the shepherds who belong to you have been with us. We have not harmed them and not anything of them was missing all the days of their being in the Carmel. 8 Ask your young men and they will tell you. And let the young men find favor in your eyes, for we have come on a good day. Please give whatever your hand finds to your servants and to your son, to David.’” 9 And the young men of David came, and they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in the name of David. And they rested. 10 And Nabal answered the servants of David. And he said, “Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? Today there are many servants who are breaking away, a man from the face of his master. 11 And should I take my bread and my water and my slaughtered thing that I have slaughtered for my ones who shear, and give it to men whom I do not know where they are from?” 12 And the young men of David turned to their way. And they returned and came and told him according to all these words. 13 And David said to his men, “Strap on a man his sword.” And they strapped on, a man his sword. And David also strapped on his sword. And about 400 men went up behind David, and 200 stayed with the things. 14 But one young man from the young men told Abigail the wife of Nabal, saying, “Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to bless our master, and he screamed at them. 15 But the men were very good to us. And we were not harmed and did not miss anything all the days of our going about with them when we were in the field. 16 They were a wall for us both night and day, all the days of our being with them tending the sheep. 17 And now know and see what you should do, for evil is determined against our master and against all his house. And he is a son of worthlessness from speaking to him.” 18 And Abigail hurried and took 200 bread loaves and two skins of wine and five prepared sheep and five seah of roasted grain and 100 bunches of raisins and 200 cakes of figs. And she put them on the donkeys. 19 And she said to her young men, “Pass over before my face. Behold, I will come behind you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20 And she was riding on the donkey and going down in the cover of the mountain, and behold, David and his men were coming down to meet her! And she encountered them. 21 Now David had said, “Surely for a lie have I kept all that is for this one in the wilderness, and not anyhing was missed from all that is for him. And he has returned to me evil in place of good. 22 Thus may God do to the enemies of David and thus may he add, if I leave over until the morning any who are for him who urinate against the wall!” 23 And Abigail saw David, and she hurried and got down from on the donkey. And fell before the face of David on her face and bowed down to the ground. 24 And she fell on his feet and said, “On me myself, my master, be the iniquity. Please let your female servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your female servant. 25 Please do not let my master set his heart against this man of worthlessness, against Nabal, for as his name is, so he is. Nabal is his name, and senselessness is with him. But I your female servant did not see the young men of my master, whom you sent. 26 And now, my master, as Yahweh is alive, and as your spirit is alive, it is Yahweh who has witheld you from entering into bloodshed and your hand saving for yourself. And now may your enemies and the ones who seek evil against my master be like Nabal. 27 And now let this blessing that your female servant has brought to my master be given to the young men, the ones going about at the feet of my master. 28 Please lift up the transgression of your female servant! For Yahweh will certainly make my master a sure house, because my master is fighting the battles of Yahweh. And evil will not be found in you from your days. 29 If a man rises up to pursue you and to seek your life, then the life of my master will be bound in the bundle of the living ones by Yahweh your God. And he will sling away the life of your enemies in the midst of the palm of the sling. 30 And it will happen that when Yahweh does for my master according to all the good that he spoke concerning you, and has appointed you for a ruler over Israel, 31 then this will not become an obstacle for you or a stumbling block of heart for my master, or as the pouring out of blood without cause, or as my master saving himself. And Yahweh will do good for my master, and you will remember your female servant.” 32 And David said to Abigail, “May Yahweh, the God of Israel, be blessed, who sent you this day to meet me. 33 And blessed be your discernment and blessed be you, who have witheld me this day from entering into bloodshed and my hand saving for myself! 34 But indeed, as Yahweh is alive, the God of Israel is he who has witheld me from doing evil to you. For if you had not hurried and come to meet me, surely there would not have been left over for Nabal until the light of the morning one who urinates against a wall.” 35 And David took from her hand what she had brought to him. And to her he said, “Go up in peace to your house. See, I have listened to your voice and have lifted up your face.” 36 And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, for him was a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And the heart of Nabal was good with him and he was drunk to abundance. And she did not tell him a thing small or great until the light of the morning. 37 And it happened in the morning, when the wine had gone out from Nabal, that his wife told him these things. And his heart died in his inner part and he became a stone. 38 And it was about ten days then Yahweh struck Nabal and he died. 39 And David heard that Nabal had died, and he said, “Blessed be Yahweh, who has argued the case of my reproach from the hand of Nabal and has witheld his servant from evil. And Yahweh has returned the evil of Nabal on his head.” And David sent and spoke with Abigail, to take her for himself for a wife. 40 And the servants of David came to Abigail at the Carmel. And they spoke to her, saying, “David has sent us to you to take you for him for a wife.” 41 And she rose and bowed down, nostrils to the earth, and she said, “Behold, your female servant is as a slave woman for washing the feet of the servants of my master.” 42 And Abigail hurried and rose and rode on the donkey, and five of her servant girls were going to her feet. And she went behind the messengers of David and became a wife for him. 43 And David took Ahinoam from Jezreel. And the two of them both became wives for him. 44 Now Saul had given Michal his daughter, the wife of David, to Paltiel the son of Laish, who was from Gallim. Chapter 26 1 And the Ziphites came to Saul at the Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding himself in the hill of the Hakilah, on the face of the Jeshimon?” 2 And Saul rose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, and with him were 3,000 men, chosen ones of Israel, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. 3 And Saul camped in the hill of the Hakilah, which is on the face of the Jeshimon, by the road. But David was staying in the wilderness and he saw that Saul was coming after him to the wilderness. 4 And David sent spies and he knew that Saul had certainly come. 5 And David rose and came to the place there where Saul had camped. And David saw the place there where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army. And Saul lay in the entrenchment, and the people were camped around him. 6 And David answered and said to Ahimelech the Hittite and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, the brother of Joab, saying, “Who will go down with me to Saul, to the camp?” And Abishai said, “I! I will go down with you.” 7 And David and Abishai came to the people at night. And behold, Saul lie asleep in the entrenchment, and his spear was pressed into the ground at the place of his head. And Abner and the people were lying around him. 8 And Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hand. And now please let me strike him with the spear even into the earth one time. And I will not do it again to him.” 9 And David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him. For who has stretched out his hand against the anointed one of Yahweh and been innocent?” 10 And David said, “As Yahweh is alive, surely Yahweh will strike him, or his day will come and he will die, or he will go down into the battle and be swept away. 11 Far be it for me from Yahweh to stretch out my hand against the anointed one of Yahweh. And now, please take the spear that is at the place of his head and the jug of water, and let us go for ourselves.” 12 And David took the spear and the jug of water from the place of the head of Saul, and they went for themselves. And there was no one who saw, and there was no one who knew, and there was no one who awoke, for all of them were sleeping, because a deep sleep of Yahweh had fallen on them. 13 And David passed over to the other side and stood on the head of the mountain from a distance. Great was the distance between them. 14 And David called out to the people and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, “Will you not answer, Abner?” And Abner answered and said, “Who are you who calls out to the king?” 15 And David said to Abner, “Are you not a man? And who is like you in Israel? But why did you not watch over your master the king? For one of the people came to destroy the king your master. 16 This thing that you have done is not good. As Yahweh is alive, surely sons of death are you who did not watch over your master, over the anointed one of Yahweh. And now see, where is the spear of the king and the jar of water that was at the place of his head?” 17 And Saul recognized the voice of David and said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And David said, “It is my voice, my master the king.” 18 And he said, “Why is my master pursuing after his servant? For what have I done? And what evil is in my hand? 19 And now, please hear, my master the king, the words of his servant. If Yahweh has incited you against me, may he smell an offering; but if the sons of the man, cursed be them before the face of Yahweh. For they have today driven me out from joining oneself with the inheritance of Yahweh, saying, ‘Go serve other gods.’ 20 And now, do not let my blood fall to the earth from in front of the face of Yahweh. For the king of Israel has come out to seek one flea just as one pursues the partridge in the mountains.” 21 And Saul said, “I have sinned! Return, my son David! For I will not do evil to you again, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have acted foolishly and have gone very much astray!” 22 And David answered and said, “Behold, the spear of the king! And let one of the young men pass over and take it. 23 And may Yahweh return to the man his righteousness and his faithfulness; because Yahweh gave you into a hand today, but I was not willing to stretch out my hand against the anointed one of Yahweh. 24 And behold, just as your life was great in my eyes this day, so may my life be great in the eyes of Yahweh, and may he rescue me from all distress.” 25 And Saul said to David, “Blessed be you, my son David! You will certainly both do and also you will certainly be able.” And David went to his way, and Saul returned to his place. Chapter 27 1 And David said to his heart, “Now I will be swept away one day by the hand of Saul. There is no good thing for me, but I will certainly slip away to the land of the Philistines. And Saul will despair of me, of seeking me again in all the territory of Israel, and I will slip away from his hand.” 2 And David rose and passed over, he and 600 men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maok, the king of Gath. 3 And David dwelled with Achish in Gath, he and his men, a man and his house, David and the two of his wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite woman and Abigail the Carmelite woman, the wife of Nabal. 4 And it was told to Saul that David had fled to Gath. And he did not again seek him more. 5 And David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let them give to me a place in one of the cities of the field, and I may dwell there. And why should your servant dwell in the city of the kingship with you?” 6 And on that day Achish gave to him Ziklag. Therefore Ziklag belongs to the kings of Judah until this day. 7 And the number of the days that David dwelled in the field of the Philistines was days and four months. 8 And David and his men went up and raided against the Geshurites and the Girzites and the Amalekites. For they were dwelling in the land, which is from ancient times, as you go to Shur, and as far as the land of Egypt. [1] 9 And David struck the land and did not let a man or a woman live. And he took sheep and cattle and donkeys and camels and garments. And he returned and came to Achish. 10 And Achish said, “Against whom did you raid today?” And David said, “Against the south of Judah and against the south of the Jerahmeelite and against the south of the Kenite.” 11 Now David did not let a man or a woman live to bring to Gath, saying, “Lest they tell about us, saying, ‘Thus did David.’” And thus was his custom all the days that he dwelled in the field of the Philistines. 12 And Achish trusted in David, saying, “He certainly stinks among his people in Israel, and he will become an eternal servant for me.” 27:8 [1] Instead of the Girzites which is found in some ancient Hebrew manuscripts, some modern versions have the Gizrites which is found in the margin of some Hebrew manuscripts. Chapter 28 1 And it happened in those days that the Philistines gathered their camps for the war to fight with Israel. And Achish said to David, “You certainly know that you will go out with me in the camp, you and your men.” 2 And David said to Achish, “Therefore, you yourself will know what your servant can do.” And Achish said to David, “Therefore, I will appoint you the keeper of my head all the days.” 3 Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and had buried him in the Ramah, even in his city. And Saul had removed the necromancers and the ones with familiar spirits from the land. 4 And the Philistines gathered and came and camped at Shunem. And Saul gathered all Israel, and they camped at the Gilboa. 5 And Saul saw the camp of the Philistines. And he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. 6 And Saul inquired of Yahweh, but Yahweh did not answer him—neither by the dreams, nor by the Urim, nor by the prophets. 7 And Saul said to his servants, “Seek for me a woman of a mistress of necromancy, so I may go to her and inquire of her.” And his servants said to him, “Behold, a woman of a mistress of necromancy is in Endor.” 8 And Saul disguised himself, and put on other clothes, and went, he and two of the men with him. And they came to the woman at night. And he said, “Please practice divination for me with a spirit of the dead, and bring up for me whom I say to you.” 9 And the woman said to him, “Behold, you yourself know what Saul has done, that he has cut off the necromancers and the ones with a familiar spirit from the land. And why are you setting a trap against my life, to put me to death?” 10 And Saul swore to her by Yahweh, saying, “As Yahweh is alive, no punishment will meet you by this matter.” 11 And the woman said, “Whom will I bring up for you?” And he said, “Bring up Samuel for me.” 12 And the woman saw Samuel and cried out with a loud voice. And the woman said to Saul, saying, “Why did you deceive me? And you are Saul!” 13 And the king said to her, “Do not be afraid, but what did you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I saw gods going up from the earth.” 14 And he said to her, “What is his appearance?” And she said, “An old man is coming up and he is wrapped in a robe.” And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed, nostrils to the ground, and he bowed down. 15 And Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” And Saul said, “It is very narrow for me, and the Philistines are about to fight against me. And God has turned aside from on me and does not answer me anymore, neither by the hand of the prophets, nor by the dreams, so I have called to you, to cause me to know what I will do.” 16 And Samuel said, “And why do you ask me while Yahweh has turned aside from on you and has become your enemy? 17 And Yahweh has done for himself just as he spoke by my hand. And Yahweh has torn the kingdom from your hand and has given it to your companion, to David. 18 Because you did not listen to the voice of Yahweh and did not perform the burning of his nose against Amalek, therefore Yahweh has done this thing to you this day. 19 And Yahweh will also give Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. Yahweh will also give the camp of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.” 20 And Saul immediately fell with the fullness of his height to the ground and was very afraid from the words of Samuel. Also strength was not in him, for he had not eaten bread all the day and all the night. 21 And the woman came to Saul and saw that he was very terrified, And she said to him, “Behold, your female servant has listened to your voice and I have put my life in my palm and have heard the words that you have spoken to me. 22 And now, please listen, even you, to the voice of your female servant, and let me set a bit of bread before your face and eat. And strength will be in you when you go in the way.” 23 And he refused and said, “I will not eat.” But his servants and also the woman, urged him, and he listened to their voice. And he rose from the ground and sat on the bed. 24 Now a calf of the stall belonged to the woman in the house, and she hurried and sacrificed it. And she took flour and kneaded and baked it to unleavened bread. 25 And she brought it near before the face of Saul and before the face of his servants, and they ate. And they rose and went in that night. Chapter 29 1 And the Philistines gathered all their camp at Aphek. And Israel was camping at the spring that is in Jezreel. 2 And the rulers of the Philistines were passing over by hundreds and by thousands. And David and his men were passing over in the rear with Achish. 3 And the commanders of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews?” And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me these days or these years, and I have not found anything in him from the day of his falling until this day?” 4 And the commanders of the Philistines were furious against him. And the commanders of the Philistines said to him, “Make the man return, that he may return to his place there where you assigned him. And he will not go down with us in the battle, and he will not become an adversary for us in the battle. And by what could this one make himself acceptable to his master? Is it not by the heads of these men? 5 Is this not David of whom they sang in the dances, saying, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?” 6 And Achish called to David and said to him, “As Yahweh is alive, surely you are upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the camp is good in my eyes, for I have not found evil in you from the day of your coming to me until this day. But in the eyes of the rulers you are not good. 7 And now return and go in peace, so you do not do evil in the eyes of the rulers of the Philistines.” 8 And David said to Achish, “But what have I done? And what have you found in your servant from the day when I was before your face until this day, that I may not come and fight against the enemies of my master the king?” 9 And Achish answered and said to David, “I know that you are good in my eyes like a messenger of God. Nevertheless, the commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He must not go up with us in the battle.’ 10 And now rise early in the morning with the servants of your master who came with you. And you shall rise early in the morning with light for you and go.” 11 And David rose early, he and his men, to go in the morning, to return to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel. Chapter 30 1 And it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had raided against the Negev and against Ziklag. And they had struck Ziklag and had burned it with fire. 2 And they had taken captive the women who were in it, from small and as far as great. They had not put a man to death, but had led them away and went to their way. 3 And David and his men came to the city, and behold, it was burned with fire! And their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive. 4 And David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep. 5 And the two of the wives of David had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelite woman and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. 6 And it was very narrow for David, for the people said to stone him, for the spirit of all the people was bitter, a man for his sons and for his daughters. And David strengthened himself in Yahweh, his God. 7 And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring near to me the ephod.” And Abiathar brought near to David the ephod. 8 And David inquired of Yahweh, saying, “If I pursue after this troop, will I overtake it?” And he said to him, “Pursue, for you will certainly overtake and you will certainly rescue.” 9 And David went, he and the 600 men who were with him, and they came as far as the wadi of the Besor. And the ones who were left behind stayed. 10 And David pursued, he and 400 men. And 200 men stayed, who were too exhausted to pass over the wadi of the Besor. 11 And they found an Egyptian man in the field and took him to David. And they gave to him bread, and he ate. And they caused him to drink water. 12 And they gave to him a slice of a fig cake and two raisin clusters, and he ate and his spirit returned to him. For he had not eaten bread and had not drunk water three days and three nights. 13 And David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” And he said, “I am an Egyptian young man, a slave of a man of the Amalekite. And my master left me because three days ago I became sick. 14 We raided the Negev of the Kerethites, and against what belongs to Judah, and against the Negev of Caleb. And we burned Ziklag with fire.” 15 And David said to him, “Will you bring me down to this troop?” And he said, “Swear to me by God that you will not put me to death and not deliver me into the hand of my master, and I will bring you down to this troop.” 16 And he brought him down, and behold, they were spread out over the face of all the land, eating and drinking and celebrating because of all the great spoil that they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. 17 And David struck them down from the twilight and until the evening of their next day. And a man did not slip away from them except for 400 men, young men who rode on the camels and fled. 18 And David rescued all that Amalek had taken. And David rescued the two of his wives. 19 And it was not missing for them from small and as far as great and as far as sons and daughters and from spoil and as far as all that they had taken for themselves. David brought back everything. 20 And David took all the sheep and the cattle. They drove before the face of that livestock, and said, “This is the spoil of David.” 21 And David came to the 200 men who had been too exhausted to go behind David, and they had caused them to stay at the wadi of the Besor. And they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And David came near the people and asked them with respect to well-being. 22 And all the evil and worthless men from the men who had gone with David answered and said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give to them from the spoil that we have rescued, except a man his wife and his sons, that they may lead away and go.” 23 And David said, “You shall not do so, my brothers, with what Yahweh has given to us. And he has kept us and given into our hand the troop who came against us. 24 And who will listen to you with respect to this matter? For as is the portion of the one who went down in the battle, so shall be the portion of the one who stayed with the things. They shall be apportioned together.” 25 And it happened from that day and beyond, that he set it for a statute and for a custom for Israel, until this day. 26 And David came to Ziklag and sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his companions, saying, “Behold, a blessing for you: some of the spoil of the enemies of Yahweh.” 27 It was for he who was in Bethel and for he who was in Ramoth of the South and for he who was in Jattir 28 and for he who was in Aroer and for he who was in Siphmoth and for he who was in Eshtemoa 29 and for he who was in Rakal and for he who was in the cities of the Jerahmeelite and for he who was in the cities of the Kenite 30 and for he who was in Hormah and for he who was in Bor Ashan and for he who was in Athak 31 and for he who was in Hebron and for all the places there where David walked about, he and his men. Chapter 31 1 Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel. And the men of Israel fled from before the face of the Philistines and they fell pierced on Mount Gilboa. 2 And the Philistines stuck close to Saul and his sons. And the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malki-Shua, the sons of Saul. 3 And the battle was heavy against Saul and the archers, the men with the bow, found him. And he writhed in pain greatly because of the archers. 4 And Saul said to the one who carried his equipment, “Draw out your sword and pierce me through with it, lest these uncircumcised ones come and pierce me through and deal severely with me.” But the one who carried his equipment was not willing, for he was very afraid. And Saul took the sword and fell on it. 5 And the one who carried his equipment saw that Saul had died. And he fell, he also, on his sword and died with him. 6 And Saul died and the three of his sons and the one who carried his equipment, even all his men together on that day. 7 And the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley and who were on the other side of the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled, and that Saul and his sons had died. And they left their cities and fled. And the Philistines came and dwelled in them. 8 And it happened from the next day, that the Philistines came to strip the pierced ones. And they found Saul and the three of his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 And they cut off his head and stripped off his equipment. And they sent into the land of the Philistines all around to bring news to the house of their idols and to the people. 10 And they put his equipment in the house of the Ashtoreths. And they thrust his corpse on the wall of Beth Shan. 11 And those who dwelled in Jabesh Gilead heard about it, what the Philistines had done to Saul. 12 And all the men of strength rose and went all the night and took the corpse of Saul and the corpses of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan. And they went to Jabesh and burned them there. 13 And they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh. And they fasted seven days. 2 Samuel Chapter 1 1 And it happened, after the death of Saul, and David returned from striking the Amalekites. And David remained in Ziklag {for} two days. 2 And it happened, on the third day—and look, a man came from the camp, from with Saul, and his clothes were torn and dirt {was} on his head. And it happened, when he came to David that he fell to the ground, and he prostrated himself. 3 And David said to him, “Where from this are you coming?” And he said to him, “From the camp of Israel I escaped.” 4 And David said to him, “How was the matter? Inform me, please.” And he said that the people fled from the war, and also many fell from the people and died, and even Saul and Jonathan, his son, died. 5 And David said to the young man, the one who informed him, “How do you know that Saul and Jonathan, his son died?” 6 And the young man, the one who informed him, said, “I surely happened to be on the mountain of Gilboa, and look, Saul was leaning on his spear. And look, the chariots and the masters of the chariot horses overtook him. 7 And he turned behind him, and he saw me. And he called to me, and I said, ‘Here I am.’ 8 And he said to me, ‘Who {are} you?’ And I said to him, ‘I {am} an Amalekite.’ 9 And he said to me, ‘Please, stand over me and kill me, for agony has grabbed me, although all still my life {is} in me.’ 10 And I stood over him, and I killed him, because I knew that he would not live after his having fallen. And I took the crown that {was} on his head and the band that {was} on his arm, and I brought them to my lord here.” 11 And David seized his clothes and tore them, and also all the men who were with him. 12 And they mourned, and they wept, and they fasted until the evening for Saul and for Jonathan, his son, and for the people of Yahweh and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. 13 And David said to the young man, the one who informed him, “Where from this {are} you?” And he said, “A son of a man, a foreigner, an Amalekite, {am} I.” 14 And David said to him, “How were you not afraid to stretch out your hand to destroy the anointed one of Yahweh?” 15 And David called to one of the young men, and he said, “Come near. Confront him.” And he struck him, and he died. 16 And David said to him, “Your blood {is} on your head, because your mouth answered against you, saying, ‘I myself killed the anointed one of Yahweh.’” 17 Then David sang this funeral song for Saul and for Jonathan, his son. 18 And he said to teach the sons of Judah ‘The Bow.’ Look, {it is} written on the Scroll of the Upright: 19 “The splendor of Israel on your high places—slain! How the mighty have fallen! 20 Let them not declare {it} in Gath; let them not bear news in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. 21 Mountains in Gilboa— no dew and no rain on you, nor fields of offerings, for there, the shield of the mighty was defiled; the shield of Saul, not anointed with oil. 22 From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not turn back, and the sword of Saul did not return empty. 23 Saul and Jonathan— the beloved ones and the delightful ones in their life and in their death—they were not separated. They were swifter than eagles; they were mightier than lions. 24 Daughters of Israel, weep for Saul, the one who clothed you {with} scarlet, with jewelry, the one who put an ornament of gold on your clothing. 25 How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the war! Jonathan on your high places {is} slain. 26 Distress {belongs} to me concerning you, my brother, Jonathan. You were very pleasant to me. Your love was more wonderful to me than the love of women. 27 How the mighty have fallen, and perished the weapons of war!” Chapter 2 1 And it happened, after this, and David inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Should I go up into one of the cities of Judah?” And Yahweh said to him, “Go up.” Then David said, “Where should I go up?” And he said, “To Hebron.” 2 And David went up there and also two of his wives, Ahinoam, the Jezreelite, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal, the Carmelite. 3 And his men who {were} with him, David brought up, each man and his house. And they dwelt in the cities of Hebron. 4 And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David as king over the house of Judah. And they informed David, saying, “The men of Jabesh-Gilead {are} those who buried Saul.” 5 And David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-Gilead, and he said to them, “Blessed are you by Yahweh, because you did this kindness with your lord, with Saul, and have buried him. 6 And now may Yahweh do with you kindness and faithfulness. And also I myself will do with you this good {thing} because you have done this thing. 7 But now, let your hands be strong, and become sons of valor, for Saul, your lord, died, and also the house of Judah has anointed me as king over them.” 8 And Abner, the son of Ner, {the} captain of {the} troop which {belonged} to Saul, took Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, and he brought him over {to} Mahanaim. 9 And he made him king over Gilead, and over the Ashurites, and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over Israel—all of it. 10 A son of forty years {was} Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, when he became king over Israel, and he was king two years. Nevertheless, the house of Judah was behind David. 11 And it happened, the number of the days that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah {was} seven years and six months. 12 And Abner, the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. 13 But Joab, the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David went out and confronted them by the pool of Gibeon together. And they sat down—these by the pool on this {side} and these by the pool on this {side}. 14 And Abner said to Joab, “Now let the young men get up and fight to our faces.” And Joab said, “Let them get up.” 15 And they got up, and they crossed over by number—12 for Benjamin and for Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, and 12 from the servants of David. 16 And they seized, each one, his neighbor by the head, and his sword in the side of his neighbor, and they fell together. And he called that place, “Helkath Hazzurim,” which {is} in Gibeon. 17 And the war was extremely severe on that day. And Abner and the men of Israel were struck to the face of the servants of David. 18 And the three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel. And Asahel {was} light on his feet, like one of the gazelles which {are} in the field. 19 And Asahel pursued after Abner. And he did not turn aside to go to the right or to the left from after Abner. 20 And Abner turned behind him, and he said, “{Is} this you Asahel?” And he answered, “{It is} I.” 21 And Abner said to him, “Turn aside, you, to your right or to your left and grab, you, one from the young men and take, you, his spoil.” But Asahel was not willing to turn from behind him. 22 And Abner still continued, saying to Asahel, “Turn aside, you, from behind me. Why should I strike you to the ground? And how could I lift my face to Joab, your brother?” 23 But he refused to turn aside, and Abner struck him with the back of the spear in the stomach, and the spear went out from his back. And he fell there, and he died under him. And it happened, all the people who came to the place where Asahel fell there and died—and they stood. 24 But Joab and Abishai pursued after Abner (and the sun was going), and they themselves came to the hill of Ammah, which {is} on the face of Giah, the way of the wilderness of Gibeon. 25 And the sons of Benjamin gathered themselves behind Abner, and they became one troop. And they stood on the top of one hill. 26 And Abner called to Joab, and he said, “Will the sword eat forever? Do you not know that bitterness will be in the end? And how long will you not say to the people to turn from after their brothers?” 27 And Joab said, “{By} the life of God, that if you had not spoken, surely then from the morning the people would have pulled back, each from after his brother.” 28 And Joab blasted on the trumpet, and all the people stood, and they did not again pursue after Israel. And they did not continue to fight again. 29 And Abner and his men walked all that night through the Arabah. And they crossed the Jordan, and they walked all the morning, and they entered Mahanaim. 30 And Joab returned from after Abner, and he assembled all the people. And 19 men and Asahel were missing from the servants of David. 31 But the servants of David struck from Benjamin, from the men of Abner—360 men they killed. 32 And they took up Asahel, and they buried him in the tomb of his father, which {was in} Bethlehem. And Joab and his men walked all of the night, and it became light for them at Hebron. Chapter 3 1 And the war was long between the house of Saul and between the house of David. And David went strongly, but the house of Saul went poorly. 2 And sons were born to David in Hebron. And it happened, his firstborn {was} Amnon, by Ahinoam, the Jezreelite. 3 And his second {was} Kileab, by Abigail, the wife of Nabal, the Carmelite. And the third {was} Absalom, the son of Maacah, daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur. 4 And the fourth {was} Adonijah, the son of Haggith. And the fifth {was} Shephatiah, the son of Abital. 5 And the sixth {was} Ithream, by Eglah, the wife of David. These were born to David in Hebron. 6 And it happened, when the war was between the house of Saul and between the house of David, and Abner was strengthening himself in the house of Saul. 7 And a concubine {belonged} to Saul, and her name {was} Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. And he said to Abner, “Why have you gone in to the concubine of my father?” 8 And it was very hot to Abner concerning the words of Ishbosheth, and he said, “{Am} I the head of a dog who {belongs} to Judah? Today I am doing kindness with the house of Saul, your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and I will not let you fall into the hand of David. And today you charge against me the iniquity of the woman? 9 Thus may God do to Abner, and thus may he add to him, if, as Yahweh has sworn to David, that thus I will do for him, 10 to take away the kingdom from the house of Saul and to establish the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan and to Beersheba.” 11 And he was still not able to return {to} Abner a word, because of his fearing him. 12 And Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf saying, “To whom {belongs} the land?” {and} saying, “Cut your covenant with me, and look, my hand {is} with you, to make all of Israel turn to you.” 13 And he said, “Good, I myself will cut a covenant with you. Only one thing I am asking from you, saying, ‘You will not see my face unless to my face you bring Michal, the daughter of Saul, when you come to see my face.’” 14 And David sent messengers to Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, saying, “Give {me} my wife Michal, whom I betrothed to myself with 100 foreskins of Philistines.” 15 And Ishbosheth sent and took her from with {her} husband, from with Paltiel, the son of Laish. 16 And her husband walked with her, walking and weeping behind her, until Bahurim. And Abner said to him, “Go, return.” And he returned. 17 But the word of Abner was with the elders of Israel saying, “Both yesterday and the day before, you were seeking David {to be} king over you. 18 And now do {it}, for Yahweh said concerning David, saying, ‘By the hand of David, my servant, {I will} save my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and from the hand of all their enemies.’” 19 And Abner also spoke in the ears of Benjamin, and Abner also went to speak in the ears of David in Hebron all that {was} good in the eyes of Israel and in the eyes of all of the house of Benjamin. 20 And Abner came to David {in} Hebron, and with him 20 men. And David made a feast for Abner and for the men who {were} with him. 21 And Abner said to David, “Let me get up, and let me go, and let me gather to my lord, the king, all of Israel that they may cut a covenant with you and that you may be king over everything that your soul desires.” And David sent Abner, and he went in peace. 22 And look, the servants of David and Joab came from a raid, and they brought with them much plunder. But Abner, he was not with David in Hebron because he had sent him, and he had gone in peace. 23 And Joab and all the army which {was} with him arrived, and they informed Joab, saying, “Abner, the son of Ner, came to the king, and he sent him, and he went in peace.” 24 And Joab came to the king, and he said, “What have you done? Look, Abner came to you! Why {is} this you have let him go, and he is certainly gone? 25 You know Abner, the son of Ner, that he came to persuade you and to know your going out and your coming in and to know everything that you are doing?” 26 And Joab went out from with David, and he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the cistern of Sirah, but David did not know. 27 And Abner returned {to} Hebron, and Joab turned him aside to the middle of the gate to speak with him in the quiet. And there he struck him {in} the stomach, and he died in exchange for the blood of Asahel, his brother. 28 And David heard after this, and he said, “I and my kingdom {are} innocent from with Yahweh forever from the blood of Abner, the son of Ner. 29 May it turn on the head of Joab and to the whole house of his father, and may not a person who is discharging or a leprous person or a person who is strong with the spindle or a person who falls by the sword or a person who lacks bread be excluded from the house of Joab.” 30 And Joab and Abishai, his brother, killed Abner, on account that he had murdered Asahel, their brother, in Gibeon during the war. 31 And David said to Joab and to all the people who {were} with him, “Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth and mourn to the face of Abner.” And King David was walking behind the funeral bed. 32 And they buried Abner in Hebron. And the king raised his voice, and he wept at the tomb of Abner, and all the people wept. 33 The king lamented for Abner, and he said, “Just as a fool dies, should Abner die? 34 Your hands were not bound, and your feet were not put into shackles. Like falling to the face of sons of injustice, you have fallen.” And all the people continued to weep for him. 35 And all the people came to provide David {with} bread while {it was} still day, but David swore, saying, “Thus may God do to me, and thus may he continue, if, to the face of the going of the sun, I taste bread or any anything.” 36 And all the people recognized, and it was good in their eyes, just as everything that the king did {was} good in the eyes of all the people. 37 And all the people and all Israel knew on that day that it was not from the king to murder Abner, the son of Ner. 38 And the king said to his servants, “Do you not know that a captain and a great {person} fell this day in Israel? 39 But I {am} tender today, though anointed king. But these men, the sons of Zeruiah, {are} more severe than I. May Yahweh repay the person who does evil according to his evil.” Chapter 4 1 And the son of Saul heard that Abner died in Hebron, and his hands failed, and all Israel was horrified. 2 And two men, captains of troops, belonged {to} the son of Saul. The name of the one {was} Baanah and the name of the second {was} Recab—sons of Rimmon, the Beerothite, from the sons of Benjamin (because Beeroth is also accounted to Benjamin, 3 and the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and they have been sojourning there until this day). 4 And to Jonathan, the son of Saul, {belonged} a son who was crippled {in his} feet. He was a son of five years when the report about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse carried him and fled. And it happened, when she hurried to flee, that he fell and became lame. And his name {was} Mephibosheth. 5 And the sons of Rimmon, the Beerothite, Recab and Baanah, walked and at about the heat of the day they went to the house of Ishbosheth, as he was lying down {on} the noonday bed. 6 And look, they came up to the midst of the house to take wheat, and they struck him in the stomach. And Recab and Baanah, his brother, escaped. 7 And they entered the house, and he was laying on his bed in the inner room of his bed, and they struck him, and they murdered him, and they removed his head. And they took his head, and they walked the way of the Arabah all night. 8 And they brought the head of Ishbosheth to David {at} Hebron, and they said to the king, “Look, the head of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life. And Yahweh has given to my lord, the king, vengeance this day against Saul and against his seed.” 9 And David answered Recab and Baanah, his brother, the sons of Rimmon, the Beerothite, and he said to them, “{By} the life of Yahweh, who delivered my life from every distress, 10 when the person who informed me, saying, ‘Look, Saul is dead’—and he was like a person bringing {good} news in his eyes—and I grabbed him, and I killed him at Ziklag, which {was} me giving good news to him. 11 How much more when men of wickedness have killed a man of righteousness in his house on his bed! And now, should I not seek his blood from your hand and purge you from the earth?” 12 And David commanded the young men, and they killed them, and they cut off their hands and their feet, and they hung {them} beside the pool in Hebron. But the head of Ishbosheth they took, and they buried in the grave of Abner in Hebron. Chapter 5 1 And all the tribes of Israel came to David, to Hebron. And they said, saying, “Look at us, we {are} your bone and your flesh. 2 Both yesterday and the day before, when Saul was king over us, you yourself were the person who brought out and the person who brought in Israel. And Yahweh said to you, ‘You yourself will shepherd my people, Israel, and you yourself will become leader over Israel.’” 3 And all the elders of Israel came to the king, to Hebron, and King David cut for them a covenant in Hebron to the face of Yahweh. And they anointed David to {be} king over Israel. 4 A son of 30 years {was} David when he became king. {For} 40 years, he was king. 5 In Hebron, he was king over Judah seven years and six months. And in Jerusalem, he was king 33 years over all Israel and Judah. 6 And the king and his men went {to} Jerusalem, to the Jebusites, the people who lived {in} the land. And he said to David, saying, “You will not come here unless the blind people and the lame people remove you,” saying, “David will not come here.” 7 And David captured the mountain stronghold of Zion—it {is} the city of David. 8 And David said on that day, “Anyone striking the Jebusites (and let him touch the water shaft) and the lame people and the blind people, the people who are hated by the life of David.” Therefore, they say, “The blind person and the lame person will not come into the house.” 9 And David lived in the mountain stronghold, and he called it ‘the City of David.’ And David built on all sides from the terrace and to the house. 10 And David went, going and becoming great. And Yahweh, the God of Hosts, {was} with him. 11 And Hiram, the king of Tyre, sent messengers to David and trees of cedar and craftsmen of wood and craftsmen of wall stone. And they built a house for David. 12 And David knew that Yahweh had established him to {be} king over Israel and that he had raised his kingdom high for the sake of his people, Israel. 13 And David again took concubines and wives from Jerusalem after his coming from Hebron. And again sons and daughters were born to David. 14 And these {are} the names of those who were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua and Shobab and Nathan and Solomon 15 and Ibhar and Elishua and Nepheg and Japhia 16 and Elishama and Eliada and Eliphelet. 17 And the Philistines heard that they anointed David to {be} king over Israel, and all the Philistines went up to seek David. And David heard, and he went down to the mountain stronghold. 18 (And the Philistines came, and they overtook the Valley of Rephaim) 19 And David inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Should I go up to the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?” And Yahweh said to David, “Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand.” 20 And David came to Baal-Perazim, and David struck them there, and he said, “Yahweh broke through my enemies to my face like the breach of waters.” Therefore, he called the name of that place Baal-Perazim. 21 And they abandoned there their idols, and David and his men carried them. 22 And the Philistines still continued to go up, and they overtook the Valley of Rephaim. 23 And David inquired of Yahweh, and he said, “You will not go up. Wheel around to behind them, and you will come to them from opposite the balsam trees. 24 And it will be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then you will pay attention, for then Yahweh will go out to your faces to strike the camp of the Philistines.” 25 And David did thus, just as Yahweh commanded him. And he struck the Philistines from Geba until your coming {to} Gezer. Chapter 6 1 And David again gathered all {the} chosen {men} in Israel—30,000. 2 And he got up, and David and all the people who {were} with him went from Baalah of Judah to bring up from there the Box of God whose name is called the name of Yahweh of Hosts, who dwells {between} the cherubim on it. 3 And they mounted the Box of God on a new cart, and they carried it from the house of Abinadab which {was} on the hill. And Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were leading the new cart. 4 And they carried it from the house of Abinadab, which {was} on the hill, with the Box of God. And Ahio was walking to the face of the Box, 5 and David and all the house of Israel were celebrating to the face of Yahweh with all {the} trees of juniper and with harps and with lyres and with tambourines and with rattles and with cymbals. 6 And they came up to the threshing floor of Nakon. And Uzzah reached out to the Box of God, and he grabbed it because the oxen let {it} fall. 7 And the nose of Yahweh grew hot against Uzzah, and God struck him there on account of the error. And he died there by the Box of God. 8 And it grew hot for David because Yahweh broke out {with} an outburst against Uzzah. And he called that place Perez-Uzzah, up to this day. 9 And David feared Yahweh that day. And he said, “How will the Box of Yahweh come to me?” 10 And David was not willing to remove to himself the Box of Yahweh to the City of David. And David guided it {to} the house of Obed-Edom, the Gittite. 11 And the Box of Yahweh sat {in} the house of Obed-Edom, the Gittite, {for} three months. And Yahweh blessed Obed-Edom and all his house. 12 And it was declared to King David, saying, “Yahweh has blessed the house of Obed-Edom and everyone who {belongs} to him for the sake of the Box of God.” And David went, and he brought up the Box of God from the house of Obed-Edom {to} the City of David with joy. 13 And it happened that the people who carried the Box of Yahweh marched six steps, and he sacrificed an ox and a fattened animal. 14 And David danced to the face of Yahweh with all {his} strength. And David was wearing an ephod of linen. 15 And David and all the house of Israel were bringing up the Box of Yahweh with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet. 16 And the Box of Yahweh was entering the City of David. But Michal, the daughter of Saul, looked down through the window, and she saw King David leaping and dancing to the face of Yahweh, and she despised him in her heart. 17 And they brought the Box of Yahweh, and they placed it in its place in the midst of the tent that David pitched for it. And David lifted up burnt offerings to the face of Yahweh and peace offerings 18 And David ceased from lifting up the burnt offerings and the peace offerings. And he blessed the people in the name of Yahweh of Hosts. 19 And he distributed to all the people, to all the multitude of Israel, to both a man and to a woman, to each one cake of bread and one date cake and one raisin cake. And all the people went, each to his house. 20 And David returned to bless his house. And Michal, the daughter of Saul, went out to meet David, and she said, “How honored today {was} the king of Israel, who exposed himself today to the eyes of the female servants of his servants, like the uncovered exposing of one of the empty people!” 21 And David said to Michal, “To the face of Yahweh who chose me (rather than your father and rather than all his family) by commanding me {to be} leader over the people of Yahweh, over Israel—and I celebrated to the face of Yahweh! 22 And I demeaned myself more than that, and I was low in my eyes. But with the female servants about whom you have spoken—with them, I will be honored.” 23 And to Michal, the daughter of Saul—there did not belong to her a child to the day of her death. Chapter 7 1 And it happened, that the king lived in his house. And Yahweh gave rest to him all around from all his enemies. 2 And the king said to Nathan, the prophet, “See, now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the Box of God is living in the midst of the curtain.” 3 And Nathan said to the king, “Everything that {is} in your heart, go, do, because Yahweh {is} with you.” 4 And it happened, during that night, and the word of Yahweh was to Nathan, saying, 5 “Go, and you will say to my servant, to David, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Will you build for me a house for my living? 6 For I have not lived in a house from the day of my bringing up the sons of Israel from Egypt and up to this day. And I was going about in tent and in tabernacle. 7 In every {place} that I went about with all the sons of Israel, did I say a word with one of the rods of Israel whom I commanded to shepherd my people, Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built for me a house of cedar?’”” 8 But now, thus you will say to my servant, to David, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “I myself took you from the grazing place, from {following} after the flock, to become leader over my people, over Israel. 9 And I have been with you in every {place} that you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from your face. And I will make for you a great name like the name of the great people who {are} in the land. 10 And I will put a place for my people, for Israel, and I will plant him that he may live in his place, and he will not tremble anymore, and the sons of iniquity will not continue to afflict him, as formerly, 11 and from the day when I commanded judges over my people, Israel. And I will give rest to you from all your enemies, and Yahweh declares to you that a house Yahweh will make for you. 12 When your days are filled, and you lie down with your fathers, and I will raise up your seed after you who will come out from your belly. And I will establish his kingdom. 13 He himself will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom until forever. 14 I myself will become a father to him, and he himself will become a son to me that, when he sins, and I will reproach him with a rod of men and with the blows of the sons of man. 15 But my kindness will not turn aside from you, as I turned aside from with Saul, whom I turned aside from before your faces. 16 And your house and your kingdom will endure until forever to your face. Your throne will be established until forever.’” 17 According to all of these words and according to all of this vision, thus Nathan spoke to David. 18 And King David went, and he sat to the face of Yahweh, and he said, “Who {am} I, my Lord Yahweh, and who {is} my house that you have brought me to here? 19 And still this was small in your eyes, my Lord Yahweh. And you spoke even about the house of your servant from long ago. And this {is} the instruction of humanity, my Lord Yahweh! 20 What more will David continue to say to you? But you yourself know your servant, my Lord Yahweh. 21 For the sake of your word and according to your heart you have done all this greatness, by making your servant know {it}. 22 Therefore, you are great, my Lord Yahweh, because there is no one like you and there is no God except you, in everything that we have heard with our ears. 23 And who {is} like your people, like Israel—one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for himself to {be} a people and to set for himself a name and to do for them the greatness and the fearful things for your land, from before the face of your people who you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods? 24 And you established for yourself your people Israel, for yourself, to {be} a people until forever. And you yourself, Yahweh, became God for them. 25 And now, Yahweh God, the word which you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, confirm until forever and do just as you have spoken. 26 And may your name be great until forever, saying, ‘Yahweh of Hosts {is} God over Israel,’ and the house of your servant David will be established to your face. 27 For you, Yahweh of Hosts {are} the God of Israel. You have uncovered the ear of your servant, saying, ‘I will build a house for you.’ Therefore, your servant has found his heart to pray to you this prayer. 28 And now, my Lord Yahweh, you {are} he, the God, and your words are true. And you have spoken concerning your servant this good thing. 29 And now, be resolved and bless the house of your servant to be to your face forever. For you yourself, my Lord Yahweh, have spoken and from your blessing the house of your servant will be blessed forever.” Chapter 8 1 And it happened, after thus, and David struck the Philistines and subdued them. And David took Metheg-ammah from the hand of the Philistines. 2 And he struck Moab, and he measured them with the rope, making them lie down to the ground. And he measured two ropes to be killed and the fullness of the rope to let live. And Moab became servants to David, people who lift offering. 3 And David struck Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, the king of Zobah, when he went to restore his hand at the river. 4 And David took from him 1,700 horsemen and 20,000 men on foot. And David hamstrung all the chariots, and he retained from them 100 chariots. 5 And Aram of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, the king of Zobah. And David struck 22,000 men among Aram. 6 And David put garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and Aram became servants for David, people who lift offering. And Yahweh saved David in every {place} that he went. 7 And David took the bow-cases of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and he brought them {to} Jerusalem. 8 And from Betah and from Berothai, the cities of Hadadezer, King David took very much bronze. 9 And Toi, the king of Hamath, heard that David had struck {the} whole army of Hadadezer, 10 and Toi sent Joram, his son, to King David, to ask for himself for peace and to bless him on account that he had fought against Hadadezer and had struck him, because Hadadezer was a man of war {with} Toi. And in his hand were vessels of silver and vessels of gold and vessels of bronze. 11 King David even consecrated them to Yahweh, with the silver and the gold which he consecrated from all the nations which he subdued 12 from Aram and from Moab and from the sons of Ammon and from the Philistines and from Amalek and from the plunder of Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, the king of Zobah. 13 And David made a name when he returned from his striking Aram in the Valley of Salt—18,000. 14 And he put in Edom garrisons; in all Edom there {were} garrisons. And it happened, all Edom {were} servants for David. And Yahweh saved David in every {place} that he went. 15 And David was king over all Israel. And it happened, David did justice and righteousness for all his people. 16 And Joab, the son of Zeruiah, {was} over the army and Jehoshapat, the son of Ahilud, {was} the secretary. 17 And Zadok, the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech, the son of Abiathar, {were} priests and Seraiah {was} scribe. 18 And Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada {was over} the Kerethites and the Pelethites, and the sons of David were priests. Chapter 9 1 And David said, “{Is it} that there is yet anyone remaining to the house of Saul that I may do with him kindness for the sake of Jonathan?” 2 And to the house of Saul a servant {belonged}, and his name {was} Ziba, and they called him to David. And the king said to him, “{Are} you Ziba?” And he said, “Your servant.” 3 And the king said, “{Is there} no longer anyone to the house of Saul that I may do with him the kindness of God?” And Ziba said to the king, “Still a son {belongs} to Jonathan, a cripple of feet.” 4 And the king said to him, “Where {is} he?” And Ziba said to the king, “Look, he {is at} the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in Lo-Debar.” 5 And King David sent, and he brought him from the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lo-Debar. 6 And Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, and he fell on his face, and he prostrated himself. And David said, “Mephibosheth.” And he said, “Look, your servant.” 7 And David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will certainly do with you kindness for the sake of Jonathan, your father, and I will restore to you the entire pasture of Saul, your father. And you yourself will eat bread on my table continually.” 8 And he prostrated himself, and he said, “What {is} your servant that you turn to the dead dog, who {is} like me?” 9 And the king called to Ziba, the young man of Saul, and he said to him, “Everything that belonged to Saul and to all his house, I have given to the son of your lord. 10 And you will work the ground for him, you and your sons and your servants, and you will bring in {the produce} so that there will be bread for the son of your lord so that he may eat it. But Mephibosheth, the son of your lord, will eat bread continually on my table.” (And to Ziba {belonged} 15 sons and 20 servants.) 11 And Ziba said to the king, “According to everything that my lord, the king, has commanded his servant, thus your servant will do.” And Mephibosheth was eating on the table {of David} like one from the sons of the king. 12 And to Mephibosheth {was} a young son, and his name {was} Mica. And all the people who lived {in} the house of Ziba {were} servants to Mephibosheth. 13 And Mephibosheth was living in Jerusalem, because he was continually eating on the table of the king, but he {was} lame, the two of his feet. Chapter 10 1 And it happened, after thus, and the king of the sons of Ammon died. And Hanun, his son, was king in his place. 2 And David said, “I will do kindness with Hanun, the son of Nahash, just as his father did kindness with me.” And David sent in order to comfort him by the hand of his servants concerning his father. And the servants of David came {to} the land of the sons of Ammon. 3 And the captains of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun, their lord, “{Is} David honoring your father in your eyes because he sent comforters to you? Is it not for the sake of exploring the city and to spy it out and to overthrow it {that} David has sent his servants to you?” 4 And Hanun took the servants of David, and he shaved half of their beards, and he cut their robes in half up to their buttocks. And he sent them away. 5 And they informed David, and he sent to call them, because the men were greatly humiliated. And the king said, “Live in Jericho until your beard grows, and you will return.” 6 And the sons of Ammon saw that they were made to stink by David. And the sons of Ammon sent, and they hired Aram of Beth-Rehob, and Aram of Zoba {with} 20,000 footmen, and the king of Maacah {with} 1,000 men, and the men of Tob {with} 12,000 men. 7 And David heard, and he sent Joab and the entire army, the mighty people. 8 And the sons of Ammon went out and they arranged {for} war {at} the opening of the gate. And Aram of Zoba and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah {were} alone in the field. 9 And Joab saw that the face of the war was against him, from before the faces and from behind, and he chose from the entire chosen ones of Israel, and he arranged {them} to meet Aram. 10 And the remainder of the people he gave into the hand of Abishai, his brother. And he arranged {them} to meet the sons of Ammon. 11 And he said, “If Aram is too strong for me, then you will become deliverance for me, but if the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will go to provide deliverance for you. 12 Be strong, and let us be strong for the benefit of our people and for the benefit of the cities of our God. And Yahweh will do what is good in his eyes.” 13 And Joab and the people who {were} with him approached the war against Aram, and they fled from before his face. 14 And the sons of Ammon saw that Aram fled, and they fled from before the face of Abishai, and they entered the city. And Joab returned away from the sons of Ammon, and he entered Jerusalem. 15 And Aram saw that he was struck to the face of Israel, and they assembled together. 16 And Hadadezer sent, and he brought out Aram, who {was} from beyond the River, and they came {to} Helam. And Shobak, the captain of the army of Hadadezer, {was} to their faces. 17 And it was declared to David, and he assembled all Israel, and he crossed the Jordan, and he came to Helam. And Aram arranged to meet David, and they fought with him. 18 And Aram fled from the face of Israel and David killed from Aram 700 chariots and 40,000 horsemen and Shobak, the captain of his army, he struck and he died there. 19 And all the kings, the servants of Hadadezer, saw that they were struck to the face of Israel, and they made peace with Israel, and they served them. And Aram was afraid to deliver the sons of Ammon anymore. Chapter 11 1 And it happened, at the return of the year, at the time of the going out of kings, and David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon, and they laid siege against Rabbah. But David lived in Jerusalem. 2 And it happened, at the time of the evening, and David got up from his bed, and he walked about on the roof of the house of the king, and he saw from the roof a woman bathing. And the woman {was} very good of appearance. 3 And David sent, and he inquired about the woman. And he said, “Is that not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah, the Hittite?” 4 And David sent messangers, and he took her. And she came to him, and he laid with her. (And she was keeping herself sanctified from her uncleanness.) And she returned to her house. 5 Αnd the woman became pregnant, and she sent, and she informed David, and she said, “I {am} pregnant.” 6 And David sent to Joab, “Send Uriah, the Hittite, to me.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 And Uriah came to him. And David asked for the welfare of Joab and for the welfare of the people and for the welfare of the war. 8 And David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and wash your feet.” And Uriah went out from the house of the king, and a present {from} the king went out after him. 9 And Uriah lay down {at} the opening of the house of the king with all the servants of his lord. And he did not go down to his house. 10 And they informed David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house.” And David said to Uriah, “Are you not coming from a road? Why did you not go down to your house?” 11 And Uriah said to David, “The Box and Israel and Judah are living in tents, and my lord, Joab, and the servants of my lord {are} encamped on the face of the field. But I, will I go to my house to eat and to drink and to lay with my wife? {By} your life and the life of your spirit if I will do this thing!” 12 And David said to Uriah, “Stay here today also, and tomorrow I will send you.” And Uriah stayed in Jerusalem on that day and from the following day. 13 And David called to him, and he ate to his face, and he drank, and he made him drunk. And he went out in the evening to lie down in his bed with the servants of his lord, but to his house, he did not go down. 14 And it happened in the morning, and David wrote a scroll to Joab. And he sent {it} by the hand of Uriah. 15 And he wrote in the scroll, saying, “Give Uriah to the front of the face of the strongest battle, and turn them back from behind him so that he will be struck and die.” 16 And it happened, when Joab kept watch over the city, and he gave Uriah to the place where he knew that men of military prowess {were} there. 17 And the men of the city went out, and they fought Joab, and {some} from the people, from the servants of David, fell and died, even Uriah, the Hittite. 18 And Joab sent, and he informed David every word of the war. 19 And he commanded the messanger, saying, “As you are finishing every word of the war by speaking to the king, 20 it will be, if the heat of the king rises, and he says to you, ‘Why did you draw near to the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? 21 Who struck Abimelech, the son of Jerub-Besheth? Did not a woman throw down on him an upper millstone from the wall, and he died in Thebez? Why did you draw near to the wall?’ And you will say, ‘Your servant Uriah, the Hittite, is also dead.’” 22 And the messanger went, and he came, and he informed David everything that Joab had sent him {to say}. 23 And the messenger said to David that the men prevailed against us, and they came out against us {to} the field. But we were against them up to the opening of the gate. 24 And the people who were shooting shot to your servants from the wall and {some} from the servants of the king died—and also your servant Uriah, the Hittite, died.” 25 And David said to the messenger, “Thus, you will say to Joab, ‘Do not let this matter be grievous in your eyes, for like that one and like this one the sword devours. Strengthen your war against the city, and tear it down.’ And strengthen him.” 26 And the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah, her husband, died. And she lamented for her husband. 27 And the mourning period passed, and David sent, and he gathered her to his house, and she became a wife to him, and she bore a son for him. But the thing that David had done was grievous in the eyes of Yahweh. Chapter 12 1 And Yahweh sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and he said to him, “Two men were in one city—one {was} rich and one {was} poor. 2 To the rich man belonged very many sheep and cattle, 3 But to the poor man, there was not anything except one little ewe lamb which he had bought. And he kept it alive, and it grew with him and with his sons together. From his scrap it would eat; from his cup it would drink, and in his lap it would lay down. And it was, to him, like a daughter. 4 And a traveler came to the rich man, and he spared taking from his flock or from his cattle to prepare for the wanderer who had come to him. And he took the ewe lamb of the poor man, and he prepared it for the man who had come to him.” 5 And the nose of David grew very hot against the man. And he said to Nathan, “{By} the life of Yahweh, surely the man who has done that {is} a son of death! 6 He will restore the ewe lamb fourfold on account that he has done this thing and on account that he did not spare.” 7 And Nathan said to David, “You {are} the man! Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: ‘I myself anointed you to {be} king over Israel, and I myself delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 And I gave to you the house of your lord and the wives of your lord in your lap, and I gave to you the house of Israel and Judah. But if {this is} little, let me add to you like them and like them. 9 Why have you despised the Word of Yahweh by doing that which is evil in my eyes? Uriah, the Hittite, you struck with the sword and his wife you took for yourself to {be} a wife. But him you have killed with the sword of the sons of Ammon. 10 And now, the sword will not turn away from your house until forever on account that you despised me, and you have taken the wife of Uriah, the Hittite, to become a wife for you.’ 11 Thus says Yahweh: ‘Look at me raising up against you a disaster from your house. And I will take your wives to your eyes, and I will give {them} to your companions. And he will lay down with your wives to the eyes of this sun. 12 For you yourself have done in secret, but I myself will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’” 13 And David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against Yahweh.” And Nathan said to David, “Yahweh has even allowed your sin to pass; you will not die.” 14 Nevertheless, because you have utterly disrespected the enemies of Yahweh by this thing, also the son who was born to you will surely die.” 15 And Nathan went to his home. And Yahweh afflicted the child whom the wife of Uriah had born to David, and he became sick. 16 And David sought God for the sake of the boy. And David fasted a fast, and he came, and he spent the night, and he laid down on the ground. 17 And the elders of his house got up beside him to get him up from the ground, but he was not wiling, nor would he eat bread with them. 18 And it happened, on the seventh day, and the child died, and the servants of David were afraid to inform him that the child died, for they said, ‘Look, while the child was living, we spoke to him but he did not listen to our voice. And how will we say to him, ‘The child died?’ And he will do harm.” 19 And David saw that his servants were whispering together, and David discerned that the child died. And David said to his servants, “Did the child die?” And they said, “He died.” 20 And David got up from the ground, and he washed, and he anointed, and he changed his clothes, and he entered the house of Yahweh, and he prostrated himself. And he came to his house, and he asked, and they put out bread for him, and he ate. 21 And his servants said to him, “What {is} this thing that you have done? For the sake of the living child you fasted, and you wept, but just as the child dies, you get up, and you eat bread.” 22 And he said, “When yet the child {was} alive, I fasted, and I wept, because I said, ‘Who knows? Yahweh may be gracious to me so that the child lives.’ 23 But now, he is dead. Why {is} this {that} I should fast? Am I able to bring him back again? I am going to him, but he—he will not return to me.” 24 And David comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and he came to her, and he laid down with her. And she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. And Yahweh loved him. 25 And he sent by the hand of Nathan, the prophet, and he called his name Jedidiah, for the sake of Yahweh. 26 And Joab fought against Rabbah of the sons of Ammon. And he overthrew the city of the kingdom. 27 And Joab sent messengers to David, and he said, “I have fought against Rabbah. Also, I have overthrown the city of the waters. 28 And now, gather the remainder of the people, and lay siege to the city, and overthrow it, lest I take the city myself, and my name is called to it.” 29 And David gathered all the people, and he went to Rabbah. And he fought against it, and he overthrew it. 30 And David took the crown of their king from his head (and its weight {was} a talent of gold and a precious stone), and it was on the head of David. And the plunder of the city he brought out—very much. 31 But the people who {were} in it, he brought out, and he set {them} with the saw and with picks of iron and with axes of iron, and he made them pass through at the brick kiln. And thus he did to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. And David and all the people returned {to} Jerusalem. Chapter 13 1 And it happened, after thus, and to Absalom, the son of David, {belonged} a beautiful sister, and her name {was} Tamar. And Amnon, the son of David, loved her. 2 And there was distress to Amnon so that he made himself sick for the sake of Tamar, his sister, for she {was} a virgin. And it was difficult in the eyes of Amnon to do anything to her. 3 But to Amnon {belonged} a friend, and his name {was} Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, the brother of David. And Jonadab was a very clever man. 4 And he said to him, “Why {are} you so poor, son of the king, morning by morning? Will you not inform me?” And Amnon said to him, “Tamar, the sister of Absolom, my brother, I am loving.” 5 And Jonadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed, and make yourself sick. And your father comes to see you, and you will say to him, ‘Please, let Tamar, my sister, come, and let her provide me {with} bread, and let her make the food to my eyes so that I may see, and I will eat from her hand.’” 6 And Amnon lay down, and he made himself sick. And the king came to see him, and Amnon said to the king, “Please, let Tamar, my sister, come, and let her make to my eyes a couple of cakes so that I may eat from her hand.” 7 And David sent to Tamar at the house, saying, “Now, go {to} the house of Amnon, your brother, and make food for him.” 8 And Tamar went {to} the house of Amnon, her brother, and he was lying down, and she took the dough, and she kneaded {it}, and she made cakes to his eyes, and she boiled the cakes. 9 And she took the tray, and she poured {it} out to his face, but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, “Make every person go away from me.” And every person went away from him. 10 And Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food {to} the bedroom so that I may eat from your hand.” And Tamar took the cakes that she made, and she brought {them} to Amnon, her brother, into the bedroom 11 And she brought {them} close to him to eat. And he grabbed her, and he said to her, “Come, lay down with me, my sister.” 12 And she said to him, “No, my brother, do not humiliate me, for thus it is not done in Israel. Do not do this atrocity!” 13 But I—where will I bring my shame? And you—you would be like one of the godless fools in Israel. But now, please, speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.” 14 But he was not willing to listen to her voice. And he was stronger than her, and he humiliated her, and he laid down with her. 15 And Amnon hated her {with} a very great hatred, so that the hatred with which he hated her {was} greater than the love with which he loved her. And Amnon said to her, “Get up, go.” 16 And she said to him, “No, because this great evil {is worse} than the other thing that you did with me, to send me away.” But he was not willing to listen to her. 17 And he called his young man who served him, and he said, “Now, send this {woman} away from me outside and lock the door behind her.” 18 And on her {was} a long robe that thus the daughters of the king, the virgins, wore {as} an outer garment. And the person who served him brought her outside, and he locked the door behind her. 19 And Tamar put ashes on her head, and the long robe which {was} on her she tore. And she put her hands on her hand, and she walked, walking, and she cried out. 20 And Absalom, her brother, said to her, “Has Amnon, your brother, been with you? But now, my sister, keep silent—he {is} your brother. Do not put your heart to this matter.” And Tamar lived and was desolate {in} the house of Absalom, her brother. 21 And King David heard all these things, it grew very hot to him. 22 But Absalom did not speak with Amnon neither evil nor good, for Absalom hated Amnon for the reason that he humiliated Tamar, his sister. 23 And it happened, after two years of days, and sheep shearers belonged to Absalom in Baal-Hazor, which {is} near Ephraim. And Absalom called to all the sons of the king. 24 And Absalom went to the king, and he said, “Look, please. Sheep shearers {belong} to your servant. Please, let the king and his servants go with your servant.” 25 And the king said to Absalom, “No, my son, now, let us not go—all of us, and let us not be heavy to you.” And he urged him, but he was not willing to go, and he blessed him. 26 And Absalom said, “And not, please, let Amnon, my brother, go with us.” And the king said to him, “Why should he go with you?” 27 And Absalom urged him, and he sent Amnon and all the sons of the king with him. 28 And Absalom commanded his young men, saying, “Now, see, as Amnon {is} good of heart with the wine, and I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon!’ And you will murder him. Do not be afraid. Is it not that I myself have commanded you? Be courageous and become sons of military prowess.” 29 And the young men of Absalom did to Amnon just as Absalom commanded. And all the sons of the king got up, and they rode, each on his mule, and they fled. 30 And it happened, they {were} on the road, and the news came to David, saying, “Absalom has struck all the sons of the king, and not one from them is left.” 31 And the king got up, and he tore his clothes, and he laid down on the ground, and all his servants who were standing, were tearing {their} clothes. 32 And Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, the brother of David, answered, and he said, “Let my lord not say, ‘All the young men, the sons of the king, have been mudered,’ because Amnon alone is dead. For it was placed on the mouth of Absalom from the day of his humiliating Tamar, his sister. 33 And now, let my lord, the king, not put the matter to his heart, saying, ‘All the sons of the king are dead,’ except only Amnon is dead.” 34 And Absalom fled. And the young man who was keeping watch raised his eyes, and he saw, and look—many people were coming from the road behind him, from the side of the mountain. 35 And Jonadab said to the king, “Look, the sons of the king are coming. As your servant spoke, thus it is.” 36 And it happened, as he finished speaking, and look—the sons of the king came, and they raised their voice, and they wept. And also the king and all his servants wept {with} a very great weeping. 37 But Absalom fled, and he went to Talmai, the son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son every day. 38 And Absalom fled, and he went {to} Geshur. And he was there {for} three years. 39 And David, the king, longed to go out to Absalom, for he was comforted concerning Amnon, because he died. Chapter 14 1 And Joab, the son of Zeruiah, knew that the heart of the king {was} on Absalom. 2 And Joab sent {to} Tekoa, and he brought from there a wise woman. And he said to her, “Now, mourn and please put on clothes of mourning. And you will not anoint {yourself with} oil, but you will be like this woman who has been mourning for the dead {for} many days.” 3 And you will go to the king, and you will speak to him, according to this word.” And Joab set the words in her mouth. 4 And the Tekoite woman spoke to the king, and she fell on her nose to the ground, and she prostrated herself. And she said, “Save, O king!” 5 And the king said to her, “What {is} to you?” And she said, “Alas, I {am} a widow woman, and my husband has died.” 6 And to your female servant {belonged} two sons, and they fought, the two of them, in the field, but there was no person who could deliver between them. And the one struck him, the one, and he killed him. 7 And, look, the entire clan has risen against your female servant, and they said, “Give the one who struck his brother, and we will kill him in exchange for the life of his brother who he killed, and let us destroy the heir also.’ And they would quench my coal that remains, no putting to my husband a name or remnant on the face of the ground.” 8 And the king said to the woman, “Go to your house, and I myself will command concerning you.” 9 And the Tekoite woman said to the king, “On me, my lord, the king, {is} the iniquity, and on the house of my father, but the king and his throne {are} innocent.” 10 And the king said, “The one who speaks against you, and bring him to me, and he will not continue anymore to touch you.” 11 And she said, “Please, let the king remember Yahweh, your God, so that the avenger of blood will not increase so as to cause ruin. Then they will not destroy my son.” And he said, “{By} the life of Yahweh, if a hair of your son will fall to the ground.” 12 And the woman said, “Please, let your female servant speak to my lord, the king, a word.” And he said, “Speak.” 13 And the woman said, “And why have you planned like this against the people of God? And because the king speaking this word {is} like a guilty person, because the king has not returned the one who he scattered. 14 For we will certainly die—and like water which is spilled on the ground, which is not gathered. But God will not take away a life, but he plans plans so that the one who was scattered will not be scattered from him. 15 And now, that I have come to speak to the king, my lord, this thing because the people have frightened me. And your female servant says, ‘I will speak, please, to the king. Perhaps the king will do the word of his maidservant. 16 For the king will listen in order to save his maidservant from the palm of the man destroying me and my son together from the inheritance of God 17 And your female servant said, ‘Please, let the word of my lord, the king, become a resting place, because like the angel of God, so {is} my lord, the king, to understand good and evil. And may Yahweh, your God, be with you!’” 18 And the king answered, and he said to the woman, “Now, you will not hide from me a word that I am asking you.” And the woman said, “Please, let my lord, the king, speak.” 19 And the king said, “{Was} the hand of Joab with you in all this?” And the woman answered, and she said, “{By} the life of your spirit, my lord, the king, if there is turning to the right or turning to the left from everything that my lord, the king, has spoken, for your servant, Joab—he himself commanded me, and he himself put in the mouth of your female servant all these words. 20 For the sake of turning the face of the matter, your servant, Joab, has done this thing. But my lord {is} wise like the wisdom of an angel of God to know everything that {is} on earth.” 21 And the king said to Joab, “Look, now I will do this thing. And go, bring back the young man, Absalom.” 22 And Joab fell on his face to the ground, and he prostrated himself, and he blessed the king. And Joab said, “Today, your servant knows that I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, the king, that the king does the word of his servant.” 23 And Joab got up, and he went to Geshur. And he brought Absalom {to} Jerusalem. 24 And the king said, “He will go around to his house, but my face he will not see.” And Absalom went around to his house, but the face of the king he did not see. 25 And like Absalom there was not a handsome person in all Israel to praise greatly. From the sole of his foot and to the crown of his head, there was no blemish on him. 26 And when he shaved his head (and it was at the end of years to years that he would shave, because {it was} heavy on him, and he would cut it), and he weighed the hair of his head: 200 shekels by the stone of the king. 27 And to Absalom were born three sons and one daughter, and her name {was} Tamar. She herself was a woman, beautiful of appearance. 28 And Absalom lived in Jerusalem two full years. But the face of the king he did not see. 29 And Absalom sent to Joab to send him to the king, but he was not willing to come to him. And Absalom sent again a second time, but he was not willing to come. 30 And he said to his servants, “See, the plot of Joab {is} to my hand, and barley {belongs} to him there. Go, and burn it with fire.” And the servants of Absalom burned the plot with fire. 31 And Joab got up, and he came to Absalom, to the house. And he said to him, “Why did your servants burn the plot which {belongs} to me with fire?” 32 And Absalom said to Joab, “Look, I sent to you, saying, ‘Come here that I may send you to the king, saying, “Why did I come from Geshur? {It would be} good for me {if} I {were} still there.”’ And now, let me see the face of the king, and if there is iniquity in me, then let him kill me.” 33 And Joab came to the king, and he informed him. And he called to Absalom, and he came to the king, and he prostrated himself to him on his nose to the ground to the face of the king. And the king kissed Absalom. Chapter 15 1 And it happened, after thus, and Absalom made for himself a chariot and horses. And 50 men were running to his face. 2 And Absalom would rise early and he would stand beside the hand of the way of the gate. And it happened, each person that a dispute belonged to him to come to the king for judgment, and Absalom called to him, and he said, “From which city {are} you?” And he would say, “Your servant {is} from one of the tribes of Israel.” 3 And Absalom would say to him, “See, your word {is} good and straight, but there is not for you someone who will listen from with the king.” 4 And Absalom would say, “Who will appoint me {as} judge in the land that to me would come every person that dispute or case belongs to him, that I could declare him to be righteous.” 5 And it was, when a person would draw near to prostrate himself to him that he would send out his hand, and he would take hold of it, and he would kiss it. 6 And Absalom acted according to this word for all Israel who came for judgment to the king. And Absalom stole the heart of the men of Israel. 7 And it happened, at the end of four years, and Absalom said to the king, “Please, let me go, and I will fulfill my vow that I vowed to Yahweh in Hebron. 8 For your servant vowed a vow when I lived in Geshur in Aram, saying, ‘If Yahweh will certainly bring me {to} Jerusalem, then I will serve Yahweh.” 9 And the king said to him, “Go in peace.” And he got up, and he went to Hebron. 10 And Absalom sent people who would spy on all the tribes of Israel, saying, “When you hear the sound of the trumpet, then you will say, ‘Absalom {is} king in Hebron!’” 11 And with Absalom went 200 men from Jerusalem who were called and who walked in their blamelessness, and they did not know {the} whole matter. 12 And Absalom sent Ahithophel, the Gilohite, the person who counseled David, from his city, from Giloh, while he offered the sacrifices. And it happened, the conspiracy {was} strong, and the people were walking and increasingly with Absalom. 13 And the person who announces came to David, saying, “The heart of the man of Israel is behind Absalom.” 14 And David said to all his servants who {were} with him in Jerusalem, “Get up, and let us flee, for there will not be for us an escape from before the face of Absalom. Hurry to leave lest he hurry and overtake us and swing on us a disaster and strike the city to the mouth of {the} sword.” 15 And the servants of the king said to the king, “According to everything that my lord, the king, chooses, look—your servants.” 16 And the king went out and all his family {were} at his feet. And the king left 10 women, concubines, to guard the house. 17 And the king went out and all the people {were} at his feet. And they stood {at} the furthest house. 18 And all his servants were crossing over beside his hand, and all the Kerethites and all the Pelethites and all the Gittites (600 men who came on his foot from Gath) were crossing over to the face of the king. 19 And the king said to Ittai, the Gittite, “Why are you yourself also coming with us? Return and live with the king, for you {are} a foreigner, and also you {are} an exile to your place. 20 Yesterday {was} your coming, but today {will} I make you wander about with us by going? But I am going because I am going. Return and make your brothers return with you—kindness and faithfulness.” 21 And Ittai answered the king, and he said, “{By} the life of Yahweh, and {by} the life of my lord, the king, surely in the place where my lord, the king, will be there, whether to death or to life, that there your servant will be.” 22 And David said to Ittai, “Go and cross over.” And Ittai, the Gittite, crossed over and all his men and all the little children who {were} with him. 23 And the whole land was weeping {with} a great voice, and all the people were crossing, and the king was crossing the river of Kidron, and all the people were crossing the desert by the face of the way. 24 And look, even Zadok and all the Levites with him were lifting the Box of the Covenant of God, and they set down the Box of God, and Abiathar came up, until all the people had finished crossing from the city. 25 And the king said to Zadok, “Make the Box of God return {to} the city. If I find favor in the eyes of Yahweh, then he will make me return, and he will make me see it and his dwelling place. 26 But if thus he says, ‘I am not pleased with you,’ look at me—he will to do me just as {is} good in his eyes.” 27 And the king said to Zadok, the priest, “{Are} you a person who sees? Return {to} the city in peace, and Ahimaaz, your son, and Jonathan, son of Abiathar, your two sons, with you. 28 See, I am hesitating at the fords of the wilderness until word comes from with you to inform me.” 29 And Zadok and Abiathar returned the Box of God {to} Jerusalem, and they stayed there. 30 And David was going up on the Mount of Olives, going up and weeping, and a head for him was covered, and he was walking barefoot. And all the people who {were} with him, each one, covered his head, and they went up, going up and weeping. 31 And David declared, saying, “Ahithophel {is} among the people who are conspiring with Absalom.” And David prayed, “Please, Yahweh, make the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.” 32 And it happened, David came up to the top where he would prostrate himself there to God, and look—meeting him {was} Hushai, the Archite. His tunic was torn and dirt {was} on his head. 33 And David said to him, “If you cross with me, you will become a burden to me. 34 But if you return {to} the city, and you say to Absalom, ‘I {am} your servant, O king. I was the servant of your father, and I, previously. But now, and I {will be} your servant,’ then you will foil the counsel of Ahithophel for me. 35 {Are} not Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, with you there? But it will be, every word that you hear from the house of the king declare to Zadok and to Abiathar, the priests. 36 Look, there with them {are} the two of their sons, Ahimaaz {belonging} to Zadok and Jonathan {belonging} to Abiathar. And you will send by their hand to me every word that you hear.” 37 And Hushai, the friend of David, came {to} the city. And Absalom came {to} Jerusalem. Chapter 16 1 And David crossed over a little from the top, and look—Ziba, the young man of Mephibosheth, meeting him, and a pair of saddled donkeys, and on them 200 loaves of bread, 100 bunches of raisins, 100 summer fruits, and a skin of wine. 2 And the king said to Ziba, “What {are} these to you?” And Ziba said, “The donkeys {are} for the house of the king to ride, and the bread and the summer fruits {are for} the young men to eat, and the wine {is for} the people who are faint in the wilderness to drink.” 3 And the king said, “And where {is} the son of your lord?” And Ziba said to the king, “Look, he is staying in Jerusalem, for he said, ‘Today, the house of Israel will return the kingdom of my father to me.’” 4 And the king said to Ziba, “Look, to you {belongs} everything that {belongs} to Mephibosheth.” And Ziba said, “I prostrate myself—I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, the king.” 5 And King David came to Bahurim. And look—from there a man from the family of the house of Saul was going out, and his name {was} Shimei, the son of Gera. {He} was going out, going out and cursing. 6 And he threw stones at David and all the servants of King David and all the people and all the mighty men on his right and on his left. 7 And thus Shimei said when he cursed, “Go out, go out, man of blood, man of worthlessness!” 8 Yahweh has returned to you all the blood of the house of Saul who you are king in his place, and Yahweh has given the kingdom into the hand of Absalom, your son. And look at you, at your evil, for you {are} a man of blood.” 9 And Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord, the king? Please, let me cross over and let me remove his head.” 10 And the king said, “What {is} to me and to you, sons of Zeruiah? For he curses because Yahweh said to him, ‘Curse David,’ and who will say, ‘Why have you done thus?’” 11 And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Look, my son who went out from my belly is seeking my spirit. And how much more that now, {this} Benjaminite. Leave him and let him curse, for Yahweh said to him.” 12 Perhaps Yahweh will look at my iniquity, and Yahweh will return to me good instead of his cursing this day.” 13 And David and his men walked on the road, and Shimei was walking on the side of the mountain opposite him, walking, and he cursed, and he threw stones opposite him, and he flung dust. 14 And the king and all the people who {were} with him came, weary. And he refreshed himself there. 15 And Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel came {to} Jerusalem, and Ahithophel {was} with him. 16 And it happened, when Hushai, the Archite, a friend of David, came to Absalom, and Hushai said to Absalom, “May the king live! May the king live!” 17 And Absalom said to Hushai, “This {is} your kindness to your friend? Why did you not go with your friend?” 18 And Hushai said to Absalom, “No, for whom Yahweh and this people have chosen, and all the men of Israel—to him I will belong and with him I will stay. 19 And the second thing: to who will I myself serve? Is it not to the face of his son? Just as I served to the face of your father, thus I will be to your face.” 20 And Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give to us counsel. What will we do?” 21 And Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go to the concubines of your father who he left to guard the house, and all Israel will hear that you have made your father stink, and the hands of all who {are} with you will be strengthened.” 22 And they spread for Absalom the tent on the roof. And Absalom went to the concubines of his father to the eyes of all Israel. 23 And the counsel of Ahithphel that he counseled in those days {was} just as if he inquired of the word of God. Thus {was} all the counsel of Ahithophel both to David and to Absalom. Chapter 17 1 And Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose, please, 12,000 men, and let me get up, and let me pursue after David tonight. 2 And I will come upon him, and he {is} weary and weak of hands, and I will startle him, and all the people who {are} with him will flee. And I will strike the king by himself. 3 And I will return all the people to you, like the returning of all, the man who you are seeking. All the people will be safe.” 4 And the word was upright in the eyes of Absalom and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel. 5 And Absalom said, “Now, call also to Hushai, the Archite, and let us hear what {is} in his mouth, even him.” 6 And Hushai came to Absalom, and Absalom said to him, saying, “According to this word, Ahithophel has spoken. Will we do his word? If not, you yourself, speak.” 7 And Hushai said to Absalom, “Not good {is} the counsel that Ahithophel has counseled at this time.” 8 And Hushai said, “You yourself know your father and his men—that they {are} mighty men and they {are} bitter of spirit, like a bear bereaved in the field. And your father {is} a man of war, and he will not spend the night with the people.” 9 Look, now he has hidden himself in one of the pits or in one of the places. And it will be when {some} among them fall in the beginning, the person who hears will hear and say, ’There was a slaughter among the people who {are} behind Absalom.’ 10 And he—also, a son of military prowess who his heart {is} like a heart of the lion—will utterly melt, because all Israel knows that your father {is} a mighty man and the sons of military prowess who {are} with him. 11 For I will give counsel: All Israel will certainly be gathered to you, from Dan and up to Beersheba, as the sands which {are} by the sea, to the multitude. And your face will be walking in the battle. 12 And we will come upon him in one of the places where he will be found there, and we {will be} on him just as the dew falls on the ground. And we will not leave him or any of the men who {are} with him, even one. 13 And if he gathers into a city, and all Israel will bring to that city ropes. And we will drag it up to the river until even a pebble will not be found there.” 14 And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “Better {is} the counsel of Hushai, the Archite, than the counsel of Ahithophel.” And Yahweh commanded to foil the good counsel of Ahithophel for the sake of Yahweh bringing the disaster to Absalom. 15 And Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar, the priests, “Like that and like that Ahithophel counsels Absalom and the elders of Israel. And like that and like that I myself have counseled. 16 But now, send quickly and declare to David, saying, ‘Do not spend tonight in the fords of the wilderness, and also certainly cross over lest the king and all the people who {are} with him will be swallowed up.’” 17 And Jonathan and Ahimaaz were standing in the spring of Rogel, and a female servant would come, and she would inform them, and they themselves would go, and they would inform King David, for they were not able to be seen entering the city. 18 And a young man saw them, and he informed Absalom. And the two of them went quickly, and they came to the house of a man in Bahurim, and a well {belonged} to him in his courtyard, and they went down there. 19 And the woman took and stretched out the cover over the face of the well, and she spread grain over it. And the matter was not known. 20 And the servants of Absalom came to the woman of the house, and they said, “Where {are} Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” And the woman said to them, “They crossed over the brook of water.” And they sought, but they did not find, and they returned {to} Jerusalem. 21 And it happened, after they went, they went up from the well, and they went, and they informed King David. And they said to David, “Get up, and quickly cross over the waters, for thus Ahithophel counseled against you.” 22 And David and all the people who {were} with him got up, and they cross the Jordan, until the light of morning, until one was not remaining that had not crossed the Jordan. 23 And Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not done, and he saddled his donkey, and he got up, and he went to his house, to his city, and he gave commands to his house, and he hanged himself. And he died, and he was buried in the grave of his father. 24 And David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom crossed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him. 25 And Absalom appointed Amasa in the place of Joab over the army. And Amasa {was} the son of a man, and his name {was} Ithra, the Israelite, who came to Abigail, the daughter of Nahash, the sister of Zeruiah, the mother of Joab. 26 And Israel and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead. 27 And it happened, as David came to Mahanaim, and Shobi, the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and Machir, the son of Ammiel from Lo-Debar, and Barzillai, the Gileadite from Rogelim, 28 beds and basins and vessels of {the} potter and wheat and barley and flour and roasted grain and beans and lentils and roasted grain 29 and honey and butter and sheep and cheese of {the} cattle they brought in to David and to the people who {were} with him to eat, for they said, “The people {are} hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness.” Chapter 18 1 And David counted the people who {were} with him, and he appointed over them captains of thousands and captains of hundreds. 2 And David sent the people—the third in the hand of Joab, and the third in the hand of Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, the brother of Joab, and the third in the hand of Ittai, the Gittite. And the king said to the people, “I will certainly go out, even I, with you.” 3 But the people said, “You will not go out, for if we certainly flee, they will not put a heart to us, and if half of us die, they will not put a heart to us, for you {are}, compared to us, 10,000. But now, {it is} better that you become help for us from the city.” 4 And the king said to them, “That which is good in your eyes, I will do.” And the king stood to the hand of the gate, and all the people went out by hundreds and by thousands. 5 And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, “{Be} gentle, for me, to the young man, to Absalom.” And all the people heard when the king commanded all the captains concerning Absalom. 6 And the people went out {to} the field, to meet with Israel, and the war was in the forest of Ephraim. 7 And there the people of Israel were struck before the servants of David. And there the defeat was great on that day—20,000. 8 And there the war was dispersed over the face of the whole land. And the forest consumed more among the people than that which the sword consumed on that day. 9 And Absalom was met to the face of the servants of David. And Absalom was riding on the donkey, and the donkey went under the branches of the large terebinth, and his head was caught on the terebinth, and he was given between the heavens and between the earth, and the donkey that {was} under him passed through. 10 And one person saw, and he informed Joab. And he said, “Look, I saw Absalom hanging on the terebinth.” 11 And Joab said to the person who informed him, “And look, you saw, but why did you not strike him there to the ground? {It is} to me to give to you 10 silver and one belt.” 12 And the man said to Joab, “Even if I was weighing on my palm 1,000 silver, I would not have sent out my hand to the son of the king. For in our ears the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, ‘Guard, for me, the young man, Absalom.’ 13 Or {if} I had done in my spirit a falsehood—and every matter is not hidden from the king—and you yourself would have stood from before {me}.” 14 And Joab said, “Not thus will I wait to your face.” And he took three spears in his palm, and he thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he {was} living in the heart of the terebinth. 15 And ten young men, those who carried the weapons of Joab, surrounded. And they struck Absalom, and they killed him. 16 And Joab blasted on the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing after Israel, for Joab kept the people back. 17 And they took Absalom, and they threw him in the forest into {a} large pit, and they stood on him a very large pile of stones. And all Israel fled, each to his tent. 18 And Absalom had taken and set up for himself when he was living a pillar which {was} in the Valley of the King, for he said, “There is no son for me for the sake of causing my name to be remembered.” And he called the pillar according to his name, and it is called the Hand of Absalom up to this day. 19 And Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok said, “Please, let me run and let me bring news {to} the king, for Yahweh has judged him against the hand of his enemies.” 20 And Joab said to him, “You {are} not a man of news this day, but you will bring news another day. But this day, you will not bring news because the son of the king is dead.” 21 And Joab said to the Cushite, “Go, declare to the king what you saw.” And the Cushite prostrated himself to Joab, and he ran. 22 And Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, continued again, and he said to Joab, “But whatever will be, please, let me run also myself after the Cushite.” And Joab said, “Why {is} this {that} you will run, my son, and for you there is no news which finds {a reward}?” 23 “But whatever will be, let me run.” And he said to him, “Run.” And Ahimaaz ran the way of the valley, and he passed by the Cushite. 24 And David was sitting between the two gates, and the watchman went to the roof of the gate to the wall, and he raised his eyes, and he saw, and look—a man was running by himself. 25 And the watchman called, and he informed the king, and the king said, “If {he is} by himself, {there is} news in his mouth.” And he walked, walking and near. 26 And the watchman looked—another man was running, and the watchman called to the gatekeeper, and he said, “Look, a man is running by himself.” And the king said, “Also this {person} brings news.” 27 And the watchman said, “I am seeing the running of the first {person is} like the running of Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok.” And the king said, “This {is} a good man, and he comes with good news.” 28 And Ahimaaz called, and he said to the king, “Peace!” And he prostrated himself to the king, with his nose to the ground. And he said, “Blessed be Yahweh, your God, who has shut up the men who lifted their hands against my lord, the king.” 29 And the king said, “{Does} peace {belong} to the young man, to Absalom?” And Ahimaaz said, “I saw a great commotion when Joab sent the servant of the king and your servant, but I do not know what.” 30 And the king said, “Turn, stand thus.” And he turned, and he stood. 31 And look, the Cushite came. And the Cushite said, “May my lord, the king, receive news, for Yahweh has judged you today against the hand of all those who rose up against you.” 32 And the king said to the Cushite, “Does peace {belong} to the young man, to Absalom?” And the Cushite said, “May the enemies of my lord, the king, and all those who rose up against you for evil be like the young man.” 33 And the king trembled, and he went up to the upper room of the gate, and he wept. And thus he said when he went: “My son, Absalom! My son, my son, Absalom! Who will give my dying, me instead of you? Absalom, my son, my son!” Chapter 19 1 And it was declared to Joab, “Look, the king is weeping, and he is morning for Absalom.” 2 And the victory on that day {became} mourning for all the people, for the people heard on that day, saying, “The king grieves for his son.” 3 And the people stole away on that day to enter the city, like people who are ashamed steal away when they flee in war. 4 And the king covered his face, and the king cried out {with} a loud voice, “My son, Absalom! Absalom, my son, my son.” 5 And Joab came to the king, {to} the house, and he said, “You have shamed today the faces of all your servants, the ones who have saved your spirit today and the spirit of your sons and your daughters and the spirit of your wives and the spirit of your concubines, 6 by loving those who hate you and by hating those who love you, for you have declared today that {the} captains and servants are nothing to you, for I know today that if only Absalom {was} living and all of us today were dead, that then {it would be} upright in your eyes. 7 But now, get up, go out and speak to the heart of your servants, for I swear by Yahweh that {if} you are not going out, a man will not remain with you tonight, and this {will be} more trouble for you than all the trouble which has come on you from your youth until now.” 8 And the king got up and sat in the gate. And all the people declared, saying, “Look, the king is sitting in the gate.” And all the people came to the face of the king. And Israel fled, each to his tent. 9 And it happened, all the people were arguing in all the tribes of Israel, saying, “The king delivered us from the palm of our enemies, and he himself saved us from the palm of the Philistines. But now he has fled from the land away from Absalom. 10 And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, has died in the war. And now, why are you being silent about returning the king?” 11 And King David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar, the priests, saying, “Speak to the elders of Judah, saying, ‘Why are you the last to return the king to his house? And the word of all Israel has come to the king, to his house. 12 You {are} my brothers; you {are} my bone and my flesh. And why are you last to return the king?’ 13 And to Amasa, you will say, ‘{Are} you not my bone and my flesh? Thus may God do to me and thus may he continue if you are not {the} captain of {the} army to the face of all the years in the place of Joab.’” 14 And he stretched out the heart of all the men of Judah as one man. And they sent to the king, “Return, you yourself, and all your servants.” 15 And the king returned, and he came up to the Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal to go to meet the king, to bring the king across the Jordan. 16 And Shimei, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite who {was} from Bahurim, hurried. And he went down with the men of Judah to meet King David. 17 And 1,000 men {were} with him from Benjamin, and Ziba, the young man of the house of Saul and 15 of his sons and 20 of his servants {were} with him. And they rushed {into} Jordan to the face of the king. 18 And they crossed the ford to bring over the house of the king and to do what was good in his eyes. And Shimei, the son of Gera, fell to the face of the king when he crossed in the Jordan. 19 And he said to the king, “May my lord not reckon to me iniquity, and may you not remember that your servant committed iniquity on the day that my lord, the king, went out from Jerusalem, by the king putting {it} to his heart. 20 For your servant knows that I myself have sinned, and look, I have come today, first to all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord, the king.” 21 And Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, answered, and he said, “Instead of this, will Shimei not be killed? For he belittled the anointed one of Yahweh.” 22 And David said, “What {is} to me and to you, sons of Zeruiah, that you have become to me today an accuser? Will today a person in Israel be killed? Indeed, do I not know that today I {am} king over Israel?” 23 And the king said to Shimei, “You will not die.” And the king swore to him. 24 And Mephibosheth, the son of Saul, came down to meet the king. And he did not do his feet, nor did he do his moustache, and his clothes he did not wash from the day the king went until the day that he came back in peace. 25 And it happened that he went {to} Jerusalem to meet the king. And the king said to him, “Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?” 26 And he said, “My lord, the king, my servant deceived me, for your servant said, ‘Let me saddle the donkey for myself, and let me ride on it, and let me go with the king.’ For your servant {is} lame. 27 And he slandered your servant to my lord, the king. And my lord, the king, {is} like an angel of God. So do what is good in your eyes. 28 For all the house of my father was not except men of death to my lord, the king, and you set your servant among those who ate {at} your table. And what more righteousness is there for me still to cry out to the king?” 29 And the king said to him, “Why do you speak still your words? I have said, ‘You and Ziba—you will divide the field.’” 30 And Mephibosheth said to the king, “Also let him take everything, after which my lord, the king, has come in peace to his house.” 31 And Barzillai, the Gileadite, came down from Rogelim. And he crossed the Jordan with the king to send him {to} the Jordan. 32 And Barzillai was very old—a son of 80 years. And he himself sustained the king in his stay in Mahanaim, for he {was} a very great man. 33 And the king said to Barzillai, “You, cross over with me, and I will provide for you with me in Jerusalem.” 34 And Barzillai said to the king, “How many {are} the days of the years of my life, that I may go up with the king {to} Jerusalem? 35 A son of 80 years {am} I today. Do I know between good and evil, or can your servant taste that which he eats and that which I drink, or can I still hear the voice of the singing men and the singing women? And why will your servant further become a burden to my lord, the king?” 36 Like a little, your servant will cross the Jordan with the king. And why will the king reward me {with} this reward? 37 Please, let your servant return, and let me die in my city with the grave of my father and my mother. And look, your servant Kimham—let him cross over with my lord, the king. And do to him that which {is} good in your eyes.” 38 And the king said, “Kimham will cross over with me, and I myself will do for him that which is good in your eyes. And everything that you choose concerning me, I will do for you.” 39 And all the people crossed the Jordan, and the king crossed. And the king kissed Barzillai, and he blessed him, and he returned to his place. 40 And the king crossed over to Gilgal, and Kimham crossed over with him. And all the people of Judah brought the king over and also half the people of Israel. 41 And look—all the men of Israel were coming to the king. And they said to the king, “Why did our brothers, the men of Judah, steal you away? And they brought the king and his house over the Jordan, and all the men of David with him.” 42 And all the men of Judah answered to the men of Israel, “Because the king {is} near to me. And why does this burn to you concerning this matter? Have we surely eaten from the king? Or has he certainly lifted for us?” 43 And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and he said, “10 hands {belong} to me in the king, and also in David—I more than you. And why have you belittled me? Was not my word first to me to bring back my king?” But the word of the men of Judah was harsher than the word of the men of Israel. Chapter 20 1 And there happened to be a man of worthlessness, and his name {was} Sheba, the son of Bikri, a man of Benjamin. And he blasted on the trumpet, and he said, “There is no portion for us in David, and no inheritance {belongs} to us in the son of Jesse. Each one, to his tents, Israel!” 2 And all the men of Israel went up from after David, after Sheba, the son of Bikri. But the men of Judah clung to their king—from the Jordan and up to Jerusalem. 3 And David came to his house, {to} Jerusalem, and the king took ten concubine wives whom he had stationed to guard the house, and he gave them a guarded house, and he provided for them, but he did not go to them. And they were locked up until the day of their death—a widowhood of life. 4 And the king said to Amasa, “Cry out for me to the men of Judah {for} three days. And you, stand here.” 5 And Amasa went to cry out to Judah. But he delayed from the appointed time that was designated for him. 6 And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba, the son of Bikri, will do more harm to us than Absalom. You, take the servants of your lord and pursue after him, lest he find for himself unassailable cities and remove our eyes.” 7 And the men of Joab and the Kerethites and the Pelethites and all the mighty men went out after him. And they went out from Jerusalem to purse after Sheba, the son of Bikri. 8 They {were} near the great stone that {is} in Gibeon, and Amasa came to their faces. And Joab was girded—his robe, his clothing, and on him {was} a belt of a sword strapped on his thigh in its sheath. And he himself went out, but it fell down. 9 And Joab said to Amasa, “Peace, you, my brother?” And the right hand of Joab held on to the beard of Amasa to kiss him. 10 But Amasa was not aware of the sword that {was} in the hand of Joab. And he struck him with it in the stomach, and his belly poured out to the ground, and he did not do it again to him, and he died. And Joab and Abishai, his brother, pursued after Sheba, the son of Bikri. 11 And a man, from the young men of Joab, stood beside him, and he said, “Whoever favors Joab, and whoever {is} for David—after Joab.” 12 And Amasa was wallowing in blood in the midst of the highway. And the man saw that all the people stood, and he carried Amasa from the highway {to} a field, and he threw a garment on him. Whenever anyone who came to him saw, and he stood. 13 When he was taken from the highway, each man crossed over after Joab to pursue after Sheba, the son of Bikri. 14 And he crossed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel and Beth-Maacah and all the Berites. And they gathered, and they also came after him. 15 And they came and they besieged against him in Abel of Beth-Maacah. And they heaped up a siege ramp against the city, and it stood on the wall. And all the people who {were} with Joab were destroying in order to make the wall fall down. 16 And a wise woman called from the city, “Listen, listen. Please, say to Joab, ‘Draw near to here, and let me speak to you.’” 17 And he drew near to her, and the woman said, “Are you Joab?” And he said, “I {am}.” And she said to him, “Hear the words of your maidservant.” And he said, “I am listening.” 18 And she said, saying, “They would certainly speak in former {times}, saying, ‘They will certainly inquire in Abel,’ and thus they would settle {it}. 19 I {am} a peaceable and faithful person of Israel. You are seeking to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why will you swallow the inheritance of Yahweh?” 20 And Joab answered, and he said, “Far be it, far be it for me if I will swallow or if I will destroy. 21 The matter {is} not thus, for a man from the mountain of Ephraim—his name {is} Sheba, the son of Bikri—he has lifted his hand against the king, against David. Give him alone and let us go from the city.” And the woman said to Joab, “Look, his head will be thrown to you over the wall.” 22 And the woman went to all the people in her wisdom, and they cut off the head of Sheba, the son of Bikri, and they threw to Joab. And he blasted on the trumpet, and they dispersed from the city, each to his tent. And Joab returned {to} Jerusalem, to the king. 23 And Joab {was} over all the army of Israel. And Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, {was} over the Kerethites and over the Pelethites. 24 And Adoniram {was} over the forced labor, and Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, {was} the secretary. 25 And Sheva {was} scribe, and Zadok and Abiathar {were} priests. 26 And also, Ira, the Jairite, was priest to David. Chapter 21 1 And there was a famine in the days of David {for} three years, year after year. And David sought the face of Yahweh, and Yahweh said, “To Saul and to the house {belongs} blood, because he killed the Gibeonites.” 2 And the king called to the Gibeonites, and he spoke to them. And the Gibeonites {were} not from the sons of Israel; they {were} rather from the remnant of the Amorites. But the sons of Israel had sworn to them, and Saul sought to strike them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah. 3 And David said to the Gibeonites, “What can I do for you? And how can I atone that you would bless the inheritance of Yahweh?” 4 And the Gibeonites said to him, “There is no silver or gold for us with Saul or with his house. And there is not for us a person to kill in Israel.” And he said, “What are you saying I can do for you?” 5 And they said to the king, “The man who finished us and who intended for us—we are destroyed so that {we} do not stand in all the borders of Israel— 6 let seven men from his sons be given to us, and we will hang them before Yahweh at Gibeah of Saul, chosen of Yahweh.” And the king said, “I myself will give.” 7 And the king had compassion on Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, on account of the oath of Yahweh which {was} between them, between David and between Jonathan, the son of Saul. 8 And the king took two of the sons of Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth, and five sons of Michal, the daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Adriel, the son of Barzillai, the Meholathite. 9 And he gave them into the hand of the Gibeonites, and they hung them on the mountain to the face of Yahweh, and they fell, the seven of them together. And they themselves died in the days of the harvest, in the first ones, the beginning of the harvest of barley. 10 And Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, took sackcloth and she spread it for herself on the rock from {the} beginning of {the} harvest until {the} waters poured out on them from the heavens. And she did not give a bird of the heavens to stop on them {by} day, or the animals of the field {by} night. 11 And it was declared to David that which Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done. 12 And David went, and he took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan, his son, from the masters of Jabesh-Gilead, who had stolen them from the square of Beth-shan where the Philistines had hung them there on the day the Philistines had struck Saul at Gilboa. 13 And he brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan, his son, and they gathered the bones of the people who had been hanged. 14 And they buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan, his son, in the land of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of Kish, his father, and they did everything that the king commanded. And God was entreated for the land after that. 15 And the war belonged again to the Philistines with Israel. And David went down and his servants with him, and they fought the Philistines. And David was weary. 16 And Ishbi-Benob, who {was} among the children of the giants, and the weight of his spear {was} 300 weights of bronze, and he was girded anew—and he said {he} would strike David. 17 And Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, helped him, and he struck the Philistine, and he killed him. Then, the men of David swore to him, saying, “You will not go out anymore with us to war, that you will not quench the lamp of Israel.” 18 And it happened, after thus, and the war was again at Gob with {the} Philistines. Then Sibbecai, the Hushathite, struck Saph, who {was} among the children of the giants. 19 And the war was again at Gob with {the} Philistines. And Elhanan, the son of Jaare-oregim, the Bethlehemite, struck Goliath, the Gittite, and the wood of his spear {was} like the beam of a weaver. 20 And a war was again at Gath, and there was a man of strife, and the fingers of his hand and the toes of his feet {were} six and six—24 {in} number. And he also was born to the giants. 21 And he taunted Israel, and Jonathan, the son of Shimeah, the brother of David, struck him. 22 These four were born to the giants in Gath. And they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants. Chapter 22 1 And David spoke to Yahweh the words of this song on the day Yahweh rescued him from the palm of all his enemies and from the palm of Saul. 2 And he said, “Yahweh {is} my rock and my fortress and the one who delivers me, even me. 3 God of my rock—I take refuge in him, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my elevated place and my refuge, my savior—you save me from violence. 4 Praiseworthy, I called {to} Yahweh, and from my enemies, I was saved. 5 For the waves of death surrounded me, the streams of worthlessness terrified me. 6 The ropes of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death met me. 7 In the distress {which belonged} to me, I called {to} Yahweh, and to my God I called. And he heard my voice from his temple, and my cry {was} in his ears. 8 And the earth reeled, and it shook. The foundations of the heavens trembled, and they shook, because it became hot to him. 9 Smoke went up in his nose, and fire from his mouth consumed. Coals burned from him. 10 And he stretched out the heavens, and he came down, and darkness {was} under his feet. 11 And he rode on a cherub, and he flew. He was seen on the wings of the wind. 12 And he put darkness all around him {as} a tent, a sieve of waters, clouds of thick clouds. 13 From the brightness before him charcoals of fire burned. 14 Yahweh thundered from heaven; The Most High gave his voice. 15 And he sent out arrows, and he scattered them— lightning, and he confused them. 16 And the channels of the sea were seen; the foundations of the world were uncovered at the rebuke of Yahweh, from the breath of the wind of his nose. 17 He sent out from the heights; he took me. He drew me from the great waters. 18 He rescued me from my strong enemy, from the people who hated me, for they were stronger than me. 19 They met me on the day of my calamity, but Yahweh was support for me. 20 And he brought me out to a broad place. He delivered me because he delighted in me. 21 Yahweh has rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands, he has returned to me, 22 for I have kept the paths of Yahweh, and I have not acted wickedly away from my God. 23 For all his judgments {are} before me, and his statutes—I have not turned away from them. 24 And I have been blameless toward him, and I have kept myself from my iniquity. 25 And Yahweh returned to me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in front of his eyes. 26 With a faithful person, you show yourself faithful; with a blameless mighty man, you prove yourself blameless. 27 With a purified person, you show yourself pure, but with a crooked person, you show yourself deceptive. 28 You save afflicted people, but your eyes {are} against the proud—you bring down. 29 For you {are} my lamp, Yahweh, and Yahweh lightens my darkness. 30 For by you, I can run {against} a troop of warriors; by my God I can leap {over} a wall. 31 This God—his path {is} perfect. The word of Yahweh is refined. He {is} a shield to everyone who takes refuge in him. 32 For who {is} God apart from Yahweh? And who {is} a rock apart from our God? 33 This God {is} my stronghold of strength, and he sets loose the blameless person, his path. 34 The one who makes my feet like the deer, and on my high places he makes me stand. 35 The one who trains my hands for war, and my arms pull back a bow of bronze. 36 And you gave to me the shield of your salvation, and {with} your answering, you made me great. 37 You made my step wide under me, and my feet did not slip. 38 Let me pursue my enemies, and let me destroy them, and I will not return until they are finished. 39 And I will consume them, and I will smash them, and they will not rise. And they will fall under my feet. 40 And you gird me {with} military prowess for the war; you make the people who rise up under me bow down. 41 And my enemies—you give to me {the} back of {their} neck; the people who hate me, and I destroy them. 42 They look, but there is no savior; to Yahweh, but he does not answer them. 43 And I crush them like the dust of {the} earth. Like {the} mud of the streets, I pulverize them; I trample them. 44 And you deliver me from the disputes of my people. You keep me as the head of nations; people {whom} I did not know—they serve me. 45 Sons of {the} foreigner—they cower in fear to me. At the report of an ear, they obey me. 46 Sons of {the} foreigner wear out, and they tremble from their prisons. 47 Yahweh {is} living! And may my rock be blessed, and may the God of the rock of my salvation be exalted. 48 This God {is} the one who gives vengeance to me, and the one who brings down peoples under me, 49 and the one who brings me out from my enemies. And from the ones who rise up {against} me, you lift me up; from a man of violence, you deliver me. 50 Therefore, I praise you, Yahweh, among the nations, and to your name I sing praise. 51 The one who magnifies the salvation of his king, and the one who does faithfulness to his anointed one, to David, and to his seed until forever.” Chapter 23 1 And these {are} the words of David, the last ones: An oracle of David, the son of Jesse, and an oracle of the mighty man who was exalted highly, the anointed one of the God of Jacob, and the pleasant songs of Israel: 2 “The Spirit of Yahweh spoke by me, and his speech {was} on my tongue. 3 The God of Israel said to me. The rock of Israel spoke: ‘The one who rules over humanity righteously, who rules {with} the fear of God, 4 and like the light of morning, the sun rises; a morning—no clouds; from brightness, from rain, grass from the earth.’ 5 For {is} not thus my house with God? For he has put a perpetual covenant to me, ordered in everything and guarded. For all my salvation and every desire, surely, does he not make {it} sprout? 6 But the worthless are like a thorn, being dissipated—all of them, because not in the hand do they take. 7 And a man touches them; he will be filled {with} iron or the wood of a spear. And in the fire they are completely burned in the seat.” 8 These {are} the names of the mighty men who {belonged} to David: Josheb-basshebeth, the Tahchemonite, {was} the head of the Three. He was wielding his spear against 800, slain at one time. 9 And after him {was} Eleazar, the son of Dodo, the son of Ahohi. Among the three mighty men with David, when they taunted the Philistines—they were gathered there for war. And the men of Israel went up. 10 He himself got up, and he struck the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clung to the sword. And Yahweh did a great victory on that day, and the people returned after him only to plunder. 11 And after him {was} Shammah, the son of Agee, the Hararite. And the Philistines gathered to Lehi, and it happened—there {was} a portion of the field full of lentils, and the people fled from the face of the Philistines. 12 And he stood in the midst of the portion, and he delivered it, and he struck the Philistines. And Yahweh did a great victory. 13 And the Three of the 30 heads went down, and they came to the harvest, to David, to the cave of Adullam. And the troop of the Philistines was camping in the Valley of the Rephaim. 14 And David {was} then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines {was} then {in} Bethlehem. 15 And David craved, and he said, “Who will give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem, which {is} at the gate?” 16 And the three mighty men cleaved the camp of the Philistines, and they drew water from the well of Bethlehem, which {is} at the gate. And they lifted {it}, and they brought {it} to David. But he was not willing to drink it, and he poured it out to Yahweh. 17 And he said, “Far be it for me, Yahweh, from my doing this—the blood of the men who went with their lives.” And he was not willing to drink it. These {things} the three mighty men did. 18 And Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah—he {was} the head of the Three, and he was swinging his spear against 300, slain. And to him {belonged} a name among the Three. 19 More than the Three, {is it} that he was honored? And he became to them a captain. But as far as the Three, he did not come. 20 And Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, {was} a son of a man of military prowess—many deeds—from Kabzeel. He himself struck the Two of Ariel of Moab, and he himself went down, and he struck the lion in the midst of the pit on a day of snow. 21 And he himself struck a man of Egypt, a man of appearance, and in the hand of the Egyptian {was} a spear, and he went down against him with a staff. And he seized the spear from the hand of the Egyptian, and he killed him with his spear. 22 These {things} Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, did. And to him {belonged} a name among the three mighty men. 23 More than the Thirty, he was honored, but to the Three, he did not come. And David put him to his bodyguard. 24 Asahel, the brother of Joab, {was} among the Thirty; Elhanan, the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, 25 Shammah, the Harodite, Elika, the Harodite, 26 Helez, the Paltite, Ira, the son of Ikkesh, the Tekoite, 27 Abiezer, the Anathothite, Mebunnai, the Hushathite, 28 Zalmon, the Ahohite, Maharai, the Netophathite, 29 Heleb, the son of Baanah, the Netophathite, Ithai, the son, the Ribaite from Gibeah of Benjamin, 30 Benaiah, the Pirathonite, Hiddai of the streams of Gaash, 31 Abi-Albon, the Arbathite, Azmaveth, the Barhumite, 32 Eliahba, the Shaalbonite, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, 33 Shammah, the Hararite, Ahiam, the son of Sharar, the Hararite, 34 Eliphelet, the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maacathite, Eliam, the son of Ahithophel, the Gilonite, 35 Hezro, the Carmelite, Paarai, the Arbite, 36 Igal, the son of Nathan from Zobah, Bani, the Gadite, 37 Zelek, the Ammonite, Naharai, the Beerothite, the one who lifted the weapons of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, 38 Ira, the Ithrite, Gareb, the Ithrite, 39 Uriah the Hittite—all, 37. Chapter 24 1 And the nose of Yahweh continued to be hot against Israel. And he incited David against them, saying, “Go, number Israel and Judah.” 2 And the king said to Joab, the captain of the army, who {was} with him, “Now, roam about among all the tribes of Israel, from Dan and up to Beersheba, and inspect the people, that I may know the number of the people.” 3 And Joab said to the king, “And may Yahweh, your God, add to the people like them and like them a hundred times, and the eyes of my lord, the king, are seeing. But my lord, the king—why does he delight in this matter?” 4 And the word of the king prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the army. And Joab and the captains of the army went out to the face of the king to inspect the people, Israel. 5 And they crossed the Jordan, and they camped in Aroer, south of the city which {is} in the midst of the stream, {to} Gad and to Jazer. 6 And they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim-Hodshi. And they came to Dan-Jaan and around to Sidon. 7 And they came {to} the fortress of Tyre and all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites. And they went out to the Negev of Judah, {to} Beersheba. 8 And they roamed about in all the land. And they came, after the end of nine months and 20 days, {to} Jerusalem. 9 And Joab gave the number of the census of the people to the king. And Israel was 800,000 men of military prowess who drew the sword, and the men of Judah {were} 500,000 men. 10 And the heart of David struck him after thus he counted the people. And David said to Yahweh, “I have sinned greatly that I have done. But now, Yahweh, please cause the iniquity of your servant to pass, for I have been very foolish.” 11 And David got up in the morning, and the word of Yahweh was to Gad, the prophet, a seer of David, saying, 12 “Go, and you will say to David, ‘Thus Yahweh says: “Three I am laying on you. Choose for yourself one from them that I will do to you.”’” 13 And Gad came to David, and he informed him. And he said to him, “Will seven years of famine come to you in your land or three months of your fleeing to the face of your foes and he is pursuing you or three days of plague being in your land? Now, know and see what word I will return {to} the one who sent me.” 14 And David said to Gad, “Distress {belongs} to me, greatly. Please, let us fall into the hand of Yahweh, for his mercy {is} numerous, but into the hand of man, do not let me fall.” 15 And Yahweh gave a plague to Israel from the morning and until {the} appointed time. And from the people, from Dan and up to Beersheba, 70,000 people died. 16 And the angel stretched out his hand {to} Jerusalem to destroy it, and Yahweh relented concerning the disaster. And he said to the angel, the destroyer among the many people, “Now, lower your hand.” And the angel of Yahweh was near the threshing floor of Araunah, the Jebusite. 17 And David said to Yahweh when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and he said, “Look, I myself have sinned, and I myself have done iniquity. But these sheep—what have they done? Please, let your hand be against me and against the house of my father.” 18 And Gad came to David on that day, and he said to him, “Go up. Put up an altar for Yahweh on the threshing floor of Araunah, the Jebusite.” 19 And David went up according to the word of Gad, just as Yahweh commanded. 20 And Araunah looked down, and he saw the king and his servants crossing over to him. And Araunah went out, and he prostrated himself to the king, his nose to the ground. 21 And Araunah said, “Why has my lord, the king, come to his servant?” And David said, “To acquire from you the threshing floor, to build an altar for Yahweh, that the plague may be held back from against the people.” 22 And Araunah said to David, “May my lord, the king, take and cause to arise what is good in his eyes. See, the oxen for the burnt offering and the threshing instruments and the equipment of the oxen for wood— 23 everything Araunah gives, O king, to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May Yahweh, your God, be pleased with you.” 24 And the king said to Araunah, “No, for I will certainly acquire {it} from you in exchange for a price. And I will not cause to rise to Yahweh, my God, burnt offerings for nothing.” And David acquired the threshing floor and the oxen in exchange for fifty silver shekels. 25 And David built there an altar for Yahweh, and he caused burnt offerings and peace offerings to go up. And Yahweh was entreated for the land, and the plague was restrained from against Israel. 1 Kings Chapter 1 1 Now the king David was old, coming in the days, and they covered him with the garments, but it was not warm for him. 2 And his servants said to him, “They are seeking for my lord the king a young woman, a virgin, and she will stand before the face of the king. And she may be one who is useful for him, and she will lie in your bosom and it will be warm for my master the king.” 3 And they sought a beautiful young woman in all the territory of Israel. And they found Abishag the Shunammite and they brought her to the king. 4 (Now the girl was beautiful as far as abundance. And she became one who is useful for the king and she attended to him, but the king did not know her.) 5 And Adonijah the son of Haggith lifted himself up, saying, “I, myself, will reign.” And he made for himself a chariot and horsemen and 50 men who ran before his face. 6 And his father did not pain him from his days, saying, “Why have you done so?” And also, he was very good of form and she had borne him after Absalom. 7 And his words were with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest. And they helped behind Adonijah. 8 But Zadok the priest and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and Nathan the prophet and Shimei and Rei and the mighty men who were for David were not with Adonijah. 9 And Adonijah sacrificed sheep and cattle and fatling near the stone of Zoheleth, which is beside En Rogel. And he called all of his brothers, the sons of the king, and to all the men of Judah, the servants of the king. 10 But he did not call Nathan the prophet and Benaiah and the mighty men and his brother Solomon. 11 And Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith reigns, and our master David does not know? 12 And now, come, please let me advise you with advice, and slip away with your life and with the life of your son Solomon. 13 Go and come to the king David, and you shall say to him, ‘Have you not, my master the king, sworn to your female servant, saying, “Surely Solomon your son will reign after me, and he will sit on my throne?” And why does Adonijah reign?’ 14 Behold, while you are still speaking there with the king, then I myself will come in behind you and will fill your words.” 15 And Bathsheba came to the king at the room. (Now the king was very old and Abishag the Shunammite was attending the king.) 16 And Bathsheba bowed and prostrated herself to the king. And the king said, “What is for you?” 17 And she said to him, “My master, you yourself have sworn to your female servant by Yahweh your God, ‘Surely Solomon your son will reign after me, and he will sit on my throne.’ 18 And now, behold, Adonijah reigns, and now, my master the king, you do not know. 19 And he has sacrificed ox and fatling and sheep to abundance, and he has called to all the sons of the king and to Abiathar the priest and to Joab the commander of the army, but he has not called to Solomon your servant. 20 And you, my master the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to tell them who will sit on the throne of my master the king after him. 21 And it will happen, as soon as my master the king lies down with his fathers, that I myself and my son Solomon will be sinners.” 22 And behold, while she was still speaking with the king, then Nathan the prophet came. 23 And they told the king, saying, “Behold, Nathan the prophet.” And he came before the face of the king, and he prostrated himself to the king with his nostrils to the ground. 24 And Nathan said, “My master the king, have you yourself said, ‘Adonijah will reign after me, and he will sit on my throne?’ 25 For he has gone down today and sacrificed ox and fatling and sheep to abundance, and he has called to all of the sons of the king and to the commanders of the army and to Abiathar the priest. And behold, they are eating and drinking before his face. And they say, ‘Let the king Adonijah live!’ 26 But as for me, I am your servant, and he has not called to Zadok the priest and to Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and to Solomon your servant. 27 Has this matter happened from with my master the king and you have not caused your servants to know who will sit on the throne of my master the king after him?” 28 And the king David answered and said, “Call to Bathsheba for me.” And she came before the face of the king and she stood before the face of the king. 29 And the king swore and said, “As Yahweh is alive, who has ransomed my life from every distress. 30 For just as I have sworn to you by Yahweh the God of Israel, saying, ‘Surely Solomon your son will reign after me, and he will sit on my throne in my place,’ surely thus I will do this day.” 31 And Bathsheba bowed with nostrils to the ground and she prostrated herself before the king and she said, “May my master the king David live to eternity!” 32 And the king David said, “Call for me to Zadok the priest and to Nathan the prophet and to Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.” And they came before the face of the king. 33 And the king said to them, “Take with you the servants of your master, and you shall cause Solomon my son to mount on the female mule that is for me and bring him down to Gihon. 34 And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet shall anoint him there as king over Israel. And you shall blow with the horn and you shall say, ‘Let the king Solomon live!’ 35 And you shall go up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne; and he will reign in my place. And I have commanded him to be leader over Israel and over Judah.” 36 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king and said, “Truly! So has Yahweh the God of my master the king spoken. 37 Just as Yahweh has been with my master the king, so may he be with Solomon. And may he make his throne greater than the throne of my master the king David.” 38 And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and the Kerethite and the Pelethite went down and they caused Solomon to mount on the female mule of the king David. And they brought him to Gihon. 39 And Zadok the priest took the horn of the oil from the tent and he anointed Solomon. And they blew with the horn, and all the people said, “Let the king Solomon live!” 40 And all the people went up after him. And the people were playing with the flutes and were rejoicing with great joy. And the earth was split by their sound. 41 And Adonijah and all the called ones who were with him heard and they had finished eating. And Joab heard the sound of the horn, and he said, “Why is the sound of the city noisy?” 42 He was still speaking, and behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came. And Adonijah said, “Come, for you are a man of strength and you will bring good news.” 43 And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, “No, but our master the king David has caused Solomon to reign. 44 And the king has sent with him Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and the Kerethite and the Pelethite. And they caused him to mount on the female mule of the king. 45 And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him as king at Gihon, and they have come up from there rejoicing, and the city is in an uproar. This is the sound that you have heard. 46 And also, Solomon sits on the throne of the kingship. 47 And also, the servants of the king came to bless our master the king David, saying, ‘May God make the name of Solomon better than your name, and may he make his throne greater than your throne.’ And the king bowed down on the bed. 48 And also, thus said the king, ‘Blessed be Yahweh the God of Israel, who has given one who sits on my throne today, and my eyes are seeing.’” 49 And all the called ones who were for Adonijah trembled and rose. And they went, a man to his way. 50 And Adonijah was afraid of the face of Solomon. And he rose and went and grasped the horns of the altar. 51 And it was told to Solomon, saying, “Behold, Adonijah fears Solomon the king. And behold, he has grasped the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let Solomon the king swear to me as soon as today that he will not put to death his servant with the sword.’” 52 And Solomon said, “If he will be a son of strength, some of his hair will not fall to the ground. But if evil is found in him, then he will die.” 53 And Solomon the king sent, and they brought him down from beside the altar. And he came and bowed down to Solomon the king. And Solomon said to him, “Go to your house.” Chapter 2 1 And the days of David to die came near, and he commanded Solomon his son, saying, 2 “I am about to go in the way of all the earth. And you shall be strong, and you shall become a man. 3 And you shall keep the keeping of Yahweh your God to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, according to what is written in the law of Moses, so that you may do wisely all that you do and everywhere that you would turn there, 4 so that Yahweh may cause his word to stand, which he spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons will keep their way, to walk before my face in truth with all their heart and with all their soul,’ saying, ‘a man for you will not be cut off from on the throne of Israel.’ 5 And also you yourself know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, what he did to two of the commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner and to Amasa the son of Jether: and he slew them. And he put the bloodshed of war in peace and he gave the bloodshed of war on his belt, which was on his loins, and on his sandal, which was on his feet. 6 And you shall act according to your wisdom, and you shall not let his gray hair go down in peace to Sheol. 7 And to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite do covenant faithfulness, and let them be among those who eat at your table. For so they came near to me when I fled from the face of Absalom your brother. 8 And behold, with you is Shimei the son of Gera the Benjamite from Bahurim. And he himself cursed me with a grievous curse on the day of my going to Mahanaim. And he himself went down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by Yahweh, saying, ‘I will not put you to death by the sword.’ 9 And now, do not leave him unpunished. For you are a wise man, and you know what you shall do to him. And you shall cause his gray hair to go down with blood to Sheol.” 10 And David lay down with his fathers and he was buried in the city of David. 11 And the days that David reigned over Israel were 40 years. In Hebron he reigned seven years and in Jerusalem he reigned 33 years. 12 And Solomon sat on the throne of David his father. And his kingdom was firmly established. 13 And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, “Is your coming peaceful?” And he said, “It is peaceful.” 14 And he said, “A word is for me to you.” And she said, “Speak.” 15 And he said, “You yourself know that the kingship was for me, and all Israel had set their faces on me to reign. But the kingship turned around and became for my brother, for from Yahweh it was for him. 16 And now, I am requesting one request from with you, do not turn back my face.” And she said to him, “Speak.” 17 And he said, “Please speak to Solomon the king, for he will not turn back your face, that he may give to me Abishag the Shunammite for a wife.” 18 And Bathsheba said, “Good, I myself will speak concerning you to the king.” 19 And Bathsheba came to the king Solomon to speak to him concerning Adonijah. And the king rose to meet her and he bowed down to her and he sat on his throne. And he set a throne for the mother of the king, and she sat by his right hand. 20 And she said, “One small request I am requesting from with you, do not turn back my face.” And the king said to her, “Request, my mother, for I will not turn back your face.” 21 And she said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother for a wife.” 22 And the king Solomon answered and said to his mother, “And why are you requesting Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Then request for him the kingship, for he is my brother, older than I, and for him and for Abiathar the priest and for Joab the son of Zeruiah!” 23 And the king Solomon swore by Yahweh, saying, “Thus may God do to me, and thus may he add, unless by his life Adonijah has spoken this word. 24 And now, as Yahweh is alive, who has established me and caused me to sit on the throne of David my father, and who has made for me a house just as he said, surely today Adonijah shall be put to death.” 25 And the king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And he attacked him and he died. 26 And with respect to Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to Anathoth, to your fields. For you are a man of death, but I will not put you to death on this day, because you lifted the box of my Lord Yahweh before the face of David my father and because you were afflicted with all that my father was afflicted.” 27 And Solomon drove Abiathar out from being a priest to Yahweh, to fulfill the word of Yahweh, which he had spoken concerning the house of Eli at Shiloh. 28 And the report came as far as Joab, for Joab had turned aside after Adonijah, but he had not turned aside after Absalom. And Joab fled to the tent of Yahweh and he took hold of the horns of the altar. 29 And it was told to the king Solomon that Joab had fled to the tent of Yahweh, and behold, he was beside the altar. And Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, attack him.” 30 And Benaiah entered into the tent of Yahweh and he said to him, “Thus says the king, ‘Come out!’” And he said, “No, for here I will die.” And Benaiah brought back word to the king, saying, “Thus has spoken Joab and thus he answered me.” 31 And the king said to him, “Do just as he has spoken and attack him and bury him. And you will remove from on me and from on the house of my father the bloodshed without cause that Joab poured out. 32 And Yahweh will return his blood on his head, because he attacked two men more righteous and better than himself and he slew them with the sword, and my father David did not know: Abner the son of Ner, the commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, the commander of the army of Judah. 33 And their shed blood will return on the head of Joab and on the head of his seed to eternity. But for David and for his seed and for his house and for his throne will be peace until eternity from with Yahweh.” 34 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and attacked him and put him to death. And he was buried in his house in the wilderness. 35 And the king gave Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his place over the army. And Zadok the priest the king gave in place of Abiathar. 36 And the king sent and called for Shimei, and he said to him, “Build a house for yourself in Jerusalem and dwell there. And do not go out from there here or there. 37 And it will happen on the day when you go out and you pass over the wadi of Kidron, know surely that you will surely die. Your blood will be on your head.” 38 And Shimei said to the king, “The word is good. Just as my master the king has spoken, thus your servant will do.” And Shimei dwelled in Jerusalem many days. 39 And it happened from the end of three years that two of the slaves of Shimei fled to Achish the son of Maacah, the king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, “Behold, your slaves are in Gath.” 40 And Shimei rose and saddled his donkey and went to Gath, to Achish, to seek his slaves. And Shimei went and brought back his slaves from Gath. 41 And it was told to Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had returned. 42 And the king sent and called for Shimei and said to him, “Did I not cause you to swear by Yahweh and testify against you, saying, ‘On the day when you go out and go here or there, surely know that you will surely die’? And you said to me, ‘The word I have heard is good.’ 43 And why did you not keep the oath of Yahweh and the command that I commanded concerning you?” 44 And the king said to Shimei, “You yourself know all the evil that your heart knows, that you did to David my father. And Yahweh will return your evil on your head. 45 But the king Solomon will be blessed, and the throne of David will be established before the face of Yahweh until eternity.” 46 And the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and attacked him, and he died. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon. Chapter 3 1 And Solomon made himself the son-in-law of Pharaoh the king of Egypt. And he took the daughter of Pharaoh and he brought her into the city of David until his completing to build his house and the house of Yahweh and the wall of Jerusalem round about. 2 Only the people were sacrificing at the high places because a house had not been built for the name of Yahweh until those days. 3 And Solomon loved Yahweh by walking in the statutes of David his father, but at the high places he was sacrificing and burning incense. 4 And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for it was the great high place. Solomon offered up a thousand burnt up offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon Yahweh appeared to Solomon in a dream that night. And God said, “Request! What should I give to you?” 6 And Solomon said, “You yourself have did great covenant faithfulness with your servant David, my father, because he walked before your face in faithfulness and in righteousness and in uprightness of heart with you. And you have kept for him this great covenant faithfulness and you have given to him a son sitting on his throne as it is this day. 7 And now, Yahweh my God, you yourself have caused your servant to reign in place of David my father, but I am a young youth. I do not know going out or coming in. 8 And your servant is in the midst of your people, whom you have chosen, a numerous people who can not be numbered and can not be counted because of abundance. 9 And may you give to your servant a heart that hears to judge your people, to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge your people, this heavy one?” 10 And the thing was good in the eyes of the Lord, that Solomon had requested this thing. 11 And God said to him, “Because you have requested this thing and you have not requested for yourself many days, and you have not requested riches for yourself, and you have not requested the life of your enemies, but you requested for yourself discerning to hear justice, 12 behold, I have done according to your word. Behold, I have given to you a wise and discerning heart, so that one has not been like you before your face, and after you will not rise one like you. 13 And also what you have not requested I have given to you, both riches and honor, so that there will not be a man like you among the kings all of your days. 14 And if you will walk in my ways to keep my statutes and my commandments, just as David your father walked, then I will lengthen your days.” 15 And Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream! And he entered Jerusalem and he stood before the face of the box of the covenant of the Lord. And he offered up burnt offerings and he made peace offerings. And he made a feast for all his servants. 16 At that time two women, prostitutes, came to the king and they stood before his face. 17 And the one woman said, “Please, my master, I and this woman dwell in one house, and I gave birth with her in the house. 18 And it happened on the third day of my giving birth that this woman also gave birth. And we were together, there was no stranger with us in the house, only we two were in the house. 19 And the son of this woman died at night, because she lay on him. 20 And she arose in the middle of the night and she took my son from my side, and your female servant was asleep. And she laid him in her bosom. And her son, the one who died, she laid in my bosom. 21 And I rose in the morning to nurse my son, and behold, he was dead! And I considered diligently with respect to him in the morning, and behold, he was not my son, whom I had borne!” 22 And the other woman said, “No, but my son is the living one, and your son is the dead one.” And this one was saying, “No, but your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.” And they spoke before the face of the king. 23 And the king said, “This one says, ‘This is my son, the living one, and your son is the dead one,’ but this one says, ‘No, but your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’” 24 And the king said, “Take a sword for me.” And they brought the sword before the face of the king. 25 And the king said, “Divide the living child into two pieces, and give the half to one and the half to the other.” 26 And the woman whose son was the living one said to the king, for her compassionate feelings for her son became warm. And she said, “Please, my master, give to her the living child, and you must certainly not put him to death!” But this one was saying, “Either for me or for you he will not be. Divide!” 27 And the king answered and said, “Give to her the living child, and you must certainly not put him to death. She is his mother.” 28 And all Israel heard the judgment that the king had judged, and they were afraid from the face of the king, because they saw that the wisdom of God was within him to do justice. Chapter 4 1 And King Solomon was king over all Israel. 2 And these were the officials which were for him: Azariah the son of Zadok was the priest. 3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were scribes. Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder. 4 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the army. And Zadok and Abiathar were priests. 5 And Azariah the son of Nathan was over the stationed ones. And Zabud the son of Nathan was a priest, the friend of the king. 6 And Ahishar was over the house. And Adoniram the son of Abda was over the forced labor. 7 And for Solomon were 12 stationed ones over all Israel, and they sustained the king and his house. A month in the year it would be on one to sustain. 8 And these were their names: Ben Hur in the hill country of Ephraim, 9 Ben Deker in Makaz and in Shaalbim and Beth Shemesh and Elon Beth Hanan, 10 Ben Hesed in the Arubboth (for him was Sokoh and all the land of Hepher), 11 Ben Abinadab was for all Naphoth Dor (Taphath, the daughter of Solomon, was for him for a wife), 12 Baana the son of Ahilud in Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth Shan that is beside Zarethan from below Jezreel, from Beth Shan as far as Abel Meholah, as far as from the other side of Jokmeam, 13 Ben Geber in Ramoth Gilead, for him were the villages of Jair the son of Manasseh that were in Gilead, for him was the region of Argob, which was in the Bashan—60 great cities with a wall and a gate bar of bronze; 14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo in Mahanaim, 15 Ahimaaz in Naphtali (he also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon for a wife), 16 Baana the son of Hushai in Asher and Bealoth, 17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah in Issachar, 18 Shimei the son of Ela in Benjamin, 19 Geber the son of Uri in the land of Gilead, the land of Sihon, the king of the Amorite and Og, the king of the Bashan, and he was the one stationed one who was in the land. 20 Judah and Israel were numerous as the sand that is on the sea according to abundance. They were eating and drinking and rejoicing. 21 And Solomon was ruling over all the kingdoms from the river to the land of the Philistines and as far as the border of Egypt, bringing tribute near and serving Solomon all the days of his life. 22 And the bread of Solomon for one day was 30 cors of fine flour and 60 cors of flour, 23 ten fat cattle and 20 pasture cattle and 100 sheep, apart from deer and gazelle and roebuck and fattened fowl. 24 For he had dominion over all beyond the river, from Tiphsah and as far as Gaza, over all the kings of beyond the river. And peace was for him from all his sides, from all around. 25 And Judah and Israel dwelled in safety, a man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan and as far as Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. 26 And there was for Solomon 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariotry and 12,000 horsemen. 27 And those stationed ones sustained the king Solomon and all the ones who came near to the table of the king Solomon, a man his month. They would not let anything be lacking. 28 And they brought the barley and the straw for the horses and for the steed to the place there where it should be, a man according to his regulation. 29 And God gave wisdom to Solomon and very much understanding and width of heart like the sand that is on the lip of the sea. 30 And the wisdom of Solomon was greater than the wisdom of all the sons of the east and than all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 And he was wiser than every man, than Ethan the Ezrahite and Heman and Kalkol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his name was in all the surrounding nations. 32 And he spoke 3,000 proverbs and his songs were 1,005. 33 And he spoke concerning the trees, from the cedar that is in the Lebanon and as far as the hyssop that comes out on the wall. And he spoke concerning the beast and concerning the bird and concerning the creeping thing and concerning the fish. 34 And they came from all the peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from with all the kings of the earth who had heard his wisdom. Chapter 5 1 And Hiram the king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him as king in place of his father, for Hiram was a one loved by David all the days. 2 And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying, 3 “You yourself knew David my father, that he was not able to build a house for the name of Yahweh his God because of the face of the warfare that surrounded him, until Yahweh was giving them under the soles of his feet. 4 But now, Yahweh my God has given rest to me from all around. There is no adversary and there is no evil occurence. 5 And behold I am saying to build a house for the name of Yahweh my God, just as Yahweh spoke to David my father, saying, ‘Your son, whom I will give in your place on your throne, he will build the house for my name.’ 6 And now, command and let them cut for me cedars from the Lebanon and let my servants be with your servants and I will give to you the wage of your servants according to all that you say. For you yourself know that there is no man among us knowing how to cut trees like the Sidonians.” 7 And it happened as soon as Hiram heard the words of Solomon that he rejoiced exceedingly. And he said, “Blessed be Yahweh today, who has given to David a wise son over this great people.” 8 And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, “I have heard what you sent to me. I myself will do all your desire with the trees of cedar and with the trees of cypress. 9 And my servants will bring down from the Lebanon to the sea, and I myself will set rafts on the sea as far as the place where you send for me. And I will break them up there and you yourself will lift. And you yourself will do my desire by giving the bread of my house.” 10 And Hiram was giving to Solomon trees of cedar and trees of cypress, all of his desire. 11 And Solomon gave to Hiram 20,000 kors of wheat as food for his house and 20 kors of beaten oil. Thus Solomon would give to Hiram year by year. 12 And Yahweh gave wisdom to Solomon, just as he spoke to him. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon and the two of them cut a covenant. 13 And the king Solomon brought up forced labor from all Israel. And the forced labor was 30,000 men. 14 And he sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 by the month in shifts. They were a month in the Lebanon, two months in his house. And Adoniram was over the forced labor. 15 And there was for Solomon 70,000 who lift a burden and 80,000 who hew in the hill country, 16 apart from the officials of the stationed ones of Solomon who were over the work, 3,300 were the ones having dominion over the people, the ones who were doing the work. 17 And the king commanded and they removed large stones, precious stones to found the house, stones of hewing. 18 And the builders of Solomon and the builders of Hiram and the Gebalites hewed and they prepared the trees and the stones to build the house. Chapter 6 1 And it happened in year 480 of the going out of the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of the reigning of Solomon over Israel, in the month of Ziv (that is the second month), that he began to build the house of Yahweh. 2 As for the house that the king Solomon built for Yahweh, 60 cubits was its length, and 20 its width, and 30 cubits its height. 3 As for the porch on the face of the temple of the house, 20 cubits was its length, in accordance with the face of the width of the house; ten by the cubit was its width in accordance with the face of the house. 4 And he made for the house windows with narrowed frames. 5 And he built against the wall of the house a spread out place all around, the walls of the house all around, for the temple and for the inner room. And he made side rooms all around. 6 The spread out place of the lowest level, five by the cubit was its width, and the middle level, six by the cubit was its width, and the third level, seven by the cubit was its width. For he gave ledges for the house all around the outside, so not to hold on to the walls of the house. 7 As for the house while it was being built, it was built of finished stone of a quarry. And a hammer or the ax, any implement of iron, was not heard in the house while it was being built. 8 The opening of the middle side room was to the shoulder of the house at the south, and by stairs they went up on the middle level, and from the middle level to the third level. 9 And he built the house and he finished it. And he covered the house with beams and rows with the cedars. 10 And he built the spread out place against all the house, five cubits was its height, and it held on to the house with the wood of cedar. 11 And the word of Yahweh was to Solomon, saying, 12 “This house that you are building, if you walk in my statutes and you do my judgments, and you keep all my commandments by walking in them, then I will cause my word to stand with you that I spoke to David your father. 13 And I will dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel and I will not forsake my people Israel.” 14 And Solomon built the house and he finished it. 15 And he built the walls of the house on the inside with sides of cedar. From the floor of the house up to the walls of the ceiling, he overlaid wood on the inside, and he overlaid the floor of the house with sides of cypress. 16 And he built 20 cubits from the rear of the house with sides of cedar from the floor up to the walls. And he built for it on the inside as an inner room, as the holiest holy place. 17 And 40 by the cubit was the house (that is the temple) before the face of it. 18 And cedar was into inside the house, carving of gourds and opened ones of flowers. The whole was cedar, there was no stone seen. 19 And he set up the inner room in the midst of the house on the inside for giving there the box of the covenant of Yahweh. 20 And before the face of the inner room, it was 20 cubits in length, and 20 cubits in width, and 20 cubits its height. And he overlaid it with pure gold and he overlaid an altar with cedar. 21 And Solomon overlaid the house on the inside with pure gold. And he crossed chains of gold over the face of the inner room, and he overlaid it with gold. 22 And he overlaid all the house with gold until finishing all the house. And the whole of the altar that was for the inner room he overlaid with gold. 23 And he made in the inner room two cherubs of wood of oil; ten cubits was its height. 24 And five cubits was the wing of the one cherub and five cubits was the wing of the second cherub. It was ten cubits from the ends of its wings and as far as the ends of its wings. 25 And ten by the cubit was the second cherub, one size and one shape were for the two cherubs. 26 The height of the one cherub was ten by the cubit and so was the second cherub. 27 And he gave the cherubs in the midst of the inner house. And they spread out the wings of the cherubs and the wing of the one touched against the wall and the wing of the second cherub was touching against the second wall. And their wings were toward the middle of the house, touching wing to wing. 28 And he overlaid the cherubs with gold. 29 And he carved all the walls of the house round about with engravings of carvings of cherubs and palm trees and opened ones of flowers, from inside and to the outside. 30 And he overlaid the floor of the house with gold, for inside and for the outside. 31 Also he made the opening of the inner room with doors of wood of oil; the pillar, doorposts, were a fifth part. 32 And the two of the doors were wood of oil, and he carved on them carvings of cherubs and palm trees and opened ones of flowers, and he overlaid them with gold. And he beat out the gold on the cherubs and on the palm trees. 33 And so he made for the opening of the temple doorposts of wood of oil from a fourth part. 34 And the two of the doors were wood of cypress, the two of the one door leaves were folding and the two of the second door curtains were folding. 35 And he carved cherubs and palm trees and opened ones of flowers. And he overlaid with gold made smooth on the engraving. 36 And he built the inner courtyard with three rows of hewn stone and a row of cut beams of cedar. 37 In the fourth year the house of Yahweh was founded, in the month of Ziv. 38 And in the year 11, in the month of Bul (it is the eighth month), the house was finished according to all his words and according to all his requirements. And he built it seven years. Chapter 7 1 And Solomon built his house 13 years. And he finished all of his house. 2 And he built the house of the forest of the Lebanon: 100 cubits was its length and 50 cubits was its width and 30 cubits was its height, with four rows of pillars of cedar and cut beams of cedar on the pillars. 3 And it was covered with cedar from above over the sides that were on the 45 pillars, 15 was the row. 4 And the window frames were three rows, and opening to opening were three occurrences. 5 And all the openings and the doorposts were squared framework. And the front of an opening to an opening were three occurrences. 6 And he made the porch of the pillars, 50 cubits was its length and 30 cubits was its width. And a porch was on their face and pillars and a roof were on their face. 7 And he made the porch of the throne there where he would judge, the porch of judgment. And it was covered with cedar from the floor up to the floor. 8 And his house there where he would dwell, the other courtyard, was from the house of the porch; it was like this work. And he would make a house for the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Solomon had taken, like this porch. 9 All of these were precious stones according to the measurement of hewn stones, sawn with the saw from inside and from outside and from the foundation up to the eaves and from outside up to the great courtyard. 10 And it was founded with precious stones, large stones, stones of ten cubits and stones of eight cubits. 11 And from above were precious stones, according to the measurement of hewn stone, and cedar. 12 And a great courtyard was all around, three hewn stone rows and a row of cut beams of cedar, and for the inner courtyard of the house of Yahweh and for the porch of the house. 13 And the king Solomon sent and took Hiram from Tyre. 14 He was a son of a woman, a widow, from the tribe of Naphtali and his father was a man of Tyre, one who engraves bronze. And he was filled with the wisdom and the understanding and the knowledge in order to do all the work with bronze. And he came to the king Solomon and he did all his work. 15 And he formed the two of the pillars bronze, 18 cubits was the height of the one pillar and a cord of 12 cubits surrounded the second pillar. 16 And he made the two of the capitals to give on the heads of the pillars, casting of bronze. Five cubits was the height of the one capital and five cubits was the height of the second capital. 17 Lattices, a work of lattice, twisted threads, a work of chains, were for the capitals which were on the head of the pillars. Seven were for the one capital and seven were for the second capital. 18 And he made the pillars, and two rows all around on the one lattice to cover the capitals, which were on the head of the pomegranates, and he did so for the second capital. 19 And the capitals, which were on the head of the pillars, were the work of a lily on the porch, four cubits. 20 And capitals were on the two pillars, also from above. from near the belly, which was to the opposite of the lattice. And the pomegranates were 200, rows all around on the second capital. 21 And he raised up the pillars for the porch of the temple. And he raised up the right pillar and he called its name Jakin. And he raised up the left pillar and he called its name Boaz. 22 And on the head of the pillars was the work of a lily. And the work of the pillars was finished. 23 And he made the sea that was cast. It was ten by the cubit from its lip up to its lip, circular all around. And five by the cubit was its height and a cord of 30 cubits surrounded it all around. 24 And gourds were from underneath to its lip, surrounding it all around, ten by the cubit, encircling the sea all around. The gourds were two rows that were cast when it was cast. 25 It was standing over 12 cattle, three faces toward the north and three faces toward the west and three faces toward the south and three faces toward the east, and the sea was over them from above. And all their hindquarters were toward the inside. 26 And its thickness was a handbreadth and its lip was like the work of the lip of a cup, the blossom of a lily. It contained 2,000 baths. 27 And he made the ten bronze stands. Four by the cubit was the length of the one stand and four by the cubit was its width and three by the cubit was its height. 28 And this was the work of the stand: rims were for them, and rims were between the joints. 29 And on the rims, which were between the joints, were lions, oxen, and cherubs. And on the joints was a pedestal from above and from below to the lions and the cattle were wreaths, work of descent. 30 And four wheels of bronze were for the one stand and axles of bronze and its four feet were shoulders for them, from the under part of the basin; the shoulders were cast from each side with wreaths. 31 And its mouth on the inside of the capital and upward was by the cubit, and its mouth was round, the work of a pedestal, a cubit and a half of the cubit. And also on its mouth were carvings and their rims were squared, not circular. 32 And the four of the wheels were for the under part of the rims, and the hands of the wheels were with the stand. And the height of the one wheel was a cubit and a half of the cubit. 33 And the work of the wheels was like the work of the wheel of the chariot. Their hands and their rims and their spokes and their hubs, the whole thing was cast. 34 And four shoulders were to the four corners of the one stand, its shoulders were part of the stand. 35 And at the top of the stand, a half of the cubit was the height, circular all around. And on the head of the stand was its hands and its rims were part of it. 36 And he engraved on the planks of its hands and on its rims cherubs, lions, and palm trees according to the bare space of each, and wreaths were all around. 37 Like this he made the ten stands, one casting, one size, one shape was for all of them. 38 And he made ten bronze basins. The one basin contained 40 baths. The one basin was four by the cubit, one basin was on the one base for the ten stands. 39 And he gave the stands, five on the shoulder of the house from the right and five on the shoulder of the house from its left. And he gave the sea from the south shoulder of the house eastward, from in front of the south. 40 And Hiram made the basins and the shovels and the sprinkling bowls. And Hiram finished doing all the work that he did for the king Solomon for the house of Yahweh: 41 two pillars, and the bowls of the capitals that were on the head of the two pillars, and the two latticeworks for covering the two bowls of the capitals that were on the head of the pillars, 42 and the 400 pomegranates for the two latticeworks, two rows of pomegranates for the one latticework to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the faces of the pillars, 43 and the ten stands, and the ten basins on the stands, 44 and the one sea and the 12 cattle under the sea, 45 and the pots and the shovels and the sprinkling bowls and all these vessels that Hiram made for the king Solomon, for the house of Yahweh, were polished bronze. 46 In the circular plain of the Jordan the king cast them in the compactness of the ground between Succoth and between Zarethan. 47 And Solomon caused all the vessels to rest because of very much abundance, the weight of the bronze had not been ascertained. 48 And Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of Yahweh: the altar of gold and the table, which would have the bread of the face on it, was gold. 49 And the five lampstands from the south and five from the north, before the face of the inner room, were pure gold. And the blossom and the lamps and the snuffers were gold. 50 And the cups and the trimmers and the sprinkling bowls and the palms and the firepans were pure gold. And the sockets of the doors of the inner house, for the holiest holy place, for the doors of the house, for the temple, were gold. 51 And all the work that the king Solomon did for the house of Yahweh was complete. And Solomon brought in the holy things of David, his father, the silver and the gold and the vessels he gave into the storerooms of the house of Yahweh. Chapter 8 1 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, the lifted ones of the fathers of the sons of Israel, to the king Solomon at Jerusalem, to bring up the box of the covenant of Yahweh from the city of David (it is Zion). 2 And all the men of Israel assembled to the king Solomon in the month of Ethanim at the feast (it is the seventh month). 3 And all the elders of Israel came and the priests lifted the box. 4 And they brought up the box of Yahweh and the tent of meeting and all the vessels of holiness that were in the tent. And the priests and the Levites brought them up. 5 And the king Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, the ones who congregated to him, were with him before the face of the box, sacrificing sheep and cattle that could not be counted and could not be numbered because of abundance. 6 And the priests brought the box of the covenant of Yahweh into its place, into the inner room of the house, into the holiest holy place, to beneath the wings of the cherubs. 7 For the cherubs were spreading out wings toward the place of the box. And the cherubs covered over the box and over its poles from above. 8 And the poles were made long and the heads of the poles were seen from the holy place on the face of the inner room, and they were not seen on the outside. And they are there until this day. 9 There was nothing in the box except the two tablets of stone, which Moses caused to rest there at Horeb, where Yahweh cut with the sons of Israel when they went out from the land of Egypt. 10 And it happened when the priests went out from the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of Yahweh. 11 And the priests were not able to stand to minister because of the face of the cloud, for the glory of Yahweh filled the house of Yahweh. 12 Then Solomon said, “Yahweh has said he would dwell in the dark cloud. 13 Surely I have built a house of elevation for you, a place for your dwelling forever.” 14 And the king turned his face around and he blessed all the assembly of Israel, and all the assembly of Israel was standing. 15 And he said, “Blessed is Yahweh, the God of Israel, who spoke by his mouth with David my father, and fulfilled by his hand, saying, 16 ‘From the day when I brought out my people Israel from Egypt, I did not choose a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a house, so that my name would be there. But I chose David to be over my people Israel.’ 17 And it was with the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel. 18 But Yahweh said to David my father, ‘Because it was with your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. 19 However, you will not build the house, but rather your son, the one who comes out from your loins, he himself will build the house for my name.’ 20 And Yahweh has raised up his word that he had spoken. And I have risen up in the place of David my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel, just as Yahweh spoke. And I have built the house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel. 21 And I have set a place there for the box, where there is the covenant of Yahweh, which he cut with our fathers when he brought them out from the land of Egypt.” 22 And Solomon stood before the face of the altar of Yahweh, in front of all the assembly of Israel. And he spread out his palms to the heavens. 23 And he said, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in the heavens from above or on the earth from below, keeping the covenant and the covenant faithfulness to your servants, the ones who walk before your face with all their heart; 24 which you have kept for your servant David my father, what you spoke to him. And you spoke with your mouth and with your hand you fulfilled, as this day. 25 And now, Yahweh, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father, what you spoke to him, saying, ‘A man will not be cut off for you from before my face, sitting on the throne of Israel, if only your sons will keep their way, to walk before my face, just as you have walked before my face.’ 26 And now, the God of Israel, please let your word be proven faithful, which you spoke to your servant David my father. 27 Indeed, would God really dwell on the earth? Behold, the heavens and the heavens of the heavens can not contain you, how much less this house that I have built! 28 Yet you will turn to the prayer of your servant and to his plea for favor, Yahweh my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer that your servant is praying before your face today: 29 that your eyes be opened to this house night and day, to the place where you have said, ‘My name will be there,’ to listen to the prayer that your servant will pray to this place. 30 And you will listen to the plea for favor of your servant and your people Israel that they will pray toward this place. And you, you will listen toward the place of your dwelling to the heavens. And you will hear and forgive 31 a man who sins against his neighbor and lifts up against him a curse to curse him and a curse comes before the face of your altar in this house. 32 And you, you will hear in the heavens and act and judge your servants, by declaring as wicked a wicked one, to give his way on his head, and by declaring as righteous a righteous one, to give to him according to his righteousness. 33 When your people Israel are struck down before the face of an enemy because they have sinned against you, and they turn back to you and they confess your name and they pray and they plead for favor toward you in this house, 34 then you, you will hear in the heavens and you will forgive for the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the ground that you gave to their fathers. 35 When the heavens are restrained and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, and they pray toward this place and they confess your name and they turn back from their sin when you have afflicted them, 36 then you, you will hear in the heavens and forgive for the sin of your servants and your people Israel, for you direct the good way in which they will walk. And you will give rain on your land, which you have given to your people for an inheritance. 37 If famine would be in the land, if there would be pestilence, if there would be blight, mildew, locust, grasshopper, if his enemy would make it narrow for him in the land of his gates, any plague, any sickness, 38 any prayer, any plea for favor that would be for any man, for any of your people Israel, who know, a man the plague of his heart, and he would spread out his palms toward this house, 39 then you, you will hear in the heavens, the place of your dwelling, and you will forgive and act and give to a man according to all his ways, because you know his heart. For you, you know, you alone, the heart of all the sons of mankind, 40 so that they may fear you all the days that they are alive on the face of the ground that you gave to our fathers. 41 And also, to the foreigner, he who is not from among your people Israel, and he comes from a distant land on account of your name, 42 for they will hear of your great name and your strong hand and your extended arm, and he will come and pray toward this house, 43 you, you will hear in the heavens, the place of your dwelling, and you will act according to all that the foreigner has cried out to you, so that all the peoples of the earth will know your name to fear you, like your people Israel, and to know that your name has been called over this house that I have built. 44 If your people go out to battle against his enemy, by the way that you send them, and they pray to Yahweh, in the way of the city, it which you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name, 45 then you will hear in the heavens their prayer and their plea for favor and you will do their justice. 46 If they sin against you (for there is no man who does not sin) and you are angry with them and you give them over before the face of an enemy and they took them captive as their captives to the land of the enemy, distant or near, 47 and they bring back to their heart in the land there where they have been taken captive, and they turn back and plead for favor to you in the land of those who took them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned and we have done iniquity, we have acted wickedly,’ 48 and they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies where they took them captive and they pray to you toward the way of their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you chose and the house that I have built for your name, 49 then you will hear their prayer in the heavens, the place of your dwelling, and their plea for favor, and you will do their justice. 50 And you will forgive your people who have sinned against you and all their transgressions that they have transgressed against you. And you will give them compassion before the face of those who took them captive and they will have compassion on them. 51 For they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out from Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron, 52 for your eyes to be opened to the plea for favor of your servant and to the plea for favor of your people Israel, to listen to them in all their crying out to you. 53 For you yourself separated them for yourself as an inheritance from all the peoples of the earth, just as you spoke by the hand of Moses your servant when you brought out our fathers from Egypt, my Lord Yahweh.” 54 And it happened that as soon as Solomon finishing to pray to Yahweh all this prayer and plea for favor, he rose from before the face of the altar of Yahweh, from bowing on his knees with his palms spread out toward the heavens. 55 And he stood and he blessed all the assembly of Israel with a great voice, saying, 56 “Blessed be Yahweh, who has given rest for his people Israel, according to all that he had spoken. One word did not fall from all his good word that he had spoken by the hand of Moses his servant. 57 May Yahweh our God be with us, just as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us and may he not forsake us, 58 inclining our heart to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers. 59 And may these words of mine, which I have pleaded for favor before the face of Yahweh, be near to Yahweh our God by day and night, to do the justice of his servant and the justice of his people Israel, the word of day by its day, 60 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that Yahweh, he is the God, there is none besides! 61 And may your heart be completely with Yahweh our God, by walking in his statutes and by keeping his commandments, as this day.” 62 And the king and all Israel with him were sacrificing sacrifices before the face of Yahweh. 63 And Solomon sacrificed a sacrifice of peace offerings which he sacrificed to Yahweh: 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. And the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the house of Yahweh. 64 On that day the king set apart the middle of the courtyard that was before the face of the house of Yahweh, for he made there the burnt up offering and the grain offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings because the altar of bronze that was before the face of Yahweh was too small to contain the burnt up offering and the grain offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings. 65 And Solomon performed the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from Lebo Hamath as far as the wadi of Egypt, before the face of Yahweh our God seven days and seven days, 14 days. 66 On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they blessed the king and they went to their tents rejoicing and good of heart on account of all the goodness that Yahweh had done for David, his servant, and for Israel, his people. Chapter 9 1 And it happened as soon as Solomon finished building the house of Yahweh and the house of the king, and every desire of Solomon that he delighted to do, 2 that Yahweh appeared to Solomon a second time, just as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 And Yahweh said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea for favor that you plead for favor before my face. I have set apart this house that you built, by setting my name there until eternity. And my eyes and my heart will be there all the days. 4 And as for you, if you will walk before my face just as David your father walked with completeness of heart and with uprightness, by doing according to all that I have commanded you, if you keep my statutes and my judgments, 5 then I will raise up the throne of your kingdom over Israel for eternity, just as I spoke to David your father, saying, ‘A man for you will not be cut off from on the throne of Israel.’ 6 If you ever turn back, you or your sons, from after me and you do not keep my commandments, my statutes that I have given before your face, and you go and serve other gods and you bow down to them, 7 then I will cut off Israel from on the face of the ground that I have given to them, and the house that I have set apart for my name, I will send away from on my face, and Israel will be for a proverb and for a taunt among all the peoples. 8 And this house will be elevated, every one who passes by near it will be appalled and will hiss. And they will say, ‘On what account did Yahweh do thus to this land and to this house?’ 9 And they will say, ‘Because they forsook Yahweh their God, who brought their fathers out from the land of Egypt, and they held on to other gods and bowed down to them and served them. Therefore Yahweh brought on them all this evil.’” 10 And it happened from the end of 20 years that Solomon had built the two houses, the house of Yahweh and the house of the king. 11 Hiram, the king of Tyre, had lifted Solomon with trees of cedar and with trees of cypress and with gold, according to all his delight. Then the king Solomon gave to Hiram 20 cities in the land of the Galilee. 12 And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given to him, but they were not right in his eyes. 13 And he said, “What are these cities that you have given to me, my brother?” And he called them the land of Kabul until this day. 14 And Hiram sent to the king 120 kikkars of gold. 15 Now this is the matter of the forced labor that the king Solomon brought up to build the house of Yahweh and his house and the Millo and the wall of Jerusalem and Hazor and Megiddo and Gezer. 16 Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had gone up and seized Gezer and he burned it with fire and he slew the Canaanite, the one who dwelled in the city. And he gave it as sending gifts to his daughter, the wife of Solomon. 17 And Solomon built Gezer and lower Beth Horon 18 and Baalath and Tadmor in the wilderness in the land [1] 19 and all the cities of the storehouses that were for Solomon and the cities of the chariotry and the cities of the horsemen and the desire of Solomon, whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem and in the Lebanon and in all the land of his dominion. 20 All the people, the ones who were left over from the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, they who were not of the sons of Israel, 21 their sons who were left over after them in the land, them whom the sons of Israel were not able to utterly destroy, Solomon brought them up for the forced labor of serving until this day. 22 But from the sons of Israel Solomon did not give a servant, for they were the men of warfare and his servants and his commanders and his third men and the commanders of his chariotry and his horsemen. 23 These were the commanders of the stationed ones who were over the work for Solomon, 550, the ones having dominion over the people, the ones doing the work. 24 As soon as the daughter of Pharoah went up from the city of David to her house that he had built for her, then he built the Millo. 25 And Solomon offered up three times in the year burnt up offerings and peace offerings on the altar that he built for Yahweh, and he burned incense with it, which was before the face of Yahweh. And he completed the house. 26 And the king Solomon made a fleet in Ezion Geber, which is near Elath on the lip of the sea of reeds in the land of Edom. 27 And Hiram sent in the fleet his servants, men of ships who knew the sea, with the servants of Solomon. 28 And they came to Ophir and took from there gold, 420 kikkars. And they brought it to the king Solomon. 9:18 [1] Tadmor or perhaps Tamar (Hebrew Ketiv) Chapter 10 1 Now the queen of Sheba heard the report of Solomon with respect to the name of Yahweh. And she came to test him with difficult questions. 2 And she came to Jerusalem with very heavy strength, camels lifting spices and very much gold and precious stone. And she came to Solomon and spoke to him all that was with her heart. 3 And Solomon told her all her matters. There was not a matter hidden from the king that he did not tell her. 4 And the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the house that he had built 5 and the food of his table and the seating of his servants and the service of his attendants and their apparel and his cupbearers and his burnt up offerings that he offered up at the house of Yahweh. And there was no more breath in her. 6 And she said to the king, “True is the word that I heard in my land concerning your words and concerning your wisdom. 7 And I did not believe the words until when I came and my eyes saw, and behold, the half was not told to me! You added wisdom and goodness to the report that I had heard. 8 Happy are your men! Happy are these servants of yours, the ones who stand continually before your face, the ones who hear your wisdom! [1] 9 May Yahweh your God be blessed, who has delighted in you, to give you on the throne of Israel. Because Yahweh loves Israel for eternity, he set you as king to do justice and righteousness!” 10 And she gave to the king 120 kikkars of gold and very many spices and precious stone. There has not come again like that spice with respect to abundance that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. 11 And also the fleet of Hiram, which lifted gold from Ophir, brought from Ophir very many trees of almug and precious stone. 12 And the king made the trees of almug a support for the house of Yahweh and for the house of the king, and lyres and harps for the ones who sing. Such trees of almug had not come in and had not been seen until this day. 13 And the king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she requested apart from what he gave to her according to the hand of the king Solomon. And she turned and went to her land, she and her servants. 14 And the weight of the gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 kikkars of gold, 15 apart from the men of the ones who explore and from the merchandise of the ones who go about, and all the kings of the Arab and the governors of the land. 16 And the king Solomon made 200 large beaten gold shields, 600 gold went up on one large shield, 17 and 300 beaten gold shields, three gold minas went up on one shield. And the king gave them to the house of the forest of the Lebanon. 18 And the king made a great ivory throne and he overlaid it with refined gold. 19 There were six steps to the throne and a round head for the throne from behind it. And hands were from this side and from that side toward the place of the seat. And two lions were standing beside the hands. 20 And 12 lions were standing there on the six steps, from this side and from that side. It was not made so for any kingdoms. 21 And all the vessels of the drink of the king Solomon were gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of the Lebanon were beaten gold. There was no silver, it was not thought to be anything in the days of Solomon. 22 For the fleet of Tarshish was for the king on the sea with the fleet of Hiram. One of three years the fleet of Tarshish would come lifting gold and silver, ivory pieces and apes and peacocks. 23 And the king Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth with respect to riches and with respect to wisdom. 24 And all the earth was seeking the face of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had given in his heart. 25 And they were bringing, a man his gift, vessels of silver and vessels of gold and garments and weapons and spices, horses and mules, a matter of year by year. 26 And Solomon gathered chariotry and horsemen. And there were for him 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen. And he lead them into the cities of the chariotry and with the king in Jerusalem. 27 And the king gave the silver in Jerusalem like the stones, and the cedars he gave like the sycamores that are in the lowlands with respect to abundance. 28 And the going out of the horses that were for Solomon was from Egypt and from Kue; the ones who go about for the king would take from Kue for a price. 29 And a chariot went up and went out from Egypt for 600 silver, and a horse for 150, and thus by their hand they brought out to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram. 10:8 [1] Some ancient versions read Happy are your wives . Many think that women was misread as men , because the Hebrew words are very similar. Chapter 11 1 Now the king Solomon loved many foreign women, with the daughter of Pharaoh, Moabite women, Ammonite women, Edomite women, Sidonian women, Hittite women, 2 from the nations that Yahweh had said to the sons of Israel, “You must not enter into them, and they must not enter into you. They will surely turn your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to them for love. 3 And there were wives for him, 700 princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned his heart. 4 And it happened that by the time of the old age of Solomon his wives turned his heart after other gods. And his heart was not completely with Yahweh his God like the heart of David his father. 5 And Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the god of the Sidonians, and after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 And Solomon did the evil thing in the eyes of Yahweh and he did not remain fully after Yahweh like David his father. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is on the face of Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the sons of Ammon. 8 And thus he did for all his foreign wives, who were burning incense and sacrificing to their gods. 9 And Yahweh became angry with Solomon, for his heart had turned from with Yahweh, the God of Israel, the one who had appeared to him two times. 10 And had commanded to him concerning this thing, to not go after other gods. But he did not keep what Yahweh had commanded. 11 And Yahweh said to Solomon, “Because this is against you, that you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded concerning you. Surely I will tear away the kingdom from with you and I will give it to your servant. 12 However, in your days I will not do it for the sake of David, your father. From the hand of your son I will surely tear it away. 13 Only I will not tear away all the kingdom. I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of David my servant, and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.” 14 And Yahweh raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite. He was from the seed of the king in Edom. 15 And it had happened when David was with Edom, when Joab the commander of the army went up to bury the pierced ones, that he had struck down every male in Edom. 16 For Joab and all Israel dwelled there six months until he had cut off every male in Edom. 17 But Adad fled, he and Edomite men from the servants of his father with him, to enter Egypt. And Hadad was a little boy. 18 And they rose up from Midian and entered Paran. And they took men with them from Paran and entered Egypt, to Pharaoh the king of Egypt. And he gave to him a house and he ordered bread for him and he gave land to him. 19 And Hadad found much favor in the eyes of Pharaoh. And he gave to him a wife, the sister of his wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. 20 And the sister of Tahpenes bore for him Genubath, his son, and Tahpenes weaned him in the midst of the house of Pharaoh. And Genubath was in the house of Pharaoh in the midst of the sons of Pharaoh. 21 And Hadad heard in Egypt that David had laid down with his fathers and that Joab, the commander of the army, had died. And Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Send me away, and I will go to my land.” 22 And Pharaoh said to him, “But what are you lacking with me that, behold, you are seeking to go to your land?” And he said, “Nothing, but surely you must send me away.” 23 And God raised up an adversary against him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from with Hadadezer, the king of Zobah, his master. 24 And he gathered men for himself and he became a commander of a raiding band when David slew them. And they went to Damascus and they dwelled in it and they reigned in Damascus. 25 And he was an adversary against Israel all the days of Solomon, and the evil that Hadad did. And he felt disgust against Israel and he reigned over Aram. 26 And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite from the Zeredah, and the name of his mother was Zeruah, a widow woman, was a servant of Solomon. And he raised a hand against the king. 27 Now this is the matter that he raised a hand against the king: Solomon had built the Millo, he had closed up the breach of the city of David his father. 28 And the man Jeroboam was mighty of strength. And Solomon saw the young man, that he was one who does work, and he appointed him for all the forced labor of the house of Joseph. 29 And it happened at that time that Jeroboam went out from Jerusalem, and the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the road. Now he was covering himself with a new cloak and the two of them were by themselves in the field. 30 And Ahijah seized the new cloak that was over him and he tore it into 12 pieces. 31 And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces. For thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am about to tear away the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and I will give the ten tribes to you. 32 And one tribe will be for him, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem (the city, it which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel), 33 because they have forsaken me and they have bowed down to Ashtoreth, the god of the Sidonians, to Chemosh, the god of Moab, and to Milcom, the god of the sons of Ammon. And they do not walk in my ways, to do the upright thing in my eyes, or my statutes or my judgments, like David his father. 34 But I will not take all of the kingdom from his hand. Rather, I will put him as a leader all the days of his life, for the sake of David my servant, he whom I have chosen, who kept my commandments and my statutes. 35 But I will take the kingship from the hand of his son and I will give it to you, ten of the tribes. 36 But to his son I will give one tribe so that there may be a lamp for David my servant all the days before my face in Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen for myself, to set my name there. 37 And I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires. And you shall be king over Israel. 38 And it shall be that if you hear all that I command you and you walk in my ways and you do the upright thing in my eyes, to keep my statutes and my commandments, just as David my servant did, then I will be with you and I will build for you an established house, just as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. 39 And I will afflict the seed of David on account of this, only not all the days.’” 40 And Solomon sought to put Jeroboam to death. And Jeroboam rose up and he fled to Egypt, to Shishak, the king of Egypt. And he was in Egypt until the death of Solomon. 41 And the remainder of the words of Solomon and all that he did and his wisdom are they not written on the book of the words of Solomon? 42 And the days that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel were 40 years. 43 And Solomon lay down with his fathers and he was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place. Chapter 12 1 And Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to cause him to reign. 2 And it happened as soon as Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard (now he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from the face of the king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelled in Egypt), [1] 3 that they sent and they called for him. And Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and they spoke to Rehoboam, saying, 4 “Your father caused our yoke to be heavy. But you now, cause it to be lighter than the hard work of your father and than his heavy yoke that he gave on us, and we will serve you.” 5 And he said to them, “Go until three days, and return to me.” And the people went. 6 And the king Rehoboam consulted with the elders, who had been standing ones with the face of Solomon his father while he was alive, saying, “How are you advising to return this people a word?” 7 And they spoke to him, saying, “If today you will be a servant to this people and you will serve them, and you will answer them and will speak good words to them, then they will be servants for you all the days.” 8 But he forsook the advice of the elders that they had advised him. And he consulted with the young men who had grown up with him, who were the ones standing before his face. 9 And he said to them, “What word are you advising that we should return this people who spoke to me saying, ‘Cause it to be lighter than the yoke that your father gave on us’?” 10 And the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you shall say to this people who spoke to you saying, ‘Your father caused our yoke to be heavy but you must cause it to be lighter than what is on us.’ Thus you shall speak to them, ‘My little one is thicker than the loins of my father. 11 And now, my father loaded on you a heavy yoke, but as for me, I will add onto your yoke. My father punished you with the whips, but as for me, I will punish you with the scorpions.’” 12 And Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had spoken, saying, “Return to me on the third day.” 13 And the king answered the people harshly. And he forsook the advice of the elders who had advised him. 14 And he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “My father caused your yoke to be heavy, but as for me, I will add onto your yoke. My father punished you with the whips, but as for me, I will punish you with the scorpions.” 15 And the king did not listen to the people, for the turn was from with Yahweh,so that he raised up his word, which Yahweh had spoken by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 16 And all Israel saw that the king had not listened to them, and the people returned the king a word, saying, “What portion is for us with David? And there is not an inheritance with the son of Jesse! To your tents, Israel! Now see your house, David.” And Israel went to its tents. 17 But as for the sons of Israel, the ones who dwelled in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. 18 And the king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him with stone and he died. And the king Rehoboam strengthened himself to go up in the chariot to flee to Jerusalem. 19 And Israel has rebelled against the house of David to this day. 20 And it happened as soon as all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, that they sent and called him to the congregation and they caused him to reign over all Israel. One was not after the house of David, except the tribe of Judah by itself. 21 And Rehoboam entered Jerusalem and he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 were chosen who make war, to fight against the house of Israel to return the kingship to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. 22 And the word of God was to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 23 “Say to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, the king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and the remainder of the people, saying, 24 ‘Thus says Yahweh: You shall not go up and you shall not fight against your brothers, the sons of Israel. Return, a man to his house, for from with me this thing has been.’” And they heard the word of Yahweh and they turned back to go according to the word of Yahweh. 25 And Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and he dwelled in it. And he went out from there and he built Penuel. 26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will return to the house of David. 27 If this people goes up to make sacrifices in the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem, and the heart of this people will return to their master, to Rehoboam, the king of Judah. And they will slay me and will return to Rehoboam, the king of Judah.” 28 And the king consulted and made two calves of gold. And he said to them, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Behold your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!” 29 And he set the one in Bethel and the one he gave in Dan. 30 And this thing became a sin, and the people went before the face of the one as far as Dan. 31 And he made the house of high places. And he made priests from the ends of the people, who were not from the sons of Levi. 32 And Jeroboam made a feast in the eighth month, on the 15th day of the month, like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered up on the altar. Thus he did at Bethel to sacrifice to the calves that he had made. And he caused to stand at Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made. 33 And he offered up on the altar that he had made at Bethel, on the 15th day in the eighth month, in the month that he had devised by him alone. And he made a feast for the sons of Israel and he offered up on the altar to burn incense. 12:2 [1] Some versions have, then Jeroboam returned from Egypt . Chapter 13 1 And behold, a man of God came from Judah with the word of Yahweh to Bethel. And Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense. 2 And he cried out against the altar with the word of Yahweh and he said: “Altar! Altar! Thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah shall be his name. And he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places, the ones who are burning incense on you. And the bones of a human shall be burned on you.’” 3 And he gave a sign on that day, saying, “This is the sign that Yahweh has spoken: ‘Behold, the altar shall be torn into pieces, and the ash that is on it shall be poured out.’” 4 And it happened as soon as the king heard the word of the man of God that he had cried out against the altar at Bethel, that Jeroboam sent forth his hand from over the altar, saying, “Seize him!” And his hand that he had sent forth against him dried up and he was not able to return it to himself. 5 And the altar was torn into pieces and the ash was poured out from the altar, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of Yahweh. 6 And the king answered and said to the man of God, “Appease, please, the face of Yahweh your God and pray for me, so my hand may return to me.” And the man of God appeased the face of Yahweh, and the hand of the king returned to him, and it became like at the first. 7 And the king spoke to the man of God, “Come with me to the house and sustain yourself, and I will give to you a gift.” 8 And the man of God said to the king, “If you would give to me half of your house, I would not go with you, and I would not eat bread and I would not drink water in this place. 9 For thus he has commanded me by the word of Yahweh, saying, ‘You shall not eat bread and you shall not drink water and you shall not return by the road that you went.’” 10 And he went by another road and he did not return by the road by which he had come to Bethel. 11 Now one old prophet was dwelling in Bethel, and his son came and he recounted to him all the news that the man of God had done that day in Bethel, the words that he had spoken to the king, and they recounted them to their father. 12 And their father spoke to them, “Where is this, the road he went?” And his sons had seen the road that the man of God had gone when he came from Judah. 13 And he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And they saddled the donkey for him and he mounted on it. 14 And he went after the man of God and he found him sitting under the oak tree. And he said to him, “Are you the man of God, who came from Judah?” And he said, “I am.” 15 And he said to him, “Go with me to the house and eat bread.” 16 And he said, “I am not able to return with you or to come with you. And I will not eat bread and will not drink water with you in this place. 17 For a word was to me by the word of Yahweh, ‘You shall not eat bread and you shall not drink water there. You shall not return to go by the road in which you went.’” 18 And he said to him, “I also am a prophet like you, and a messenger spoke to me with the word of Yahweh, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, so he may eat bread and he may drink water.’” (He lied to him.) 19 And he returned with him and he ate bread in his house and he drank water. 20 And it happened that they were sitting at the table. And the word of Yahweh was to the prophet who had brought him back. 21 And he cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, saying, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Because you have been rebellious against the mouth of Yahweh and you have not kept the command that Yahweh your God had commanded you, 22 and you have returned and you have eaten bread and you have drunk water in the place where he spoke to you, “You shall not eat bread and you shall not drink water,” your corpse shall not enter into the grave of your fathers.’” 23 And it happened after his eating bread and after his drinking, that he saddled the donkey for him, for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24 And he went and a lion found him in the road and it put him to death. And his corpse was thrown in the road and the donkey was standing beside it and the lion was standing beside the corpse. 25 And behold, men were passing by and they saw the corpse thrown in the road, and the lion standing beside the corpse. And they came and spoke in the city in which the old prophet was dwelling. 26 And the prophet who had brought him back from the road heard and he said, “He is the man of God who was rebellious against the mouth of Yahweh. And Yahweh gave him to the lion, and it tore him into pieces and put him to death according to the word of Yahweh that he had spoken to him.” 27 And he spoke to his sons, saying, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And they saddled it. 28 And he went and found the corpse thrown in the road and the donkey and the lion standing beside the corpse. The lion had not eaten the corpse and had not torn the donkey into pieces. 29 And the prophet lifted up the corpse of the man of God and he rested it on the donkey and he brought it back. And he entered into the city of the old prophet to wail and to bury him. 30 And he rested his corpse in his grave. And they wailed over him, “Alas, my brother!” 31 And it happened after his burying him that he said to his sons, saying, “When I die, then you shall bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried. Beside his bones rest my bones. 32 For the word that he cried out by the word of Yahweh against the altar that is in Bethel and against all the houses of the high places that are in the cities of Samaria will certainly happen.” 33 After this matter Jeroboam did not return from his evil way, but he returned and made from the ends of the people priests of the high places. The desiring one, he would fill his hand, and he would become one of the priests of the high places. 34 And by this thing it became the sin of the house of Jeroboam, both to efface and to annihilate from on the face of the ground. Chapter 14 1 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam became sick. 2 And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Rise now and change yourself, so they will not know that you are the wife of Jeroboam. And you will go to Shiloh. Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, he himself spoke concerning me as king over this people. 3 And you will take in your hand ten bread loaves and cakes and a jar of honey and go to him. He himself will tell you what will happen to the boy.” 4 And the wife of Jeroboam did so. And she rose and went to Shiloh and she entered the house of Ahijah. (Now Ahijah was not able to see because his eyes stood because of his old age.) 5 And Yahweh said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to seek a word from with you regarding her son, for he is sick. Like this and like that you shall speak to her. And it will happen as soon as she comes that she will be changing herself.” 6 And it happened as soon as Ahijah heard the sound of her feet entering in the opening that he said, “Enter, wife of Jeroboam. Why is this, you are changing yourself? Now I have been sent to you with a harsh thing. 7 Go, say to Jeroboam, thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Because I raised you up from the midst of the people and I gave you as a leader over my people Israel, 8 and I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and I gave it to you, but you are not like my servant David, who kept my commandments and who walked after me with all his heart, to do only the upright thing in my eyes. 9 And you have done evil by doing more than all who were before your face. And you went and made for yourself other gods and cast images to provoke me to anger and you have thrown me behind your back. 10 Therefore, behold, I am about to bring evil to the house of Jeroboam, and I will cut off with respect to Jeroboam one who urinates against a wall, one who is restrained and one who is let free in Israel. And I will burn after the house of Jeroboam just as the dung burns until it is finished. 11 The one who dies with respect to Jeroboam in the city the dogs will eat, and the one who dies in the country the birds of the heavens will eat, for Yahweh has spoken.’ 12 And you, rise, go to your house. When your feet enter the city, then the child will die. 13 And all Israel will wail for him and they will bury him. For this one by himself with respect to Jeroboam will enter into a grave, because in him a good thing was found for Yahweh, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. 14 And Yahweh will raise up for himself a king over Israel who will cut off the house of Jeroboam this day, and what it will be even now! 15 And Yahweh will strike Israel just as the reed sways in the waters, and he will uproot Israel from on this good ground that he gave to their fathers. And he will scatter them from the other side of the river, because they made their Asherahs, which provoked Yahweh to anger. 16 And he will give Israel over on account of the sins of Jeroboam that he sinned and that he caused Israel to sin.” 17 And the wife of Jeroboam rose and went and came to Tirzah. She was entering at the threshold of the house and the boy died. 18 And they buried him and all Israel wailed for him, according to the word of Yahweh that he spoke by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet. 19 And the remainder of the matters of Jeroboam, that he fought and that he reigned, behold, they are written on the book of the matters of the days of the kings of Israel. 20 And the days that Jeroboam reigned were 22 years. And he layed down with his fathers and Nadab his son reigned in his place. 21 Now Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was a son of 41 years when he reigned. And he reigned 17 years in Jerusalem, the city there where Yahweh chose to put his name from all the tribes of Israel. And the name of his mother was Naamah the Ammonite woman. 22 And Judah did the evil thing in the eyes of Yahweh. And they made him jealous more than all that their fathers did with their sins that they sinned. 23 And they, even they built for themselves high places and pillars and asherahs on every high hill and under every flourishing tree. 24 And also a cultic prostitute was in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations that Yahweh had dispossessed from before the face of the sons of Israel. 25 And it happened that in the fifth year of the king Rehoboam, Shishak the king of Egypt went up against Jerusalem. 26 And he took away the treasures of the house of Yahweh and the treasures of the house of the king and the entirety he took. And he took all the shields of gold that Solomon had made. 27 And the king Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place. And he assigned them to the hand of the commanders of the ones who run, the ones who keep the opening of the house of the king. 28 And it happened that as often as the king entered the house of Yahweh, the ones who run lifted them up and they brought them back to the chamber of the ones who run. 29 And the remainder of the matters of Rehoboam and all that he did, are they not written on the book of the matters of the days of the kings of Judah? 30 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days. 31 And Rehoboam layed down with his fathers and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And the name of his mother was Naamah the Ammonite woman. And Abijam his son reigned in his place. Chapter 15 1 Now in year 18 of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam reigned over Judah. 2 Three years he reigned in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. 3 And he walked in all the sins of his father that he had done before his face. And his heart was not completely with Yahweh his God like the heart of David his father. 4 But for the sake of David, Yahweh his God gave to him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up his son after him, and by causing Jerusalem to stand, 5 because David had done the upright thing in the eyes of Yahweh and he had not turned from all that he had commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. 6 And war was between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. 7 And the remainder of the matters of Abijam and all that he did, are they not written on the book of the matters of the days of the kings of Judah? And war was between Abijah and Jeroboam. 8 Then Abijam laid down with his fathers and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. 9 And in year 20 of Jeroboam the king of Israel, Asa reigned as the king of Judah. 10 And he reigned 41 years in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. 11 And Asa did the upright thing in the eyes of Yahweh like David his father. 12 And he caused the cultic prostitutes to pass over from the land. And he removed all the idols that his fathers had made. 13 And also Maacah his mother he removed her from being queen-mother because she had made a horrid thing for the Asherah. And Asa cut down her horrid thing and he burned it in the wadi of Kidron. 14 But they did not remove the high places. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was completely with Yahweh all his days. 15 And he brought the holy things of his father and his holy things for the house of Yahweh, silver and gold and vessels. 16 And war was between Asa and Baasha the king of Israel, all their days. 17 And Baasha the king of Israel went up against Judah and he built up the Ramah, so as not to give going out or coming in to Asa the king of Judah. 18 And Asa took all the silver and the gold that was remaining in the storerooms of the house of Yahweh and the storerooms of the house of the king, and he gave them into the hand of his servants. And the king Asa sent them to Ben Hadad, the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, the king of Aram, the one who dwelled in Damascus, saying, 19 “Let there be a covenant between me and you, between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent to you a present of silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha the king of Israel and he may go up from against me.” 20 And Ben Hadad listened to the king Asa and he sent the commanders of the strong ones who were for him against the cities of Israel. And he struck Ijon and Dan and Abel Beth Maacah and all Kinnereth, with all the land of Naphtali. 21 And it happened as soon as Baasha heard, that he ceased from building up the Ramah and he dwelled in Tirzah. 22 And the king Asa caused all Judah to hear, There was no one free from obligation. And they lifted up the stones of the Ramah and its trees that Baasha had built. And with them the king Asa built Geba of Benjamin and the Mizpah. 23 And the remainder of all the matters of Asa and all his might and all that he did and the cities that he built, are they not written on the book of the matters of the days of the kings of Judah? Only at the time of his old age did he become sick in his feet. 24 And Asa laid down with his fathers and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father. And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place. 25 And Nadab the son of Jeroboam reigned over Israel in year two of Asa the king of Judah. And he reigned over Israel two years. 26 And he did the evil thing in the eyes of Yahweh. And he walked in the way of his father and in his sin that he caused Israel to sin. 27 And Baasha the son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar conspired against him, and Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon, which is for the Philistines. And Nadab and all Israel were laying siege against Gibbethon. 28 And Baasha put him to death in year three of Asa the king of Judah. And he reigned in his place. 29 And it happened that as soon as he reigned, he struck down all the house of Jeroboam. He did not leave any breathing one of Jeroboam, until he had annihilated him according to the word of Yahweh, which he had spoken by the hand of his servant Ahijah the Shilonite, 30 on account of the sins of Jeroboam that he sinned and that he caused Israel to sin, by his anger that he provoked Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger. 31 And the remainder of the matters of Nadab and all that he did, are they not written on the book of the matters of the days of the kings of Israel? 32 And war was between Asa and Baasha the king of Israel all their days. 33 In year three of Asa the king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah reigned over all Israel in Tirzah 24 years. 34 And he did the evil thing in the eyes of Yahweh. And he walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin that he caused Israel to sin. Chapter 16 1 And the word of Yahweh was to Jehu the son of Hanani, against Baasha, saying, 2 “Because I raised you up from the dust and I gave you as leader over my people Israel, and you walked in the way of Jeroboam and caused my people Israel to sin, by provoking me to anger by their sins, 3 behold, I am about to burn after Baasha and after his house. And I shall make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 4 The one who dies of Baasha in the city the dogs shall eat. And the one who dies of him in the field the birds of the heavens shall eat.” 5 And the remainder of the matters of Baasha and what he did and his might, are they not written on the book of the matters of the days of the kings of Israel? 6 And Baasha laid down with his fathers and he was buried in Tirzah. And Elah his son reigned in his place. 7 And also by the hand of Jehu the son of Hanani the prophet, the word of Yahweh was to Baasha and to his house, and against all the evil that he had done in the eyes of Yahweh, by provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, by being like the house of Jeroboam, and because he had struck him down. 8 In the year of year 26 of Asa the king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha reigned over Israel in Tirzah, two years. 9 And his servant Zimri, the commander of half of the chariotry, conspired against him. And he was in Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the house in Tirzah. 10 And Zimri entered and he struck him down and he put him to death in year 27 of Asa the king of Judah. And he reigned in his place. 11 And it happened that when he reigned, as soon as he sat on his throne, he struck down all the house of Baasha. He did not leave of him one who urinates on a wall or his kinsmen or his friend. 12 And Zimri annihilated all the house of Baasha according to the word of Yahweh that he spoke against Baasha by the hand of Jehu the prophet, 13 concerning all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son which they had sinned, and because they caused Israel to sin, by provoking Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger with their vapors. 14 And the remainder of the matters of Elah and all that he did, are they not written on the book of the matters of the days of the kings of Israel? 15 In the year of year 27 of Asa the king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah. And the people were camping against Gibbethon, which was for the Philistines. 16 And the people, the ones who camped, heard, saying, “Zimri has conspired and also has struck down the king!” And all Israel caused Omri, the commander of the army, to reign over Israel on that day in the camp. 17 And Omri went up from Gibbethon and all Israel with him, and they laid seige against Tirzah. 18 And it happened as soon as Zimri saw that the city had been seized, that he entered into the citadel of the house of the king. And he burned the house of the king over himself with fire and he died, 19 on account of his sin that he had sinned by doing the evil thing in the eyes of Yahweh, by walking in the way of Jeroboam, and by his sin that he did by causing Israel to sin. 20 And the remainder of the matters of Zimri and his conspiracy that he conspired, are they not written on the book of the matters of the days of the kings of Israel? 21 Then the people of Israel was divided by the half. Half of the people were behind Tibni the son of Ginath, to cause him to reign, but the other half were behind Omri. 22 And the people who were behind Omri became strong against the people who were behind Tibni the son of Ginath. And Tibni died and Omri reigned. 23 In the year of year 31 of Asa the king of Judah, Omri reigned over Israel 12 years. In Tirzah he reigned six years. 24 And he bought the hill Samaria from with Shemer for two kikkars silver. And he built the hill and he called the name of the city that he built Samaria, in accordance with the name of Shemer, the master of the hill. 25 And Omri did the evil thing in the eyes of Yahweh and he did more evil than all who were before him. 26 And he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sins that he caused Israel to sin by provoking Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger with their vapors. 27 And the remainder of the matters of Omri, what he did and his might that he did, are they not written on the book of the matters of the days of the kings of Israel? 28 And Omri laid down with his fathers and he was buried in Samaria. And Ahab his son reigned in his place. 29 And Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in the year of year 38 of Asa the king of Judah. And Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria 22 years. 30 And Ahab the son of Omri did the evil thing in the eyes of Yahweh, more than all who were before his face. 31 And it happened (was his walking in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat trivial?) that he took a wife, Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal the king of the Sidonians. And he went and served the Baal and he bowed down to him. 32 And he raised up an altar for the Baal at the house of the Baal that he had built in Samaria. 33 And Ahab made the Asherah and Ahab continued to act, to provoke Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger more than all the kings of Israel who were before his face. 34 In his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho. For Abiram his firstborn he founded it, and for Segub his younger one he set up its doors, according to the word of Yahweh that he spoke by the hand of Joshua the son of Nun. Chapter 17 1 And Elijah the Tishbite from the Tishbites of Gilead said to Ahab, “As Yahweh, the God of Israel is alive, before whose face I stand, there will not be dew or rain these years unless by the mouth of my word.” 2 And the word of Yahweh was to him, saying, 3 “Go from this place and turn for yourself eastward. And you will be hidden at the wadi of Kerith, which is on the face of the Jordan. 4 And it will happen that you shall drink from the wadi. And I have commanded the ravens to sustain you there.” 5 And he went and did according to the word of Yahweh. And he went and dwelled at the wadi of Kerith, which is on the face of the Jordan. 6 And the ravens were bringing bread and meat to him in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening. And he drank from the wadi. 7 And it happened from the end of some days that the wadi dried up because rain was not in the land. 8 And the word of Yahweh was to him, saying, 9 “Rise, go to Zarephath, which is for Sidon, and you shall dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a woman, a widow, there to sustain you.” 10 And he rose and went to Zarephath. And he entered into the opening of the city. And behold, there was a woman, a widow, gathering wood pieces. And he called to her and he said, “Please take to me a little water in the vessel and I will drink.” 11 As she went to take, and he called to her, and said, “Please take to me a bit of bread in your hand.” 12 And she said, “As Yahweh your God is alive, there is not for me a bread cake, but only a fullness of a palm of flour in the jar and a little bit of oil in the jug. And behold, I am gathering two wood pieces and I will enter and I make it for me and for my son. And we will eat it and will die.” 13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear. Come, do according to your word, only make for me from there a little bread cake at the first and bring it out to me. And make for you and for your son at the later time. 14 For thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ’The jar of flour will not come to an end, and the jug of oil will not lack, until the day Yahweh gives rain on the face of the ground.’” 15 And she went and did according to the word of Elijah. And she ate, he and she and her house for days. 16 The jar of flour did not come to an end, and the jug of oil did not lack, according to the word of Yahweh, which he had spoken by the hand of Elijah. 17 And it happened that after these things the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick, and his sickness became very strong until breath did not remain in him. 18 And she said to Elijah, “What is to me and is to you, man of God, that you came to me to cause my iniquity to be remembered and to put my son to death?” 19 And he said to her, “Give to me your son.” And he took him from her lap and he brought him up to the upper room there where he was dwelling, and he laid him down on his bed. 20 And he cried out to Yahweh and said, “Yahweh, my God, will you also cause evil on the widow with whom I am sojourning, by putting her son to death?” 21 And he stretched himself out over the child three times. And he cried out to Yahweh and he said, “Yahweh, my God, please let the life of this child return on his inner part.” 22 And Yahweh heard the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child returned on his inner part, and he lived. 23 And Elijah took the child and he brought him down from the upper room to the house, and he gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” 24 And the woman said to Elijah, “Now this I know, that you are a man of God. And the word of Yahweh in your mouth is truth.” Chapter 18 1 And it was many days and the word of Yahweh was to Elijah in the third year, saying, “Go, appear to Ahab and I will give rain on the face of the ground.” 2 And Elijah went to appear to Ahab. (Now the famine was strong in Samaria.) 3 And Ahab called to Obadiah, who was over the house. (Now Obadiah was one who feared Yahweh exceedingly. 4 And it had happened when Jezebel cut off the prophets of Yahweh, that Obadiah had taken 100 prophets and hid them, 50 men in the cave, and he sustained them with bread and water.) 5 And Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go in the land to all the springs of water and to all the wadis. Perhaps we will find grass and we will keep alive a horse or a mule, and not cut off some of the livestock.” 6 And they divided the land for themselves to pass through it. Ahab went in the one way by himself and Obadiah went in the one way by himself. 7 And it happened that Obadiah was in the road, and behold, Elijah was to meet him. And he recognized him and fell on his face and said, “Is this you, my master Elijah?” 8 And he said to him, “It is I. Go, say to your master, ‘Here is Elijah.’” 9 And he said, “How have I sinned, that you are giving your servant over into the hand of Ahab, to put me to death? 10 As Yahweh your God is alive, if there is a nation or a kingdom there where my master has not sent to seek you, and they said ‘he is not here,’ then he caused the kingdom or the nation to swear that it did not find you. 11 And now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your master, “Here is Elijah.”’ 12 And it will happen that I myself will go from with you, and the Spirit of Yahweh will lift you to where I will not know. And I will come to tell Ahab and he will not find you and he will slay me. And your servant has been fearing Yahweh from my youth. 13 Has it not been told to my master, what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of Yahweh, and I hid from the prophets of Yahweh a hundred men, 50 by 50 men in the cave, and I sustained them with bread and water? 14 And now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your master, “Here is Elijah,”’ and he will slay me.” 15 And Elijah said, “As Yahweh of hosts is alive, before whose face I stand, surely today I will appear to him.” 16 And Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and he told him. And Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 And it happened as soon as Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, “Are you this one who troubles Israel?” 18 And he said, “I have not troubled Israel, but rather you and the house of your father, by your forsaking the commandments of Yahweh and going after the Baals. 19 And now send, gather to me all Israel to the mountain of the Carmel, and the 450 prophets of the Baal and the 400 prophets of the Asherah, those who eat of the table of Jezebel.” 20 And Ahab sent among all the sons of Israel and he gathered the prophets to the mountain of the Carmel. 21 And Elijah came near to all the people and he said, “Until when will you be limping over the two opinions? If Yahweh is God, go after him, but if the Baal, go after him.” And the people did not answer him a word. 22 And Elijah said to the people, “I myself remain a prophet of Yahweh by myself, but the prophets of the Baal are 450 men. 23 And let them give to us two bulls, and let them choose for themselves the one bull, and let them cut it into pieces. And let them set it on the wood pieces, but a fire they will not set. And as for me I will make the one bull that I will give on the wood pieces, but a fire I will not set. 24 And you will call on the name of your god, but as for me, I will call on the name of Yahweh. And it will happen that the God who answers with fire, he is God.” And all the people answered and they said, “The thing is good.” 25 And Elijah said to the prophets of the Baal, “Choose for yourselves the one bull and make it first, for you are the most abundant. And call on the name of your god, but a fire you will not set.” 26 And they took the bull that he gave to them and they made, and they called on the name of the Baal from the morning and until the midday, saying, “The Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice and there was no answering. And they limped beside the altar that he had made. 27 And it happened at the midday that Elijah mocked them and he said, “Cry out with a great voice, for he is a god. Surely he is musing, or surely moving away for himself, or surely a way is for him. Pehaps he is asleep and he will wake up.” 28 And they cried out with a great voice, and they cut themselves, according to their custom, with the swords and with the spears, until a pouring out of blood was on them. 29 And it happened as soon as the midday passed, that they prophesied until the offering up of the grain offering, but there was no voice and there was no answering and there was no attentiveness. 30 And Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the torn down altar of Yahweh. 31 And Elijah took 12 stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom was the word of Yahweh, saying, “Israel shall be your name.” 32 And he built with the stones an altar in the name of Yahweh. And he made a trench like the house of two seahs of seed surrounding the altar. 33 And he arranged the wood pieces. And he cut the bull into pieces and he set it on the wood pieces. 34 And he said, “Fill four jars with water, and pour out on the burnt up offering and on the wood pieces.” And he said “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. 35 And the water went around the altar and even the trench he filled with water. 36 And it happened at the offering up of the grain offering, that Elijah the prophet came near and he said, “Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel, and I am your servant, and by your word I have done all these things. 37 Answer me, Yahweh! Answer me, that this people may know that you, Yahweh, are God, and you have turned around their heart backward.” 38 And the fire of Yahweh fell and ate the burnt up offering and the wood pieces and the stones and the dust. And it licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 And all the people saw and they fell on their faces. And they said, “Yahweh, he is God! Yahweh, he is God!” 40 And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of the Baal. Do not let a man from them slip away.” And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the wadi Kishon and he slaughtered them there. 41 And Elijah said to Ahab, “Get up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of the roar of the rain.” 42 And Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the head of the Carmel, and he bent down toward the earth and he put his face between his knees. 43 And he said to his young man, “Go up, now, look toward the way of the sea.” And he went up and he looked and he said, “There is not anything.” And he said, “Return seven times.” 44 And it happened at the seventh time that he said, “Behold, a small cloud like the palm of a man is going up from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Harness and go down so the rain will not stop you.’” 45 And it happened until here and until there, that the heavens became dark with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel. 46 And the hand of Yahweh was to Elijah, and he girded up his loins and he ran before the face of Ahab as far as your coming into Jezreel. Chapter 19 1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and everthing, that he had slain all the prophets with the sword. 2 And Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do and so may they add, unless about this time tomorrow I will set your life as the life of one from them.” 3 And he saw and rose and went for his life and he came to Beersheba, which is for Judah. And he caused his young man to rest there. 4 But as for him, he went a road of a day into the wilderness, and he came and sat under one broom shrub. And he requested with respect to his life to die, and he said, “Too much, now, Yahweh; take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.” 5 And he lay down and slept under one broom shrub. And behold this, an angel was touching him and he said to him, “Get up! Eat!” 6 And he looked, and behold, at the place of his head was a bread cake of glowing coals and a jug of water. And he ate and drank and returned and lay down. 7 And the angel of Yahweh returned a second time and he touched him and he said, “Get up! Eat! For the road will be too much for you.” 8 And he rose and ate and drank. And he went in the strength of that food 40 days and 40 nights as far as the mountain of God, Horeb. 9 And he entered there into the cave, and he spent the night there. And behold, the word of Yahweh was to him and he said to him, “What is for you here, Elijah?” 10 And he said, “I have been very zealous for Yahweh, the God of hosts, but the sons of Israel have forsaken your covenant, your altars they have torn down, and your prophets they have slain with the sword. And I am left, I by myself, and they seek my life, to take it.” 11 And he said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the face of Yahweh, and behold, Yahweh is about to pass over!” And a great and strong wind was splitting the mountains and shattering rocks before the face of Yahweh. Yahweh was not in the wind. And after the wind was an earthquake. Yahweh was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake was a fire. Yahweh was not in the fire. And after the fire was the voice of a thin whisper. 13 And it happened as soon as Elijah heard, that he wrapped his face in his cloak. And he went out and stood at the opening of the cave. And behold, a voice was to him and it said, “What is for you here, Elijah?” 14 And he said, “I have been very zealous for Yahweh, the God of hosts, but the sons of Israel have forsaken your covenant, your altars they have torn down, and your prophets they have slain with the sword. And I am left, I by myself, and they seek my life, to take it.” 15 And Yahweh said to him, “Go, return to your way toward the wilderness of Damascus. And you shall come and anoint Hazael as king over Aram. 16 And you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And you shall anoint Elisha the son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah as prophet in your place. 17 And it will happen that the one who slips away from the sword of Hazael, Jehu will put to death. And the one who slips away from the sword of Jehu, Elisha will put to death. 18 And I have left in Israel 7000 men, all the knees that have not bowed to the Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” 19 And he went from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat. And he was plowing with 12 pairs before his face and he was with the 12th. And Elijah passed over to him and he threw his cloak on him. 20 And he left the cattle and he ran after Elijah and he said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and let me go after you.” And he said to him, “Go, return, for what have I done to you?” 21 And he returned from after him. And he took the pair of cattle and he sacrificed it and with the implements of the cattle he boiled them, the meat. And he gave to the people and they ate. And he rose and went after Elijah and he attended him. Chapter 20 1 Now Ben Hadad the king of Aram gathered all his strength and 32 kings with him, and horse and chariotry. And he went up and laid seige against Samaria and he fought against it. 2 And he sent messengers to Ahab the king of Israel at the city. 3 And he said to him, ‘Thus says Ben Hadad, “Your silver and your gold, it is for me. And your wives and your sons, the good ones, they are for me.”’ 4 And the king of Israel answered and said, “According to your word, my master the king, I and all that is for me is for you.” 5 And the messengers returned and said, “Thus says Ben Hadad, saying, ‘Surely I sent to you, saying, your silver and your gold and your wives and your sons you will give to me, 6 but rather around this time tomorrow I will send my servants to you, and they will search through your house and the houses of your servants. And it will happen that any precious thing of your eyes they will put in their hand and they will take.’” 7 And the king of Israel called to all the elders of the land. And he said, “Please know and see that this one is seeking evil, for he has sent to me for my wives and for my sons and for my silver and for my gold, and I have not withheld from him.” 8 And all the elders and all the people said to him, “Do not listen and do not consent.” 9 And he said to the messengers of Ben Hadad, “Say to my master the king, ‘All that you sent to your servant at the first I will do, but this thing I am not able to do.’” And the messengers went and returned him word. 10 And Ben Hadad sent to him and he said, “Thus may gods do to me and thus may they add, if the dust of Samaria will be sufficient for handfuls for all the people who will be at my feet!” 11 And the king of Israel answered and said, “Speak, ‘one about to gird should not boast like one who is ungirding.’” 12 And it happened at the hearing of this word as he was drinking, he and the kings in the huts, that he said to his servants, “Set up,” and they set up against the city. 13 And behold, one prophet came near to Ahab the king of Israel and he said, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Have you seen all of this great crowd? Behold, I am about to give it into your hand today, and you shall know that I am Yahweh.’” 14 And Ahab said, “By whom?” And he said, “Thus says Yahweh, by the young men of the commanders of the provinces.” And he said, “Who will tie up the battle?” And he said, “You.” 15 And he mustered the young men of the commanders of the provinces, and they were 232. And after them he mustered all the people, all the sons of Israel were 7,000. 16 And they went out at the midday. And Ben Hadad was drinking drunk in the huts, he and the kings, 32 kings who helped him. 17 And the young men of the commanders of the provinces went out at the first. And Ben Hadad sent and they told him, saying, “Men have gone out from Samaria.” 18 And he said, “If they have gone out for peace, seize them alive, and if they have gone out for war, alive seize them.” 19 And these went out from the city, the young men of the commanders of the provinces and the strength that was behind them. 20 But they struck down, a man his man. And Aram fled and Israel pursued them. And Ben Hadad the king of Aram slipped away on a horse with horsemen. 21 And the king of Israel went out and he struck down the horse and the chariot. And he struck Aram a great blow. 22 And the prophet came near to the king of Israel and he said to him, “Go, strengthen yourself, and know and see what you should do, because at the return of the year the king of Aram will be coming up against you.” 23 And the servants of the king of Aram said to him, “Their gods are gods of the mountains. Therefore they were stronger than us. But indeed let us fight them in the plain, surely we will be stronger than them. 24 And do this thing: remove the kings, a man from his place, and set governors in their places. 25 And you should assign for yourself strength like the strength that fell from you, and a horse like the horse and a chariot like the chariot, and we will fight them in the plain. Surely will we be stronger than them.” And he listened to their voice and did so. 26 And it happened at the return of the year, that Ben Hadad mustered Aram. And he went up to Aphek for the battle with Israel. 27 And the sons of Israel had been mustered and were sustained and they went to meet them. And the sons of Israel camped in front of them were like two little flocks of goats, and Aram filled the land. 28 And a man of God came near and said to the king of Israel, and he said, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Because Aram said “Yahweh is a god of mountains, but he is not a god of valleys,” I shall give all of this great crowd into your hand, and you shall know that I am Yahweh.’” 29 And they camped, these opposite these, seven days. And it happened on the seventh day that the battle approached, and the sons of Israel struck down Aram, 100,000 on foot in one day. 30 And the ones who were left fled to Aphek, into the city, and the wall fell on 127,000 men, the ones who were left. And Ben Hadad fled and entered into the city, a room in a room. 31 And his servants said to him, “Behold, please, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel, that they are kings of mercy. Please let us put sackcloth around our loins and ropes on our heads, and we will go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he may let your life live.” 32 And they girded on sackcloth around their waists and ropes on their heads and they came to the king of Israel. And they said, “Your servant Ben Hadad says, ‘Please let my life live.’” And he said, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.” 33 And the men sought an omen and they hurried and accepted whether it was from him. And they said, “Your brother is Ben Hadad.” And he said, “Come, bring him!” And Ben Hadad went out to him, and he brought him up on the chariot. 34 And he said to him, “I will return the cities that my father took from with your father, and the outside you may set up for yourself in Damascus, just as my father set up in Samaria. As for me, by the covenant, I will send you away.” And he cut a covenant for him and he sent him away. 35 And one man from the sons of the prophets said to his neighbor, “By the word of Yahweh, please strike me.” But the man refused to strike him. 36 And he said to him, “Because you did not listen to the voice of Yahweh, behold, you are about to go from with me, and the lion will strike you down.” And he went from beside him and the lion found him and struck him down. 37 And he found one man and said, “Please strike me.” And the man struck him, striking and wounding. 38 And the prophet went and he stood for the king on the road. And he made himself unrecognizable with the covering over his eyes. 39 And it happened that the king was passing by and he himself cried out to the king. And he said, “Your servant went out in the middle of the battle, and behold, a man turned aside and he brought a man to me. And he said, ‘Keep this man. If he is missing at all, then your life will be in place of his life or you must weigh a kikkar of silver.’” 40 And it happened that your servant was doing here and there, and he was not there.” And the king of Israel said to him, “Thus is your judgment, you yourself have decided.” 41 And he hurried and removed the covering from over his eyes. And the king of Israel recognized him, that he was from the prophets. 42 And he said to him, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Because you have sent away a man of complete destruction from hand. And it will be your life in place of his life, and your people in place of his people.’” 43 And the king of Israel went to his house sullen and vexed, and he came to Samaria. Chapter 21 1 Now it happened after these things that there was a vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which was in Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab the king of Samaria. 2 And Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give to me your vineyard, and it will be for me as a garden of herbage, because it is near beside my house. And let me give to you in its place a better vineyard than it. If it is good in your eyes, let me give to you silver of the price of this one.” 3 And Naboth said to Ahab, “Far be it for me from Yahweh, from my giving the inheritance of my fathers to you.” 4 And Ahab entered into his house sullen and vexed on account of the word that Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him. And he said, “I will not give to you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed,and he turned away his face and he did not eat bread. 5 And Jezebel his wife came to him and she spoke to him, “What is this? Your spirit is sullen and you are not eating bread?” 6 And he spoke to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and I said to him, ‘Give your vineyard to me for silver, or if you are desiring, let me give a vineyard to you in its place.’ And he said, ‘I will not give my vineyard to you.’” 7 And Jezebel his wife said to him, “You now, you do the kingship over Israel. Get up! Eat bread and let your heart be good! I myself will give to you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.” 8 And she wrote letters in the name of Ahab, and she sealed them with his seal. And she sent the letters to the elders and to the nobles who were in his city, the ones who dwelled near Naboth. 9 And she wrote in the letters, saying, “Call a fast and seat Naboth at the head the people. 10 And seat two men, sons of worthlessness, in front of him and let them witness against him, saying, ‘You cursed God and the king.’ And take him out and stone him and let him die.” 11 And the men of his city, the elders and the nobles, who were the ones dwelling in his city, did just as Jezebel had sent to them, just as was written in the letters that she had sent to them. 12 They called a fast and they seated Naboth at the head of the people. 13 And the two men, the sons of worthlessness, came and they sat in front of him, and the men of worthlessness witnessed against Naboth in front of the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king.” And they brought him to the outside of the city and they stoned him with the stones and he died. 14 And they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned and he has died.” 15 And it happened as soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and had died, that Jezebel said to Ahab, “Get up! Possess the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give to you for silver, for Naboth is not alive, but he has died!” 16 And it happened as soon as Ahab heard that Naboth had died, that Ahab rose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite to possess it. 17 And the word of Yahweh was to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 18 “Get up! Go down to meet Ahab the king of Israel, who is in Samaria. Behold he is in the vineyard of Naboth, there where he has gone down to possess it. 19 And you shall speak to him saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Have you murdered and also taken possession?”’ And you shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “In a place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, the dogs will lick your blood, even you.”’” 20 And Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, my enemy?” And he said, “I have found, on account of you having sold yourself by doing the evil thing in the eyes of Yahweh. 21 ‘Behold, I am about to bring evil on you and I will burn after you, and I will cut off with respect to Ahab one who urinates on a wall, and one who is restrained, and one who is let free in Israel. 22 And I will give over your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, on account of the anger that you have provoked to anger and you have caused Israel to sin.’ 23 And also with respect to Jezebel Yahweh has spoken, saying, ‘The dogs will eat Jezebel at the rampart of Jezreel.’ 24 The one of Ahab who dies in the city, the dogs shall eat. And the one who dies in the field, the bird of the heavens shall eat.” 25 Surely there was not one like Ahab, who sold himself by doing the evil thing in the eyes of Yahweh, he whom Jezebel his wife incited. 26 And he acted very abominably by walking after the idols, like all that the Amorite had done, whom Yahweh had dispossessed from the face of the sons of Israel. 27 And it happened as soon as Ahab heard these words, that he tore his garments and put sackcloth over his flesh and he fasted. And he lay down in the sackcloth and he walked softly. 28 And the word of Yahweh was to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 29 “Have you seen that Ahab has humbled himself from before my face? Because he has humbled himself from my face, I will not bring the evil thing in his days. In the days of his son I will bring the evil thing on his house.” Chapter 22 1 And they dwelled three years; there was no war between Aram and Israel. 2 And it happened in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went down to the king of Israel. 3 And the king of Israel said to his servants, “Do you know that Ramoth Gilead is for us, but we are staying inactive from taking it from the hand of the king of Aram?” 4 And he said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to war at Ramoth Gilead?” And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Like me, like you. Like my people, like your people. Like my horses, like your horses.” 5 And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please seek the word of Yahweh at today.” 6 And the king of Israel gathered the prophets, about 400 men, and he said to them, “Should I go against Ramoth Gilead to war, or should I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for my Lord will give into the hand of the king.” 7 And Jehoshaphat said, “Is there still no prophet of Yahweh here so we may seek from him?” 8 And the king of Israel responded to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man for seeking Yahweh from him, but I myself hate him because he does not prophesy good on my account, but rather evil: Micaiah the son of Imlah.” And Jehoshaphat said, “The king should not say so.” 9 And the king of Israel called to one eunuch. And he said, “Get quickly Micaiah the son of Imlah.” 10 Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting, a man on his throne, clothed with garments, by the threshing floor at the opening of the gate of Samaria. And all the prophets were prophesying before their faces. 11 And Zedekiah the son of Kenaanah made horns of iron for him, and he said, “Thus says Yahweh: ‘With these you shall gore Aram until their finishing.’” 12 And all the prophets were prophesying thus, saying, “Go up to Ramoth Gilead and be successful, and Yahweh will give into the hand of the king.” 13 And the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, “Behold, please, the words of the prophets as one mouth are good for the king. Please let your word be like the one word from them and speak good.” 14 And Micaiah said, “As Yahweh is alive, surely what Yahweh will say to me, it I will speak.” 15 And he came to the king, and the king said to him, “Micaiah, should we go to Ramoth Gilead to war, or should we refrain?” And he said to him, “Go up and be successful, and Yahweh will give into the hand of the king.” 16 And the king said to him, “Up to how many times must I cause you to swear that you would not speak concerning me except truth in the name of Yahweh?” 17 And he said, “I saw all Israel scattered to the mountains, like a flock when there is not a shepherd for them. And Yahweh said, ‘There are no masters for these. Let them return, a man to his house, in peace.’” 18 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not say to you he would not prophesy good concerning me, but rather evil?” 19 And he said, “Therefore hear the word of Yahweh: I saw Yahweh sitting on his throne, and all the host of the heavens standing beside him from his right and from his left. 20 And Yahweh said, ‘Who will deceive Ahab, so he may go up and may fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ And this one said, “In this way,” and this one was saying, “In this way.” 21 And the spirit went out, and he stood before the face of Yahweh. And he said, ‘I myself will deceive him.’ And Yahweh said to him, ‘By what means?’ 22 And he said, ‘I will go out and I will be a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You may deceive and also you will be able. Go out and do so.’ 23 And now, behold, Yahweh has given a spirit of falsehood into the mouth of all these prophets of yours. And Yahweh has spoken evil against you.” 24 And Zedekiah the son of Kenaanah came near, and he struck Micaiah on the cheek. And he said, “How is this, the Spirit of Yahweh has passed over from with me to speak with you?” 25 And Micaiah said, “Behold, you are about to see on that day when you enter a room in a room to hide yourself.” 26 And the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon, the commander of the city, and to Joash, the son of the king. 27 And you shall say, ‘Thus says the king, “Put this one in the house of imprisonment and feed him bread of oppression and water of oppression, until my coming in peace.’” 28 And Micaiah said, “If indeed you return in peace, Yahweh has not spoken by me.” And he said, “Listen, peoples, all of them.” 29 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. 30 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will cause myself to be unrecognizable and come into the battle, but you wear your garments.” And the king of Israel caused himself to be unrecognizable and he came into the battle. 31 Now the king of Aram had commanded the commanders of the chariotry, which were 32 for him, saying, “You shall not fight with a small one or with a great one, but rather with the king of Israel by himself.” 32 And it happened as soon as the commanders of the charioty saw Jehoshaphat, that they themselves said, “Surely he is the king of Israel.” And they turned aside to fight against him, and Jehoshaphat cried out. 33 And it happened as soon as the commanders of the chariotry saw that he was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from after him. 34 But a man drew with the bow in his innocence and he struck the king of Israel between the joints and the body armor. And he said to his charioteer, “Turn your hand and bring me out from the camp, for I am wounded.” 35 And the battle went up on that day and the king was being stood up in the chariot opposite Aram. And he died in the evening and the blood of the wound poured out to the bosom of the chariot. 36 Then the cry passed through in the camp about the going of the sun, saying, “A man to his city and a man to his land!” 37 And the king died and came to Samaria. And they buried the king in Samaria. 38 And one rinsed the chariot beside the pool of Samaria. And the dogs licked his blood, and the prostitutes bathed, according to the word of Yahweh that he had spoken. 39 And the remainder of the matters of Ahab and all that he did, and the house of ivory that he built, and all the cities that he built, are they not written on the book of the matters of the days of the kings of Israel? 40 And Ahab lay down with his fathers. And Ahaziah his son reigned in his place. 41 And Jehoshaphat the son of Asa reigned over Judah in year four of Ahab the king of Israel. 42 Jehoshaphat was a son of 35 years when he reigned, and he reigned 25 years in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. 43 And he walked in every way of Asa his father, he did not turn away from it, to do the upright thing in the eyes of Yahweh. However the high places they did not remove. The people were still sacrificing and burning incense at the high places. 44 And Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel. 45 And the remainder of the matters of Jehoshaphat, and his mighty things that he did, and how he fought, are they not written on the book of the matters of the days of the kings of Judah? 46 And the remainder of the cultic prostitutes who were left in the days of Asa his father, he burned from the land. 47 And there was not a king in Edom, a stationed one was king. 48 Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold, but he did not go because ships were broken at Ezion Geber. 49 Then Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my servants go with your servants in the ships.” But Jehoshaphat was not willing. 50 And Jehoshaphat lay down with his fathers and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father. And Jehoram his son reigned in his place. 51 Ahaziah the son of Ahab reigned over Israel in Samaria in year 17 of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah. And he reigned over Israel two years. 52 And he did the evil thing in the eyes of Yahweh. And he walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. 53 And he served the Baal and he bowed down to him. And he provoked Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger, according to all that his father had done. 2 Kings Chapter 1 1 Now Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. 2 Then Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and he was injured. So he sent for messengers and he said to them, “Go, inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, if I will recover from this injury.” 3 But the messenger of Yahweh spoke to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, ‘Is it on account of there being no God in Israel you are going to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? 4 Now therefore thus says Yahweh, “The bed on which you have gone up there, you will not come down from it, for surely you will die.’” Then Elijah left. 5 When the messengers returned to him, then he said to them, “What is this, you have come back?” 6 Then they said to him, “A man came up to meet us and he said to us, ‘Go, return to the king who sent you, and you must speak to him, “Thus says Yahweh: ‘Is it on account of there being no God in Israel you are sending to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore the bed that you have gone upon there, you will not go down from it, for you will surely die.’”’” 7 So he spoke to them, “What was the manner of the man who came up to meet you and he spoke to you these words?” 8 Then they replied to him, “A man, a possessor of hair, and a waist cloth of hide was belted around his sides.” So he said, “He is Elijah, the Tishbite.” 9 Then he sent to him a prince of 50 along with his 50, and he went up to him. Now here he was sitting on the top of the hill and he spoke to him, “O man of the true God, the king has spoken, ‘You must come down.’” 10 However Elijah answered and he spoke to the prince of the 50, “Now if I am a man of God, let fire come down from the heavens, that it may consume you and your 50.” Then fire came down from the heavens and it consumed him and his 50. 11 So he repeated and he sent to him another prince of 50 and his 50, and he responded and he spoke to him, “Man of the true God, thus says the king, ‘Quickly! You must come down!’” 12 But Elijah answered and he spoke to them, “If I am a man of the true God, let fire come down from the heavens, that it may consume you and your 50.” So the fire of God came down from the heavens and it consumed him and his 50. 13 Still he repeated and he sent a prince of 50 a third time and his 50. So he went up, and the third prince of 50 came and he bowed low on his knees in view of Elijah, and he made repeated supplication to him and he spoke to him, “Man of the true God, please may my life and the life of these 50 servants of yours be precious in your eyes. 14 Look, fire came down from the heavens and it consumed the first two princes of the 50 along with their fifties, but now may my life be precious in your eyes.” 15 Then the angel of Yahweh spoke to Elijah, “Go down with him. Do not be afraid of his presence.” So he rose up and he went down with him to the king. 16 Then he spoke to him, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘By reason that you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, was it on account of there being no God in Israel to inquire about his word? Therefore, the bed that you have gone upon there, you will not come down from it, for you will surely die.’” 17 So he died according to the word of Yahweh that Elijah had spoken. Then Joram reigned in his place, in the second year of Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, because there was no son for him. 18 As for the rest of the matters concerning Ahaziah that he had done, are they not written in the scroll of the chronicles of the days of the kings of Israel? Chapter 2 1 Now it happened when Yahweh was about to take up Elijah by the whirlwind to the heavens, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. 2 Then Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, please, because Yahweh has sent me even further to Bethel.” However Elisha replied, “As Yahweh is alive, and as you yourself are alive, surely I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. 3 Then the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha and they said to him, “Do you know that Yahweh is taking away your master away from over your head today?” So he replied, “Indeed, I myself know. You all keep quiet.” 4 Next Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here, please, because Yahweh has sent me to Jericho.” But he replied, “As Yahweh is alive, and as you yourself are alive, surely I will not leave you.” So they came in to Jericho. 5 Then the sons of the prophets who were in Jericho came to Elisha and they said to him, “Do you know that Yahweh is taking away your master from over your head today?” So he replied, “Indeed I myself know. You all keep quiet!” 6 Next Elijah said to him, “Stay here, please, because Yahweh has sent me to the Jordan.” However he replied, “As Yahweh is alive, and as you yourself are alive, surely I will not leave you.” So the two of them went. 7 Now, 50 men of the sons of the prophets went and they stood at a standpoint opposite from a distance while the two of them stood along the Jordan. 8 Then Elijah took his mantle, and he folded, and he struck the waters and they were divided here and there. So the two of them crossed over on the dry ground. 9 Now it happened at their crossing over, that Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I should do for you before I will be taken away from with you.” So Elisha replied, “Indeed, please may a double portion of your spirit be with me.” 10 So he replied, “You have shown tenacity by asking. If you see me being taken away from beside you, so it will happen for you, but if not, it will not happen.” 11 Now it happened they were walking, going along and speaking, when look, a chariot of fire and horses of fire, and they caused a separation between the two of them. Then Elijah went up in a whirlwind into the heavens. 12 Then Elisha was looking and he was crying out, “My father, my father, the chariotry of Israel and its horsemen!” But he did not see him any longer, so he took hold of his garments and he tore them into two pieces. 13 Then he picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from upon him, and he turned back and he stood along the edge of the Jordan. 14 Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from upon him and he struck the waters and he said, “Where is Yahweh, the God of Elijah, indeed, he?” When he struck the waters, then they were divided in half, here and there, so Elisha crossed over. 15 When the sons of the prophets who were in Jericho saw him from afar, then they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha!” So they came to meet him, and they bowed themselves to the ground to him. 16 Then they said to him, “Look, please, there are 50 men, sons of strength, with your servants. Please, let them go, so they may search for your master, in case the Spirit of Yahweh has carried him and he has thrown him on one of the mountains or in one of the valleys.” However he replied, “Do not send forth.” 17 But they pressed upon him until shaming, so he said, “Send forth!” Then they sent 50 men, and they searched three days, but they did not find him. 18 Then they returned to him while he was staying in Jericho, and he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘you should not go’?” 19 Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Please, look the site of the city is good, just as my master is seeing, but the waters are worthless and the land is unfruitful.” 20 So he replied, “Take for me a new small jug and put some salt in there,” so they took it to him. 21 Then he went out to the source of the waters and he threw some salt in there. Then he said, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘I have brought healing to these waters. There will not be death or being unfruitful from there any longer.’” 22 So the waters are healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke. 23 Then he went up from there to Bethel, and he was going up along the road, when some young boys came out from the city. Now they were making fun of him among themselves. Then they said to him, “Go up, bald one! Go up, bald one!” 24 So he turned behind him and he saw them, and he cursed them in the name of Yahweh. Then two female bears came out from the forrest and they tore up 42 of the boys among them. 25 Then he went from there to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria. Chapter 3 1 Now Joram, the son of Ahab, became king over Israel in Samaria in the 18th year of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, and he reigned 12 years. 2 He also did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh,only not as his father or as his mother, for he removed the standing stone of the Baal that his father had made. 3 However he held fast to the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin; he did not turn away from it. 4 Now Mesha, the king of Moab, was a breeder of sheep, and he would bring back to the king of Israel 100,000 young rams and 100,000 rams with much wool. 5 Now it happened after the death of Ahab, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. 6 So the King, Joram, came out of Samaria on that day and he mobilized all Israel. 7 Then he went and he sent to Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, saying, “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to Moab to the battle?” and he replied, “I will go up. Truly I will as you will, as my people will so your people will, as my horses will, so will your horses.” 8 Then he said, “Where is this, the way we should go up?” and he replied, “The way of the wilderness of Edom.” 9 So the king of Israel went along with the king of Judah and the king of Edom, and they wandered about on a journey for seven days, but there was no water for the army or for the cattle that were at their feet. 10 Then the king of Israel said, “Alas, for Yahweh has called for these three kings in order to give them into the hand of Moab!” 11 But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not here a prophet of Yahweh, that we might seek Yahweh by him?” Then one of the servants of the king of Israel answered and he said, “Elisha, the son of Shaphat is here, who has poured waters on the hands of Elijah.” 12 So Jehoshaphat replied, “The word of Yahweh is present with him.” So the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom went down to him. 13 Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What do I have that is for you? Go to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother.” However the king of Israel said to him, “No, for Yahweh has called for these three kings in order to give them into the hand of Moab.” 14 But Elisha said, “As Yahweh of hosts is alive, whom I stand in his presence, surely except that I am respecting the presence of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, I would not pay attention to you, or I would even look at you. 15 But now bring someone who plays a stringed instrument to me.” Now it was when the one playing a stringed instrument played, the hand of Yahweh came upon him. 16 Then he said, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘This dry river valley will function as cisterns, cisterns.’ 17 For thus says Yahweh, ‘You will not see wind, and you will not see rain, but this dry river valley will be filled with waters, so that you may drink, you and your flocks, and your herds.’ 18 Indeed, this is an easy thing in the eyes of Yahweh, so he will give Moab into your hand. 19 Therefore you will attack every fortified city and every choice city. Also every good tree you will make fall, and all springs of waters you will stop up, and all of the good portion of land you will mar with stones.” 20 Now it happened in the morning at the offering up of the sacrifice, that, look, waters were coming from the way of Edom and the land was filled with the waters. 21 Then all Moab heard that the kings had gone up to fight against them. So they were mobilized out of all girding on a warrior belt and upwards, and they stood along the border. 22 Now they rose up early in the morning and the sun shone on the waters. When Moab looked from the other side the waters were red like the blood. 23 So they said, “This is blood! The kings have surely been destroyed, and each man has struck down his comrade. So now, Moab, to the spoil!” 24 When they came to the camp of Israel, then Israel rose up and they struck Moab. Then they fled away from their presence but they came into it, in order to strike Moab. 25 Then they would tear down the cities, and every good portion each man would throw down his stone so they would fill it. Also they would stop up every spring of waters and they would make every good tree fall. As far as at the Kir Hareseth each allowed its stones to remain, but the slingers surrounded and they struck it. 26 When the king of Moab saw that the battle had grown stronger than him, then he took with him 700 men wielding a sword in order to break through to the king of Edom, but they were not able. 27 Then he took his son, the first-born who would have reigned in his place, and he offered him as a burnt offering upon the wall. As a result there was great wrath against Israel, so they journeyed away from him and they returned to the land. Chapter 4 1 Now a woman, one of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant, my husband, has died, and you yourself know that your servant was a fearer of Yahweh. Now the money lender has come to take two of my children for himself as slaves.” 2 So Elisha said to her, “What should I do for you? Tell to me, what is there for you in the house?” Then she replied, “There is nothing for your maidservant at all in the house, except for a flask of oil.” 3 Then he said, “Go, ask for vessels for yourself from the outside, from all of your neighbors, empty vessels. You should not collect a few. 4 Then you should go in and you should shut the door behind you and behind your sons, and you should pour into all those vessels. Then the full ones you should set aside.” 5 So she went away from being with him and she shut the door behind her and behind her sons. They were bringing to her, and she continued pouring. 6 Now it happened after the filling of the vessels that she said to her son, “Bring to me another vessel.” But he replied to her, “There is not another vessel.” Then the oil stopped. 7 Then she came and she reported to the man of God. So he replied, “Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt, so you along with your sons, you can live on the rest.” 8 Now the day came when Elisha passed over to Shunem and there was a prominent woman. Then she prevailed upon him to eat bread. So it would happen whenever he passed by, he would turn in to there in order to eat bread. 9 Then she said to her husband, “Look, please, I know that he is a holy man of God always passing by us. 10 Please, let us make a little upper chamber in a wall and we will set up for him there a bed, and a table, and a chair, and a lampstand, so it wll be upon his coming to us he may turn in to there.” 11 Now the day happened when he came to there, and he turned in to the upper chamber and he took rest in there. 12 Then he said to Gehazi his young man, “Call for this Shunammite woman.” So he called for her, and she stood in his presence. 13 Then he said to him, “Please, say to her, ‘Look, you have worked tirelessly on our behalf by all this trouble. What is there to do for you, to speak on your behalf to the king or to the prince of the army?’” But she replied, “I am staying in the midst of my people.” 14 So he said, “Then, what to do for her?” So Gehazi replied, “Actually, there is not a son for her, and her husband is old.” 15 Then he said, “Call for her,” and he called for her. Then she stood at the entrance. 16 Then he said, “At this appointed time, at the very time, revived, you will be embracing a son.” However she replied, “No, my master, the man of God, do not lie to your bondservant.” 17 So the woman became pregnant and she brought forth a son at this appointed time, at that very time, revived, that Elisha had spoken to her. 18 When the boy had grown, then the day happened that he went out to his father, to the harvesters. 19 Then he said to his father, “My head, my head.” So he said to the young man, “Carry him to his mother.” 20 So he carried him and he brought him to his mother. Then he sat on her knees until high noon when he died. 21 So she got up and she laid him on the bed of the man of God. Then she shut him in, and she went out. 22 Then she called to her husband, and she said, “Please send to me one of the young men and one of the donkeys so that I may rush to the man of God and I may return.” 23 Then he said, “Why are you going to him today? It is not a new moon nor a Sabbath.” However she replied, “Peace.” 24 Then she saddled the donkey and she said to her young man, “Lead on and go! Do not hold back on account of me to ride except if I order to you.” 25 So she went and she came to the man of God at Mount Carmel. Now it happened upon the man of God seeing her from afar that he said to Gehazi his young man, “Here is this Shunammite woman. 26 Now please run to meet her and say to her, ‘Is there tranquility for you? Is there tranquility for your husband? Is there tranquility for the boy?’” Then she replied, “Peace.” 27 When she came to the man of God, to the mountain, then she held on to his feet. Then Gehazi approached in order to push her away but the man of God said, “Let loose of her, for her temperament is bitter for her, however Yahweh has concealed from me, and he has revealed nothing to me.” 28 Then she said, “Did I ask for a son by the help of my master? Did I not say, ‘Do not give me a false hope’?” 29 So he said to Gehazi, “Gird up your loins and take my staff in your hand, then go. Even if you should find anyone, you should not bless him, and if anyone should bless you, do not answer him. Then you should set my staff on the face of the young man.” 30 Then the mother of the young man said, “As Yahweh is alive and as you yourself are alive, if ever I would leave you.” So he rose up and he went after her. 31 Now Gehazi passed by ahead of them and he set the staff on the face of the young man, but there was not a sound nor was there attentiveness. So he returned to meet him and he told to him saying, “The young man has not awakened.” 32 When Elisha came in to the house, then here, the young man was dead, laid on his bed. 33 So he went in and he shut the door behind the two of them, and he prayed to Yahweh. 34 Then he went up and he lay on the boy, and he put his mouth on his mouth, and his eyes on his eyes, and his palms on his palms. Then he prostrated himself over him, and grew warm the flesh of the boy. 35 Then he returned and he walked around the house once here and once there. Then he went up and he prostrated himself on him. Next the young man sneezed, even seven times, and the young man opened his eyes! 36 So he called to Gehazi and he said, “Call to this Shunammite woman!” So he called her. When she came to him, then he said, “Take up your son.” 37 When she came in, indeed she fell down at his feet and she bowed down to the ground. Then she took up her son and she went out. 38 Then Elisha returned to the Gilgal area. Now a famine was in the land, and the sons of the prophets were sitting in his presence. Then he said to his young man, “Set the large pot on the fire and boil soup for the sons of the prophets.” 39 Now one went out into the field in order to gather herbs, and he found a vine in a field. So he gathered from it a wild cucumber out of a field, the fullness of his garment. Then he came in and he sliced up into the pot of soup, for they did not know. 40 So they poured out for the men to eat. Now it happened when they were eating of the stew, that they cried out and they said, “Death is in the pot, O Man of God!” So they were not able to eat. 41 So he said, “Now bring some flour,” and he threw into the pot. Then he said, “Pour out for the people, so that they will eat,” and there was not anything harmful in the pot. 42 Now a man came from Baal Shalishah and he brought to the man of God bread, firstfruits, 20 loaves of barley bread and produce in his sack. Then he said, “Give to the people so they will eat.” 43 However the one serving him said, “How do I set this in the presence of 100 men?” But he replied, “Give to the people, so they will eat, for thus says Yahweh, ‘Eat and have some leftover.’” 44 So he set in their presence and they ate and they had some leftover, according to the word of Yahweh. Chapter 5 1 Now Naaman, the prince of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man in the presence of his master, and he was lifted up in countenance, because through him Yahweh had given deliverance to Aram. Also the man was mighty in strength although he had been stricken with leprosy. 2 Now Aram had gone out in raids and they had taken captive from the land of Israel a young little girl. Then she was in the presence of the wife of Naaman. 3 Then she said to her powerful woman, “O that my master was in the presence of the prophet who is in Samaria, since he would restore him of his leprosy.” 4 So he came in and he reported to his master, saying “the young girl who is from the land of Israel had spoken as such and as such.” 5 So the king of Aram said, “Go, go on, and let me send a letter to the king of Israel.” So he went and he took in his hand ten rounds of silver and 6,000 in gold, along with ten changes of garments. 6 So he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, “So now when this letter comes to you, look, I have sent to you Naaman, my servant, that you may restore him from his leprosy.” 7 Now it happened when the king of Israel was reading the letter, that he tore his garments and he said, “Am I God, by killing and by making alive, that this one is sending to me in order to restore a man from his leprosy? For surely please know and see that he is seeking to provoke a quarrel against me.” 8 So it happened upon Elisha, the man of God, hearing that the king of Israel had torn his garments, that he sent to the king saying, “Why have you torn your garments? Please, let him come to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariots, and he stood at the entrance of the house of Elisha. 10 Then Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and you must wash in the Jordan seven times, that your flesh may return to you, then be clean.” 11 But Naaman became angry so he went away and he said, “Look, I said to myself surely he would come out and he would stand and he would call on the name of Yahweh his God, and he would wave his hand to the place so he would restore the leprosy. 12 Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Can I not bathe in them in order that I would be clean?” So he turned and he went away in a rage. 13 Then his servants approached and they spoke to him and they said, “My father, had the prophet pronounced for you some great thing, would you not have acted? Now, how much rather that he said to you, ‘Wash and be clean?’” 14 So he went down and he dipped in the Jordan seven times, in accordance with the word of the man of God. Then his flesh turned back as flesh of a young little boy, and he was clean. 15 Then he returned to the man of God, he and all of his company, and he came and he stood in his presence. Now he said, “Look, please, I know that there is no God in all the earth except only in Israel. So now, please receive a blessing even along with your servant.” 16 But he replied, “As Yahweh is living, whom I stand in his presence, I would not take anything.” Then he pressed upon him to receive but he refused. 17 So Naaman said, “Although not, please may a load of soil from a team of mules be given to your servant, for your servant will not make a burnt offering or a sacrifice to other gods any longer, but only to Yahweh. 18 In this matter Yahweh will grant forgiveness to your servant, when my master is coming into the house of Rimmon to order to worship in there, and he is leaning himself on my hand so that I might bow myself down in the house of Rimmon, when I am bowing myself down in the house of Rimmon, please may Yahweh grant forgiveness to your servant in this matter.” 19 Then he replied to him, “Go in peace.” So he went away from him some distance of land. 20 Then Gehazi, the young man of Elisha, the man of God, said, “Look, my master has held back Naaman, this Aramean, from taking from his hand what he had brought. As Yahweh is living, surely if I ran after him then I would take something from him.” 21 So Gehazi pursued after Naaman. When Naaman saw someone running after him, then he dismounted from upon the chariot in order to meet him. Then he said, “Is there peace?” 22 Then he said, “There is peace. My master has sent me, saying, ‘Look, now this, two young men from the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give to them a round of silver and two changes of garments.’” 23 Then Naaman replied, “I am pleased! Take two rounds.” So he pressed upon him and he bound two rounds in silver in two bags, along with two changes of garments. Then he gave to two of his young men, and they carried in his presence. 24 When he came in to the fortress, then he took from their hand and he deposited in the house. Then he sent the men away, and they went. 25 When he came in and he stood beside his master, then Elisha said to him, “From where has Gehazi come?” But he replied, “Your servant has not gone here nor there.” 26 Then he said to him, “Did not my heart go at the same time when a man turned from upon his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to take the silver and to take garments, or olives and vineyards, or sheep and cattle, or male servants and maid servants? 27 So the leprosy of Naaman will cling upon you and upon your seed for forever.” So he went out from his presence, one stricken with leprosy, as the snow. Chapter 6 1 Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look, please, the place where we are living there in your presence is too cramped for us. 2 Please let us go as far as the Jordan, and let each man take one beam from there, and let us make for ourselves there a place to dwell there.” So he replied, “Go ahead.” 3 Then the one said, “Be willing, please, and go with your servants.” So he replied, “I myself will go.” 4 So he went with them. When they came to the Jordan, then they began to cut down the trees. 5 Now it happened while the one was felling the beam, that the blade of the iron tool fell into the waters. So he cried out and he said, “Alas, my master, for it was borrowed!” 6 Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” So he showed him the place. Then he chopped off a branch, and he threw to there, and the iron tool floated over. 7 Then he said, “Lift up to yourself.” So he stretched out his hand and he took it. 8 Now the king of Aram, he was battling with Israel. So he consulted together with his servants, saying, “My camp will be at a certain place as such.” 9 So the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, “Be careful of passing by that place, for there Aram is descending.” 10 So the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God had said to him and he warned him. So he was guarded there not once and not twice. 11 As a result the heart of the king of Aram became furious about this thing, so he called to his servants and he said to them, “Will you not tell to me who of those among us is on the side of the king of Israel?” 12 So one of his servants replied, “None, my master, O king, but Elisha the prophet who is in Israel tells to the king of Israel the things that you speak in the room containing your bed!” 13 So he replied, “Go and see where he is so I might send out and I might seize him.” Then it was told to him, saying, “Look, in Dothan.” 14 So he sent out to there horses and chariotry, along with a heavy army, and they came by night and they enircled around the city. 15 Now the one attending the man of God had started early to rise so he went out and here was an army surrounding the city along with horse and chariot. So his young man said to him, “Alas, my master! What will we do?” 16 So he replied, “Do not fear, for more numerous are those with us than those with them.” 17 Then Elisha prayed and he said, “Yahweh, please open his eyes that he will see.” So Yahweh opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. Now here, the mountain was full of horses and a chariot of fire encircling around Elisha! 18 Then they came down to him, so Elisha prayed to Yahweh and he said, “Please, strike this nation with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness, in accordance with the word of Elisha. 19 Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and neither is this the city. Walk after me, and let me bring you to the man whom you are seeking.” Then he led them to Samaria. 20 Now it happened upon their coming into Samaria, that Elisha said, “Yahweh, open the eyes of these ones that they may see.” So Yahweh opened their eyes and they saw, and look, in the midst of Samaria. 21 Then the king of Israel said to Elisha, upon his seeing them, “Should I strike? Should I strike, my father?” 22 Then he replied, “You must not strike down. If these you had taken captive with your sword and with your bow, would you strike down? Put bread and water in their presence, that they may eat and they may drink, and they may go to their master.” 23 Then he prepared a great feast for them, and they ate and they drank. Then he sent away, and they went to their master, and the raiding bands of Aram did not continue any longer to come into the land of Israel. 24 Now it happened after this that Ben Hadad, the king of Aram, assembled all of his camp and they came up and they layed seige to Samaria. 25 Also there was a great famine in Samaria, and look, they were besieging around it until a head of a donkey was being sold for 80 silver rounds, and the fourth part of the qav measure in dung of doves in exchange for five silver rounds. 26 Then it happened when the king of Israel was passing by along the wall, that a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my master, O king.” 27 So he replied, “If Yahweh does not intend to help you, from where could I bring help for you? From the threshing floor or from the winepress?” 28 Then the king said to her, What is happening to you?” So she replied, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son, so that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’” 29 So we boiled my son and we ate him. Then I said to her on the next day, “Give up your son that we may eat him, but she has hidden her son.” 30 Now it happened upon the king hearing the words of the woman, that he tore his garments as he was passing by on the wall. When the people looked, now here was sackcloth against his flesh, from inside. 31 Then he said, “Thus should God do to me, and so he should continue even more, if the head of Elisha, the son of Shaphat, remains on him today.” 32 However Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him when he sent a man from before his presence. Even before the messenger would come to him, then he said to the elders, “Do you see that this son of a murderer has sent to take off my head? Look, as the messenger is coming, shut the door, and you should push him back with the door. Is there not the sound of the feet of his master behind him?” 33 While he was still speaking with them, then here was the messenger coming down to him. Then he said, “Look, this evil is from Yahweh. Why should I wait for Yahweh any longer?” Chapter 7 1 However Elisha said, “Hear the word of Yahweh. Thus says Yahweh: ‘About this time tomorrow a seah measure of fine flour will be for a shekel, and two seah measures of barley grains will be for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.’” 2 Then the third officer, who was on the side of the king, on his hand he had been depending, answered the man of God, and he said, “Look, even if Yahweh was making latticed openings in the heavens, would this thing happen?” So he replied, “Though you are about to see with your eyes, but from there you will not eat.” 3 Now there were four men stricken with leprosy at the entrance of the gate, and they said, one man to his companion, “Why should we sit here until we have died? 4 If we said we should go into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we will die there. But if we sat here, then we would die. So now, come, let us fall into the camp of Aram. If they keep us alive, we will live, but if not, they will kill us, and we will die.” 5 So they rose up at the evening twilight in order to go into the camp of Aram. When they arrived at the edge of the camp of Aram, then look, not anyone was there. 6 For Adonai had made the camp of Aram hear a sound of a chariot, a sound of a horse, a sound of a great army. So they said, each man to his brother, “Look, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to come against us.” 7 So they had risen up and they fled in the twilight. Thus they had abandoned their tents, and their horses, and their donkeys, the camp just as it was, and they fled for their lives. 8 When these who who were stricken with leprosy came in as far as the edge of the camp, then they went in to one tent and they ate and they drank. Then they carried away from there silver, and gold, and garments, and they went and they hid. Then they came back and they came in to another tent and they carried away from there and they went and they hid. 9 Then they said, each man to his companion, “It is not right we are doing. This day, it is a day of good news, but we are keeping quiet. So should we wait until the light of the morning, then punishment will find us. So, now, go and let us come in and let us tell the house of the king.” 10 So they went in and they called to the gatekeeper of the city. Then they declared to them, saying, “We came in to the camp of Aram. But look, not anyone was there, nor the sound of a man, but only the horse was tied, and the donkey was tied, and the tents just as they were.” 11 So the gatekeepers cried out, then they told the house of the king inside. 12 Now the king arose at night and he said to his servants, “Please, let me tell to you what Aram has done to us. They know that we are hungry, so they have gone out of the camp in order to hide themselves in the countryside, saying, ‘When they go forth from the city, then we will capture them alive, so we may go into the city.’” 13 Yet one of his servants answered and he said, “Now, please, let us take five of the remaining horses, that were left in it. Look, they are like all the population of Israel who are left in it. Look, they are like all the population of Israel who are finished. So let us send that we may see.” 14 So they took two chariot horses, and the king sent after the camp of Aram, saying, “Go and see.” 15 So they went after them as far as the Jordan, and look, all the road was full of garments and implements that Aram had cast away in their hurried alarm. Then the messengers returned and they explained to the king. 16 So the people went out and they plundered the camp of Aram. Then it happened, a seah measure of fine flour for a shekel, and two sheah measures of barley grains for a shekel, according to the word of Yahweh. 17 Now the king had appointed the third officer on whom he had been depending on his hand over the gate, but the people trampled him in the gate. As a result he died, just as the man of God had spoken, when he spoke when the king had come down to him. 18 So it happened as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, “Two seah measures of barley for a shekel, and a seah measure of fine flour for a shekel, it will happen about this time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria,” 19 when the third officer had answered the man of God and he had said, “Look, even if Yahweh was making latticed openings in the heavens, would this thing happen?” Then he had said, “Look, you are going to see with your eyes, but from there you will not eat.” 20 So thus it happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gate, and as a result he died. Chapter 8 1 Now Elisha spoke to the woman who he had restored to life her son, saying, “Arise and go, you and your household, and stay at wherever you can stay, because Yahweh has called for a famine and moreover it will come to this land seven years.” 2 So the woman arose and she did according to the word of the man of God. So she went, she along with her household, and she sojurned in the land of the Philistines seven years. 3 Now it happened at the end of seven years that the woman returned from the land of the Philistines. Then she went forth to cry out to the king on behalf of her household and for her land. 4 Now the king was speaking to Gehazi the young man of the man of God, saying, “Please tell to me all the great things that Elisha has done.” 5 So it happened as he was telling to the king that he had restored the dead to life, and here was the woman who he had restored her son to life, crying out to the king on behalf of her household and about her field. Then Gehazi said, “My master, O King, this is the woman, and this is her son, who Elisha restored to life.” 6 So the king asked directly to the woman and she recounted to him. So the king granted for her one eunuch, saying, “Return back everything that belongs to her and all the production income of the field from the day she left the land even until now.” 7 Now Elisha came to Damascus when Ben Hadad, the king of Aram, was sick. Then it was told to him, saying, “The man of God has come to here.” 8 So the king said to Hazael, “Take a gift in your hand, and go to meet the man of God. Then you must inquire of Yahweh through him, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’” 9 So Hazael went to meet him and he took a gift in his hand, even every good thing of Damascus, a burden of 40 camels. Then he came in and he stood in his presence and he said, “Your son Ben Hadad, the king of Aram, has sent me to you, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’” 10 Then Elisha said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You will surely recover,’ but Yahweh has shown me that he will surely die.” 11 Then he held his face still and he stayed put to the point of shaming, and the man of God wept. 12 So Hazael responded, “Why is my master weeping?” Then he replied, “Because I know that you will do evil to the sons of Israel. Their fortifications you will send into the fire, and their young men you will kill with the sword. Also their infants you will hack to pieces, and their pregnant women you will split into pieces.” 13 However Hazael said, “But what is your servant, the dog, that he should do this great thing?” Then Elisha replied, “Yahweh has shown me you will be king over Aram.” 14 Then he went away from with Elisha and he came to his master. Then he said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” So he replied, “He said to me surely you will recover.” 15 Now it happened even the next day that he took the covering and he dipped in the waters, and he spread over his face so that he died. Thus Hazael became king in his place. 16 Now in year five of Joram, the son of Ahab, the king of Israel, when Jehoshapat was king of Judah, Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, began to reign. 17 He was a son of 32 years upon his beginning to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 18 Now he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab did, for the daughter of Ahab was for him as wife. Indeed, he did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh. 19 However, Yahweh did not want to annihilate Judah, for the sake of David his servant, just as he had said to him, in order to give to him a lamp through his sons all the days. 20 In his days, Edom rebelled from under the hand of Judah, and they seated a king to reign over themselves. 21 Then Jehoram crossed over to Zair along with all the chariotry with him. Now it happened he himself rose by night, and he struck Edom, who was encircling around him and the princes of the chariotry. But the people fled to their tents. 22 Thus Edom rebelled from under the hand of Judah to this day. Then Libnah rebelled at that time. 23 Now the rest of the matters of Jehoram, and all that he did, are they not written in the scroll of the chronicles of the days of the kings of Judah? 24 Then Jehoram slept with his fathers and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David. Then Ahaziah his son became king in his place. 25 During the year of year 12 of Joram, the son of Ahab, the king of Israel, Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, the king of Judah, began to reign. 26 Ahaziah was a son of 22 years upon his becoming king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. Now the name of his mother was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri, the king of Israel. 27 Now he walked in the way of the house of Ahab and he did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh, as the house of Ahab, for he was a son-in-law of the house of Ahab. 28 Then he went with Joram, the son of Ahab, to battle against Hazael, the king of Aram, at Ramoth Gilead, but Arameans struck Joram. 29 So Joram the king returned in order to heal himself in Jezreel from the wounds that Arameans had struck him at Ramah, in his fighting against Hazael, the king of Aram. So Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, the king of Judah, went down to see Joram, the son of Ahab, in Jezreel because he was wounded. Chapter 9 1 Now Elisha the prophet called to one of the sons of the prophets and he said to him, “Gird up your loins and take this flask of oil in your hand and go to Ramoth Gilead. 2 When you have come in to there, then look there for Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi. Then you must go in and you must make him rise up from the midst of his brothers. Then you must bring him to a room within a room. 3 Then you must take the flask of oil and you must pour out over his head and you must say, ‘Thus says Yahweh: “I have anointed you as king over Israel.”’ Then you must open the door, and you must flee. So you must not tarry.” 4 So the young man, the prophet young man, went to Ramoth Gilead. 5 Then he came in and look, the princes of the army were sitting. So he said, “A message to me concerning you, O prince.” Then Jehu replied, “To whom among all of us?” Then he said, “To you, O prince.” 6 So he rose up and he came in to the house, and he poured out the oil over his head. Then he said to him, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: ‘I have anointed you as king over the people of Yahweh, over Israel. 7 Indeed, you must strike down the house of Ahab, your master, that I may avenge the bloods of my servants, the prophets, and the bloods of all the servants of Yahweh, by the hand of Jezebel. 8 For all of the house of Ahab will perish, and I will exterminate from Ahab anyone who urinates on a wall, so he is shut off and is abandoned in Israel. 9 Thus I will give up the house of Ahab as the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and as the house of Baasha, the son of Ahijah. 10 Then the dogs will eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, but there will be no burying.’” Then he opened the door and he fled. 11 Then Jehu came out to the servants of his lords, and he said to him, “Is there peace? Why did this one who is mad come to you?” Then he replied to them, “You know the man and his babbling.” 12 However they said, “A lie! Please tell to us.” So he replied, “He said like this and like that to me, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh: “I have anointed you as king over Israel.’”” 13 So they hurried and they took, each one his garment and they set beneath him at the top of the steps. Then they blew with the shofar and they said, “Jehu has become king.” 14 Then Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, plotted together against Joram. Now Joram was guarding in Ramoth Gilead, he and all Israel, from the face of Hazael, the king of Aram. 15 However Joram the king had returned in order to get healed in Jezreel of the wounds that Arameans had stricken, when he was fighting with Hazael, the king of Aram. So Jehu said, “If it is your mindset, let not an escapee go out of the city, in order to go to report in Jezreel.” 16 So Jehu rode and he went to Jezreel because Joram was resting over there. Now Ahaziah, the king of Judah, had gone down to see Joram. 17 Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel, and he saw the company of Jehu at his coming. Then he said, “I am seeing a great company.” So Joram said, “Take a rider, and send out to meet them and say, ‘Is there peace?’” 18 So the rider of the horse went to meet him and he said, “Thus says the king: ‘Is there peace?’” Then Jehu replied, “What is there for you and for peace? Turn around to follow after me.” Then the watchman informed, saying, “The messenger has come to them, but he has not returned.” 19 So he sent out a second rider of a horse, and he came to them and he said, “Thus says the king: ‘Peace.’” Then Jehu replied, “What is there for you and for peace? Turn around to follow after me.” 20 So the watchman informed, saying, “He has come up to them, but he has not returned, and the driving is as the driving of Jehu, the son of Nimshi, for with madness he drives.” 21 Then Joram said, “Get harnessed.” So he harnessed his chariot, and Joram, the king of Israel and Ahaziah, the king of Judah, went forth, each man in his chariot, thus they went forth to meet Jehu. Then they found him at the property of Naboth the Jezreelite. 22 Now it happened upon Joram seeing Jehu, that he said, “Is there peace, Jehu?” Then he replied, “What is the peace, as long as continues the fornications of Jezebel, your mother, and her many sorceries?” 23 So Joram turned his hands and he fled, and he said to Ahaziah, “Treachery, Ahaziah!” 24 Then Jehu filled his hand with the bow and he struck Joram between his arms and the arrow went out from his heart. Then he sank down in his chariot. 25 Then he said to Bidkar, his third man, “Pick up and throw him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. For remember myself and you together riding as teams after Ahab his father, when Yahweh raised this utterance against him: 26 ‘Certainly, have I not seen the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons yesterday, declaration of Yahweh, indeed I will repay to you in this portion, declaration of Yahweh. Therefore, now, pick up and throw him in the portion, according to the word of Yahweh.” 27 When Ahaziah, the king of Judah, saw then he fled the way of the house of the garden. But Jehu pursued after him, and he said, “Also strike him down in the chariot along the ascent of Gur, which is near Ibleam.” Thus he fled to Megiddo but he died there. 28 Then his servants carried him by chariot to Jerusalem and they buried him in his tomb with his fathers in the city of David. 29 Now during the year of the 11th year of Joram, the son of Ahab, Ahaziah began to reign over Judah. 30 When Jehu came to Jezreel, then Jezebel heard. So she applied her eyes with mineral powder, and she made her head beautiful, and she looked down through the window. 31 As Jehu came in the gate, then she said, “Is there peace, Zimri, murderer of his master?” 32 So he lifted up his face to the window and he said, “Who is with me? Who?” Then two, three eunuchs looked down towards him. 33 Then he said, “Throw her down.” So they threw her down, and some of her blood splattered on the wall and on the horses, and they trampled her. 34 Then he went in, and he ate and he drank, and he said, “Please attend to this cursed woman and bury her, for a daughter of a king is she.” 35 So they went to bury her, but they did not find any of her except only the skull, and the feet, and the palms of the hands. 36 So they returned and they reported to him, and he said, “The word of Yahweh it is, that he spoke by the hand of his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘In the portion of Jezreel the dogs will eat the flesh of Jezebel, 37 and the remains of Jezebel will be as dung on the surfaces of the field in the portion of Jezreel, that they will not say, “This is Jezebel.”’” Chapter 10 1 Now Ahab had 70 sons in Samaria. Meanwhile Jehu wrote letters that he sent to Samaria, to the princes of Jezreel, the elders and to the attendants for Ahab, saying, 2 “So, now, at the coming of this letter to you, and with you are the sons of your masters, and with you are the chariot and the horses, and a fortified city and the war equipment, 3 so consider the best and the upright among the sons of your masters and you should install on the throne of his father, and fight on behalf of the house of your masters.” 4 But they were exceedingly exceedingly afraid, and they said, “Look, the two kings did not stand before his face. So how will we stand ourselves?” 5 Then he who was over the house, and who was over the city, and the elders, and the attendants sent to Jehu, saying, “We are your servants, and all that you say to us we will do. We will not make anyone king. Do what is good in your eyes.” 6 Then he wrote a second letter to them, saying, “If you are for me, and you are heeding to my voice, take the heads of the men of the sons of your masters and come to me at this time tomorrow to Jezreel.” Now the sons of the king, 70 men, were with the nobles of the city, who were raising them. 7 Now it happened at the coming of the letter to them, that they took the sons of the king and they slaughtered 70 men, and they put their heads in the baskets, and they sent to him at Jezreel. 8 Then the messenger came and he reported to him, saying, “They have brought the heads of the sons of the king.” So he replied, “Put them in two piles at the entrance of the gate until the morning.” 9 Now it happened in the morning that he went out and he stood up, and he said to all the people, “You are righteous. Look, I myself conspired against my master and I killed him, but who slaughtered all these? 10 Know then, that nothing falls from the word of Yahweh to the ground that Yahweh has spoken concerning the house of Ahab, for Yahweh has done what he spoke through the hand of his servant Elijah.” 11 So Jehu struck down all who were left of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his important ones, and who were acquainted with him, and his priests, until that he did not let a survivor remain for him. 12 Then he arose and he came in and he went to Samaria. He was at Beth Eked of the shepherds along the way, 13 when Jehu found the brothers of Ahaziah, the king of Judah. So he said, “Who are you?” Then they replied, “We are the brothers of Ahaziah, and we have come down regarding the welfare of the sons of the king and the sons of the mighty lady.” 14 So he said, “Capture them alive!” So they captured them alive and they slaughtered them near the well of Beth Eked, 42 men; and he did not leave a man among them. 15 Then he went from there, and he found Jehonadab, the son of Recab, coming to meet him. So he blessed him and he said to him, “Is it sincere with your heart, just as my heart is with your heart?” So Jehonadab replied, “It is.” “Since it is, give your hand.” So he gave his hand, and he lifted him up to himself into the chariot. 16 Then he said, “Come with me and see my zeal for Yahweh.” So they had him ride in his chariot. 17 When he entered Samaria, then he struck down all the ones who were remaining of Ahab in Samaria, until he utterly annihilated him, according to the word of Yahweh, which he had spoken to Elijah. 18 Then Jehu gathered all the people and he said to them, “Ahab served the Baal a little, Jehu will serve him much. 19 Now therefore summon to me all the prophets of the Baal, all his servants, and all his priests. Let not a man be missing, for I have a great sacrifice for the Baal. Anyone who will be missing will not live.” However Jehu acted with deceitfulness, in order to destroy the servants of Baal. 20 Then Jehu said, “Consecrate a festive assembly for the Baal.” So they called out. 21 Then Jehu sent throughout all Israel and all the servants of the Baal came, so not a man was left who had not come. So they entered the house of the Baal, and the house of the Baal was filled edge to edge. 22 Then he said to the one who was over the apparal, “Bring out a garment for all the servants of the Baal.” So he brought out to them the ceremonial clothing. 23 Next Jehu and Jehonadab, the son of Recab, entered the house of the Baal, and he said to the servants of the Baal, “Search and see that there is not here with you among the servants of Yahweh, but only the servants of the Baal by themselves alone.” 24 Then they entered to make sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had placed for himself 80 men at the outside, and he directed, “The man who would let slip away out of the men who I am bringing into your hands, his life will be in place of his life.” 25 Now it happened upon his finishing to perform the burnt offering that Jehu said to the runners and to the third men, “Go in! Strike them down! Do not let a man go forth.” So they struck them with the edge of a sword, and the runners and the third men cast away, and they went up to the fortified area of the house of the Baal. 26 Then they brought out the standing stones of the house of the Baal, and they set it on fire. 27 Also they tore down the standing image of the Baal, and they tore down the house of the Baal and they made it as a cesspit, until this day. 28 Thus Jehu eradicated the Baal from Israel. 29 Only the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, by which he caused Israel to sin, Jehu did not depart from after them, the calves of gold that were in Bethel and that were in Dan. 30 So Yahweh said to Jehu, “Because that you have done well by doing what was right in my eyes, according to all that was in my heart you did to the house of Ahab, sons of fourth ones will sit for you on the throne of Israel.” 31 However Jehu did not take care to walk in the instruction of Yahweh, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from with regard to the sins of Jeroboam, by which he caused Israel to sin. 32 In those days Yahweh began to cut off some of Israel, and Hazael struck them in every border of Israel, 33 from the Jordan towards the rising of the sun, all the land of the Gilead: the Gadite, and the Reubenite, and the Manassite, from Aroer, which is along the valley of Arnon, namely the Gilead along with the Bashan. 34 Also the rest of the matters concerning Jehu, and all that he did, and all his might, are they not written in the scroll of the chronicles of the days of the kings of Israel? 35 Then Jehu slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. Then Jehoahaz his son became king in his place. 36 Thus the days that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria were 28 years. Chapter 11 1 Now Athaliah was the mother of Ahaziah, and she saw that her son had died. So she arose and she destroyed all the offspring of the kingdom. 2 But Jehosheba, the daughter of the King Jehoram, sister of Ahaziah, had taken Joash, the son of Ahaziah, and she secretly brought him away from the midst of the sons of the king who were being put to death, he along with his wet nurse, into the chamber of the bed. Thus they hid him from the face of Athaliah so that he was not killed. 3 Then he was with her in the house of Yahweh, keeping hidden six years, while Athaliah was reigning over the land. 4 Now in the seventh year, Jehoiada sent and he took the princes of the hundreds of the Carite and of the runners, and he brought them to himself at the house of Yahweh. Then he cut with them a covenant, and he made them swear an oath in the house of Yahweh, and he showed them the son of the king. 5 Then he commanded them, by saying, “This is the thing that you must do. The third part of you coming in on the Sabbath also will be keepers of the watch over the house of the king, 6 and the third part will be at the gate of Sur, and the third part at the gate behind the runners. Thus you will keep the watch of the house, alternating.” 7 The two hands among you, all the ones going out on the Sabbath, also they will keep the watch over the house of Yahweh for the king. 8 So you must enircle around the king round about, each man with his weapons in his hand, and the one who comes in to the ranks will be put to death. So be with the king at his going out and at his coming in. 9 So the princes of the hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada the priest had commanded. Then they took, each man with his men, ones coming in on the Sabbath, with ones going out on the Sabbath; and they came to Jehoiada the priest. 10 Then the priest gave to the princes of the hundreds the spears and the shields that belonged to the King David, that were in the house of Yahweh. 11 So the runners stood, each man with his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, to the altar and to the house, around the king round about. 12 Then he brought out the son of the king, and he set the crown on him, and the testimony. Then they installed him as king and they anointed him, and they struck a palm. Also they said, “May the king live!” 13 When Athaliah heard the sound of the runners, the people, then she came to the people at the house of Yahweh. 14 Then she saw, and here was the king standing by the column, according to the custom, and the princes and the trumpeters were near the king. Now all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing on the trumpets. So Athaliah tore her garments and she cried out, “Treason! Treason!” 15 Then Jehoiada the priest ordered the princes of the hundreds, inspectors of the army, and he said to them, “Bring her out to away from inside of the ranks. Now the one who comes after her, surely kill with the sword.” For the priest had said, “Do not let her be put to death in the house of Yahweh.” 16 So they laid hands upon her when she came in the way of the entrance of the horses at the house of the king, and she was put to death there. 17 Then Jehoiada cut the covenant between Yahweh and between the king and between the people, to be as a people for Yahweh, and between the king and between the people. 18 So all the people of the land went into the house of the Baal and they pulled down his altar and his images they smashed into pieces thoroughly. Then they killed Mattan, the priest of the Baal, at the front faces of the altars and the priest set overseers for the house of Yahweh. 19 Then he took the princes of the hundreds, and the Carite, and the runners, and all of the people of the land, and they brought down the king from the house of Yahweh. Then they came in the way of the gate of the runners at the house of the king and he sat on the throne of the kings. 20 So all of the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet, for Athaliah they had put to death with the sword at the house of the king. 21 Joash was a son of seven years upon his beginning to reign. Chapter 12 1 In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash began to reign, and he reigned 40 years in Jerusalem. Now the name of his mother was Zibiah, from Beersheba. 2 Now Joash did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh all of his days, because Jehoiada the priest had instructed him. 3 Only the high places they did not remove. The people still were sacrificing and were burning incense on the high places. 4 Now Joash said to the priests, “All the silver of the sacred purposes, that is brought into the house of Yahweh, silver moving through, each man, the silver of the persons in his estimation, all the silver when it goes up into the heart of a man to bring into the house of Yahweh. 5 the priests should receive for them, each man from his acquaintance, so they will strengthen the breach of the house, in every place where is found there a breach.” 6 Now it had happened that by the year of the 23rd year of the King Joash, the priests had not strengthened the breach of the house. 7 Then the King Joash called for Jehoiada the priest and for the priests, and he said to them, “Why are you not strengthening the breach of the house? So, now, you may not take silver from your acquaintences, but for the breach of the house you should give it.” 8 So the priests were in agreement to not accepting silver from the people and to not strengthening the breach of the house. 9 However, Jehoiada the priest took one wooden container, and he pierced a hole in its lid, and he set it beside the altar, on the right side as anyone is coming into the house of Yahweh. Then the priests, the keepers of the threshold, put in there all the silver that was brought into the house of Yahweh. 10 Now it happened upon their seeing that abundant was the silver in the wooden container, that the scribe of the king and the high priest went up and they bound and they weighed out the silver that was found at the house of Yahweh. 11 Then they gave the silver that was measured out into the hands of the doers of the work, the ones attending to the house of Yahweh, and they brought it out to the fabricators of the wood and to the builders, the ones preparing the house of Yahweh, 12 and to the masons and to the hewers of the stone, and to buy timbers and stones for hewing in order to strengthen the breach of the house of Yahweh, and for all that would come forth for the house for repair. 13 Only for the house of Yahweh bowls of silver, snuffers, basins, trumpets, any vessels of gold or vessels of silver would not be made from the silver that was brought into the house of Yahweh, 14 because they gave it to the doers of the work so they strengthened the house of Yahweh with it. 15 Also, they did not make an accounting with the men who they gave the silver into their hand to give to the doers of the work, for with trustworthiness they were acting. 16 Silver for a guilt offering and the silver for the sin offerings was not brought into the house of Yahweh, they were for the priests. 17 At that time Hazael, the king of Aram, went up and he fought against Gath, and he captured it. Then Hazael set his face to go up against Jerusalem. 18 So Joash, the king of Judah, took all the holy things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, the kings of Judah, had consecrated, and his holy things, and all of the gold that was found in the storerooms of the house of Yahweh and the house of the king and he sent to Hazael, the king of Aram, so he would go up away from against Jerusalem. 19 Now the rest of the matters concerning Joash, and all that he did, are they not written in the scroll of the chronicles of the days of the kings of Judah? 20 Then his servants arose and they plotted a conspiracy, so they struck down Joash at Beth Millo, at the going down to Silla. 21 Then Jozabad, [1] the son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad, the son of Shomer, his servants, struck him, and as a result he died. Then they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, and Amaziah, his son, became king in his place. 12:21 [1] Some ancient manuscripts have Jozacar . Chapter 13 1 During the year of the 23rd year of Joash, the son of Ahaziah, the king of Judah, Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, became king over Israel in Samaria, 17 years. 2 Now he did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh and he walked after the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. He did not turn away from it. 3 As a result the anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel, so he gave them into the hand of Hazael, the king of Aram, and into the hand of Ben Hadad, the son of Hazael, all the days. 4 So Jehoahaz entreated the faces of Yahweh, and Yahweh listened to him because he saw the oppression of Israel, for the king of Aram had oppressed them. 5 So Yahweh gave to Israel a savior, and they came out from beneath the hand of Aram. Then the sons of Israel settled in their tents as previously, aforetime. 6 Nevertheless, they did not turn aside from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who caused Israel to sin, he walked in it and also the Asherah stood in Samaria. 7 For he had not left for Jehoahaz any people, except only 50 horsemen, and ten chariots, and 10,000 footmen, for the king of Aram had destroyed them and he had made them like the dust at threshing. 8 Now the rest of the matters concerning Jehoahaz, and all that he did and his might, are they not written in the scroll of the chronicles of the days of the kings of Israel? 9 Then Jehoahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria, and Johoash his son became king in his place. 10 During the year of the 37th year of Joash, the king of Judah, Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, began to reign over Israel in Samaria, 16 years. 11 Now he did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh. He did not turn aside from all of the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin, he walked in it. 12 Now the rest of the matters concerning Jehoash, and all that he did, and his might, how he fought with Amaziah, the king of Judah, are they not written in the scroll of the chronicles of the days of the kings of Israel? 13 Then Jehoash slept with his fathers, and Jeroboam sat on his throne, and Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. 14 Now Elisha fell sick with his sickness which he would die by it, so Jehoash, the king of Israel went down to him and he wept on his face. Then he said, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” 15 Then Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and some arrows,” so he took to him a bow and some arrows. 16 Next he said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand in place on the bow,” so he put his hand in place. Then Elisha set his hands over the hands of the king. 17 Then he said, “Open the window facing eastward,” so he opened. Then Elisha said, “Shoot!”, so he shot. Then he said, “An arrow of victory for Yahweh and an arrow of victory against Aram, for you will strike down Aram in Aphek until utterly bringing to an end.” 18 Then he said, “Take the arrows,” so he took. Then he said to the king of Israel, “Strike down towards ground,” so he struck three times, and he stopped. 19 However the man of God was angry on account of him and he said, “By striking five or six times, then you would have struck down Aram until utterly bringing to an end, but now three times you will strike Aram.” 20 Now Elisha died, and they buried him. Then the raiders of Moab would come into the land, coming in each year. 21 Now it happened that they were burying a man, and look, they saw the raider, so they threw the man into the grave of Elisha. As the man went and he touched upon the bones of Elisha, then it happened that he rose up onto his feet. 22 Thus Hazael king of Aram oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. 23 However Yahweh showed favor to them, and he had compassion on them so he turned towards them on account of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So did not want to destroy them, and he did not cast them away from before his face until now. 24 Then Hazael, the king of Aram, died and Ben Hadad his son became king in his place. 25 Then Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, returned and he took the cities from the hand of Ben Hadad, the son of Hazael, that he had taken from the hand of Jehoahaz his father in the war. Three times Jehoash had struck him, thus he returned the cities of Israel. Chapter 14 1 In the second year of Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, the king of Israel, Amaziah, the son of Joash, the king of Judah, began to reign. 2 He was a son of 25 years upon his beginning to reign, and he reigned 29 years in Jerusalem. Now the name of his mother was Jehoaddan, from Jerusalem. 3 Now he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, only not like David his father. Like all that Joash, his father, had done, he did. 4 Only the high places were not removed, the people still were sacrificing and burning incense at the high places. 5 Now it happened just as the kingdom became strong in his hand, that he struck down his servants, the ones who had struck down the king, his father. 6 However the sons of the ones striking down he did not put to death, according to what is written in the scroll of the law of Moses, that Yahweh had commanded, by saying, “Fathers may not be put to death on account of sons, and sons may not be put to death on account of fathers. But only each man will be put to death because of his sin.” 7 He struck down Edom in the valley of the Salt, 10,000 and he seized the Sela in the war. Also he called its name Joktheel, until this day. 8 Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, the king of Israel, saying, “Come, we will show each other faces.” 9 But Jehoash, the king of Israel, sent to Amaziah, the king of Judah, saying, “The thorn bush that was in the Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in the Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son for a wife,’ but a beast of the field that was in the Lebanon passed over and it trampled down the thorn bush. 10 Indeed, you have struck Edom, and your heart has lifted you up. Be honored, but stay in your house. For why should you engage yourself with evil that you would fall, you and Judah with you?” 11 But Amaziah did not listen. So Jehoash, the king of Israel, went up and they showed each other faces, he and Amaziah, the king of Judah, at Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah. 12 Then Judah was struck hard before the faces of Israel, and they fled, each man to his tent. 13 Then Jehoash, the king of Israel, captured Amaziah, the king of Judah, the son of Jehoash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh. Next he came to Jerusalem and he broke down the wall of Jerusalem at the Gate of Ephraim up to the Gate of the Corner, 400 cubits. 14 Then he took all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels that had been found in the house of Yahweh, and in the treasuries of the house of the king, and the sons of the pledges. Then he returned to Samaria. 15 Now the rest of the matters concerning Jehoash, what he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah, the king of Judah, are they not written in the scroll of the chronicles of the days of the kings of Israel? 16 Then Jehoash slept with his fathers and he was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel, and Jeroboam, his son, became king in his place. 17 Now Amaziah, the son of Joash, the king of Judah, lived 15 years after the death of Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, the king of Israel. 18 Now the rest of the matters concerning Amaziah, are they not written in the scroll of the chronicles of the days of the kings of Judah? 19 For they had plotted a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, so he had fled to Lachish, but they sent after him to Lachish and they killed him there. 20 Then they carried him on the horses, and he was buried in Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David. 21 Then all the people of Judah took Azariah, when he was a son of 16 years, and they made him king in place of his father Amaziah. 22 He himself built up Elath and he returned it to Judah after the king slept with his fathers. 23 During the year of the 15th year of Amaziah, the son of Joash, the king of Judah, Jeroboam, the son of Jehoash, the king of Israel, began to reign in Samaria, 41 years. 24 Now he did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh. He did not turn away from all the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin. 25 He himself restored the border of Israel from Lebo Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of Yahweh, the God of Israel, which he had spoken by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from the Gath Hepher. 26 For Yahweh saw the affliction of Israel, being exceedingly contentious, along with a cessation of restraining and a cessation of relenting, and there was not a helper for Israel. 27 However Yahweh had not spoken to blot out the name of Israel from under the heavens, instead, he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam, the son of Jehoash. 28 Now the rest of the matters concerning Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he fought and how he restored Damascus and Hamath to Judah in Israel, are they not written in the scroll of the chronicles of the days of the kings of Israel? 29 Then Jeroboam slept with his fathers, with the kings of Israel, and Zechariah his son became king in his place. Chapter 15 1 During the year of the 27th year of Jeroboam, the king of Israel, Azariah the son of Amaziah, the king of Judah, began to reign. 2 He was a son of 16 years upon his beginning to reign, and he reigned 52 years in Jerusalem. Also, the name of his mother was Jekoliah, from Jerusalem. 3 Now he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, like all that Amaziah his father had done. 4 However, the high places were not removed; the people still were sacrificing and burning incense at the high places. 5 Thus Yahweh afflicted the king so he was stricken with leprosy until the day of his death and he lived in the house for the exempt from duties. Then Jotham, the son of the king, was over the house, judging the people of the land. 6 Now the rest of the matters concerning Azariah, and all that he did, are they not written in the scroll of the chronicles of the days of the kings of Judah? 7 Then Azariah slept with his fathers and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David. So Jotham, his son, became king in his place. 8 During the year of the 38th year of Azariah, the king of Judah, Zechariah, the son of Jeroboam, became king over Israel in Samaria, six months. 9 Now he did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh, just as his fathers had done. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. 10 Then Shallum, the son of Jabesh, conspired against him, and he struck him in front of the people, and he killed him. Then he became king in his place. 11 Now the rest of the matters concerning Zechariah, look, they are written in the scroll of the chronicles of the days of the kings of Israel. 12 It was the word of Yahweh that he had spoken to Jehu, by saying, “Sons of fourth will sit for you on the throne of Israel,” and it was so. 13 Shallum, the son of Jabesh, began to reign during the year of the 39th year of Azariah, the king of Judah, and he reigned a lunar month of days in Samaria. 14 Then Menahem, the son of Gadi, went up from Tirzah and he came into Samaria and he struck Shallum, the son of Jabesh in Samaria. Thus he killed him and he became king in his place. 15 Now the rest of the matters concerning Shallum and his conspiracy that he conspired, look, they are written in the scroll of the chronicles of the days of the kings of Israel. 16 Then Menahem struck Tiphsah and all who were in it, and its borders toward Tirzah, because it did not open. So he struck, all its pregnant ones he split open. [1] 17 During the year of the 39th year of Azariah, the king of Judah, Menahem, the son of Gadi, began to reign over Israel, ten years in Samaria. 18 Now he did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin all his days. 19 Pul, the king of Assyria, came against the land, so Menahem gave to Pul 1,000 rounds of silver, for his hands being with him in order to strengthen the kingdom in his hand. 20 Then Menahem brought forth the silver incumbent upon Israel obliging each of the mighty ones of wealth to give to the king of Assyria 50 silver shekels, incumbent upon each one. So the king of Assyria turned back and he did not remain standing there in the land. 21 Now the rest of the matters concerning Menahem, and all that he did, are they not written in the scroll of the chronicles of the days of the kings of Israel? 22 Then Menahem slept with his fathers, and Pekahiah his son became king in his place. 23 During the year of the 50th year of Azariah, the king of Judah, Pekahiah, the son of Menahem, began to reign over Israel in Samaria, two years. 24 Now he did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, that caused Israel to sin. 25 Then Pekah, the son of Remaliah, his officer, conspired against him, and he struck him down in Samaria, in the citadel of the house of the king, along with Argob and with Arieh and with him 50 men of the sons of the Gileadites. Thus he killed him, and he became king in his place. 26 Now the rest of the matters concerning Pekahiah, and all that he did, look, they are written in the scroll of the chronicles of the days of the kings of Israel. 27 During the year of the 52nd year of Azaria, the king of Judah, Pekah, the son of Remaliah, began to reign over Israel in Samaria, 20 years. 28 Also he did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. 29 In the days of Pekah, the king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser, the king of Assyria, came and he took Ijon, and Abel Beth Maacah, and Janoah, and Kedesh,and Hazor, and the Gilead, and the Galilee, all the land of Naphtali and he forced them to exile to Assyria. 30 Then Hoshea, the son of Elah, plotted a conspiracy against Pekah, the son of Remaliah, and he struck him and he killed him. Then he became king in his place, in the 20th year of Jotham, the son of Uzziah. 31 Now the rest of the matters concerning Pekah and all that he did, look, they are written in the scroll of the chronicles of the days of the kings of Israel. 32 In the second year of Pekah, the son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, Jotham, the son of Azariah, the king of Judah, began to reign. 33 He was a son of 25 years upon his beginning to reign and he reigned 16 years in Jerusalem. Also, the name of his mother was Jerushah, the daughter of Zadok. 34 Now he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, like all that Azariah his father had done, he did. 35 However, the high places were not removed. The people still were sacrificing and were burning incense at the high places. He built the upper gate of the house of Yahweh. 36 Now the rest of the matters concerning Jotham that he did, are they not written in the scroll of the chronicles of the days of the kings of Judah? 37 In those days Yahweh began to dispatch Rezin, the king of Aram, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah, against Judah. 38 Then Jotham slept with his fathers and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David, his father. Then Ahaz, his son, began to reign in his place. 15:16 [1] Instead of Tiphsah , one ancient version and some modern versions read, Tappuah . Chapter 16 1 During the year of the 17th year of Pekah, the son of Remaliah, Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the king of Judah, began to reign. 2 Ahaz was a son of 20 years upon his beginning to reign, and he reigned 16 years in Jerusalem. However he did not do what was right in the eyes of Yahweh his God, as David his father. 3 Instead, he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. indeed, he even made his son pass through in the fire, like the abominations of the nations, that Yahweh had driven them out away from the faces of the sons of Israel. 4 Also he sacrificed and he burned incense on the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree. 5 Then Rezin, the king of Aram and Pekah, the son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, were simultaneously coming up to Jerusalem for the battle. Then they layed siege against Ahaz, but they were not able to wage war. 6 At that time, Rezin, the king of Aram, restored Elath to Aram and he drove the Jews out of Elath. Then Arameans came to Elath and they have lived there to this day. 7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser, the king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and deliver me from the palm of the king of Aram and from the palm of the king of Israel, who have risen up against me.” 8 So Ahaz took the silver and the gold that was found in the house of Yahweh and in the treasuries of the house of the king and he sent a bribe to the king of Assyria. 9 Then the king of Assyria listened to him, so the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and he seized it and he led it into exile to Kir. He also killed Rezin. 10 Then the King, Ahaz, went to meet Tiglath-Pileser, the king of Assyria, at Damascus, and he saw the altar that was in Damascus. So the King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest the plan of the altar and its pattern for all its design. 11 So Uriah the priest built the altar according to all that the King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. Thus Uriah the priest did while the King Ahaz was coming from Damascus. 12 When the king came from Damascus, the king saw the altar. So the king came near to the altar and he offered up on it. 13 Then he made his burnt offering and his grain offering rise in smoke, and he poured out his drink offering, and he sprinkled the blood of the peace offerings that were for him on the altar. 14 Then the bronze altar that was before the faces of Yahweh, also he brought near from the front face of the house, from between the altar and from between the house of Yahweh and he put it on the side of altar towards north. 15 Then the King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, saying, “On the large altar make the burnt offering of the morning and the grain offering of the evening, and the burnt offering of the king and his grain offering, and the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offerings rise in smoke. Also you will sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all blood of sacrifice. But the bronze altar will be for me to seek.” 16 So Uriah the priest did according to all that the King Ahaz had commanded. 17 Then the King Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases and he removed the wash bowl from upon them. Also he took down the sea from upon the bronze oxen that were beneath it and he put it on pavement of stones. 18 Also he removed the covered walkway for the Sabbath that they had built at the house, and the outer entrance of the king from the house of Yahweh, because of the face of the king of Assyria. 19 Now the rest of the matters concerning Ahaz that he did, are they not written in the scroll of the chronicles of the days of the kings of Judah? 20 Then Ahaz slept with his fathers and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David. Then Hezekiah his son became king in his place. Chapter 17 1 In the 12th year of Ahaz, the king of Judah, Hoshea, the son of Elah, began to reign in Samaria over Israel, nine years. 2 Now he did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh, only not as the kings of Israel who were before him. 3 Shalmaneser, the king of Assyria, came up against him, and Hoshea became a servant for him and he brought back tribute to him. 4 Then the king of Assyria found in Hoshea a conspiracy, that he had sent messengers to So, the king of Egypt and he had not brought up tribute to the king of Assyria, as year by year. So the king of Assyria restrained him and he bound him in a house of confinement. 5 Then the king of Assyria came up against all the land, and he came up to Samaria and he besieged around it three years. 6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and he exiled Israel to Assyria. Then he had them live in Halah, and along Habor, the River of Gozan, and the cities of Media. 7 Now it happened because the sons of Israel had sinned against Yahweh, their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Also they had feared other gods, 8 and they walked in the statutes of the nations, whom Yahweh had dispossessed away from the faces of the sons of Israel, and the kings of Israel, that they had made. 9 Now the sons of Israel did things in secret against Yahweh their God that were not right. Moreover they built for themselves high places in all their cities, from a tower for watchmen to a city with fortification. 10 They also erected standing stones and Asherah poles for themselves on every high hill and under every flourishing tree. 11 They burned incense there in all high places, like the nations that Yahweh had exiled away from their faces, and they did evil things to provoke Yahweh to anger. 12 They even the served idols, about which Yahweh had said to them, “You must not do this thing.” 13 Yet Yahweh had brought warnings against Israel and against Judah by the hand of all of his prophets, every seer, by saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments, my statutes, according to all of the instruction that I have commanded your fathers, and that I have sent to you by the hand of my servants the prophets.” 14 But they did not heed and they hardened their necks as the necks of their fathers who did not put trust in Yahweh their God. 15 Thus they rejected his statutes and his covenant that he had cut with their fathers, and his testimonies that he had admonished against them. So they walked after what was vanity and they became vain, and after the nations that were around them, that Yahweh had commanded them to not act like them. 16 Then they abadoned all the commandments of Yahweh their God, and they made molten metal for themselves, two calves. Also they made an Asherah pole, and they bowed down to all the host of the heavens and they served the Baal. 17 They even made their sons and their daughters pass through in the fire. Also they divined information by sorceries and hissing magic spells. Thus they sold themselves over by doing what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh, as a result provoking him to anger. 18 Therefore Yahweh became exceedingly enraged at Israel so he removed them away from his faces. None was left except for the tribe of Judah by itself. 19 Even Judah did not keep the commandments of Yahweh their God, and they walked in the statutes of Israel that they had made. 20 So Yahweh rejected all the seed of Israel, so he afflicted them and he gave them into the hand of plunderers, until that he had cast them away from his faces. 21 For he tore Israel away from the house of David, and they made Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, king. Then Jeroboam seduced Israel away from following after Yahweh and he made them sin a great sin. 22 So the sons of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam, that he did. They did not turn away from it, 23 until that Yahweh removed Israel away from his faces, according to what he had spoken by the hand of all his servants the prophets. Thus Israel went into exile away from its land to Assyria, to this day. 24 Then the king of Assyria brought in from Babylon and from Kuthah, and from Avva, and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, that he had settle in the cities of Samaria in place of the sons of Israel. So they took possession of Samaria and they lived in its cities. 25 Now it happened at the beginning of their living there, they did not revere Yahweh. So Yahweh sent the lions among them and they were killing among them. 26 So they said to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations that you have exiled and you have settled in the cities of Samaria do not know the judgments of the gods of the land. So he has sent the lions against them, and, look, they are killing them just because none of them know the judgments of the gods of the land.” 27 So the king of Assyria commanded, by saying, “Have one of the priests go to there whom you have exiled from there, so they will go and they will settle there. Then they will instruct them about the judgments of the gods of the land.” 28 So one of the priests whom they had exiled from Samaria came and he settled in Bethel. Then he was instructing them how they should revere Yahweh. 29 However nation by nation they were making its gods, that they permitted to rest in the house at the high places that the Samaritans had made, nation by nation in their cities where they were settling there. 30 Thus the men of Babylon made Succoth Benoth, and the men of Kuthah made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima, 31 and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak. Also the Sepharvites were burning their sons in the fire to Adrammelek and Anammelek, the gods of Sepharvim. 32 Although they were reverencing Yahweh, however they made for themselves from their divisions priests of high places, and they were performing on their behalf at the house of the high places. 33 They were reverencing Yahweh while their gods they were serving, according to the judgments of the nations that they had exiled them from there. 34 To this day they are acting according to the earlier judgments. They are not reverencing Yahweh, nor are they acting according to their statutes, and their judgments, and according to the instruction and according to the commandments that Yahweh had commanded the sons of Jacob, whom he set his name as Israel, 35 and Yahweh had cut with them a covenant and he had commanded them by saying, “You must not fear other gods, and you must not bow yourselves down to them, and you must not serve them, and you must not sacrifice to them. 36 But only Yahweh, who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm, him you must fear, and to him you must bow yourselves down, and to him you must sacrifice. 37 Also the statutes and the judgments, and the instruction and the commandment that he wrote for you, you must surely take care to do all the days, so you must not revere other gods. 38 Therefore the covenant that I have cut with you, you must not forget, and you must not revere other gods. 39 Surely if Yahweh your God you will revere, then he will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.” 40 But they not heeded,for instead according to their earlier judgments they were behaving. 41 So these nations were reverencing Yahweh while their idols they were serving. Likewise their sons and the sons of their sons, just as their fathers had done, they were doing to this day. Chapter 18 1 Now it happened in the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah, the king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, the king of Judah, began to reign. 2 He was a son of 25 years upon his beginning to reign and he reigned 29 years in Jerusalem. Now the name of his mother was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah. 3 Now he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, like all that David his father had done. 4 He removed the high places, and he shattered the standing stones, and he cut down the Asherah and he crushed to pieces the serpent of bronze that Moses had made, because up to those days the sons of Israel were offering incense to it. However he called it “Nehushtan.” 5 He trusted in Yahweh, the God of Israel, and after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, or who were before him. 6 For he clung to Yahweh, he did not turn away from following him but he kept his commandments, which Yahweh had commanded Moses. 7 So Yahweh was with him. In every way when he went out, he prospered. Also he rebelled against the king of Assyria and he did not serve him. 8 He struck Philistines as far as Gaza and its borders, from a tower of watchmen as well as a fortified city. 9 Now it happened in the fourth year of the King Hezekiah, it was the seventh year of Hoshea, the son of Elah, the king of Israel, Shalmaneser, the king of Assyria, came up against Samaria and he encircled around it. 10 Then they captured it, at the end of three years. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Israel, Samaria was captured. 11 Next the king of Assyria exiled Israel to Assyria and he led them to Halah, and to Habor, the river of Gozan, and Median cities, 12 because that they did not heed the voice of Yahweh their God, but they passed aside his covenant, all that Moses, the servant of Yahweh, had commanded, thus they did not heed and they did not do. 13 Then in the 14th year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and he conquered them. 14 So Hezekiah, the king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria, to Lachish, saying, “I am at fault. Withdraw from against me. Whatever you place upon me, I will bear.” As a result the king of Assyria imposed upon Hezekiah, the king of Judah 300 rounds of silver and 30 rounds of gold. 15 So Hezekiah gave all the silver that was found in the house of Yahweh and in the treasuries of the house of the king. 16 At that time Hezekiah chopped off the doors of the temple of Yahweh and the columns that Hezekiah, the king of Judah, had overlaid, and he gave them to the king of Assyria. 17 Nevertheless the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshaken from Lachish to the King Hezekiah with a heavily armed army to Jerusalem. So they went up and they came to Jerusalem. Then they went up and they came in and they stood at the channel of the upper resevoir, that was along a raised path in a field of a launderer. 18 Then they called out to the King, and Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to them. 19 Then Rabsakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, “What is this confidence in which you have trusted? 20 You have said only a word from lips, a plan and might for battle. Now in whom have you trusted, that you would rebel against me? 21 Now, look, you have trusted for yourself in the staff of this bruised reed in Egypt, which should a man lean on it, it would go into his hand and it would puncture it. Thus is Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to anyone who is trusting in him. 22 But although you say to me, ‘We trust in Yahweh our God,’ is it not he whom Hezekiah has removed his high places and his altars, and he has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘Before this altar you must bow down in Jerusalem?’” 23 So now, I insist, make a pledge with my master, with the king of Assyria, and I will give to you 2000 horses, if you are able to provide for yourself riders for them. 24 So how would you repel the faces of the captain of one of the least servants of my master? Yet you trust for yourself in Egypt for chariotry and horsemen! 25 Now even without Yahweh have I come up against this place in order to destroy it? Yahweh said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’” 26 Then Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah said to Rabshekah, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we are listening. So do not speak Judean with us in the ears of the people who are on the wall.” 27 But Rabshekah said to them, “Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words? Is it not for the men who are sitting on the wall, about to eat their excrement and to drink their urine with you?” 28 Then Rabshekah stood up and he cried out in a loud voice in Judean, and he spoke and he said, “Listen to the word of the great king, the king of Assyria. 29 Thus says the king, ‘Do not let Hezekiah cause deception for yourselves, for he is not be able to pull you out of his hand. 30 Also do not let Hezekiah make you trust in Yahweh, by saying, ‘Yahweh will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ 31 Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make a blessing with me and come out to me. Then eat, each man from his vine, and each man from his fig tree, and drink, each man from the waters of his well, 32 until my coming. Then I will take you to a land like your land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive tree for fresh oil, and honey. Therefore live, and do not die.’ So do not listen to Hezekiah when he makes you persuaded by saying, ‘Yahweh will deliver us.’ 33 Indeed, has any gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Indeed, have they rescued Samaria out of my hand? 35 Who is among all the gods of the lands that has delivered their land from my hand? Indeed, will Yahweh deliver Jerusalem from my hand?” 36 But the people remained silent and they did not answer him a word, for it was a commandment of the king by saying, “You must not answer him".” 37 Then Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna, the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah being torn of garments, and they reported to him the words of Rabshekah. Chapter 19 1 Now it happened upon the King Hezekiah hearing, that he tore his garments, and he covered himself with sackcloth, and he went into the house of Yahweh. 2 Then he sent Eliakim, who was over the house, and Shebna, the scribe, and the elders of the priests, coverering themselves with sackcloth, to Isaiah, the prophet, the son of Amoz. 3 Then they said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a day of distress, and rebuke, and humiliation, for sons have come to the birth canal, but there is no strength for childbirth. 4 Perhaps Yahweh your God will hear all the words of Rabshekah, because the king of Assyria his master, sent him to defy the living God, and he will decide about the words that Yahweh your God has heard. Now you should lift up a prayer on behalf of the remnant that is found.’” 5 So the servants of the King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6 and Isaiah said to them, “Thus you will surely say to your master: ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Do not be afraid in the face of the words that you have heard, because the young men of the king of Assyria have reviled me. 7 Look, I am dispensing a spirit upon him, so he will hear a report. Then he will return to his land and I will make him fall by the sword in his land.”’” 8 Then Rabshekah returned and he found the king of Assyria was fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that he had journeyed away from Lachish. 9 When he heard concerning Tirhakah, the king of Cush being said, “look, he has gone forth to fight with you,” as a result he returned and he sent messengers to Hezekiah saying: 10 “Thus you will surely say to Hezekiah, the king of Judah, saying ‘Do not let your God whom you are trusting in him make you deceived, by saying, “Jerusalem will not be given over into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 11 Look, you yourself have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands by destroying them. However you yourself will be delivered? 12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them, when my fathers annihilated Gozan, or Haran, or Rezeph, or the sons of Eden who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’” 14 Then Hezekiah took the letters from the hand of the messengers and he read them. Afterwards he went up to the house of Yahweh and Hezekiah spread it out before the faces of Yahweh. 15 Then Hezekiah prayed before the faces of Yahweh and he said, “O Yahweh, the God of Israel, dwelling amid the cherubim, you are he, the true God, you alone are over all the kingdoms of the earth. You yourself made the heavens and the earth. 16 Incline your ear, O Yahweh, and hear. Open your eyes, Yahweh, and see, and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to taunt the living God. 17 Truly, O Yahweh, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their land. 18 Also they have put their gods into the fire, for they are not gods but rather a work of hands of man, some wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. 19 So now, O Yahweh our God, deliver us please from his hand, so all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you, Yahweh, are God, you alone.” 20 Then Isaiah, the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, I have listened attentively. 21 This is the word that Yahweh has spoken about him: “A maiden, the daughter of Zion has contempt for you, has derision for you. The daughter of Jerusalem shakes a head at you. 22 Whom have you taunted and have you reviled? And against whom have you raised a voice and have you lifted your eyes upward? Against the Holy One of Israel! 23 By the hand of your messengers you have defiled my Lord, and you have said, ‘With the multitude of my chariotry I myself have gone up to heights of mountains, the remotest parts of Lebanon. Then I will cut down the tallest of its cedars, the choicest of its cypress trees. Thus I may enter into its remotest lodging place, the thicket of its orchards. 24 I myself have dug and I have drunk foreign waters. Indeed, I have dried up all the rivers of Egypt with the sole of my footstep.’ 25 Have you not heard for long ago I designed it, for from days of old that I formed it? Now I have brought it and it will happen by laying waste, fortified cities being devastated into ruins. 26 Meanwhile, their inhabitants, being deficient of hand, they were in panic and they were ashamed. They were an herb of a field, or a vegetable in sprout, grass on roofs or blighted before being a stalk. 27 But I know your sitting down, and your going out, and your coming in, and your raging against me. 28 Because of your raging against me, and your arrogance has come up into my ears, now I will put my ring in your nose, and my bit in your lips. So I will turn you back on the way that you have come on it.” 29 Now this will be the sign for you: this year eating only what grows on its own, and in the second year aftergrowth. But in the third year you must sow and you must harvest, and you must plant vineyards and you must eat their fruit. 30 Then the escaped portion of the house of Judah who are remaining will again be a root going downward and it will make fruit going upward. 31 For out of Jerusalem a remnant will come forth, and an escaped portion from Mount Zion. The zeal of Yahweh will accomplish this. 32 Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning the king of Assyria: “He will not enter into this city and he will not shoot an arrow there. Indeed, he will not confront it with shield, and he will not pour out a siege ramp against it. 33 By the way which he comes, by it he will return, and he will not enter into this city, the declaration of Yahweh, 34 For I will cover over this city in order to save it, for my sake and for the sake of David, my servant.’” 35 Now it happened during that night that the messenger of Yahweh went forth and he struck against the camp of Assyria, 185,000. When they arose early in the morning, indeed, look, all of them dead bodies. 36 So he journeyed, and he went and Sennacherib, the king of Assyria returned and he stayed in Nineveh. 37 Now it happened as he was bowing down at the house of Nisrok, his gods, that Adrammelek and Sharezer struck him down with the sword. Then they escaped into the land of Ararat, and Esarhaddon his son became king in his place. Chapter 20 1 In those days Hezekiah became sick, about to die when Isaiah, the son of Amoz, the prophet, came to him, and he said to him, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Give instruction to your house, for you are dying, and you will not live.’” 2 Then he turned his face to the wall and he prayed to Yahweh, saying, 3 “I pray, O Yahweh, please remember how I walked about before your face in faithfulness and a whole heart, and the good in your eyes I have done.” Then Hezekiah wept a loud weeping. 4 Now it happened Isaiah had not gone out to the middle courtyard when the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, 5 “Turn back, and you must say to Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears. Here I am, a healer for you. On the third day you will go up to the house of Yahweh. 6 Now I will add 15 years to your days, and I will rescue you and this city from the palm of the king of Assyria. Indeed I will hedge about this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.”’” 7 Then Isaiah said, “Take a pressed cake of figs.” So they took and they set on the inflamed spot, and he recovered. 8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What is the sign that Yahweh will heal for me, so I will go up to the house of Yahweh on the third day?” 9 So Isaiah replied, “This will be the sign for you from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do the thing that he has spoken. Has the shadow gone forward ten steps, or it will turn back ten steps?” 10 Then Hezekiah said, “It is easy for the shadow to go down ten steps. No, rather the shadow should turn backward ten steps.” 11 So Isaiah the prophet cried out to Yahweh, and he reversed the shadow on the steps so that it went down on the steps of Ahaz backwards ten steps. 12 At that time Berodak-Baladan, the son of Baladan, the king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had become sick. 13 Now Hezekiah heeded to them, and he showed them all his storehouse of value: the silver and the gold, and the spices and the best oil, and the storehouse of his armanents, and all that was found in his storehouses. There was not anything that Hezekiah did not show them, in his house or in all his realm. 14 Then Isaiah the prophet came to the king Hezekiah and he said to him, “What did these men say, and from where are they coming to you?” So Hezekiah replied, “They have come from a distant land, from Babylon.” 15 Then he said, “What did they see in your house?” So Hezekiah replied, “They have seen everything that is in my house. There was not anyhing that I have not shown them in my storehouses.” 16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of Yahweh: 17 ‘Look, days are coming when everything that is in your house, and that your fathers stored away to this day, will be carried to Babylon. Not anything will be left, says Yahweh. 18 Also from your sons who will come forth from you, who you will father, they will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’” 19 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “Good is the word of Yahweh that you have spoken.” For he said, “Is it not, if there will be peace and stability in my days?” 20 Now the rest of the matters of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made the resevoir and the tunnel, and he brought the waters into the city, are they not written in the scroll of the chronicles of the days of the kings of Judah? 21 So Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son became king in his place. Chapter 21 1 Now Manasseh was a son of 12 years upon his beginning to reign, and he reigned 55 years in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother was Hephzibah. 2 Now he did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh, like the abominations of the nations that Yahweh had driven out away from the faces of the sons of Israel. 3 For he turned back, and he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he set up altars for Baal, and he made an Asherah pole, just as Ahab, the king of Israel, had done, and he bowed down to all the host of the heavens and he served them. 4 He also built altars in the house of Yahweh, where Yahweh had said, “In Jerusalem I will place my.” 5 He also built altars for all the host of the heavens in the two courts of the house of Yahweh. 6 He even made his son pass through in the fire, and he interpreted clouds as sorcery and he practiced divination and he practiced seeking information from the dead and conjurers. He escalated to do this evil in the eyes of Yahweh, thus provoking anger. 7 Then he placed the idol of the Asherah, that he had made, in the house about which Yahweh had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will place my name for forever. 8 Also I would not permit anymore to make the foot of Israel wander away from the ground that I gave to their fathers, if only they would take care to do according to all that I have commanded them, and to all the instruction that my servant Moses commanded them.” 9 But they did not listen, and Manasseh led them astray by doing what was evil, more than the nations that Yahweh had destroyed before the faces of the sons of Israel. 10 So Yahweh spoke by the hand of his servants the prophets, by saying, 11 “By reason that Manasseh, the king of Judah, has done these abominations, that which is evil, more than all that the Amorite who was before him had done, and he has also made Judah sin with its idols, 12 therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: Look, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah that all hearing it, his two ears will quiver. 13 So I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, and the plumb bob of the house of Ahab. I will wipe Jerusalem just as one wipes a bowl, he wipes and it turns on its face. 14 Indeed I will leave the remnant of my inheritance alone and I will give them into the hand of their enemies. Thus they will be for spoil and for plunder for all their enemies, 15 by reason that they have done what is evil in my eyes, and they have been provoking me to anger from the day that their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even to this day.” 16 Indeed, Manasseh even poured out exceedingly much innocent blood, until that he had filled Jerusalem mouth to mouth, beside his sinfulness that he made Judah sin by doing what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh. 17 Now the rest of the matters concerning Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the scroll of the chronicles of the days of the kings of Judah? 18 Then Manasseh slept with his fathers and he was buried in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza. Then Amon his son became king in his place. 19 Amon was a son of 22 years upon his becoming king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. Now the name of his mother was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz from Jotbah. 20 Now he did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh, just as Manasseh his father had done. 21 For he walked in all the way that his father had walked and he served the idols that his father had served, and he bowed down to them. 22 Thus he abandoned Yahweh, the God of his fathers, and he did not walk in the way of Yahweh. 23 Then the servants of Amon conspired against him and they put the king to death in his house. 24 However the people of the land struck down all who were conspiring against the King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place. 25 As for the rest of the matters concerning Amon that he did, are they not written in the scroll of the chronicles of the days of the kings of Judah? 26 Thus he buried him in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son became king in his place. Chapter 22 1 Josiah was a son of eight years upon his beginning to reign, and he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem. Now the name of his mother was Yedidah, the daughter of Adaiah from Bozkath. 2 Now he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh. Indeed he walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn away, right or left. 3 Now it happened in the 18th year of the king Josiah, the king sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of Yahweh, saying, 4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest so he will use up the silver that has been brought into the house of Yahweh, which the keepers of the threshhold have gathered from the people. 5 Then let it be given into the hand of the ones doing the work, the ones overseeing at the house of Yahweh, so they will give it to the ones doing the work who are in the house of Yahweh, to strengthen the breach of the house, 6 to the craftsmen, and to the builders, and to the masons, also to buy timbers and stones from a quarry in order to strengthen the house.” 7 However the silver that was given into their hand was not accounted for by them, because they acted with trustworthiness. 8 Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the scroll of the instruction in the house of Yahweh.” So Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan, and he read it. 9 Then Shaphan the scribe came in to the king and he returned a report to the king, and he said, “Your servants have poured out the silver that was found in the house and they have given it into the hand of the ones doing the work, the ones overseeing the house of Yahweh.” 10 Then Shaphan the scribe explained to the king by saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given to me a scroll.” Then Shaphan read it in the presence of the king. 11 Now it happened upon the king hearing the words in the scroll of the instruction, that he tore his garments. 12 Then the king commanded Hilkiah, the priest, and Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Akbor, the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan, the scribe, and Asaiah, the servant of the king, by saying, 13 “Go! Inquire of Yahweh, on behalf of me, and on behalf of the people, and on behalf of all Judah, concerning the words of this scroll that has been found. For great is the wrath of Yahweh because it has been kindled against us by reason that our fathers did not heed to the words of this scroll by doing according to all that was written for us.” 14 So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Akbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah, the prophetess, the wife of Shallum, the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the keeper of the garments. Now she was living in Jerusalem in the second part, and they spoke to her. 15 Then she said to them, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: ‘Say to the man who sent you to me, 16 “Thus says Yahweh: ‘Look, I am bringing disaster to this place and to its inhabitants, all the things in the scroll that the king of Judah has read. 17 Because that they have forsaken me and they have burned incense to other gods, thus provoking me to anger with all the works of their hands, therefore my wrath is kindled against this place, and it will not go out.’” 18 But to the king of Judah, the one sending you to inquire of Yahweh, thus you must say to him: “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: ‘The things that you have heard, 19 because your heart became tender, and you have humbled yourself before the presence of Yahweh, upon your hearing what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, to become into a horror and as a curse, and you have torn your garments and you have wept before my face, so also I have heard, an utterance of Yahweh. 20 So therefore, I am gathering you to your fathers, indeed you will be gathered to your sepulchers in peace. Thus your eyes will not look upon all the disaster that I am bringing upon this place.’”’” So they brought the king back a message. Chapter 23 1 As a result the king sent and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 Then the king went up to the house of Yahweh, and every man of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both from small and to great. Next he read in their ears all the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been found in the house of Yahweh. 3 Then the king stood by the pillar and he cut the covenant in the presence of Yahweh, to walk after Yahweh and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with a whole heart and with a whole being, in order to perpetuate the words of this covenant that were written in this scroll. So all the people stood by the covenant. 4 Next the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order and the keepers of the threshhold to bring out of the temple of Yahweh all the vessels that were made for the Baal and for the Asherah, and for all the host of the heavens. Then he burned them towards outside of Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and he carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 Also he made the pagan priests cease, whom the kings of Judah had designated so he burned incense at the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places around Jerusalem, and who were burning incense to the Baal, and to the sun, and to the moon, and to the constellations of the zodiac, and to all the host of the heavens. 6 Then he brought out the Asherah pole from the house of Yahweh, to outside of Jerusalem to the wadi Kidron and he burned it in the wadi Kidron. Then he made a powder of dust and he threw its dust over the burial area of the sons of the people. 7 He also tore down the houses for the male temple prostitutes that were by the house of Yahweh, where the women were weaving houses for Asherah there. 8 Then he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah and he defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense on there, from Geba as far as Beersheba. He also tore down the high places at the gates that were along the entrance of the gate of Joshua, the prince of the city, that were at the left side of anyone at the gate of the city. 9 Although the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of Yahweh in Jerusalem, nevertheless they still ate unleavened bread in the midst of their brothers. 10 He also defiled the Topheth, which was in the Valley of the son of Hinnom, so as not to allow anyone to make his son or his daugther pass through the fire to the Molech. 11 Then he put an end to the horses that the kings of Judah had given over to the sun, away from coming into the house of Yahweh, to the chamber of Nathan-Melek, the eunich, that was in the annex. He also burned the chariots of the sun in the fire. 12 Also the king tore down the altars that were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, that the kings of Judah had made, and the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of Yahweh. Then he ran from there and he threw their dust into the wadi Kidron. 13 Also the king defiled the high places that were on the front face of Jerusalem, that were at the right of the mount of corruption that Solomon, the king of Israel, had built for Ashtoreth, the detestable idol of the Sidonians and for Chemosh, the detestable idol of Moab, and for Milcom, the abomination of the sons of Ammon. 14 Then he broke the standing pillars into pieces and cut down the Asherah poles and he filled their places with human bones. 15 Then he also tore down the altar that was at Bethel, the high place that Jeroboam, the son of Nebat had made, by which he had caused Israel to sin, both that altar and the high place he burned down. He pulverized the high place into dust and he burned an Asherah pole. 16 When Josiah turned and he saw the graves that were there on the hillside, then he sent out and he took the bones from the graves. Then he burned on the altar, thus he defiled it according to the word of Yahweh which the man of God had proclaimed, who had proclaimed these things. 17 Then he said, “What is this monument that I am seeing?” So the men of the city replied to him, “The grave of the man of God who came from Judah and he proclaimed these things that you have done against the altar of Bethel.” 18 So he said, “Allow rest for him. Let not anyone disturb his bones.” So they preserved his bones, along with the bones of the prophet who had come from Samaria. 19 Then Josiah also removed all the shrines on the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, that the kings of Israel had made, thus provoking to anger. So he did to them like all the deeds that he did at Bethel. 20 Then he slaughtered all the priests of the high places who were there on the altars and he burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem. 21 Then the king commanded all the people, by saying, “Do Passover for Yahweh your God, according to what is written in this scroll of the covenant.” 22 For it had not been done as this Passover since the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor all the days of the kings of Israel or the kings of Judah. 23 But truly in the 18th year of the King Josiah, this Passover was done for Yahweh in Jerusalem. 24 Now Josiah also destroyed in blazing fury the women sorcerers who talked with the dead and those with familiar spirits and the household idols, and the idol images and all the detestable idols that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, so as to perpetuate the words of the instruction that were written in the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had found in the house of Yahweh. 25 Now before him there was not a king like him, who had turned to Yahweh with all his heart, and with all his being, and with all his might, in accordance with all the instruction of Moses, neither after him none had arisen like him. 26 Nevertheless, Yahweh did not turn away from the burning fury of his great anger, with which his anger kindled against Judah because of all the offences that Manasseh had provoked him to anger. 27 So Yahweh said, “I will also remove Judah away from my faces, just as I have removed Israel, and I will reject this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, ‘My name will be there.’” 28 Now the rest of the matters concerning Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the scroll of the chronicles of the days of the kings of Judah? 29 In his days, Pharaoh Necho, the king of Egypt, had gone up against the king of Assyria at the Euphrates River, and the King Josiah had gone to meet him. But he killed him at Megiddo upon his seeing him. 30 So his servants had him ride dying in a chariot from Megiddo, and they brought him to Jerusalem, and they buried him in his grave. Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, and they anointed him, and they made him king in place of his father. 31 Jehoahaz was a son of 23 years upon his becoming king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. Now the name of his mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah. 32 Now he did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh, like everything that his fathers had done. 33 Then Pharaoh Necho bound him at Riblah in the land of Hamath, away from reigning in Jerusalem. Then he instituted a fine against the land, 100 rounds of silver and a round of gold. 34 Then Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim, the son of Josiah, king in place of Josiah his father, and he turned his name into Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz and he came into Egypt, and he died there. 35 Now the silver and the gold Jehoiakim gave to Pharaoh. Only he assessed the land in order to give the silver according to the mouth of Pharoah, each man according to his assessment, he extracted forcibly, the silver and the gold, the people of the land in order to give to Pharoah Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was a son of 25 years upon his beginning to reign, and he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. Now the name of his mother was Zebidah, the daughter of Pedaiah from Rumah. 37 However he did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh, like everything that his fathers had done. Chapter 24 1 In his days, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came up, and Jehoiakim became a servant to him, three years. Then he turned back and he rebelled against him. 2 Then Yahweh sent against him raiding bands of Chaldeans, and raiding bands from Aram, and raiding bands from Moab, and raiding bands of the sons of Ammon. Now he sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of Yahweh that he had spoken by the hand of his servants, the prophets. 3 Certainly it was according to the mouth of Yahweh against Judah, to remove out away from his faces, because of the sins of Manasseh, in accordance with all that he had done, [1] 4 and also innocent blood that he had spilled, and he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, so Yahweh was not willing to forgive. 5 Now the rest of the matters concerning Jehoiakim, and all that he did, are they not written in the scroll of the chronicles of the days of the kings of Judah? 6 Then Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son became king in his place. 7 Then king of Egypt did not continue again to go forth out of his land, because the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt as far as the Euphrates River, everything that had been belonging to the king of Egypt. 8 Jehoiachin was a son of 18 years upon his beginning to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. Now the name of his mother was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan from Jerusalem. 9 Now he did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh, like all that his father had done. 10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came up against Jerusalem and the city came into the state of besiegement. 11 Then Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came to the city while his servants were besieging it, 12 and Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his eunuchs. So the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reigning. 13 Then he brought out from there all the valuables in the house of Yahweh, and the valuables in the house of the king, and he cut into pieces all the vessels of gold that Solomon, the king of Israel, had made in the temple of Yahweh, just as Yahweh had spoken. 14 Then he led into exile all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighy ones of the army, exiling 10,000, and all of the skilled worker and the smith. No one was left except the poorest of the people of the land. 15 Thus he exiled Jehoiachin into Babylon, along with the mother of the king, and the wives of the king, and his eunuchs, and the mighy ones of the land, he led an exile from Jerusalem into Babylon. 16 Also all of the men of the army, 7,000, and the skilled workman, and the smith, 1,000, that all were mighty ones, who were experienced in warfare, however the king of Babylon brought them into exile at Babylon. 17 Now the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, his uncle, king in his place, and he turned his name into Zedekiah. 18 Zedekiah was a son of 21 years upon his beginning to reign and he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. Now the name of his mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. 19 Now he did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh like everything that Jehoiakim had done. 20 For because of the anger of Yahweh it happened in Jerusalem and in Judah, until he cast them out away from his faces. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 24:3 [1] Some versions read, It was certainly because of the wrath of Yahweh . Chapter 25 1 Now it happened in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon came, he along with all his army against Jerusalem. Then he encamped around it, and they built a siege wall up to it all around. 2 Thus the city came under the seige until the eleventh year of the king Zedekiah. 3 On the ninth of the month, then the famine took hold in the city so there was not bread for the people of the land. 4 Then the city was breached, and all the men of the battle during the night were at a path at a gate between the two walls, that were along the garden of the king. Now Chaldeans were upon the city all around, yet he went the way of the Arabah. 5 However the army of Chaldeans pursued after the king and they overtook him in the desert-plain near Jericho, as a result all his army was scattered away from him. 6 Thus they seized the king and they brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they pronounced judgment upon him. 7 Now they slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, then he put out the eyes of Zedikiah, and he bound him with two bronze chains, and he brought him to Babylon. 8 Now in the fifth month, on the seventh of the month, it was in the 19th year, the year of the king Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, chief of executioners, the servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9 Then he burned the house of Yahweh, and the house of the king, and all the houses of Jerusalem, indeed, every great house he burned in the fire. 10 Also all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the chief of executioners, tore down the walls of Jerusalem all around. 11 Now the rest of the people who had been left in the city, and the fallen ones, who had fallen to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan, chief of executioners, led away into exile. 12 But the chief of executioners did let some of the poorest of the land remain for vinedressers and for tillers. 13 Now the pillars of bronze that were in the house of Yahweh, and the pedestals and the sea of bronze that were in the house of Yahweh, the Chaldeans broke into pieces and they carried their bronze to Babylon. 14 Also the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of bronze that they were ministering with them, they took. 15 Even the firepans and the bowls that were purest gold, and that were purest silver, the chief of executioners took. 16 The two pillars, the one sea, and the pedestals that Solomon had made for the house of Yahweh, there could not be a weighing on account of the bronze of all these vessels. 17 18 in cubit was the height of the first pillar, and the capital on it was bronze. Now the height of the capital was three cubits, with latticework and pomegranates on the capital all around, that was entirely bronze. Also just as these were on the second pillar corresponding to the latticework. 18 Also the chief of the executioners took Seraiah the high priest, along with Zephaniah, a second priest, and the three keepers of the threshhold. 19 Then from the city he took one eunuch because he was an officer over the men of the battle, and five men from those seeing the faces of the king, who were found in the city and the scribe, the prince of the host, the one who drafted the people of the land, and 60, each man out of the people of the land who were found in the city. 20 Then Nebuzaradan, the chief of the executioners, took them and he had them go to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21 However the king of Babylon struck them down and he put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah went into exile out away from its land. 22 Now the people who were remaining in the land of Judah, who Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon had allowed to remain, he even appointed Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, over them. 23 When all the princes of the armies, they and the men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, then they came to Gedaliah at the Mizpah with Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan, the son of Kareah, and Seraiah, the son of Tanhumeth, the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah, the son of the Maakathite, they and their men. 24 Then Gedaliah swore an oath to them and to their men, and he said to them, “Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and he will be good to you.” 25 But it happened in the seventh month Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, from the seed of the royalty, came with ten men with him and he struck down Gedaliah and as a result he died, along with the Judeans and the Chaldeans who were with him at the Mizpah. 26 Then all the people, from least and up to great, and the princes of the troops, arose and they entered Egypt, because they were afraid of the faces of the Chaldeans. 27 Now it happened in the 37th year of the exile of Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, in the 12th month, on the 27th of the month, Awel-Marduk, the king of Babylon, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, out of the house of imprisonment, in the year of his beginning to reign. 28 Then he spoke kindly with him and he set his seat higher than the seat of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 He also changed his garments of imprisonment, and he would eat bread continually in his presence all the days of his life. 30 Even his meal allowance was a regular meal allowance. A provision of a day in its day was given to him from the king all the days of his life. 1 Chronicles Chapter 1 1 Adam, Seth, Enosh, 2 Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, 3 Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, 4 Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. [1] 5 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshek, and Tiras. 6 And the sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, and Diphath, and Togarmah. [2] 7 And the sons of Javan: Elishah, and Tarshish, the Kittites, and the Rodanites. 8 The sons of Ham: Cush and Egypt, Put and Canaan. 9 And the sons of Cush: Seba, and Havilah, and Sabta, and Raamah, and Sabteka. And the sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. 10 And Cush fathered Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. 11 And Egypt fathered the Ludites, and the Anamites, and the Lehabites, and the Naphtuhites, 12 and the Pathrusites, and the Kasluhites (from whom the Philistines came), and the Caphtorites. 13 And Canaan fathered Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth, 14 and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, and the Girgashites, 15 and the Hivites, and the Arkites, and the Sinites, 16 and the Arvadites, and the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. 17 The sons of Shem: Elam, and Ashur, and Arpachshad, and Lud, and Aram, and Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Meshek. 18 And Arpachshad fathered Shelah, and Shelah fathered Eber. 19 And to Eber were born two sons. The name of the one, Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided. And the name of his brother, Joktan. 20 And Joktan fathered Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah, 21 and Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah, 22 and Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba, 23 and Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab; all these, the sons of Joktan. 24 Shem, Arpachshad, Shelah, 25 Eber, Peleg, Reu, 26 Serug, Nahor, Terah, 27 Abram, that is, Abraham. 28 The sons of Abraham: Isaac and Ishmael. 29 These, their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth; then Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, 30 Mishma, and Dumah, Massa, Hadad, and Tema, 31 Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These were the sons of Ishmael. 32 And the sons of Keturah, the concubine of Abraham: she bore Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. And the sons of Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan. 33 And the sons of Midian: Ephah, and Epher, and Hanok, and Abida, and Eldaah; all these, the sons of Keturah. 34 And Abraham fathered Isaac. The sons of Isaac: Esau and Israel. 35 The sons of Esau: Eliphaz, Reuel, and Jeush, and Jalam, and Korah. 36 The sons of Eliphaz: Teman, and Omar, Zepho, and Gatam, Kenaz, and Timna, and Amalek. 37 The sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. 38 And the sons of Seir: Lotan, and Shobal, and Zibeon, and Anah, and Dishon, and Ezer, and Dishan. 39 And the sons of Lotan: Hori and Homam. And the sister of Lotan: Timna. 40 The sons of Shobal: Alian, and Manahath, and Ebal, Shephi, and Onam. And the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. 41 The sons of Anah: Dishon. And the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, and Eshban, and Ithran, and Keran. 42 The sons of Ezer: Bilhan, and Zaavan, and Akan. The sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran. 43 And these, the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before the face of a king reigned over the sons of Israel: Bela, son of Beor. And the name of his city: Dinhabah. 44 And Bela died, and Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah reigned in his place. 45 And Jobab died, and Husham from the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. 46 And Husham died, and Hadad son of Bedad, who struck down Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his place. And the name of his city: Avith. 47 And Hadad died, and Samlah from Masrekah reigned in his place. 48 And Samlah died, and Shaul from Rehoboth of the river reigned in his place. 49 And Shaul died, and Baal-Hanan son of Akbor reigned in his place. 50 And Baal-Hanan died, and Hadad reigned in his place. And the name of his city: Pai. And the name of his wife: Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-Zahab. 51 And Hadad died. And the chiefs of Edom were Chief Timna, Chief Alvah, Chief Jetheth, 52 Chief Oholibamah, Chief Elah, Chief Pinon, 53 Chief Kenaz, Chief Teman, Chief Mibzar, 54 Chief Magdiel, Chief Iram. These, the chiefs of Edom. 1:4 [1] Some versions have the expression The sons of Noah were . 1:6 [2] Some versions have Riphath instead of Diphath . Many ancient copies change it to Riphath in order to make it agree with the same name in Gen. 10:2. Chapter 2 1 These were the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, 2 Dan, Joseph, and Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 3 The sons of Judah: Er, and Onan, and Shelah; three were born to him by Bath-shua the Canaanite. And Er, the firstborn of Judah, was wicked in the eyes of Yahweh, and he killed him. 4 And Tamar, his daughter-in-law, bore to him Perez and Zerah. All the sons of Judah, five. 5 The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul. 6 And the sons of Zerah: Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Kalkol, and Dara. All of them, five. 7 And the sons of Karmi: Achar, the troubler of Israel who violated the ban. [1] 8 And the sons of Ethan: Azariah. 9 And the sons of Hezron who were born to him: Jerahmeel, and Ram, and Caleb. 10 And Ram fathered Amminadab, and Amminadab fathered Nahshon, leader of the sons of Judah. 11 And Nahshon fathered Salmon, and Salmon fathered Boaz. 12 And Boaz fathered Obed, and Obed fathered Jesse. 13 And Jesse fathered his firstborn, Eliab, and Abinadab the second, and Shimea the third, 14 Nethanel the fourth, Raddai the fifth, 15 Ozem the sixth, David the seventh, 16 and their sisters: Zeruiah and Abigail. And the sons of Zeruiah: Abishai, and Joab, and Asahel, three. 17 And Abigail bore Amasa, and the father of Amasa: Jether the Ishmaelite. 18 And Caleb son of Hezron had children with Azubah, a wife, and with Jerioth. And these, her sons: Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon. 19 And Azubah died, and Caleb took for himself Ephrath. And she bore to him Hur. 20 And Hur fathered Uri, and Uri fathered Bezalel. 21 And afterward Hezron went into the daughter of Makir the father of Gilead, and he took her. And he was a son of 60 years. And she bore to him Segub. 22 And Segub fathered Jair. And there were to him 23 cities in the land of Gilead. 23 And Geshur and Aram took from them Havvoth-Jair, Kenath, and its daughters, 60 towns. All these, the sons of Makir, the father of Gilead. 24 And after the death of Hezron in Caleb Ephrathah, then the wife of Hezron, Abijah, then she bore to him Ashhur, the father of Tekoa. [2] 25 And the sons of Jerahmeel, the firstborn of Hezron, were the firstborn Ram, and Bunah, and Oren, and Ozem, Ahijah. 26 And there was another wife of Jerahmeel, and her name, Atarah. She, the mother of Onam. 27 And the sons of Ram, the firstborn of Jerahmeel, were Maaz, and Jamin, and Eker. 28 And the sons of Onam were Shammai and Jada. And the sons of Shammai: Nadab and Abishur. 29 And the name of the wife of Abishur: Abihail. And she bore to him Ahban and Molid. 30 And the sons of Nadab: Seled and Appaim. And Seled died without sons. 31 And the sons of Appaim: Ishi. And the sons of Ishi: Sheshan. And the sons of Sheshan: Ahlai. 32 And the sons of Jada, the brother of Shammai: Jether and Jonathan. And Jether died without sons. 33 And the sons of Jonathan: Peleth and Zaza. These were the sons of Jerahmeel. 34 And there were not to Sheshan sons, but only daughters. And to Sheshan a servant, an Egyptian, and his name, Jarha. 35 And Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant for a wife. And she bore to him Attai. 36 And Attai fathered Nathan, and Nathan fathered Zabad. 37 And Zabad fathered Ephlal, and Ephlal fathered Obed. 38 And Obed fathered Jehu, and Jehu fathered Azariah. 39 And Azariah fathered Helez, and Helez fathered Eleasah. 40 And Eleasah fathered Sismai, and Sismai fathered Shallum. 41 And Shallum fathered Jekamiah, and Jekamiah fathered Elishama. 42 And the sons of Caleb, the brother of Jerahmeel: Mesha his firstborn; he, the father of Ziph. And the sons of Mareshah, the father of Hebron. 43 And the sons of Hebron: Korah, and Tappuah, and Rekem, and Shema. 44 And Shema fathered Raham, the father of Jorkeam. And Rekem fathered Shammai. 45 And the son of Shammai: Maon, and Maon the father of Beth Zur. 46 And Ephah, the concubine of Caleb, bore Haran, and Moza, and Gazez. And Haran fathered Gazez. 47 And the sons of Jahdai: Regem, and Jotham, and Geshan, and Pelet, and Ephah, and Shaaph. 48 The concubine of Caleb, Maakah, bore Sheber and Tirhanah. 49 And she bore Shaaph the father of Madmannah, Sheva the father of Makbenah and the father of Gibea. And the daughter of Caleb, Aksah. 50 These were the sons of Caleb. The son of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah: Shobal the father of Kiriath Jearim, 51 Salma the father of Bethlehem, Hareph the father of Beth Gader. 52 And the sons of Shobal, the father of Kiriath Jearim, were Haroeh, half of the Menuhoth, 53 and the clans of Kiriath Jearim: the Ithrites, and the Puthites, and the Shumathites, and the Mishraites. From these came the Zorathites and Eshtaolites. 54 The sons of Salma: Bethlehem, and the Netophathites, Atroth Beth Joab, and half of the Manahathites, the Zorites. 55 And the clans of the scribes lived at Jabez: the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and the Sucathites. These, the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rekab. 2:7 [1] Some versions have Achan instead of Achar . 2:24 [2] Some versions read, After the death of Hezron, Caleb went in to Ephrathah, the wife of his father Hezron. She bore to him Ashhur, the father of Tekoa. . Chapter 3 1 And these were the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron: the firstborn Amnon by Ahinoam the Jezreelite; the second Daniel by Abigail the Carmelite; 2 the third Absalom, the son of Maakah, the daughter of Talmai the king of Geshur; the fourth Adonijah, the son of Haggith; 3 the fifth Shephatiah by Abital; the sixth Ithream by Eglah, his wife. 4 Six were born to him in Hebron, and he reigned there seven years and six months. Then 33 years he reigned in Jerusalem. 5 And these were born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four by Bathshua, the daughter of Ammiel; [1] 6 and Ibhar, and Elishua, and Eliphelet, 7 and Nogah, and Nepheg, and Japhia, 8 and Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphelet; nine. 9 All the sons of David, besides sons of concubines, and Tamar their sister. 10 And the son of Solomon, Rehoboam; Abijah his son; Asa his son; Jehoshaphat his son; 11 Joram his son; Ahaziah his son; Joash his son; 12 Amaziah his son; Azariah his son; Jotham his son; 13 Ahaz his son; Hezekiah his son; Manasseh his son; 14 Amon his son; Josiah his son. 15 And the sons of Josiah: the firstborn Johanan, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum. 16 And the sons of Jehoiakim: Jeconiah his son, Zedekiah his son. 17 And the sons of Jeconiah, a prisoner: Shealtiel his son, 18 and Malkiram, and Pedaiah, and Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah. 19 And the sons of Pedaiah: Zerubbabel and Shimei. And the son of Zerubbabel: Meshullam, and Hananiah, and Shelomith their sister; 20 and Hashubah, and Ohel, and Berekiah, and Hasadiah, Jushab-Hesed, five. 21 And the son of Hananiah: Pelatiah and Jeshaiah. The sons of Rephaiah, the sons of Arnan, the sons of Obadiah, the sons of Shekaniah. 22 And the sons of Shekaniah: Shemaiah. And the sons of Shemaiah: Hattush, and Igal, and Bariah, and Neariah, and Shaphat, six. 23 And the son of Neariah: Elioenai, and Hizkiah, and Azrikam, three. 24 And the sons of Elioenai: Hodaviah, and Eliashib, and Pelaiah, and Akkub, and Johanan, and Delaiah, and Anani, seven. 3:5 [1] Some versions have Bathseba or Bathsheba instead of Bathshua . Chapter 4 1 The sons of Judah: Perez, Hezron, and Karmi, and Hur, and Shobal. 2 And Reaiah the son of Shobal fathered Jahath. And Jahath fathered Ahumai and Lahad. These, the clans of the Zorathites. 3 And these of the father Etam: Jezreel, and Ishma, and Idbash. And the name of their sister, Hazzelelponi. 4 And Penuel, the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah; these, the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah, the father of Bethlehem. 5 And to Ashhur the father of Tekoa were two wives, Helah and Naarah. 6 And Naarah bore to him Ahuzzam, and Hepher, and Temeni, and Haahashtari. These, the sons of Naarah. 7 And the sons of Helah: Zereth, and Zohar, and Ethnan. 8 And Koz fatherered Anub and Hazzobebah. And the clans of Aharhel, the son of Harum. 9 And Jabez was respected more than his brothers. And his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore in pain.” 10 And Jabez called to the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would surely bless me, and would enlarge my territory, and your hand would be with me, and you would act not in accordance with harm, so that I might not be in pain!” And God brought about what he asked. 11 And Kelub, the brother of Shuhah, fathered Mehir; he, the father of Eshton. 12 And Eshton fathered Beth Rapha, and Paseah, and Tehinnah, the father of Ir Nahash. [1] These, the men of Rekah. 13 And the sons of Kenaz: Othniel and Seraiah. And the sons of Othniel: Hathath. [2] 14 And Meonothai fathered Ophrah, and Seraiah fathered Joab, the father of Ge-Harashim, for craftsmen they were. 15 And the sons of Caleb, the son of Jephunneh: Iru, Elah, and Naam. And the sons of Elah: Kenaz. 16 And the sons of Jehallelel: Ziph, and Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel. 17 And the sons of Ezrah: Jether, and Mered, and Epher, and Jalon. And she conceived Miriam, and Shammai, and Ishbah, the father of Eshtemoa. 18 And his Judahite wife bore Jered the father of Gedor, and Heber the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah. And these, the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered took. 19 And the sons of the wife of Hodiah, the sister of Naham, the father of Keilah the Garmite, and Eshtemoa the Maakathite. 20 And the sons of Shimon: Amnon, and Rinnah, Ben-Hanan, and Tilon. And the sons of Ishi: Zoheth and Ben-Zoheth. 21 The sons of Shelah the son of Judah: Er the father of Lekah, and Laadah the father of Mareshah, and the clans of the house of the service of linen at Beth Ashbea, 22 and Jokim, and the men of Kozeba, and Joash and Saraph, who ruled in Moab and Jashubi Lehem. And the words are ancient. 23 These, the potters and inhabitants in Netaim and Gederah. With the king in his work, they lived there. 24 The sons of Simeon: Nemuel, and Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, Shaul; 25 Shallum his son, Mibsam his son, Mishma his son. 26 And the sons of Mishma: Hammuel his son; Zakkur his son; Shimei his son. 27 And to Shimei, 16 sons and six daughters; but to his brothers, not many sons, and all their clan did not multiply like the sons of Judah. 28 And they lived in Beersheba, and Moladah, and Hazar Shual, 29 and in Bilhah, and in Ezem, and in Tolad, 30 and in Bethuel, and in Hormah, and in Ziklag, 31 and in Beth Markaboth, and in Hazar Susim, and in Beth Biri, and in Shaaraim. These, their cities until the reign of David. 32 And their villages: Etam, and Ain, and Rimmon, and Token, and Ashan, five towns, 33 and all their villages which are around these towns as far as Baal. These, their settlements, and their genealogy was to them. 34 And Meshobab, and Jamlech, and Joshah the son of Amaziah, 35 and Joel, and Jehu the son of Joshibiah, the son of Seraiah, the son of Asiel, 36 and Elioenai, and Jaakobah, and Jeshohaiah, and Asaiah, and Adiel, and Jesimiel, and Benaiah, 37 and Ziza the son of Shiphi, the son of Allon, the son of Jedaiah, the son of Shimri, the son of Shemaiah. 38 These mentioned by name, leaders in their clans and the house of their fathers broke through into a multitude. 39 And they went to the entrance of Gedor, as far as to the east of the valley, to seek pasture for their flock. 40 And they found rich and good pasture, and the land was broad of hands, and quiet, and peaceful; for those from Ham had lived there before faces. 41 And these, written by names, came in the days of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, and struck down their tents and the Meunites, who were found there. And they destroyed them completely to this day, and they lived in their place because pasture for their flock was there. 42 And from them, from the sons of Simeon, they went to Mount Seir, 500 men, and Pelatiah, and Neariah, and Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi, their heads. 43 And they struck down the rest of the Amalekites who escaped, and they have lived there to this day. 4:12 [1] Some translations have who settled in the town of Nahash . 4:13 [2] Most versions insert Meonothai into this verse, believing that it dropped out by a copyist’s mistake. Chapter 5 1 And the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel; for he was the firstborn, but when he defiled the bed of his father, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel, and not recorded according to the birthright, 2 though Judah was superior among his brothers, and a leader was from him, but the birthright was to Joseph— 3 the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanok, and Pallu, Hezron, and Karmi. 4 The sons of Joel: Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son, 5 Micah his son, Reaiah his son, Baal his son, 6 Beerah his son, whom Tilgath-Pileser, the king of Assyria, took into exile. He was a leader of the Reubenites. 7 And his brothers by his clans in the genealogy of their generations: the head Jeiel, and Zechariah, 8 and Bela the son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel; he lived in Aroer, and as far as Nebo and Baal Meon, 9 and to the east he lived as far as the entrance of the wilderness extending to the Euphrates River; for their livestock multiplied in the land of Gilead. 10 And in the days of Saul, they made war with the Hagrites and they fell into their hand. And they lived in their tents over all the face of the east of Gilead. 11 And the sons of Gad lived opposite them in the land of Bashan as far as Salekah: 12 Joel the head, and Shapham the second, and Janai, and Shaphat in Bashan. 13 And their brothers, according to the house of their fathers: Michael, and Meshullam, and Sheba, and Jorai, and Jakan, and Zia, and Eber, seven. 14 These, the sons of Abihail, the son of Huri, the son of Jaroah, the son of Gilead, the son of Michael, the son of Jeshisha, the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz. 15 Ahi, the son of Abdiel, the son of Guni, head of the house of their fathers. 16 And they lived in Gilead, in Bashan, and in its daughters, and in all the pasturelands of Sharon as far as their borders. 17 All of them were listed in the genealogies in the days of Jotham, the king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the king of Israel. 18 The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh from sons of strength, men who carried shield and sword, and who bent the bow, and who were trained in battle, 44,760 who went out to war. 19 And they made war with the Hagrites, and Jetur, and Naphish, and Nodab. 20 And they were helped against them, and the Hagrites were given into their hand and all who were with them. For they cried out to God in the battle, and he granted their entreaty because they trusted in him. 21 And they took captive their livestock: their camels 50,000, and sheep 250,000, and donkeys 2,000, and living people 100,000. 22 For many fell slain because the battle was from God. And they lived in their place until the exile. 23 And the sons of the half tribe of Manasseh lived in the land from Bashan as far as Baal Hermon and Senir, and Mount Hermon. They multiplied. 24 And these, the heads of the house of their fathers: even Epher, and Ishi, and Eliel, and Azriel, and Jeremiah, and Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, men mighty of strength, men of names, heads of the house of their fathers. 25 And they acted faithlessly against the God of their fathers, and they acted like a harlot after the gods of the peoples of the land whom God had destroyed before their faces. 26 And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul, the king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgath-Pileser, the king of Assyria. And he took them into exile, namely the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh. And he brought them to Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and the river of Gozan until this day. Chapter 6 1 The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 2 And the sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel. 3 And the sons of Amram: Aaron, and Moses, and Miriam. And the sons of Aaron: Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 4 Eleazar fathered Phinehas. Phinehas fathered Abishua. 5 And Abishua fathered Bukki, and Bukki fathered Uzzi. 6 And Uzzi fathered Zerahiah, and Zerahiah fathered Meraioth. 7 Meraioth fathered Amariah, and Amariah fathered Ahitub. 8 And Ahitub fathered Zadok, and Zadok fathered Ahimaaz. 9 And Ahimaaz fathered Azariah, and Azariah fathered Johanan. 10 And Johanan fathered Azariah, he who served as priest in the house that Solomon built in Jerusalem. 11 And Azariah fathered Amariah, and Amariah fathered Ahitub. 12 And Ahitub fathered Zadok, and Zadok fathered Shallum. 13 And Shallum fathered Hilkiah, and Hilkiah fathered Azariah. 14 And Azariah fathered Seraiah, and Seraiah fathered Jozadak. 15 And Jozadak went when Yahweh took into exile Judah and Jerusalem in the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. 16 The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 17 And these, the names of the sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei. 18 And the sons of Kohath: Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel. 19 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. And these, the clans of the Levites according to their fathers. 20 Of Gershom: Libni his son, Jahath his son, Zimmah his son, 21 Joah his son, Iddo his son, Zerah his son, Jeatherai his son. 22 The sons of Kohath: Amminadab his son, Korah his son, Assir his son, 23 Elkanah his son, and Ebiasaph his son, and Assir his son, 24 Tahath his son, Uriel his son, Uzziah his son, and Shaul his son. 25 And the sons of Elkanah: Amasai, and Ahimoth, 26 Elkanah, his son Elkanah, Zophai his son, and Nahath his son, 27 Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, Elkanah his son. [1] 28 And the sons of Samuel: the firstborn and the second, Abijah. 29 The sons of Merari: Mahli, Libni his son, Shimei his son, Uzzah his son, 30 Shimea his son, Haggiah his son, Asaiah his son, 31 And these whom David set up over hands of song in the house of Yahweh, after the Box came to rest. 32 And they were the ones ministering to the face of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, with song until Solomon built the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem. And they stood according to their judgments over their service. 33 And these, the ones standing and their sons. From the sons of the Kohathites: Heman the singer, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel, 34 the son of Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliel, the son of Toah, 35 the son of Zuph, the son of Elkanah, the son of Mahath, the son of Amasai, 36 the son of Elkanah, the son of Joel, the son of Azariah, the son of Zephaniah, 37 the son of Tahath, the son of Assir, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, 38 the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of Israel. 39 And his brother Asaph who stood at his right hand, Asaph, the son of Berekiah, the son of Shimea, 40 the son of Michael, the son of Baaseiah, the son of Malkijah, 41 the son of Ethni, the son of Zerah, the son of Adaiah, 42 the son of Ethan, the son of Zimmah, the son of Shimei, 43 the son of Jahath, the son of Gershon, the son of Levi. 44 And the sons of Merari, their brothers, on the left: Ethan, the son of Kishi, the son of Abdi, the son of Malluk, 45 the son of Hashabiah, the son of Amaziah, the son of Hilkiah, 46 the son of Amzi, the son of Bani, the son of Shemer, 47 the son of Mahli, the son of Mushi, the son of Merari, the son of Levi. 48 And their brothers, the Levites, were set to all the service of the tabernacle of the house of God. 49 And Aaron and his sons made sacrifices on the altar of burnt offering and on the altar of incense for all the work of the Holy of Holies and to make atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded. 50 And these, the sons of Aaron: Eleazar his son, Phinehas his son, Abishua his son, 51 Bukki his son, Uzzi his son, Zerahiah his son, 52 Meraioth his son, Amariah his son, Ahitub his son, 53 Zadok his son, Ahimaaz his son. 54 And these, their dwellings according to their encampments in their borders. To the sons of Aaron, to the clans of the Kohathites, for to them was the lot. 55 And they gave to them Hebron in the land of Judah and its surrounding pasturelands, 56 but the field of the city and its villages, they gave to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh. 57 And to the sons of Aaron they gave the cities of refuge: Hebron, and Libnah and its pasturelands, and Jattir, and Eshtemoa and its pasturelands, 58 and Hilez and its pasturelands, Debir and its pasturelands, 59 and Ashan and its pasturelands, [2] and Beth Shemesh and its pasturelands. 60 And from the tribe of Benjamin: Geba and its pasturelands, and Alemeth and its pasturelands, and Anathoth and its pasturelands. All their cities, 13 cities, among their clans. 61 And to the sons of Kohath remaining from the clan of the tribe, from the half tribe, the half of Manasseh, by lot, ten cities. 62 And to the sons of Gershom, for their clans, from the tribe of Issachar and from the tribe of Asher and from the tribe of Naphtali and from the tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, 13 cities. 63 To the sons of Merari, for their clans, from the tribe of Reuben and from the tribe of Gad and from the tribe of Zebulun, by lot, 12 cities. 64 And the sons of Israel gave to the Levites the cities and their pasturelands. 65 And they gave by lot from the tribe of the sons of Judah and from the tribe of the sons of Simeon and from the tribe of the sons of Benjamin these cities which they called them by names. 66 And from the clans of the sons of Kohath; and there were cities of their territory from the tribe of Ephraim. 67 And they gave to them the cities of refuge: Shechem and its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, and Gezer and its pasturelands, 68 and Jokmeam and its pasturelands, and Beth Horon and its pasturelands, 69 and Aijalon and its pasturelands, and Gath Rimmon and its pasturelands. 70 And from the half tribe of Manasseh, Aner and its pasturelands, and Bileam and its pasturelands, for the clans of the sons of Kohath remaining. 71 To the sons of Gershon from the clans of the half tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan and its pasturelands, and Ashtaroth and its pasturelands. 72 And from the tribe of Issachar: Kedesh and its pasturelands, Daberath and its pasturelands, 73 and Ramoth and its pasturelands, and Anem and its pasturelands. 74 And from the tribe of Asher: Mashal and its pasturelands, and Abdon and its pasturelands, 75 and Hukok and its pasturelands, and Rehob and its pasturelands. 76 And from the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee and its pasturelands, and Hammon and its pasturelands, and Kiriathaim and its pasturelands. 77 To the sons of Merari remaining: from the tribe of Zebulun, [3] Rimmono and its pasturelands, Tabor and its pasturelands; 78 and from beyond the Jordan at Jericho, to the east of the Jordan from the tribe of Reuben, Bezer in the wilderness and its pasturelands, and Jahzah and its pasturelands, 79 and Kedemoth and its pasturelands, and Mephaath and its pasturelands. 80 And from the tribe of Gad: Ramoth in Gilead and its pasturelands, and Mahanaim and its pasturelands, 81 and Heshbon and its pasturelands, and Jazer and its pasturelands. 6:27 [1] The LXX adds to the list Samuel his son . 6:59 [2] The place name Juttah is found in the Syriac and LXX versions; also see Joshua 21:16. 6:77 [3] The names Jokneam and Kartah are not found in the MT but are in the LXX. Compare the list in Josh. 21:34. Chapter 7 1 And to the sons of Issachar: Tola, and Puah, Jashub, and Shimron, four. 2 And the sons of Tola: Uzzi, and Rephaiah, and Jeriel, and Jahmai, and Ibsam, and Samuel, the heads of the house of their fathers, from of Tola, mighty of strength in their generations. Their number in the days of David, 22,600. 3 And the sons of Uzzi: Izrahiah. And the sons of Izrahiah: Michael, and Obadiah, and Joel, and Ishijah, five heads all of them. 4 And along with them, by their generations according to the house of their fathers, troops of the army of war, 36,000; for they multiplied wives and sons. 5 And their brothers of all the clans of Issachar, mighty of strength, 87,000 listed in their genealogy in all. 6 Of Benjamin: Bela, and Beker, and Jediael, three. 7 And the sons of Bela: Ezbon, and Uzzi, and Uzziel, and Jerimoth, and Iri, five heads of the house of their fathers, mighty of strength, and listed in their genealogy, 22,034. 8 And the sons of Beker: Zemirah, and Joash, and Eliezer, and Elioenai, and Omri, and Jeremoth, and Abijah, and Anathoth, and Alemeth. All these, the sons of Beker, 9 and listed in their genealogy, according to their generations, heads of the house of their fathers, mighty of strength, 20,200. 10 And the sons of Jediael: Bilhan. And the sons of Bilhan: Jeush, and Benjamin, and Ehud, and Kenaanah, and Zethan, and Tarshish, and Ahishahar. 11 All these, the sons of Jediael, according to the heads of their fathers, mighty of strength, 17,200, going out as an army to battle. 12 And Shuppim and Huppim, the sons of Ir. Hushim, the sons of Aher. 13 The sons of Naphtali: Jahziel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem, the sons of Bilhah. 14 The sons of Manasseh: Asriel, whom his Aramean concubine bore. She bore Makir, the father of Gilead. 15 And Makir took a wife of Huppim and of Shuppim. And the name of his sister, Maakah. And the name of the second, Zelophehad. And to Zelophehad there were daughters. 16 And Maakah, the wife of Makir, bore a son and she called his name Peresh. And the name of his brother, Sheresh; and his sons, Ulam and Rakem. 17 And the sons of Ulam: Bedan. These, the sons of Gilead, the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh. 18 And his sister Hammoleketh bore Ishhod, and Abiezer, and Mahlah. 19 And the sons of Shemida were Ahian, and Shechem, and Likhi, and Aniam. 20 And the sons of Ephraim: Shuthelah, and Bered his son, and Tahath his son, and Eleadah his son, and Tahath his son, 21 and Zabad his son, and Shuthelah his son, and Ezer and Elead. And the men of Gath who were born in the land killed them because they came down to take their livestock. 22 And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brothers came to comfort him. 23 And he went into his wife. And she conceived. And she bore a son. And he called his name Beriah, because disaster was in his house. 24 And his daughter, Sheerah, and she built Lower Beth Horon, and the Upper, and Uzzen Sheerah. 25 And Rephah, his son, and Resheph, and Telah, his son, and Tahan, his son, 26 Ladan, his son, Ammihud, his son, Elishama, his son, 27 Non, his son, Joshua, his son. 28 And their possessions and their dwellings: Bethel and its daughters. And to the east, Naaran. And to the west, Gezer and its daughters, and Shechem and its daughters as far as Ayyah and its daughters. 29 And on the hands of the sons of Manasseh, Beth Shan and its daughters, Taanach and its daughters, Megiddo and its daughters, Dor and its daughters. In these lived the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel. 30 The sons of Asher: Imnah, and Ishvah, and Ishvi, and Beriah, and Serah their sister. 31 And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malkiel; he, the father of Birzaith. 32 And Heber fathered Japhlet, and Shomer, and Hotham, and Shua their sister. 33 And the sons of Japhlet: Pasak, and Bimhal, and Ashvath. These, the sons of Japhlet. 34 And the sons of Shamer: Ahi, and Rohgah, and Hubbah, and Aram. 35 And the sons of Helem his brother: Zophah, and Imna, and Shelesh, and Amal. 36 And the sons of Zophah: Suah, and Harnepher, and Shual, and Beri, and Imrah, 37 Bezer, and Hod, and Shamma, and Shilshah, and Ithran, and Beera. 38 And the sons of Jether: Jephunneh, and Pispah, and Ara. 39 And the sons of Ulla: Arah, and Hanniel, and Rizia. 40 All these, the sons of Asher, heads of the house of their fathers, chosen, mighty of strength, heads of the chiefs. And listed in their genealogy in the army for war, their number, 26,000 men. Chapter 8 1 And Benjamin fathered Bela his firstborn, Ashbel the second, and Aharah the third, 2 Nohah the fourth, and Rapha the fifth. 3 And there were sons to Bela: Addar, and Gera, and Abihud, 4 and Abishua, and Naaman, and Ahoah, 5 and Gera, and Shephuphan, and Huram. 6 And these, the sons of Ehud: these, they, heads of fathers, belonging to those dwelling in Geba. And they took them into exile to Manahath: 7 and Naaman, and Ahijah, and Gera. He took them into exile, and he fathered Uzzah and Ahihud. 8 And Shaharaim fathered in the field of Moab, after he sent them away, Hushim and Baara, his wives. 9 And he fathered from Hodesh his wife: Jobab, and Zibia, and Mesha, and Malkam, 10 and Jeuz, and Sakia, and Mirmah. These, his sons, heads of fathers. 11 And from Hushim he fathered Abitub and Elpaal. 12 And the sons of Elpaal: Eber, and Misham, and Shemed, he built Ono and Lod and its daughters; 13 and Beriah and Shema. They, heads of the fathers to those living in Aijalon; they caused those living in Gath to flee. 14 and Ahio, Shashak, and Jeremoth, 15 and Zebadiah, and Arad, and Eder, 16 and Michael, and Ishpah, and Joha, the sons of Beriah. 17 And Zebadiah, and Meshullam, and Hizki, and Heber, 18 and Ishmerai, and Izliah, and Jobab, the sons of Elpaal. 19 And Jakim, and Zikri, and Zabdi, 20 and Elienai, and Zillethai, and Eliel, 21 and Adaiah, and Beraiah, and Shimrath, the sons of Shimei. 22 And Ishpan, and Eber, and Eliel, 23 and Abdon, and Zikri, and Hanan, 24 and Hananiah, and Elam, and Anthothijah, 25 and Iphdeiah, and Penuel, the sons of Shashak. 26 And Shamsherai, and Shehariah, and Athaliah, 27 and Jaareshiah, and Elijah, and Zikri, the sons of Jeroham. 28 These, heads of fathers by their generations, heads. They lived in Jerusalem. 29 And in Gibeon, they lived: the father of Gibeon, and the name of his wife, Maakah, 30 and his son, the firstborn, Abdon, and Zur, and Kish, and Baal, and Nadab, 31 and Gedor, and Ahio, and Zeker. 32 And Mikloth fathered Shimeah. And also they, opposite their brothers, lived in Jerusalem with their brothers. 33 And Ner fathered Kish. And Kish fathered Saul. And Saul fathered Jonathan, and Malki-Shua, and Abinadab, and Esh-Baal. 34 And the son of Jonathan, Merib-Baal. And Merib-Baal fathered Micah. 35 And the sons of Micah: Pithon, and Melek, and Tarea, and Ahaz. 36 And Ahaz fathered Jehoaddah. And Jehoaddah fathered Alemeth, and Azmaveth, and Zimri. And Zimri fathered Moza. 37 And Moza fathered Binea. Raphah his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son. 38 And to Azel six sons. And these, their names: Azrikam, Bokeru, and Ishmael, and Sheariah, and Obadiah, and Hanan. All these, the sons of Azel. 39 And the sons of Eshek, his brother: Ulam his firstborn, Jeush the second, and Eliphelet the third. 40 And the sons of Ulam were men mighty in strength, who bent the bow, and multipliers of sons and sons of sons, 150. All these from the sons of Benjamin. Chapter 9 1 And all Israel were listed in genealogy, and behold, they are written on the scroll of the kings of Israel. And Judah was taken into exile to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness. 2 And the first inhabitants who were in their possession, in their cities: Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the temple servants. 3 And in Jerusalem they lived, from the sons of Judah, and from the sons of Benjamin, and from the sons of Ephraim and Manasseh. 4 Uthai the son of Ammihud, the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani, from the sons of Perez, the son of Judah. 5 And from the Shilonites: Asaiah the firstborn and his sons. 6 And from the sons of Zerah: Jeuel and their brothers, 690. 7 And from the sons of Benjamin: Sallu, the son of Meshullam, the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenuah, 8 and Ibneiah the son of Jeroham, and Elah the son of Uzzi, the son of Mikri, and Meshullam the son of Shephatiah, the son of Reuel, the son of Ibnijah, 9 and their brothers according to their generations, 956. All these men, heads of fathers, according to the house of their fathers. 10 And from the priests: Jedaiah, and Jehoiarib, and Jakin, 11 and Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the leader of the house of God, 12 and Adaiah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malkijah, and Maasai, the son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith, the son of Immer, 13 and their brothers, heads of the house of their fathers, 1,760, mighty of strength for the work of the service of the house of God. 14 And from the Levites: Shemaiah, the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, from the sons of Merari, 15 and Bakbakkar, Heresh, and Galal, and Mattaniah, the son of Mika, the son of Zikri, the son of Asaph, 16 and Obadiah, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun, and Berekiah, the son of Asa, the son of Elkanah, who lived in the villages of the Netophathites. 17 And the gatekeepers: Shallum, and Akkub, and Talmon, and Ahiman, and their brothers; Shallum, the head. 18 And until now in the gate of the king to the east, they were the gatekeepers for the camps of the sons of Levi. 19 And Shallum, the son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, [1] the son of Korah, and his brothers of the house of his father, the Korahites, were over the work of the service, the keepers of the thresholds of the tent, and their fathers over the camp of Yahweh, the keepers of the entrance. 20 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar was leader over them before faces; Yahweh was with him. 21 Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah, gatekeeper of the entrance to the tent of meeting. 22 All those chosen as gatekeepers at the thresholds, 212. They in their villages listed in their genealogy, they, David and Samuel the seer, established in their official duty. 23 And they and their sons over the gates of the house of Yahweh, of the house of the tent as guards. 24 To the four winds were the gatekeepers, east, west, north, and south. 25 And their brothers in their villages were to come for seven days from time to time with these. 26 For in official duty, they, the four leaders of the gatekeepers, they were Levites, and they were over the chambers and over the treasuries of the house of God. 27 And around the house of God they would lodge, for on them was the watch. And they were over the key and morning by morning. 28 And from them over the utensils of the service, for by number they would bring them in and by number they would bring them out. 29 And from them ones who were appointed over the vessels and over all the utensils of the Holy Place, and over the fine flour, and the wine, and the oil, and the frankincense, and the spices. 30 And from the sons of the priests, mixers of the ointment for the spices. 31 And Mattithiah, from the Levites, he the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, in official duty over the work of the flat cakes. 32 And from the sons of the Kohathites, from their brothers, over the bread of the rows, to prepare Sabbath by Sabbath. 33 And these, the singers, the heads of the fathers of the Levites in the chambers were free, for by day and by night they were over them in the work. 34 These, the heads of the fathers of the Levites, according to their generations, heads. These lived in Jerusalem. 35 And in Gibeon, they lived, the father of Gibeon, Jeiel, and the name of his wife, Maakah, 36 and his son, the firstborn, Abdon, and Zur, and Kish, and Baal, and Ner, and Nadab, 37 and Gedor, and Ahio, and Zechariah, and Mikloth. 38 And Mikloth fathered Shimeam. And also they, opposite their brothers, lived in Jerusalem with their brothers. 39 And Ner fathered Kish. And Kish fathered Saul. And Saul fathered Jonathan, and Malki-Shua, and Abinadab, and Esh-Baal. 40 And the son of Jonathan, Merib-Baal. And Merib-Baal fathered Micah. 41 And the sons of Micah: Pithon, and Melek, and Tahrea. 42 And Ahaz fathered Jarah. And Jarah fathered Alemeth, and Azmaveth, and Zimri. And Zimri fathered Moza. 43 And Moza fathered Binea. And Rephaiah his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son. 44 And to Azel six sons, and these, their names: Azrikam, Bokeru, and Ishmael, and Sheariah, and Obadiah, and Hanan. These, the sons of Azel. 9:19 [1] Ebiasaph is the same person referred to as Asaph in 1 Chronicles 26:1. Chapter 10 1 And the Philistines fought with Israel. And the men of Israel fled from the faces of the Philistines, and they fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2 And the Philistines pursued after Saul and after his sons. And the Philistines struck down Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malki-Shua, the sons of Saul. 3 And the battle was heavy against Saul, and those who shoot with the bow found him, and he writhed in pain from the ones shooting. 4 Then Saul said to the lifter of his equipment, “Draw your sword and pierce me with it, lest these uncircumcised will come and mistreat me.” But the lifter of his equipment was not willing, for he feared greatly. And Saul took the sword, and he fell on it. 5 And the lifter of his equipment saw that Saul had died, and he himself likewise fell on the sword, and he died. 6 And Saul died, and his three sons. And all his house died together. 7 And every man of Israel who was in the valley saw that they had fled, and that Saul and his sons had died. And they abandoned their cities, and they fled. And the Philistines came, and they lived in them. 8 And it happened on the next day, and the Philistines came to strip the slain, and they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 And they stripped him, and they carried away his head and his armor. And they sent among the land of the Philistines all around to bring news to their idols and the people. 10 And they put his armor in the house of their gods, and his head they fastened in the house of Dagon. 11 And all Jabesh Gilead heard all that the Philistines did to Saul, 12 and all the men of strength rose, and they carried the corpse of Saul and the corpses of his sons. And they brought them to Jabesh. And they buried their bones under the large tree in Jabesh, and they fasted seven days. 13 And Saul died because of his infidelity which he was unfaithful to Yahweh on account of the word of Yahweh which he did not keep, and also to ask a medium to seek, 14 and he did not seek Yahweh, and he killed him. And he turned the kingdom to David, the son of Jesse. Chapter 11 1 And all Israel gathered to David at Hebron, saying, “Look, your bones and your flesh are we. 2 Even yesterday also the day before that, even when Saul was king, you were the one who brought out and the one who brought in Israel. And Yahweh your God said to you, ‘You yourself will shepherd my people, Israel, and you yourself will be leader over my people Israel.’” 3 And all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David cut with them a covenant at Hebron before the face of Yahweh. And they anointed David king over Israel according to the word of Yahweh by the hand of Samuel. 4 And David went and all Israel to Jerusalem; that is, Jebus. And there were the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land. 5 And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, “You will not come in here.” But David captured the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David. 6 And David said, “Whoever strikes down the Jebusites first will become head and chief.” And Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, and he became head. 7 And David lived in the stronghold; therefore they called it the city of David. 8 And he built the city all around, from the Millo and as far as that which surrounds. And Joab restored the rest of the city. 9 And David went, going and becoming great, and Yahweh of Hosts was with him. 10 And these, the heads of the mighty ones who belonged to David strengthened themselves with him in his kingdom, with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of Yahweh concerning Israel. 11 And these, the number of the mighty ones who belonged to David: Jashobeam, a son of a Hachmonite, the head of the officers [1] . He swung his spear against 300, slain at one time. 12 And after him, Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, he among the three mighty ones. 13 He was with David at Pas Dammim, and the Philistines had assembled there for battle. And there was a portion of the field full of barley. And the peope fled from the faces of the Philistines. 14 And they took their stand in the midst of the portion. And they delivered it, and they struck down the Philistines. And Yahweh saved a great salvation. 15 And three from the 30 heads went down to the rock to David, to the cave of Adullam. And the camp of the Philistines encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. 16 And David then was in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines then was in Bethlehem. 17 And David desired, and he said, “Who will give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem which is by the gate?” 18 And the three broke through the camp of the Philistines, and they drew water from the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate. And they carried, and they brought to David. But David was not willing to drink it, and he poured it out to Yahweh. 19 And he said, “Far be it from me before my God from doing this! Do I drink the blood of these men with their lives? For with their lives they brought it.” And he was not willing to drink it. These, the three mighty ones did. 20 And Abshai, the brother of Joab, he was the head of the Three. And he swung his spear against 300, slain. And to him a name among the Three. 21 From the Three, in the second he was honored and he became to them a chief, but up to the Three he did not enter. 22 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a man of strength, great deeds, from Kabzeel. He himself struck down the two of Ariel of Moab. And he himself went down, and he struck down the lion in the midst of the pit on the day of the snow. 23 And he himself struck down the man of Egypt, a man of stature, five cubits. And in the hand of the Egyptian, a spear like the beam of weavers, but he went down to him with a staff. And he seized the spear from the hand of the Egyptian, and he killed him with his spear. 24 These, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and to him a name among the three mighty ones. 25 From the 30, behold, he himself was honored, but to the three, he did not enter. And David set him over his bodyguard. 26 And the mighty ones of strength: Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo from Bethlehem, 27 Shammoth the Harorite, Helez the Pelonite, 28 Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, Abiezer the Anathothite, 29 Sibbekai the Hushathite, Ilai the Ahohite, 30 Maharai the Netophathite, Heled the son of Baanah the Netophathite, 31 Ithai the son of Ribai from Gibeah of the sons of Benjamin, Benaiah the Pirathonite, 32 Hurai from the valleys of Gaash, Abiel the Arbathite, 33 Azmaveth the Baharumite, Eliahba the Shaalbonite, 34 the sons of Hashem the Gizonite, Jonathan the son of Shagee the Hararite, 35 Ahiam the son of Sakar the Hararite, Eliphal the son of Ur, 36 Hepher the Mekerathite, Ahijah the Pelonite, 37 Hezro the Carmelite, Naarai the son of Ezbai, 38 Joel the brother of Nathan, Mibhar the son of Hagri, 39 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Berothite, the lifter of the equipment of Joab the son of Zeruiah, 40 Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, 41 Uriah the Hittite, Zabad the son of Ahlai, 42 Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite, a head of the Reubenites, and with him 30, 43 Hanan the son of Maacah, and Joshaphat the Mithnite, 44 Uzzia the Ashterathite, Shama and Jeiel the sons of Hotham the Aroerite, 45 Jediael the son of Shimri, and Joha his brother, the Tizite, 46 Eliel the Mahavite, and Jeribai and Joshaviah, the sons of Elnaam, and Ithmah the Moabite, 47 Eliel, and Obed, and Jaasiel the Mezobaite. 11:11 [1] The Hebrew could also read of the thirty or of the three . Chapter 12 1 And these, the ones who came to David at Ziklag, while he was one restrained from the face of Saul the son of Kish. And they were among the mighty ones, helping the battle. 2 They were armed with a bow, right-handed and left-handed with stones and with arrows with the bow, from the brothers of Saul, from Benjamin. 3 The head, Ahiezer, and Joash, the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite, and Jeziel and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth, and Berakah, and Jehu the Anathothite, 4 and Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty one among the 30 and over the 30, and Jeremiah, and Jahaziel, and Johanan, and Jozabad the Gederathite, 5 Eluzai, and Jerimoth, and Bealiah, and Shemariah, Shephatiah the Haruphite, 6 Elkanah, and Isshiah, and Azarel, and Joezer, and Jashobeam, the Korahites, 7 and Joelah and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham from Gedor. 8 And from the Gadites they separated themselves to David at the stronghold in the wilderness, mighty in strength, men of the army for battle, ready with shield and spear, and faces of lions were their faces, and like gazelles on the hills to hasten. 9 Ezer the head, Obadiah the second, Eliab the third, 10 Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth, 11 Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh, 12 Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth, 13 Jeremiah the tenth, Makbannai the 11th. 14 These from the sons of Gad, the heads of the army. One for 100, the least; and the greatest for 1,000. 15 These, they who passed over the Jordan in the first month, and it was filling over all its banks, and caused to flee all the valleys, to the east and to the west. 16 And from the sons of Benjamin and Judah came to the stronghold to David. 17 And David went out before their faces, and he answered, and he said to them: “If for peace you have come to me, to help me, my heart will be to you all for unity. But if to betray me to my adversaries, with no violence in my palms, may the God of our fathers see and rebuke.” 18 And the Spirit clothed Amasai, the head of the 30: “To you, O David, and with you, O Son of Jesse. Peace, peace to you and peace to the one who helps you, for your God has helped you.” And David received them and placed them as the heads of the troop. 19 And from Manasseh fell upon David when he went with the Philistines against Saul to battle. And they did not help them because by counsel the governors of the Philistines sent them away, saying, “By our heads he will fall to his lord, Saul.” 20 In his going to Ziklag, they fell upon him from Manasseh: Adnah, and Jozabad, and Jediael, and Michael, and Jozabad, and Elihu, and Zillethai, the heads of the thousands who were of Manasseh. 21 And they helped with David against the troop, for mighty ones of strength, all of them, and they were chiefs in the army. 22 For at the time of day by day, they were coming to David to help him, until there was a great camp, like the camp of God. 23 And these, the numbers of the heads of those equipped for war. They came to David at Hebron to turn the kingdom of Saul to him according to the mouth of Yahweh. 24 The sons of Judah, those carrying shield and spear, 6,800, equipped for war. 25 From the sons of Simeon, mighty ones of strength for war, 7,100. 26 From the sons of Levi, 4,600. 27 And Jehoiada, the leader from Aaron, and with him, 3,700. 28 And Zadok, a young, mighty one of strength, and the house of his father, 22 chiefs. 29 And from the sons of Benjamin, the brothers of Saul, 3,000. And until then the majority of them were keeping the charge of the house of Saul. 30 And from the sons of Ephraim, 20,800 mighty ones of strength, men of names, according to the house of their fathers. 31 And from the half tribe of Manasseh, 18,000 who were marked by names to come to make David king. 32 And from the sons of Issachar, those who knew understanding of the times to know what Israel should do, their heads, 200, and all their brothers according to their mouth. 33 From Zebulun, those going out for war, prepared for battle with all the weapons of battle, 50,000, and to help with no heart and a heart. 34 And from Naphtali, 1,000 chiefs, and with them with shield and spear, 37,000. 35 And from the Danites, prepared for battle, 28,600. 36 And from Asher those going out for war to prepare for battle, 40,000. 37 And from beyond the Jordan, from the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, with all the weapons of war for battle, 120,000. 38 All these men of battle, helpers of the battle line; with a whole heart, they came to Hebron to make David king over all Israel. And also all the rest of Israel was of one heart to make David king. 39 And they were there with David three days, eating and drinking, for their brothers had prepared for them. 40 And also, those near to them, as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, were bringing bread on donkeys, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen; food of flour, fig cakes, and raisins cakes, and wine, and oil, and oxen, and sheep, in abundance, for joy was in Israel. Chapter 13 1 And David consulted with the chiefs of thousands and of hundreds, to every leader. 2 And David said to all the assembly of Israel, “If to you all it is good, and from Yahweh our God, let us break out, let us send to our brothers who remain in all the regions of Israel, and with them the priests and the Levites in the cities of their pasturelands. And let them gather to us. 3 And let us return the Box of our God to us, for we did not seek it in the days of Saul.” 4 And all the assembly said to do thus, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people. 5 And David assembled all Israel from Shihor of Egypt and as far as Lebo Hamath, to bring in the Box of God from Kiriath Jearim. 6 And David went up and all Israel to Baalah, to Kiriath Jearim, which belongs to Judah, to bring up from there the Box of God Yahweh who sits over the cherubim which is called by name. 7 And they transported the Box of God on a new cart from the house of Abinadab; and Uzzah and Ahio were driving the cart. 8 And David and all Israel were celebrating before the face of God with all might, and with songs, and lyres, and harps, and tambourines, and cymbals, and trumpets. 9 And they came to the threshing floor of Kidon, and Uzzah sent out his hand to grasp the Box for the oxen stumbled. 10 And the anger of Yahweh burned against Uzzah, and He struck him down because he sent out his hand on the Box. And he died there before the face of God. 11 And David became angry because Yahweh broke out a breaking out against Uzzah. And he called that place Perez Uzzah until this day. 12 And David feared God in that day, saying, “How will I bring to myself the Box of God?” 13 And David did not remove the Box to himself, to the city of David, but he turned it to the house of Obed Edom the Gittite. 14 And the Box of God dwelt with the house of Obed Edom in his house three months. And Yahweh blessed the house of Obed Edom and all that belonged to him. Chapter 14 1 And Hiram the king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and wood of cedar, and craftsmen of a wall, and craftsmen of wood to build for him a house. 2 And David knew that Yahweh had established him as king over Israel, that his kingdom was lifted upwards for the sake of his people Israel. 3 And David took more wives in Jerusalem, and David fathered more sons and daughters. 4 And these, the names of those born who were to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, and Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon, 5 and Ibhar, and Elishua, and Elpelet, 6 and Nogah, and Nepheg, and Japhia, 7 and Elishama, and Beeliada, and Eliphelet. 8 Now the Philistines heard that David was anointed as king over all Israel, and all the Philistines went up to seek David. And David heard and went out before their faces. 9 And the Philistines went, and they raided in the Valley of Rephaim. 10 Then David asked God, saying, “Should I go up against the Philistines? And will you give them into my hand?” And Yahweh said to him, “Go up and I will give them into your hand.” 11 And they went up to Baal Perazim, and David struck them down there. And David said, “God has broken through my enemies by my hand like a breaking through of waters.” Therefore they called the name of that place Baal Perazim. 12 And they abandoned their gods there, and David ordered, and they were burned with fire. 13 And the Philistines acted yet again, and they raided in the valley. 14 And David asked God again. And God said to him, “Do not go up after them; circle around from upon them and come at them in front of the balsam trees. 15 And it shall be when you hear the sound of the marching in the heads of the balsam trees, at that time you shall go out in battle. For God has gone out before your face to strike down the camp of the Philistines.” 16 And David did just as God commanded him. And he struck down the camp of the Philistines, from Gibeon and as far as Gezer. 17 And the name of David went out into all the lands, and Yahweh placed the fear of him on all the nations. Chapter 15 1 And he made for himself houses in the city of David. And he prepared a place for the Box of God, and he stretched out a tent for it. 2 Then David said, “No one shall carry the Box of God, but only the Levites. For them Yahweh chose to carry the Box of Yahweh and to minister for him forever.” 3 And David assembled all Israel to Jerusalem to bring up the Box of Yahweh to its place which he had prepared for it. 4 And David gathered the sons of Aaron and the Levites. 5 Of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief and his brothers, 120. 6 Of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief and his brothers, 220. 7 Of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief and his brothers, 130. 8 Of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief and his brothers, 200. 9 Of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief and his brothers, 80. 10 Of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief and his brothers, 112. 11 And David called for Zadok and for Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel, and Amminadab. 12 And he said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers of the Levites. Consecrate yourselves, you and your brothers, and bring up the Box of Yahweh, the God of Israel, to where I prepared for it. 13 Because at the first it was not you, Yahweh our God broke out against us, for we did not seek him according to the judgment.” 14 And the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the Box of Yahweh, the God of Israel. 15 And the sons of Levi carried the Box of God just as Moses commanded, according to the word of Yahweh, on their shoulders with poles on them. 16 And David said to the chiefs of the Levites to assign their brothers as the singers with instruments of song, harps, and lyres, and cymbals, playing to raise a sound of joy. 17 And the Levites assigned Heman the son of Joel and from his brothers, Asaph the son of Berechiah, and from the sons of Merari their brothers, Ethan the son of Kushaiah, 18 and with them, their brothers of the second rank: Zechariah, Ben, and Jaaziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, Eliab, and Benaiah, and Maaseiah, and Mattithiah, and Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and Obed Edom, and Jeiel, the gatekeepers. 19 And the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, with bronze cymbals to play. 20 And Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah with harps, according to Alamoth. 21 And Mattithiah, and Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and Obed Edom, and Jeiel, and Azaziah with lyres, according to the Sheminith to lead. 22 And Kenaniah, the chief of the Levites in lifting up, an instructor in lifting up, for he was one who understood. 23 And Berechiah and Elkanah, gatekeepers for the Box. 24 And Shebaniah, and Joshaphat, and Nethanel, and Amasai, and Zechariah, and Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, the ones to blow the trumpets before the face of the Box of God. And Obed Edom and Jehiah, gatekeepers for the Box. 25 And it happened David, and the elders of Israel, and the chiefs of thousands were going to bring up the Box of the covenant of Yahweh from the house of Obed Edom with joy. 26 And it happened when God helped the Levites carrying the Box of the covenant of Yahweh, and they slaughtered seven bulls and seven rams. 27 And David was clothed in a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites carrying the Box, and the singers, and Kenaniah, the chief of the lifting up of the singers. And on David, an ephod of linen. 28 And all Israel was bringing up the Box of the covenant of Yahweh with shouting of joy, and with a sound of a horn and with trumpets, and with cymbals, playing with harps and lyres. 29 And it happened the Box of the covenant of Yahweh was coming to the city of David, and Michal the daughter of Saul, looked down out of the window. And she saw the king, David, dancing and celebrating. And she despised him in her heart. Chapter 16 1 And they brought in the Box of God and put it in the midst of the tent that David streched out for it. And they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the face of God. 2 And David finished bringing up the burnt offering and the peace offerings, and he blessed the people in the name of Yahweh. 3 And he distributed to each person of Israel, from man and as far as woman, to each a loaf of bread, and a date cake, and a raisin cake. 4 And he appointed before the face of the Box of Yahweh from the Levites as ones who minister, and to commemorate and to thank and to praise Yahweh, the God of Israel. 5 Asaph the head, and second to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obed Edom, and Jeiel, with instruments of harps and lyres, and Asaph with cymbals was playing, 6 and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests with trumpets regularly, before the face of the Box of the covenant of God. 7 On that day then David first appointed to thank Yahweh by the hand of Asaph and his brothers. 8 Give thanks to Yahweh, call on his name; make known among the peoples his deeds. 9 Sing to him, make music to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. 10 Glory in his holy name; let the heart of those who seek Yahweh rejoice. 11 Seek Yahweh and his strength; seek his face continually. 12 Remember his wonderful acts which he has done, his miracles and the judgments of his mouth, 13 O seed of Israel his servant, O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones. 14 He is Yahweh, our God; in all the earth are his judgments. 15 Remember forever his covenant, the word he commanded for 1,000 generations, 16 which he cut with Abraham, and his oath to Isaac. 17 And he established it for Jacob as a statute, for Israel a covenant forever, 18 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan the allotment of your inheritance.” 19 When you all were few in number, insignificant, and sojourners in it, 20 and they walked back and forth from nation to nation, and from a kingdom to another people, 21 he did not permit a person to oppress them; and he rebuked kings on account of them. 22 “Do not strike my anointed ones, and against my prophets do not do evil.” 23 Sing to Yahweh, all the earth; announce from day to day his salvation. 24 Recount among the nations his glory, among all the peoples his wonderful acts. 25 For great is Yahweh and to be praised much, and to be feared is he above all gods. 26 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless, but Yahweh, the heavens he made. 27 Splendor and majesty are before his face; strength and joy in his place. 28 Ascribe to Yahweh, O clans of peoples, ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength! 29 Ascribe to Yahweh the glory of his name; bring an offering and come before his face; worship Yahweh in holy splendor. 30 Tremble from before his face, all the earth. Indeed, the world is established; it cannot be shaken. 31 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth shout in exultation; and let them say among the nations, “Yahweh reigns.” 32 Let the sea roar and that which fills it. Let the field exult, and all that is in it. 33 Then the trees of the forest will shout for joy from before the face of Yahweh, for he is coming to judge the earth. 34 Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for forever is his loyal love. 35 And say, “Save us, God of our salvation, and gather us and deliver us from the nations, to give thanks to your holy name, to boast in your praise.” 36 Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, from everlasting and as far as everlasting. And all the people said, “Amen” and praised Yahweh. 37 And he left there before the face of the Box of the covenant of Yahweh Asaph and his brothers to minister before the face of the Box continually, according to the matter of the day in its day, 38 and Obed Edom and their brothers, 68, and Obed Edom the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah, were gatekeepers, 39 and Zadok the priest and his brothers the priests before the face of the tabernacle of Yahweh at the high place which was in Gibeon 40 to bring up burnt offerings to Yahweh on the altar of burnt offering continually morning and evening, even according to all that is written in the law of Yahweh, which he commanded to Israel. 41 And with them, Heman and Jeduthun and the rest of those chosen who were marked by names to give thanks to Yahweh, for forever is his loyal love. 42 And with them, Heman and Jeduthun for those playing trumpets and cymbals and the instruments of song of God; and the sons of Jeduthun for the gate. 43 And all the people went, each to his house, and David turned around to bless his house. Chapter 17 1 And it happened when David was living in his house, and David said to Nathan the prophet, “Behold, I am living in a house of cedars, but the Box of the covenant of Yahweh is under curtains.” 2 And Nathan said to David, “All which is in your heart, do, for God is with you.” 3 And it happened in that night, and the word of God came to Nathan, saying, 4 “Go and say to David my servant, ‘Thus says Yahweh: You yourself shall not build for me a house in which to live, 5 for I have not lived in a house from the day that I brought up Israel until this day, but I have been from tent to tent, and from a tabernacle. 6 In all where I have walked back and forth among all Israel, what word did I speak to one of the judges of Israel whom I commanded to shepherd my people, saying, “Why have you all not built for me a house of cedars?”’ 7 And now, thus you shall say to my servant, to David, ‘Thus says Yahweh of Hosts: I myself took you from the pasture, from behind sheep, to be a leader over my people Israel. 8 And I have been with you in all where you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before your face, and I will make for you a name, like a name of the great ones who are on the earth. 9 And I will set a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them, and they will settle on it, and they will not tremble again. And the sons of injustice will not continue to trouble them, just as at the first, 10 and from the days that I commanded judges over my people Israel. And I will humble all your enemies. And I declare to you that a house Yahweh will build for you. 11 And it will be when your days are fulfilled, to walk with your fathers, then I will raise up your seed after you who will be from your sons, and I will establish his kingdom. 12 He himself will build for me a house, and I will establish his throne as far as forever. 13 I myself will be to him a father, and he himself will be to me a son. And my covenant faithfulness I will not take away from with him, as I took away from who was before your face. 14 And I will set him up in my house and in my kingdom as far as forever, and his throne will be established as far as forever.’” 15 According to all these words and according to all this vision, thus Nathan spoke to David. 16 Then the king David went in and sat before the face of Yahweh; and he said, “Who am I, Yahweh God, and what is my house, that you have brought me as far as here? 17 And a small thing was this in your eyes, God, and you have spoken regarding the house of your servant from a distance; and you have seen me as an appearance of the man moving upwards, Yahweh God. 18 What more can David still say to you about honoring your servant. And you, your servant you know. 19 Yahweh, for the sake of your servant and according to your heart, you have done all this greatness to make known all the greatnesses. 20 Yahweh, there is none like you, and no God except you, in all which we have heard with our ears. 21 And who is like your people Israel, one nation on the earth whom God went to ransom for himself a people, to set for you a name great and to be feared, to drive out nations from the faces of your people whom you ransomed from Egypt? 22 And you made your people Israel for yourself a people as far as forever, and you, Yahweh, became to them God. 23 And now, Yahweh, the word which you spoke concerning your servant and concerning his house, may it be confirmed as far as forever, and do just as you have spoken. 24 And may it be confirmed and may your name be great as far as forever, saying, ‘Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, is God to Israel,’ and the house of David your servant established before your face. 25 For you, my God, have uncovered the ear of your servant to build for him a house; therefore your servant has found to pray before your face. 26 And now, Yahweh, you are God, and you have spoken concerning your servant this good. 27 And now, you have decided to bless the house of your servant, to be forever before your face. For you, Yahweh, have blessed, and it is blessed forever.” Chapter 18 1 And it happened after this that David struck down the Philistines, and he humbled them. And he took Gath and its daughters from the hand of the Philistines. 2 And he struck down Moab, and the Moabites became servants to David, carriers of tribute. 3 And David struck down Hadadezer, the king of Zobah Hamath, when he went to set up his hand at the Euphrates River. 4 And David captured from him 1,000 chariots, and 7,000 horsemen, and 20,000 men on foot. And David hamstrung all the chariots, but spared from him 100 chariots. 5 And Aram of Damascus came to help Hadadezer the king of Zobah, and David struck down of the Arameans 22,000 men. 6 And David set up in Aram of Damascus, and Aram became servants to David, carriers of tribute. And Yahweh saved David in all where he went. 7 And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and he brought them to Jerusalem. 8 And from Tibhath and from Kun, cities of Hadadezer, David took very much bronze. With it, Solomon made the sea of bronze and the pillars and bronze items. 9 And Tou, the king of Hamath, heard that David struck down all the army of Hadadezer, the king of Zobah. 10 And he sent Hadoram his son to King David to ask him for peace and to bless him because he had fought against Hadadezer and struck him down, for a man of war Tou was with Hadadezer, and all the items of gold and silver and bronze. 11 Also these King David consecrated to Yahweh with the silver and the gold that he carried away from all the nations: from Edom, and from Moab, and from the sons of Ammon, and from the Philistines, and from Amalek. 12 And Abishai the son of Zeruiah struck down Edom in the Valley of Salt, 18,000. 13 And he set in Edom garrisons, and all Edom became servants to David. And Yahweh saved David in all where he went. 14 And David reigned over all Israel. And it happened he was doing judgment and righteousness for all his people. 15 And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, secretary. 16 And Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, priests, and Shavsha, scribe. 17 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and the Pelethites, and the sons of David, the heads at the hand of the king. Chapter 19 1 And it happened after this, and Nahash, the king of the sons of Ammon, died, and his son reigned in his place. 2 And David said, “I will do loyal kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father did to me loyal kindness.” And David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. And the servants of David came to the land of the sons of Ammon, to Hanun, to comfort him. 3 And the chiefs of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun, “Is David honoring your father in your eyes because he sent to you comforters? Is it not for the sake of to explore and to overthrow and to spy the land his servants came to you?” 4 And Hanun took the servants of David, and he shaved them, and he cut their garments in half, until the buttocks, and he sent them away. 5 And they went, and they declared to David concerning the men. And he sent to meet them for the men were greatly humiliated. And the king said, “Stay in Jericho until when your beards grow, then return.” 6 And the sons of Ammon saw that they were a stench to David, and Hanun sent, and the sons of Ammon, 1,000 talents of silver to hire for themselves from Aram Naharaim, and from Aram Maacah, and from Zobah, chariots and horsemen. 7 And they hired for themselves 32,000 chariots and the king of Maacah and his people. And they came, and they encamped before the face of Medeba. And the sons of Ammon assembled from their cities, and came to battle. 8 And David heard, and he sent Joab and all the army of mighty ones. 9 And the sons of Ammon came out, and they arrayed for battle at the entrance of the city. And the kings who came were by themselves in the field. 10 And Joab saw that the face of the battle was to him faces and hindquarter, and he chose from all the choice ones among Israel, and he arrayed to meet Aram. 11 And the remainder of the people he placed in the hand of Abishai his brother, and they arrayed to meet the sons of Ammon. 12 And he said, “If Aram is too strong for me, then you shall be to me for salvation. And if the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will save you. 13 Be strong, and let us strengthen ourselves on behalf of our people and on behalf of the cities of our God, and Yahweh, the good in his eyes, he will do.” 14 And Joab drew near, and the people who were with him, before the faces of Aram for battle. And they fled from his face. 15 And the sons of Ammon saw that Aram fled, and these also fled from the face of Abishai his brother. And they came to the city and Joab came to Jerusalem. 16 And Aram saw that they were defeated before the face of Israel. And they sent messengers, and they brought out Aram, who was beyond the river, and Shophak the chief of the army of Hadadezer before their faces. 17 And it was told to David, and he gathered all Israel. And he passed over the Jordan, and he came to them. And he arrayed against them. And David arrayed to meet Aram for battle, and they fought with him. 18 And Aram fled from before the face of Israel, and David killed from Aram 7,000 chariots and 40,000 men on foot. And Shophak the chief of the army, he killed. 19 And the servants of Hadadezer saw that they were defeated before the face of Israel, and they made peace with David, and they served him. And Aram was not willing to save the sons of Ammon again. Chapter 20 1 And it happened at the time of the turning of the year, at the time of the going out of kings, that Joab led out the army for war and he devastated the land of the sons of Ammon. And he came, and he besieged Rabbah. And David stayed in Jerusalem. And Joab struck down Rabbah, and he tore it down. 2 And David took the crown of their king from on his head, and he found the weight was a talent of gold, and in it was a precious stone. And it was on the head of David, and the plunder of the city he brought out, a very great amount. 3 And the people who were in it, he brought out, and they sawed with saws and with sharp instruments of iron and with saws. And thus David did to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem. 4 And it happened after this that war arose at Gezer with the Philistines. Then Sibbekai the Hushathite struck down Sippai, from the descendants of the Rephaim, and they were humbled. 5 And there was again war with the Philistines, and Elhanan the son of Jair struck down Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite; and the wood of his spear was like a beam of a weaver. 6 And there was again war in Gath. And there was a man of stature. And his digits were six and six, 24, and he also was born of Rapha. 7 And he taunted Israel. And Jonathan the son of Shimea, the brother of David, struck him down. 8 These were born to Rapha in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants. Chapter 21 1 And an adversary stood against Israel, and he incited David to count Israel. 2 And David said to Joab and to the chiefs of the people, “Go, count Israel from Beersheba and as far as Dan, and bring to me, that I may know their number.” 3 And Joab said, “May Yahweh add to his people like them 100 times. Are not, my lord the king, all of them servants to my lord? Why does my lord seek this? Why should it be guilt for Israel?” 4 But the word of the king was strong against Joab. So Joab went out and walked back and forth in all Israel. Then he came to Jerusalem. 5 And Joab gave the number of the numbering of the people to David. And all Israel was 1,100,000 men who drew the sword, and Judah, 470,000 men who drew the sword. 6 But Levi and Benjamin he did not number in their midst, for the word of the king was abhorrent to Joab. 7 And it was evil in the eyes of God concerning this word, and he struck Israel. 8 And David said to God, “I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing. And now please cause to pass the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” 9 And Yahweh spoke to Gad, the seer of David, saying, 10 “Go and speak to David, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh, three I am stretching over you; choose for yourself one from them, and I will act towards you.’” 11 And Gad came to David, and he said to him, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Take for yourself: 12 either three years famine, or three months being swept away from the faces of your foes and overtaken by the sword of your enemies, or three days of the sword of Yahweh, even pestilence in the land and the angel of Yahweh destroying in all the territory of Israel.’ And now, see; what word shall I bring back to the one who sent me?” 13 And David said to Gad, “There is great distress to me! Please let me fall into the hand of Yahweh, for many are his great mercies, but into the hand of man, do not let me fall.” 14 And Yahweh gave a pestilence on Israel, and from Israel fell 70,000 men. 15 And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy her. And when destroying, Yahweh saw, and he relented concerning the disaster. And he said to the angel who was destroying, “Enough! Now release your hand.” And the angel of Yahweh was standing at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 16 And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of Yahweh standing between the earth and between the heavens and his sword drawn in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. And David fell, and the elders, covered in sackcloth, on their faces. 17 And David said to God, “Was it not I myself who said to count the people? And it is I who sinned, and I have surely done evil, but these sheep, what have they done? Yahweh my God, please let your hand be against me and against the house of my father, but not on your people a plague.” 18 And the angel of Yahweh said to Gad to say to David that David should go up to raise an altar to Yahweh at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 19 So David went up at the word of Gad who spoke in the name of Yahweh. 20 And Ornan turned, and he saw the angel. And four of his sons with him were hiding themselves. And Ornan was threshing wheat. 21 And David came to Ornan. And Ornan looked, and he saw David. And he went out from the threshing floor, and he bowed down to David, face to the ground. 22 And David said to Ornan, “Give to me the place of the threshing floor, and I will build on it an altar to Yahweh. At the full price give it to me, so the plague may be restrained from against the people.” 23 And Ornan said to David, “Take for yourself that my lord the king may do good in his eyes. See, I give the cattle for the burnt offerings and the threshing sledges for wood, and the wheat for the offering; all I give.” 24 And King David said to Ornan, “No, for I will surely buy at the full price, for I will not lift up what is yours to Yahweh and offer a burnt offering without paying compensation.” 25 And David gave to Ornan for the place 600 shekels of gold by weight. 26 And David built there an altar to Yahweh and he offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. And he called to Yahweh, and he answered him with fire from the heavens on the altar of the burnt offering. 27 And Yahweh spoke to the angel, and he returned his sword to its sheath. 28 At that time, when David saw that Yahweh had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there. 29 And the tabernacle of Yahweh which Moses made in the wilderness and the altar of the burnt offering at that time were at the high place at Gibeon. 30 And David was not able to go to its face to seek God, for he was terrified from the faces of the sword of the angel of Yahweh. Chapter 22 1 And David said, “This is the house of Yahweh God, and this is the altar for the burnt offering of Israel.” 2 And David said to gather the foreigners who were in the land of Israel. And he assigned stonemasons to hew out cut stones to build the house of God. 3 And a large amount of iron for the nails for the doors of the gates and for braces, David prepared; and a large amount of bronze, there is no weighing. 4 And trees of cedar without number, for the Sidonians and the Tyrians brought a large amount of cedar trees to David. 5 And David said, “Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house to be built for Yahweh must be great for the sake of a name and for beauty in all the lands. I will now prepare for it.” And David prepared a large amount before the face of his death. 6 And he called for Solomon his son, and he commanded him to build a house for Yahweh, the God of Israel. 7 And David said to Solomon, “My son, it was with my heart to build a house myself for the name of Yahweh my God. 8 But the word of Yahweh was to me, saying, ‘A large amount of blood you have shed and great wars you have made; you shall not build a house for my name because a large amount of blood you have shed on the ground before my face. 9 Behold, a son is being born to you; he himself will be a man of rest. And I will give rest to him from all his enemies from all around. For Solomon will be his name, and peace and quietness I will give to Israel in his days. 10 He himself will build a house for my name. And he himself will be to me a son, and I to him a father. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel as far as forever.’ 11 Now, my son, may Yahweh be with you, and may you be successful and build a house of Yahweh your God, just as he spoke concerning you. 12 Only may Yahweh give to you insight and understanding, and give you charge over Israel so that you may keep the law of Yahweh your God. 13 Then you will succeed, if you are careful to do the statutes and the judgments which Yahweh commanded Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and courageous. Do not fear and do not be dismayed. 14 Now, see, in my affliction, I have prepared for the house of Yahweh gold talents, 100,000, and silver, 1,000,000 talents, and for bronze and for iron, there is no weighing, for there is a large amount. And trees and stones I have prepared. And to them you will add. 15 And with you is a large amount of doers of work: stonemasons, and craftsmen of stone and wood, and all wise in all work, 16 for gold, for silver, and for bronze, and for iron; there is no numbering. Arise and work. And may Yahweh be with you.” 17 And David commanded all the chiefs of Israel to help Solomon his son, 18 “Is not Yahweh your God with you all and given rest to you all from all around? For he has given into my hand the inhabitants of the land, and the land is subdued before the face of Yahweh and before the faces of his people. 19 Now, give your heart and your life to seek Yahweh your God, and arise and build the sanctuary of Yahweh God to bring the Box of the covenant of Yahweh and the sacred items of God to the house to be built for the name of Yahweh.” Chapter 23 1 And David was old and was full of days, and he made Solomon his son king over Israel. 2 And he gathered all the chiefs of Israel and the priests and the Levites. 3 And the Levites were counted from sons of 30 years and upward and the numbering was by their heads, by males, 38,000. 4 “From these, to lead the work of the house of Yahweh, 24,000, and officers and judges, 6,000, 5 and 4,000 gatekeepers and 4,000 praisers to Yahweh with the instruments which I made to praise.” 6 And David divided them into divisions according to the sons of Levi: of Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 7 Of the Gershonites: Ladan and Shimei. 8 The sons of Ladan: the head Jehiel, and Zetham, and Joel, three. 9 The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, and Haziel, and Haran, three. These, the heads of the fathers of Ladan. 10 And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, and Zina, and Jeush, and Beriah. These, the sons of Shimei, four. 11 And Jahath was the head, and Zizah the second, but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, and they were to a house of a father for one group. 12 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four. 13 The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. And Aaron was set apart for him to consecrate the most holy things, he and his sons until forever, to make sacrifices before the face of Yahweh to minister for him and to bless in his name until forever. 14 And Moses, the man of God, his sons were called according to the tribe of Levi. 15 The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer. 16 The sons of Gershom: Shebuel the head. 17 And the sons of Eliezer were Rehabiah the head, and there were not to Eliezer other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were many above that. 18 The sons of Izhar: Shelomith the head. 19 The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the head, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. 20 The sons of Uzziel: Micah the head, and Isshiah the second. 21 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish. 22 And Eleazar died and there were not to him sons, but only daughters. And the sons of Kish, their brothers, lifted them. 23 The sons of Mushi: Mahli, and Eder, and Jerimoth, three. 24 These were the sons of Levi according to the house of their fathers, heads of the fathers, by their appointments, in the numbering of names by their heads, the doer of the work of the service of the house of Yahweh; from the sons of 20 years and upward. 25 For David said, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people. And he dwells in Jerusalem until forever. 26 And also, for the Levites, no longer to carry the tabernacle and all its items for its service.” 27 For by the last words of David, they were numbering the sons of Levi, from the sons of 20 years and upward. 28 For their office was by the hand of the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of Yahweh over the courts, and over the chambers, and over the cleansing of all the sacred things, and the work of the service of the house of God. 29 And concerning the bread of the arrangement, and concerning the fine flour for the offering, and concerning the wafers of the unleavened bread, and concerning the pan, and concerning that which is mixed, and concerning all measure and size. 30 And to stand morning by morning to thank and to praise Yahweh, and thus in the evening. 31 And concerning to offer all the burnt offerings to Yahweh for the Sabbaths, for the new moons, and for the appointed times in the numbering according to the judgment over them regularly before the face of Yahweh. 32 And they were to keep the charge of the tent of meeting and the charge of the holy place, and the charge of the sons of Aaron their brothers for the service of the house of Yahweh. Chapter 24 1 And to the sons of Aaron, their division. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 2 And Nadab died, as well as Abihu, before the face of their father, and sons were not to them. And Eleazar and Ithamar became priests. 3 And David divided them, along with Zadok from the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech from the sons of Ithamar, according to their office in their service. 4 And more sons of Eleazar were found for heads of men than the sons of Ithamar, and they divided them for the sons of Eleazar, heads of a house of the fathers, 16, and for the sons of Ithamar for the house of their fathers, eight. 5 And they divided them by lots, these with these, for there were sacred chiefs and chiefs of God from the sons of Eleazar and in the sons of Ithamar. 6 And Shemaiah the son of Nethanel the scribe from the Levites wrote them before the face of the king, and the chiefs, and Zadok the priest, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and the heads of the fathers for the priests and for the Levites. One house of a father was picked for Eleazar, and one was picked for Ithamar. 7 And the first lot went to Jehoiarib, to Jedaiah the second, 8 to Harim the third, to Seorim the fourth, 9 to Malkijah the fifth, to Mijamin the sixth, 10 to Hakkoz the seventh, to Abijah the eighth, 11 to Jeshua the ninth, to Shecaniah the tenth, 12 to Eliashib the 11th, to Jakim the 12th, 13 to Huppah the 13th, to Jeshebeab the 14th, 14 to Bilgah the 15th, to Immer the 16th, 15 to Hezir the 17th, to Happizzez the 18th, 16 to Pethahiah the 19th, to Jehezkel the 20th, 17 to Jakin the 21st, to Gamul the 22nd, 18 to Delaiah the 23rd, to Maaziah the 24th. 19 These, their office for their service to come into the house of Yahweh, according to the judgments by the hand of Aaron their father, just as Yahweh the God of Israel commanded him. 20 And to the sons of Levi, the ones who are left, of the sons of Amram, Shubael; of the sons of Shubael, Jehdeiah. 21 To Rehabiah, of the sons of Rehabiah, the head Ishijah. 22 To the Izharites, Shelomoth, of the sons of Shelomoth, Jahath. 23 And the sons of Jeriah, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. 24 The sons of Uzziel, Micah, of the sons of Micah, Shamir. 25 The brother of Micah, Ishijah, of the sons of Ishijah, Zechariah. 26 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Jaaziah: Beno. 27 The sons of Merari, of Jaaziah: Beno, and Shoham, and Zaccur, and Ibri. 28 To Mahli, Eleazar, and not were to him sons. 29 To Kish, the sons of Kish, Jerahmeel. 30 And the sons of Mushi: Mahli, and Eder, and Jerimoth. These, the sons of the Levites, according to the house of their fathers. 31 And these also cast lots just like their brothers, the sons of Aaron, before the face of King David, along with Zadok and Ahimelech and the heads of the fathers, for the priests and for the Levites; the fathers of the head just like his younger brother. Chapter 25 1 And David and the chiefs of the army divided for the service for the sons of Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun, the ones prophesying with harps, with lyres, and with cymbals. And the numbering of the men of work for their service was: 2 Of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, and Joseph, and Nethaniah, and Asharelah, [1] the sons of Asaph, under the hand of Asaph, who was prophesying under the hands of the king. 3 Of Jeduthun, the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, and Zeri, [2] and Jeshaiah, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the hands of their father Jeduthun, with the harp one prophesying, for giving thanks and to praise Yahweh. 4 Of Heman, the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, [3] Shubael, and Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, and Romamti-Ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, Mahazioth. 5 All these, the sons of Heman, the seer of the king by the words of God to lift up a horn. And God gave to Heman 14 sons and three daughters. 6 All these, under the hands of their father in the song of the house of Yahweh, with cymbals, harps, and lyres for the service of the house of God under the hands of the king: Asaph, and Jeduthun, and Heman. 7 And their numbering with their brothers who were taught the song of Yahweh, all the ones who understand, 288. 8 And they cast lots for a charge, small and great alike, one who understands with a student. 9 And the first lot went to Asaph, to Joseph; Gedaliah the second, he and his brothers and his sons, 12. 10 The third Zaccur, his sons and his brothers, 12. 11 The fourth to Izri, [4] his sons and his brothers, 12; 12 The fifth Nethaniah, his sons and his brothers, 12. 13 The sixth Bukkiah, his sons and his brothers, 12. 14 The seventh Jesarelah, [5] his sons and his brothers, 12. 15 The eighth Jeshaiah, his sons and his brothers, 12. 16 The ninth Mattaniah, his sons and his brothers, 12. 17 The tenth Shimei, his sons and his brothers, 12. 18 The 11th Azarel, [6] his sons and his brothers, 12. 19 The 12th to Hashabiah, his sons and his brothers, 12. 20 For the 13th Shubael, his sons and his brothers, 12. 21 For the 14th Mattithiah, his sons and his brothers, 12. 22 For the 15th to Jerimoth, his sons and his brothers, 12. 23 For the 16th to Hananiah, his sons and his brothers, 12. 24 For the 17th to Joshbekashah, his sons and his brothers, 12. 25 For the 18th to Hanani, his sons and his brothers, 12. 26 For the 19th to Mallothi, his sons and his brothers, 12. 27 For the 20th to Eliathah, his sons and his brothers, 12. 28 For the 21st to Hothir, his sons and his brothers, 12. 29 For the 22nd to Giddalti, his sons and his brothers, 12. 30 For the 23rd to Mahazioth, his sons and his brothers, 12. 31 For the 24th to Romamti-Ezer, his sons and his brothers, 12. 25:2 [1] This is the same person referred to in 1 Chronicles 25:14 as Jesarelah 25:3 [2] this is a variant of the name Izri, which is found in 1 Chronicles 25:11, and refers to the same person 25:4 [3] Uzziel is the same person referred to in 1 Chronicles 25:18 as Azarel. 25:11 [4] this is a variant of Zeri, found in 1 Chronicles 25:3, and refers to the same person 25:14 [5] This is the same person referred to in 1 Chronicles 25:2 as Asharelah 25:18 [6] This is the same person referred to in 1 Chronicles 25:4 as Uzziel Chapter 26 1 For the divisions of the gatekeepers: Of the Korahites, Meshelemiah the son of Kore, from the sons of Asaph [1] . 2 And to Meshelemiah [2] sons: Zechariah the firstborn, Jediael the second, Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth, 3 Elam the fifth, Jehohanan the sixth, Eliehoenai the seventh. 4 And to Obed Edom sons: Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, and Sakar the fourth, and Nethanel the fifth, 5 Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, Peullethai the eighth, for God blessed him. 6 And to Shemaiah his son were born sons, rulers in the house of their fathers; for mighty ones of strength they were. 7 The sons of Shemaiah: Othni, and Rephael, and Obed, Elzabad his brothers, sons of strength, Elihu and Semakiah. 8 All these from the sons of Obed Edom. They and their sons and their brothers, men of strength with power for service, 62 of Obed Edom. 9 And to Meshelemiah sons and brothers, sons of strength, 18. 10 And to Hosah, from the sons of Merari, sons: Shimri the head, although he was not firstborn, and his father set him as head, 11 Hilkiah the second, Tabaliah the third, Zechariah the fourth. All the sons and brothers to Hosah, 13. 12 To these divisions of the gatekeepers, to the head males a charge just like their brothers to minister in the house of Yahweh. 13 And they cast lots, like small like great, according to the house of their fathers for gate and gate. 14 And the lot fell to the east, to Shelemiah [3] and Zechariah his son, an advisor with insight. And they cast lots and his lot went to the north. 15 To Obed Edom to the south, and to his sons, the house of stores. 16 To Shuppim and to Hosah, to the west with the gate of Shalleketh on the road that goes up; a guard alongside a guard. 17 To the east six Levites, to the north per day four, to the south per day four, and to the stores two by two. 18 At the colonnade to the west, four at the highway, two at the colonnade. [4] 19 These, the divisions of the gatekeepers for the sons of the Korahites and for the sons of Merari. 20 And the Levites, Ahijah over the treasuries of the house of God and of the treasuries of the sacred things. 21 The sons of Ladan, the sons of the Gershonites belonging to Ladan, the heads of the fathers, belonging to Ladan the Gershonite, Jehieli. 22 The sons of Jehieli: Zetham and Joel his brother, over the treasuries of the house of Yahweh. 23 Of the Amramites, of the Izharites, of the Hebronites, of the Uzzielites: 24 And Shubael the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, a leader over the treasuries, 25 and his brothers; to Eliezer, Rehabiah his son, and Jeshaiah his son, and Joram his son, and Zichri his son, and Shelomith his son. 26 This Shelomith and his brothers were over all the treasuries of the sacred things which David the king consecrated, and the heads of the fathers, of the chiefs of thousands and hundreds, and the chiefs of the army. 27 From battles and from plunder they consecrated to strengthen the house of Yahweh. 28 And all Samuel the seer consecrated, and Saul the son of Kish, and Abner the son of Ner, and Joab the son of Zeruiah. All the sacred things were under the hand of Shelomith and his brothers. 29 Of the Izharites, Kenaniah and his sons to the work of the outside for Israel as officers and judges. 30 Of the Hebronites, Hashabiah and his brothers, sons of strength, 1,700, over appointment of Israel from beyond the Jordan to the west for all the work of Yahweh and for the service of the king. 31 Of the Hebronites, Jeriah the head of the Hebronites according to his generations of fathers. In the 40th year of the reign of David they were sought out and there were found among them mighty ones of strength in Jazer of Gilead, 32 and his brothers, sons of strength, 2,700 heads of the fathers. And David the king appointed them over the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh, for every matter of God, and matter of the king. 26:1 [1] Asaph is the same person referred to as Ebiasaph in 1 Chronicles 9:19. 26:2 [2] Meshelemiah is the same person referred to as Shelemiah in 1 Chronicles 26:14. 26:14 [3] Shelemiah is the same person referred to as Meshelemiah in 1 Chronicles 26:2. 26:18 [4] The word translated “colonnade” is transliterated in some versions as “parbar.” This word appears only here and in 2 Kings 23:11 in the Old Testament. The meaning of this word was not clear for a long time, but was helped by the Temple Scroll in the Dead Sea Scrolls. See Klein 2006:493 and HALOT 3:962. Chapter 27 1 And the sons of Israel, for the numbering of the heads of the fathers and the chiefs of thousands and hundreds, and their officers of those who minister to the king for any matter of the divisions who come and go month by month for all months of the year, one division, 24,000. 2 Over the first division for the first month, Jashobeam the son of Zabdiel, and over his division, 24,000. 3 From the sons of Perez the head of all the chiefs of the armies for the first month. 4 And over the division for the second month, Dodai the Ahohite and his division, and Mikloth the leader, and over his division, 24,000. 5 The third chief of the army for the third month, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the head priest, and over his division, 24,000. 6 This Benaiah the mighty one of the 30, and over the 30 and his division, Ammizabad his son. 7 The fourth for the fourth month, Asahel brother of Joab and Zebadiah his son after him, and over his division, 24,000. 8 The fifth for the fifth month, the chief Shamhuth the Izrahite, and over his division, 24,000. 9 The sixth for the sixth month, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, and over his division, 24,000. 10 The seventh for the seventh month, Helez the Pelonite, from the sons of Ephraim, and over his division, 24,000. 11 The eighth for the eighth month, Sibbekai the Hushathite, of the Zerahites, and over his division, 24,000. 12 The ninth for the ninth month, Abiezer the Anathothite, of the Benjaminites, and over his division, 24,000. 13 The tenth for the tenth month, Maharai the Netophahite, of the Zerahites, and over his division, 24,000. 14 The 11th for the 11th month, Benaiah the Pirathonite, from the sons of Ephraim, and over his division, 24,000. 15 The 12th for the 12th month, Heldai the Netophahite, of Othniel, and over his division, 24,000. 16 And over the tribes of Israel: for the Reubenites, a leader, Eliezer the son of Zichri; for the Simeonites, Shephatiah the son of Maacah; 17 for the Levites, Hashabiah the son of Kemuel; for Aaron, Zadok; 18 for Judah, Elihu, from the brothers of David; for Issachar, Omri the son of Michael; 19 for Zebulun, Ishmaiah the son of Obadiah; for Naphtali, Jerimoth the son of Azriel; 20 for the sons of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Azaziah; for the half tribe of Manasseh, Joel the son of Pedaiah; 21 for the half of Manasseh in Gilead, Iddo the son of Zechariah; for Benjamin, Jaasiel the son of Abner; 22 for Dan, Azarel the son of Jeroham. These, the chiefs of the tribes of Israel. 23 And David did not lift the numbering for sons of 20 years and downwards, because Yahweh said he would multiply Israel like the stars of the heavens. 24 Joab the son of Zeruiah began to count, but he did not finish. And there was among this wrath on Israel. And the number did not go up into the number of the matters of the days of King David. 25 And over the treasuries of the king, Azmaveth the son of Adiel. And over the treasuries in the field, in the cities, and in the villages, and in the towers, Jonathan the son of Uzziah. 26 And over the ones who do the work of the field, for the service of the ground, Ezri the son of Kelub. 27 And over the vineyards, Shimei the Ramathite. And over what is in the vineyards for the treasuries of the wine, Zabdi the Shiphmite. 28 And over the olive trees and the sycamore trees which were in the lowlands, Baal-Hanan the Gederite. And over the treasuries of the oil, Joash. 29 And over the herd pasturing in Sharon, Shitrai the Sharonite. And over the herd in the valleys, Shaphat the son of Adlai. 30 And over the camels, Obil the Ishmaelite. And over the female donkeys, Jehdeiah the Meronothite. 31 And over the flock, Jaziz the Hagrite. All these, the chiefs of the property which belonged to King David. 32 And Jonathan, the uncle of David, an advisor, a man of understanding and a scribe, was he. And Jehiel the son of Hakmoni was with the sons of the king. 33 And Ahithophel, an advisor to the king, and Hushai the Arkite, friend to the king. 34 And after Ahithophel, Jehoiada the son of Benaiah and Abiathar. And the chief of the army of the king, Joab. Chapter 28 1 And David called to assembly all the chiefs of Israel: the chiefs of the tribes, and the chiefs of the divisions who served the king, and the chiefs of the thousands, and the chiefs of the hundreds, and the chiefs of all the property and cattle belonging to the king and to his sons, with the high officials, and the mighty ones, and to all the mighty ones of strength, to Jerusalem. 2 And David the king rose to his feet, and he said, “Hear me, my brothers and my people, I had in my heart to build a house of rest for the Box of the covenant of Yahweh and for the footstool of the feet of our God. And I have prepared to build. 3 But God said to me, ‘You will not build a house for my name, because a man of war you are and blood you have shed.’ 4 Yet Yahweh, the God of Israel, chose me from all of the house of my father to be king over Israel forever, for among Judah he chose for a leader, and in the house of Judah, the house of my father, and among the sons of my father, with me he was pleased to make king over all Israel. 5 And from all my sons, for many sons Yahweh has given to me, and he chose Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the kingdom of Yahweh over Israel. 6 And he said to me, ‘Solomon your son, he himself will build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him for myself for a son, and I myself will be to him for a father. 7 And I will establish his kingdom until forever, if he is strong to do my commands and my judgments, like this day.’ 8 And now, in the eyes of all Israel, the assembly of Yahweh, and in the ears of our God, keep and seek all the commands of Yahweh your God in order that you all will possess the good land and you all will cause your sons after you to inherit until forever. 9 And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing life, for all hearts Yahweh seeks and all purpose of thoughts understands. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you abandon him, he will reject you forever. 10 See, now, that Yahweh has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary. Be strong and act.” 11 And David gave to Solomon his son the plan of the porch, and its houses, and its treasuries, and its upper rooms, and its inner rooms, and the house of the atonement lid, 12 and the plan of all that was by the Spirit with him for the courts of the house of Yahweh, and for all the chambers all around, for the treasuries of the house of God and for the treasuries of the sacred things, 13 and for the divisions of the priests and the Levites, and for all the work of the service of the house of Yahweh, and for all the items of the service of the house of Yahweh, 14 for gold by weight, for gold for all the items of service and service, for all the items of silver by weight, for all the items of service and service, 15 and the weight for the gold lampstands and their gold lamps by weight of lampstand and lampstand and its lamps, and for the lampstands of silver by weight for the lampstand and its lamps, according to the service of lampstand and lampstand, 16 and the gold weight for the tables of the arrangement, for the table and table, and silver for the tables of silver, 17 and the forks and the bowls and the jugs of pure gold and for the basins of gold by weight for basin and basin, and for the basins of silver by weight, for basin and basin, 18 and for the altar of incense, refined gold by weight, and for the plan of the chariot of the cherubim, gold, that spread out and cover over the Box of the covenant of Yahweh. 19 The entirety in writing from the hand of Yahweh upon me, he instructed all of the works of the plan.” 20 And David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and be courageous and act. Do not fear and do not be dismayed for Yahweh God, my God, is with you. He will not leave you and he will not abandon you until all the work of the service of the house of Yahweh is finished. 21 And behold, the divisions of the priests and the Levites for all the service of the house of God, and with you in all the work will be every willing one with wisdom, for all the service, and the chiefs and all the people for all your ways.” Chapter 29 1 And King David said to all the assembly, “Solomon my son, alone God has chosen him, is young and tender, and the work is great; for not for man is the palace but for Yahweh God. 2 And according to all my power I have provided for the house of my God, the gold for the gold, and the silver for the silver, and the bronze for the bronze, the iron for the iron, and the wood for the wood, stones of onyx and settings, stones of antimony and colorful things, and all the rare stones and alabaster stones, in abundance. 3 And again, in my delighting in the house of my God, possessions belonging to me, gold and silver, I give to the house of my God, above all I have prepared for the sacred house: 4 3,000 talents of gold from the gold of Ophir, and 7,000 talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses, 5 gold for gold, and silver for silver, and for all the work by the hand of the craftsmen. And who offers freely to fill his hand today to Yahweh?” 6 And the chiefs of the fathers offered freely as well as the chiefs of the tribes of Israel and the chiefs of thousands and hundreds, and the chiefs of the work of the king. 7 And they gave for the service of the house of God gold, 5,000 talents and 10,000 darics, and silver, 10,000 talents, and bronze, 18,000 talents, and iron, 100,000 talents. 8 And he who was found with it, stones, they gave to the treasury of the house of Yahweh, under the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite. 9 And the people rejoiced because they offered freely, for with a whole heart they offered freely to Yahweh. And also King David rejoiced with great joy. 10 And David blessed Yahweh in the eyes of all the assembly. And David said, “Blessed are you, Yahweh, God of Israel, our father, from forever and until forever. 11 To you, Yahweh, the greatness, and the might, and the beauty, and the splendor, and the majesty; indeed, everything in the heavens and in the earth. To you, Yahweh, the kingdom and lifting yourself above all as head. 12 And the riches and the glory from before your face, and you are ruling over all, and in your hand power and might, and in your hand to make great and to strengthen all. 13 And now, our God, we are giving thanks to you and praising the name of your beauty. 14 But who am I, and who are my people, that we should retain power to offer freely like this? For from you is everything, and from your hand we have given to you. 15 For we are foreigners before your face and sojourners, like all our fathers, like the shadow are our days on the earth, and there is no hope. 16 Yahweh our God, all this abundance that we have prepared in order to build for you a house for the name of your holiness, from your hand it is and for you is all. 17 And I know, my God, that you examine the heart and in uprightness are pleased. I, in the uprightness of my heart, I have offered freely all these, and now your people are found here, I see with joy, to offer freely to you. 18 Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel—our fathers—keep this forever concerning the purpose of the thoughts of the heart of your people, and direct their hearts to you. 19 And to Solomon my son, give a whole heart to keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, and to do all and to build the palace for which I have prepared.” 20 And David said to all the assembly, “Bless Yahweh your God.” And all the assembly blessed Yahweh, the God of their fathers. And they bowed down and paid homage to Yahweh and to the king. 21 And they sacrificed to Yahweh sacrifices, and they offered burnt offerings to Yahweh on the day following that day, 1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams, 1,000 lambs, and their drink offerings and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. 22 And they ate and drank before the face of Yahweh that day with great joy. And they made king a second time Solomon, the son of David, and they anointed for Yahweh for a leader and Zadok for priest. 23 And Solomon sat on the throne of Yahweh as king instead of David his father, and he succeeded. And all Israel listened to him. 24 And all the chiefs, and the mighty ones, and also all the sons of King David gave a hand under King Solomon. 25 And Yahweh made Solomon exceedingly great in the eyes of all Israel. And he bestowed on him majesty of a kingdom which has not been on any king before his face over Israel. 26 And David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. 27 And the days which he reigned over Israel, 40 years. In Hebron he reigned seven years, and in Jerusalem he reigned 33. 28 And he died at a good old age, full of days, riches, and glory. And Solomon his son reigned in his place. 29 And the matters of King David, the first things and the last things, behold, they are written in the words of Samuel the Seer, and in the words of Nathan the prophet, and in the words of Gad the prophet, 30 with all his reign and his might and the times which passed over on him, and on Israel, and on all the kingdoms of the lands. 2 Chronicles Chapter 1 1 And Solomon the son of David strengthened himself over his kingdom, and Yahweh his God was with him and made him exceedingly great. 2 And Solomon said to all Israel, to the chiefs of thousands and of hundreds, and to the judges, and to every prince of all Israel, the heads of the fathers. 3 And Solomon went and all the assembly with him to the high place that was at Gibeon, for there was the tent of meeting of God, which Moses the servant of Yahweh, had made in the wilderness. 4 However, the Box of God David had brought up from Kiriath Jearim to where David prepared for it, for he pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem. 5 And the bronze altar which Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, made was there before the tabernacle of Yahweh; and Solomon and the assembly sought him. [1] 6 And Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before Yahweh, which was at the tent of meeting, and he brought up on it 1,000 burnt offerings. 7 In that night, God appeared to Solomon, and he said to him, “Ask what I should give to you.” 8 And Solomon said to God, “You yourself did with David my father great covenant faithfulness and have made me king in his place. 9 Now, Yahweh God, may your word with David my father be confirmed, for you yourself have made me king over a people numerous as the dust of the earth. 10 Now wisdom and knowledge give to me, and I will go out before this people, and I will come in, for who can judge this great people of yours?” 11 And God said to Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked for wealth, riches, or glory, or the life of those who hate you, and also many days you did not ask, but you have asked for yourself wisdom and knowledge with which you will judge my people, which I made you king over them, 12 wisdom and knowledge are given to you, and wealth, and riches, and glory I will give to you which were not thus to the kings who were before you, and after you will not be thus.” 13 And Solomon came from the high place that was at Gibeon to Jerusalem, from before the tent of meeting; and he was king over Israel. 14 And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen, and there was to him 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, and he placed them in the chariot cities, and with the king in Jerusalem. 15 And the king made silver and gold in Jerusalem as the stones, and cedars he made as the sycamore trees that were in the lowlands in abundance. 16 And the source of the horses which were to Solomon was from Egypt and from Kue; the traders of the king, they would take at a price from Kue. 17 And they brought up and brought out from Egypt a chariot for 600 silver, and a horse for 150. And thus, according to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram, by their hands, they brought out. 1:5 [1] Some older versions have, the bronze altar made by Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur, he placed there before the tabernacle of Yahweh , where he refers to David. Chapter 2 1 And Solomon said to build a house for the name of Yahweh and a house for his kingdom. 2 And Solomon counted 70,000 men as burden bearers, and 80,000 men as stonemasons in the hills, and directors over them 3,600. 3 And Solomon sent to Hiram, the king of Tyre, saying, “Just as you did with David my father and sent to him cedars to build for himself a house to dwell in it. 4 Behold, I am building a house for the name of Yahweh my God, to consecrate to him, to sacrifice before him spiced incense and the regular display, and burnt offerings in the morning and in the evening, on the Sabbaths and on the new moons, and the appointed times of Yahweh our God. Forever, this is over Israel. 5 And the house that I am building will be great, for great is our God more than all gods. 6 But who can keep strength to build for him a house, since the heavens and the heavens of the heavens do not contain him? And who am I that I would build for him a house, except to sacrifice before him? 7 And now, send to me a wise man to work in gold, and in silver, and in bronze, and in iron, and in purple and crimson and violet, and one who knows how to engrave engravings; with the wise who are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father prepared. 8 And send to me trees of cedar, cypress, and algum from Lebanon, for I myself know that your servants know how to cut trees of Lebanon. And behold, my servants will be with your servants, 9 in order to prepare for me trees in abundance, for the house which I am building will be great and marvelous. 10 And behold, to the wood cutters, to the ones who cut the trees, I will give crushed wheat to your servants 20,000 cors, and barley 20,000 cors, and wine 20,000 baths, and oil 20,000 baths.” [1] 11 And Hiram, the king of Tyre, said in a writing, and sent to Solomon: “Because Yahweh loves his people, he has placed you over them as king.” 12 And Hiram said, “Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth, who has given to David the king a son of wisdom, knowing insight and understanding, who will build a house for Yahweh and a house for his kingdom. 13 And now, I have sent a wise man, knowing understanding, Huram-Abi, 14 a son of a woman from the daughters of Dan, and his father a man of Tyre, knowing to work in gold, and in silver, in bronze, in iron, in stones, and in trees, in purple, in violet, and in fine linen, and in crimson, and to engrave any engraving and to devise any device, which is given to him with your wise ones and the wise ones of my lord, David, your father. 15 And now, the wheat and the barley, the oil and the wine, which my lord has said, let him send to his servants. 16 And we ourselves will cut trees from Lebanon, according to all your need, and we will bring them to you by rafts by sea to Joppa, and you yourself will bring them up to Jerusalem.” 17 And Solomon counted all the men, the foreigners who were in the land of Israel, after the census that David, his father, had counted them. And there were found 153,600. 18 And he made from them 70,000 burden bearers, 80,000 stonemasons in the hills, and 3,600 directors to cause the people to work. 2:10 [1] Some versions have, twenty thousand cors of wheat as food . Chapter 3 1 And Solomon began to build the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where he had appeared to David his father, where David prepared in the place at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2 And he began to build in the second month on the second, in the fourth year of his reign. 3 And these were the founding of Solomon to build the house of God, the length in cubits by the former measure, 60 cubits, and the width 20 cubits. 4 And the porch which is at the front, the length on the front of the width of the house, 20 cubits, and the height, 120. And he overlaid it from within with pure gold. 5 and the great house he overlaid with cypress wood, and he overlaid it with pure gold, and he brought up on it palm trees and chains. 6 And he overlaid the house with precious stones for beauty; and the gold was gold of Parvaim. 7 And he overlaid the house, the beams, the thresholds, and its walls, and its doors with gold; and he engraved cherubim on the walls. 8 And he made the house of the holy of holies; its length at the front of the width of the house, 20 cubits, and its width 20 cubits. And he overlaid it with pure gold, to 600 talents. 9 And the weight of the nails was 50 shekels of gold and the upper rooms he overlaid with gold. 10 And he made in the house of the holy of holies two cherubim, a work of casting; and he overlaid them with gold. [1] 11 And the wings of the cherubim, their length was 20 cubits, one wing was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house, and another wing five cubits, reaching to a wing of the other cherub. 12 And the wing of the other cherub five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing five cubits, clinging to the wing of the other cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubim spread out 20 cubits. And they were standing on their feet, and their faces toward the house. 14 And he made the curtain of violet, and purple, and crimson and fine linen, and he brought up on it cherubim. 15 And he made before the house two pillars, 35 cubits in length; and the capital which was on its head, five cubits. 16 And he made chains in the inner sanctuary, and he placed on the head of the pillars; and he made 100 pomegranates and he placed on the chains. 17 And he set up the pillars on the face of the temple, one on the right hand, and one on the left. And he called the name of the right, Jakin, and the name of the left, Boaz. 3:10 [1] Some versions have, two wooden images of cherubim . Chapter 4 1 And he made an altar of bronze, 20 cubits its length, and 20 cubits its width, and 10 cubits its height. 2 And he made the Sea of cast metal, 10 by the cubit from its edge to its edge, round, all around, and 5 by the cubit its height; and a measuring string 30 by the cubit surrounding it all around. 3 And a likeness of oxen was under it all around; all around, surrounding it, 10 cubits, encircling the Sea all around; two rows of the oxen, cast in its cast metal. 4 Standing on 12 oxen, three turned to the north, and 3 turned to the west, and 3 turned to the south, and three turned to the east. And the Sea was on them above, and all their hindquarters to the house. 5 And its thickness was a span, and its edge like a work of an edge of a cup, a bud of a lily, taking hold, 3000 baths it could contain. 6 And he made 10 pots, and he placed five on the right and five on the left to wash in them; the work of the burnt offering, they will rinse in them. And the Sea for bathing for the priests in it. 7 And he made the 10 lampstands of gold according to their judgment, and he placed in the temple five on the right and five on the left. 8 And he made 10 tables, and he gave rest in the temple, five on the right, and five on the left. And he made 100 basins of gold. 9 And he made the courtyard of the priests, and the great court and the doors for the court and their doors he overlaid with bronze. 10 And the Sea he placed on the right side to the east, facing toward the south. 11 And Huram made the tubs, and the shovels, and the basins. And Huram finished making the work that he made for King Solomon in the house of God: 12 the two pillars, and the bowls, and the capitals on the head of the two pillars, and the two trellises to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the head of the pillars, 13 and the 400 pomegranates for the two trellises, two rows of pomegranates for each trellis to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the face of the pillars. 14 And the stands he made, and the pots he made on the stands, 15 the one Sea, and the 12 oxen under it. 16 And the tubs, and the shovels, and the forks, and all items Huram-Abi made for King Solomon for the house of Yahweh of polished bronze. [1] 17 In the vicinity of the Jordan the king cast them, in the thick ground between Succoth and between Zeredathah. 18 And Solomon made all these items in great abundance; indeed, the weight of the bronze was not sought out. 19 And Solomon made all the items that were in the house of God, and the altar of gold, and the tables and on them the bread of the presence; 20 and the lampstands and their lamps for their burning according to the judgment before the inner sanctuary, fine gold; 21 and the buds, and the lamps, and the tongs of gold, it was perfection of gold. 22 and the lamp trimmers, and the basins, and the spoons, and the censers of fine gold. And the entrance of the house, its inner doors into the Holy of Holies and the doors of the house, for the temple, gold. 4:16 [1] Instead of meat forks , some versions have bowels . Chapter 5 1 And all the work which Solomon did for the house of Yahweh was completed, and Solomon brought in the sacred things of David, his father; and the silver, and the gold, and all the items, he placed in the treasuries of the house of God. 2 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers of the sons of Israel to Jerusalem, to bring up the Box of the covenant of Yahweh from the city of David, that is, Zion. 3 And all the men of Israel assembled to the king at the feast; it was the seventh month. 4 And all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites carried the Box. 5 And they brought up the Box, and the tent of meeting, and all the sacred items that were in the tent; the priests, the Levites, brought them up. 6 And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel were gathering to him before the Box, sacrificing sheep and oxen which was not counted, and it was not numbered because of the abundance. 7 And the priests brought in the Box of the covenant of Yahweh to its place, to the inner sanctuary of the house, to the holy of holies, to under the wings of the cherubim. 8 And the cherubim were spreading out wings over the place of the Box. And the cherubim covered over the Box and over its poles from above. 9 And the poles lengthened and the heads of the poles from the Box were seen at the front of the inner sanctuary, but they were not seen outside. And they are there until this day. 10 There was nothing in the Box except the two tablets that Moses had placed at Horeb, which Yahweh cut with the sons of Israel in their going out from Egypt. 11 And it happened in the going out of the priests from the holy place that all the priests who were found consecrated themselves; there was no keeping to the divisions. 12 And the Levites, the singers, all of them, Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and their brothers, clothed in fine linen, with cymbals, and with harps and lyres, were standing to the east of the altar. And with them, 120 priests sounding with trumpets. 13 And it happened, like one were the trumpeters and singers, to cause to hear one voice to praise and to give thanks to Yahweh. And when raising a voice with trumpets and with cymbals and with the items of the song, and when praising Yahweh: “For good, for forever is his covenant faithfulness.” And the house filled with a cloud, the house of Yahweh. 14 And the priests were not able to stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of Yahweh filled the house of God. Chapter 6 1 Then Solomon said, “Yahweh has said he would dwell in thick darkness, 2 but I have built a lofty house for you and a place for you to dwell forever.” 3 And the king turned his face, and he blessed all the assembly of Israel, and all the assembly of Israel was standing. 4 And he said, “Blessed be Yahweh the God of Israel who spoke with his mouth to David my father, and with his hands he fulfilled, saying, 5 ‘From the day that I brought out my people from the land of Egypt, I did not choose a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a house, for my name to be there. And I did not choose a man to be leader over my people Israel. 6 But I have chosen Jerusalem, for my name to be there, and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’ 7 And it was with the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel. 8 And Yahweh said to David my father, ‘On account of what is with your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was with your heart. 9 Only you yourself must not build the house; instead, your son who comes from your loins, he himself will build the house for my name.’ 10 And Yahweh has established his word that he spoke, and I have risen instead of David my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel, just as Yahweh spoke. And I have built the house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel. 11 And I set there the Box, in which there is the covenant of Yahweh, which he cut with the sons of Israel.” 12 And he stood before the altar of Yahweh in front of all the assembly of Israel. And he spread out his hands, 13 for Solomon made a platform of bronze, and he placed it in the midst of the court, five cubits its length, and five cubits its width, and three cubits its height. And he stood on it, and he knelt down on his knees in front of all the assembly of Israel, and he spread out his hands to the heavens. 14 And he said, “Yahweh, God of Israel, there is not like you a god in the heavens or on the earth, one who keeps the covenant and covenant faithfulness to your servants, walking before you with all their heart; 15 who kept for your servant David my father that which he spoke to him. And you spoke with your mouth and by your hand you have fulfilled, like this day. 16 And now, Yahweh, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father that which you spoke to him saying, ‘There will not be cut off for you a man from before me, sitting on the throne of Israel, only if your sons keep their ways to walk in my law, just as you walked before me.’ 17 And now, Yahweh, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you spoke to your servant, to David. 18 But will God indeed dwell with mankind on the earth? Behold, the heavens and the heavens of the heavens do not contain you—how much less this house that I have built! 19 Yet turn to the prayer of your servant and to his supplication, Yahweh my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer that your servant is praying before you, 20 your eyes to be open to this house days and night, to the place where you said to put your name there, to listen to the prayer which your servant prays toward this place. 21 And listen to the supplications of your servant and your people Israel when they pray toward this place, and you yourself hear from the place of your dwelling from the heavens, and hear and forgive. 22 If a man sins against his neighbor and is made by him to swear an oath, and brings an oath before your altar in this house, 23 then you yourself hear from the heavens, and act, and judge your servants, to bring back the wicked, to put his way on his head, and to make righteous the righteous, to give to him according to his righteousness. 24 And if your people Israel are struck down before an enemy because they have sinned against you, and they return, and they confess your name, and they pray, and they seek favor before you in this house, 25 then you yourself hear from the heavens and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the ground that you gave to them and to their fathers. 26 When the heavens are restrained and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, and they pray toward this place, and they confess your name, from their sin they turn for you afflict them, 27 then you yourself hear in the heavens and forgive the sin of your servants and your people Israel, for you teach them the good way in which they should walk in it. And give rain on your land, which you gave to your people for a possession. 28 Famine, if there is, in the land pestilence, if there is blight or mildew, locust or grasshopper, if there is indeed they suffer distress from their enemies in the land at the gates, any plague or any sickness, 29 any prayer, any supplication which is by any person or by all your people Israel which they know each his own plague and his own sorrow, and he spreads out his hands toward this house, 30 then you yourself hear from the heavens, your dwelling place, and forgive, and give to each according to all his ways; because you know his heart, for you yourself, only you, know the heart of the sons of mankind, 31 in order that they may fear you, by walking in your ways all the days that they live on the face of the ground that you gave to our fathers. 32 And also to the foreigner who is not from your people Israel, and he comes from a distant land because of your great name, and your strong hand, and your outstretched arm, and they come and pray toward this house, 33 and you yourself hear from the heavens, from your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, like your people Israel, and to know that your name is called toward this house that I have built. 34 When your people go out to battle against their enemies in the way which you send them, and they pray to you toward the way of this city that you have chosen it and the house that I have built for your name, 35 then hear from the heavens their prayer, and their supplication, and do their judgment. 36 When they sin against you—for there is no person who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them before an enemy, and their captors take them captive, to a land, distant or near, 37 and they turn back their heart in the land where they are captive there, and they turn and they seek favor from you in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned; we have committed iniquity, and we have done evil,’ 38 and they turn to you with all their heart and with all their being in the land of their captivity, where they took them captive, and they pray toward the way of their land which you gave to their fathers, and the city that you chose, and toward the house that I have built for your name, 39 then hear from the heavens, from your dwelling place, their prayer and their supplication, and do their judgment, and forgive your people who sinned against you. 40 Now, my God, please let your eyes be open, and your ears attentive to the prayer of this place. 41 And now arise, Yahweh God, to your resting place, you and the Box of your strength. Your priests, Yahweh God, may they be clothed in salvation, and your faithful ones rejoice in goodness. 42 Yahweh God, do not turn away the face of your anointed ones. Remember the covenant faithfulnesses of David your servant.” Chapter 7 1 And when Solomon finished praying, then the fire came down from the heavens and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of Yahweh filled the house. 2 And the priests were not able to go into the house of Yahweh because the glory of Yahweh filled the house of Yahweh. 3 And all the sons of Israel were seeing the fire come down and the glory of Yahweh on the house, and they bowed down their faces to the ground on the stone pavement, and they worshiped and gave thanks to Yahweh, “Truly he is good; truly his covenant faithfulness is forever.” 4 And the king and all the people were offering sacrifice before Yahweh. 5 And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. And the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. 6 And the priests at their posts were standing; and the Levites with instruments of song of Yahweh which David the king had made to give thanks to Yahweh, “For his covenant faithfulness is forever,” when David praised by the hand of them. And the priests were trumpeting in front of them, and all Israel was standing. 7 And Solomon consecrated the middle of the courtyard which is before the house of Yahweh. For he did there the burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings because the bronze altar which Solomon made was not able to contain the burnt offerings, and the grain offering, and the fats. 8 And Solomon did the feast at that time, seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly, from Lebo Hamath to the brook of Egypt. 9 And they did on the eighth day an assembly, for the dedication of the altar they did, seven days, and the feast, seven days. 10 And on the 23rd day of the seventh month, he sent away the people to their tents joyful and good of heart on account of the goodness which Yahweh did for David, and for Solomon, and for Israel his people. 11 And Solomon finished the house of Yahweh and the house of the king. And all that came into the heart of Solomon to do in the house of Yahweh and in his house, he succeeded. 12 And Yahweh appeared to Solomon in the night, and he said to him, “I have heard your prayer, and I have chosen this place for myself for a house of sacrifice. 13 If I restrain the heavens and there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people, 14 and my people, whom my name is called over them, humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn back from their evil ways, then I myself will hear from the heavens, and I will forgive their sin, and I will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer of this place. 16 And now I have chosen and I have consecrated this house for my name to be there until forever. And my eyes and my heart will be there all the days. 17 And you, if you walk before me just as David your father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and my statutes and my judgments you keep, 18 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, just as I cut with David your father, saying, ‘There will not be cut off from you a man ruling in Israel.’ 19 But if you all turn yourselves, and forsake my statutes and my commandments which I placed before you all, and walk and serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will remove them from upon my ground which I gave to them. And this house which I consecrated for my name, I will cast out from before my face, and I will make it a proverb and a taunt among all the peoples. 21 And this house which was exalted to all who pass by it will be devastated, and they will say, ‘Why did Yahweh do thus to this land and to this house?’ 22 And they will say, ‘On account of which they forsook Yahweh, the God of their fathers who brought them out from the land of Egypt, and they laid hold of other gods and worshipped them and served them. On account of thus, he brought on them all this misery.’” Chapter 8 1 And it happened at the end of 20 years, in which Solomon built the house of Yahweh and his house, 2 and the cities which Huram gave to Solomon, Solomon built them. And he caused to dwell there the sons of Israel. 3 And Solomon went to Hamathzobah and he prevailed over it. 4 And he built Tadmor in the wilderness and all the cities of stores which he built in Hamath. 5 And he built Beth Horon the Upper and Beth Horon the Lower, fortified cities with walls, doors, and a bar, 6 and Baalath and all the cities of stores which were to Solomon, and all the cities of the chariots and the cities of the horsemen, and all the desire of Solomon which he desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his kingdom. 7 All the people who were left from the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not from Israel, 8 from their sons who were left after them in the land, whom the sons of Israel had not brought to an end—and Solomon brought them up for forced laborers, until this day. 9 But, from the sons of Israel which Solomon did not make to be laborers for his work, rather, they were men of battle, and chiefs of his officers, and chiefs of his chariots and his horsemen. 10 and these, the chiefs of supervisors who were to King Solomon, 250 ruling over the people. 11 And the daughter of Pharaoh Solomon brought up from the city of David to the house that he built for her, for he said, “My wife must not dwell in the house of David, the king of Israel, because sacred are the places where the Box of Yahweh has come into them.” 12 Then Solomon brought up burnt offerings to Yahweh on the altar of Yahweh that he had built before the porch. 13 And by the matter day by day to bring up, according to the commandment of Moses, for the Sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the appointed times three times in the year: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. 14 And he appointed according to the judgment of David his father the divisions of the priests over their service, and the Levites over their charge to praise and to minister in front of the priests, for the matter of the day in its day, and the gatekeepers in their divisions for gate and gate, for thus was the commandment of David, the man of God. 15 And they did not turn from the commandment of the king regarding the priests and the Levites concerning any matter, or concerning the treasuries. 16 And all the work of Solomon was completed, from the day of the foundation of the house of Yahweh and until its completion. Complete was the house of Yahweh. 17 Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber and to Eloth on the edge of the sea, in the land of Edom. 18 And Huram sent to him by the hand of his servants ships, and servants who knew the sea. And they came with the servants of Solomon to Ophir. And they took from there 450 talents of gold, and they brought to King Solomon. Chapter 9 1 And the queen of Sheba heard the report of Solomon, and she came to test Solomon with difficult questions in Jerusalem with very great wealth and camels carrying spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stone. And she came to Solomon and spoke with him about all that was in her heart. 2 And Solomon declared to her all her matters; and a matter was not concealed from Solomon which he did not declare to her. 3 And the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon and the house that he built, 4 and the food of his table, and the seating of his servants, and the standing of his ministers and their attire, and his cupbearers and their attire, and his burnt offering that he brought up to [1] the house of Yahweh, and there was not still breath in her. 5 And she said to the king, “True was the word that I heard in my land concerning your words and concerning your wisdom. 6 But I did not believe their words until when I came, and my eyes saw. And behold, it was not told to me half of the greatness of your wisdom you have added on to the report that I heard. 7 How blessed are your men! And how blessed are these servants of yours, who are standing before you continually and are hearing your wisdom. [2] 8 Let Yahweh your God be blessed, who delighted in you to place you on his throne, to be king for Yahweh your God, because your God loved Israel to establish them forever. And he has placed you over them to be king, to do justice and righteousness!” 9 And she gave to the king 120 talents of gold and spices in great abundance and precious stone. And there was not like that spice which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. 10 And also the servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, brought algum wood and precious stone. 11 And the king made the algum wood into staircases for the house of Yahweh and for the house of the king, and lyres and harps for the singers. And there was not seen like them before in the land of Judah. 12 And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire which she asked besides that which she brought to the king. And she turned and went to her land, she and her servants. 13 And the weight of the gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, 14 besides from the traveling men and the traders who brought in; and all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land were bringing gold and silver to Solomon. 15 And King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold; 600 of beaten gold he brought up for one large shield. 16 And 300 shields of beaten gold; 300 gold he brought up for one shield. And the king placed them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. 17 And the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with pure gold. 18 And six steps to the throne, and a footstool with gold to the throne was fastened. And hands from this and from this on the place of the seat and two lions standing beside the hands. 19 And 12 lions were standing there on six steps, from this and from this; it had not been done thus for any kingdom. 20 And all the vessels of drink of King Solomon were gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were refined gold. Nothing of silver; it was not thought in the days of Solomon for anything. 21 For the ships belonging to the king went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram. Once every three years the ships of Tarshish would come carrying gold and silver, ivories, and apes and baboons. 22 And King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. 23 And all the kings of the earth were seeking the face of Solomon to hear his wisdom which God placed in his heart. 24 And they were bringing each his gift, items of silver and items of gold, and garments, armor, and spices, and horses and mules, a matter of year by year. 25 And there were to Solomon 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots, and 12,000 horsemen; and he placed them in chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 26 And it happened he was ruling over all the kings from the River and until the land of the Philistines, and until the border of Egypt. 27 And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and the cedars he made as sycamore trees that were in the lowlands, in abundance. 28 And they were bringing out horses from Egypt to Solomon and from all the lands. 29 And the remainder of the matters of Solomon, the first things and the last things, are they not written in the words of Nathan the Prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the Seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? 30 And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel 40 years. 31 And Solomon lied down with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam, his son, reigned in his place. 9:4 [1] Some scholars suggest an alternative reading of the phrase the burnt offerings he made at to say, the ascent by which he went up to . 9:7 [2] Some versions have, How blessed are your wives , assuming that the text should read as in 1 Kings 10:8. Chapter 10 1 And Rehoboam went to Shechem, for to Shechem all Israel had come to make him king. 2 And it happened when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard, for he was in Egypt where he had fled from the face of King Solomon. And Jeroboam returned from Egypt. 3 And they sent and they called to him, and Jeroboam and all Israel came. And they spoke to Rehoboam, saying, 4 “Your father hardened our yoke. But now, lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he gave to us, and we will serve you.” 5 And he said to them, “Yet three days and return to me.” And the people went. 6 And King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had been standing before Solomon his father when he was alive, saying, “How do you all advise to bring back an answer to this people?” 7 And they spoke to him, saying, “If you are good to this people and are favorable to them, and speak to them good words, then they will be for you servants all the days.” 8 But he abandoned the advice of the elders who had advised him, and he consulted the young men who had grown with him, standing before him. 9 And he said to them, “What do you all advise, that we may bring back an answer to this people who spoke to me, saying, ‘Lighten from the yoke that your father gave us’?” 10 And the young men who had grown with him spoke, saying, “Thus you shall say to the people who spoke to you, saying ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you yourself lighten from on us.’ Thus you shall say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than the loins of my father. 11 So now, my father loaded on you all a heavy yoke, but I myself will add to your yoke. My father rebuked you all with whips, but I with scorpions.’” 12 And Jeroboam came and all the people to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king spoke saying, “Return to me on the third day.” 13 And the king answered them harshly. And King Rehoboam abandoned the advice of the elders. 14 And he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “I will make heavy your yoke, and I myself will add to it. My father rebuked you all with whips, but I with scorpions.” 15 And the king did not listen to the people, because it was a turn of affairs from God, in order that Yahweh would establish his word that he spoke by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 16 And all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, and the people answered the king, saying, “What for us is a portion with David? And no inheritance with the son of Jesse. Each to your tents, Israel! Now, see your house, David.” And all Israel went to his tents. 17 But the sons of Israel dwelling in the cities of Judah, and Rehoboam reigned over them. 18 And King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was over the forced labor, but the sons of Israel stoned him with stones and he died. And King Rehoboam strengthened himself to go up in the chariot to flee to Jerusalem. 19 And Israel has rebelled against the house of David until this day. Chapter 11 1 And Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, and he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen who do battle, to fight against Israel, to bring back the kingdom to Rehoboam. 2 But the word of Yahweh was to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 3 “Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, 4 ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Do not go up and do not fight with your brothers. Return, each to his house, for from with me, this thing is.”’” And they listened to the words of Yahweh and returned from going against Jeroboam. 5 And Rehoboam dwelled in Jerusalem, and he built cities for fortification in Judah. 6 And he built Bethlehem, and Etam, and Tekoa, 7 and Beth Zur, and Soko, and Adullam, 8 and Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph, 9 and Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah, 10 and Zorah, and Aijalon, and Hebron, which were in Judah and in Benjamin, fortified cities. 11 And he strengthened the fortifications. And he placed in them leaders and storehouses of food and oil and wine, 12 and in each, city by city, large shields and spears, and he very much strengthened them greatly. And to him were Judah and Benjamin. 13 And the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel presented themselves to him from all their territories. 14 For the Levites left their open lands and their property. And they went to Judah and to Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons rejected them from serving as priests to Yahweh. 15 And he established for himself priests for the high places and for the goats and for the calves which he had made. 16 And after them from all the tribes of Israel, the ones giving their heart to seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to Yahweh, the God of their fathers. 17 And they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and they made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong for three years, for they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years. 18 And Rehoboam took for himself a wife: Mahalath, the daughter of Jerimoth, the son of David, Abihail, the daughter of Eliab, the son of Jesse. 19 And she bore to him sons: Jeush, and Shemariah, and Zaham. 20 And after her, he took Maacah, the daughter of Absalom; and she bore to him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith. 21 And Rehoboam loved Maacah, the daughter of Absalom, more than all his wives and his concubines, for he lifted 18 wives and 60 concubines, and he fathered 28 sons and 60 daughters. 22 And Rehoboam appointed to be head Abijah the son of Maacah, to be leader among his brothers; for he caused to make him king. 23 And he dealt wisely, and he scattered all his sons to all the lands of Judah and Benjamin to all the fortified cities. And he gave to them provisions in abundance, and he asked for a multitude of wives. Chapter 12 1 And it happened when the reign of Rehoboam was established and when he had become strong, he abandoned the law of Yahweh—and all Israel with him. 2 And it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak, the king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem, because they were unfaithful to Yahweh. 3 With 1200 chariots, and 60,000 horsemen, and there was no number for the people who came with him from Egypt: Libyans, Sukkites, and Cushites. 4 And he captured the fortified cities that belonged to Judah, and he came to Jerusalem. 5 And Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the chiefs of Judah who had gathered to Jerusalem because of Shishak. And he said to them, “Thus says Yahweh: You all yourselves have abandoned me, and I myself have also abandoned you all into the hand of Shishak.” 6 And the chiefs of Israel and the king humbled themselves. And they said, “Righteous is Yahweh.” 7 And when Yahweh saw that they had humbled themselves, the word of Yahweh was to Shemaiah, saying, “They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them; and I will give to them like a little for escape, and my rage will not pour out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. 8 Nevertheless, they will be to him for servants, and they will know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the lands.” 9 And Shishak, the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem and took the treasures of the house of Yahweh and the treasures of the house of the king. Everything he took; and he took the shields of gold that Solomon had made. 10 And King Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze, and he appointed over the hand of the chiefs of the runners, the keepers of the entrance of the house of the king. 11 And it happened as often as the king came into the house of Yahweh, the runners came and carried them and brought them back to the chamber of the runners. 12 And when he humbled himself, the anger of Yahweh turned from him, and did not destroy to completion. And also, in Judah there were good matters. 13 And King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and he reigned. For a son of 41 years Rehoboam was in his reigning, and 17 years he reigned in Jerusalem, the city that Yahweh had chosen to put his name there from all the tribes of Israel. And the name of his mother, Naamah the Ammonitess. 14 And he did evil, for he did not establish his heart to seek Yahweh. 15 And the matters of Rehoboam, the first things and the last things, are they not written in the words of Shemaiah the prophet and Iddo the seer, according to genealogy? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days. 16 And Rehoboam lied down with his fathers, and he was buried in the city of David. And Abijah his son reigned in his place. Chapter 13 1 In the 18th year of King Jeroboam, then Abijah reigned over Judah. 2 Three years he reigned in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother, Macaiah, the daughter of Uriel from Gibeah. And war was between Abijah and between Jeroboam. 3 And Abijah began the battle with an army of mighty ones of battle, 400,000 chosen men. And Jeroboam deployed against him in battle 800,000 chosen men, mighty ones of strength. 4 And Abijah rose on Mount Zemaraim, which is in the hills of Ephraim, and he said, “Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel! 5 Is it not to you all to know that Yahweh, the God of Israel, gave the kingdom to David over Israel forever, to him and to his sons, a covenant of salt? 6 But Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon, the son of David, arose, and he rebelled against his lord. 7 And empty men, sons of wickedness, assembled about him, and they strenghtened themselves over Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. And Rehoboam was young and tender of heart, and he did not strengthen himself before them. 8 And now, you all are saying to strengthen self before the kingdom of Yahweh, by the hand of the sons of David, and you all are a great abundance, and with you all are calves of gold which Jeroboam made for you all for gods. 9 Did you all not drive out the priests of Yahweh, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and make for yourselves priests like the peoples of the lands? Any who comes to fill his hand with a young bull, a son of a herd, and seven rams, and he will be a priest of what are not gods. 10 But us, Yahweh is our God, and we have not abandoned him. And priests, are ministering to Yahweh, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, in the work. 11 And they are making sacrifices to Yahweh, burnt offerings, morning by morning and evening by evening, and spiced incense, and a line of bread on the pure table, and the gold lampstand and its lamps to burn evening by evening. For we are keeping the charge of Yahweh, our God, but you all yourselves have abandoned him. 12 And behold, with us, at our head, is God, and his priests and the trumpets of shouting to raise a shout against you all. Sons of Israel, do not fight against Yahweh, the God of your fathers, for you will not succeed.” 13 But Jeroboam had caused to circle around an ambush to come from behind them; and they were before Judah, and the ambush from behind them. 14 And Judah turned, and behold, to them was the battle before them and behind. And they cried out to Yahweh, and the priests were blowing trumpets. 15 And the men of Judah raised a shout; and it happened when the men of Judah raised a shout, then God struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. 16 And the sons of Israel fled from before Judah, and God gave them into their hand. 17 And Abijah and his people struck them a great striking, and they fell slain from Israel, 500,000 chosen men. 18 And the sons of Israel were humbled at that time, and the sons of Judah were strong because they relied on Yahweh, the God of their fathers. 19 And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam; and he captured from him cities: Bethel and its daughters, and Jeshanah and its daughters, and Ephron and its daughters. 20 And the strength of Jeroboam did not hold again in the days of Abijah; and Yahweh struck him down, and he died. 21 And Abijah strengthened himself; and he lifted to himself 14 wives, and he fatherered 22 sons and 16 daughters. 22 And the remainder of the matters of Abijah, and his ways, and his words are written in the writing of the prophet Iddo. Chapter 14 1 And Abijah lied down with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa, his son, reigned in his place. In his days the land was quiet ten years. 2 And Asa did the good and the right in the eyes of Yahweh his God. 3 And he took away the foreign altars and the high places, and he shattered the pillars, and he cut to pieces the Asherim. 4 And he said to Judah to seek Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment. 5 And he took away from all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom was quiet before him. 6 And he built fortified cities in Judah, for the land was quiet. And there was not with him war in these years, because Yahweh had given rest to him. 7 And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and let us surround with a wall, and towers, doors, and bars; still the land is before us because we have sought Yahweh our God. We have sought, and he has given rest to us all around.” And they built, and they succeeded. 8 And there was to Asa an army carrying large shield and spear; from Judah, 300,000. And from Benjamin, ones carrying shield and drawing bow, 280,000. All these were mighty ones of strength. 9 And Zerah the Cushite came out against them with an army of 1,000 thousands and 300 chariots; and he came to Mareshah. 10 And Asa went out before him, and they deployed for battle in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. 11 And Asa called to Yahweh his God and said, “Yahweh, it is nothing for you to help between many and one without strength. Help us, Yahweh our God, for on you we rely, and in your name we have come against this multitude. Yahweh, our God you are; do not let man prevail against you.” 12 And Yahweh struck down the Cushites before Asa and before Judah; and the Cushites fled. 13 And Asa and the people who were with him pursued them until Gerar. And there fell from the Cushites so that there was none to them something living; for they were broken before Yahweh and before his camp. And they carried away very much plunder. 14 And they struck all the cities around Gerar, for the dread of Yahweh was on them. And they plundered all the cities, for great spoils was in them. 15 And also the tents of cattle they struck; and they took captive sheep in abundance, and camels, and they returned to Jerusalem. Chapter 15 1 And Azariah the son of Oded, on him came the Spirit of God. 2 And he went out before Asa, and he said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: Yahweh is with you all, when you all are with him. And if you all seek him, he will be found by you all; but if you all abandon him, he will abandon you all. 3 And many days were to Israel without the true God, and without a priest teaching, and without the law. 4 But they turned in their distress to Yahweh, the God of Israel, and they sought him, and he was found by them. 5 And in those times there was no peace for one going out, nor for one coming in; for great dismay was upon all the inhabitants of the lands. 6 And they were beaten down, nation by nation, and city by city, for God confused them in all distress. 7 But you all, be strong, and do not let your hands grow slack, for there is reward for your work.” 8 And when Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he strengthened himself and caused to pass away the abhorrences from all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and from the cities that he had captured from the hill country of Ephraim. And he restored the altar of Yahweh which was before the porch of Yahweh. 9 And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the sojourners with them from Ephraim and Manasseh, and from Simeon; for they fell on him from Israel in abundance when they saw that Yahweh his God was with him. 10 And they gathered at Jerusalem in the third month, in the 15th year of the reign of Asa. 11 And they sacrificed to Yahweh in that day from the plunder they brought: 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep. 12 And they entered into a covenant to seek Yahweh, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their being. 13 And any who does not seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, will be killed, whether small or great, whether man or woman. 14 And they swore to Yahweh with a great voice, and with a shout, and with trumpets and with horns. 15 And all Judah rejoiced about the oath, for with all their heart they swore, and with all their will they sought him, and he was found by them. And Yahweh gave rest to them all around. 16 And also Maacah, the mother of King Asa, he took her away from being queen, because she made to Asherah an abominable image. And Asa cut down her abominable image, and crushed and burned at the brook Kidron. 17 But the high places they did not take away from Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was undivided all his days. 18 And he brought the sacred things of his father and his sacred things into the house of God, silver and gold and items. 19 And war was not until the 35th year of the reign of Asa. Chapter 16 1 In the 36th year of the reign of Asa, Baasha, the king of Israel, went up against Judah and built Ramah, so as to not allow one to go out or come in to Asa, the king of Judah. 2 And Asa brought silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of Yahweh and the house of the king. And he sent to Ben Hadad, the king of Aram, who was dwelling in Damascus, saying, 3 “A covenant between me and between you, and between my father and between your father. Behold, I have sent to you silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha, the king of Israel, and he will go up from against me.” 4 And Ben Hadad listened to King Asa and he sent the chiefs of the armies which belonged to him against the cities of Israel. And they struck Ijon, and Dan, and Abel Maim [1] , and all the stores of the cities of Naphtali. 5 And it happened when Baasha heard, then he ceased building Ramah, and he stopped his work. 6 And King Asa took all Judah. And they carried away the stones of Ramah and its wood with which Baasha had been building, and he built with them Geba and Mizpah. 7 And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa, the king of Judah, and he said to him, “Because you relied on the king of Aram, and you did not rely on Yahweh your God, therefore the army of the king of Aram escaped from your hand. 8 Were not the Cushites and the Lubites an abundant army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on Yahweh, he gave them into your hand. 9 For Yahweh, his eyes, are going quickly in all the earth to strengthen himself with their heart undivided to him. You have acted foolishly regarding this. For from now, there will be with you wars.” 10 And Asa was angry at the seer; and he put him in the house of the stocks, for in rage with him regarding this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time. 11 And behold, the matters of Asa, the first things and the last things, behold, they are written on the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel. 12 And Asa became sick in the 39th year of his reign, in his feet, until increasing his sickness. And yet, in his sickness, he did not seek Yahweh, but among the healers. 13 And Asa lied down with his fathers, and he died in the 41st year of his reign. 14 And they buried him in his graves, which he hollowed out for himself in the city of David. And they laid him on a bed which he filled with spices and kinds of mixtures with an ointment mixture of a work. And they burned for him a great burning until abundance. 16:4 [1] The place named Abel Maim is the same as Abel Beth Maacah. See 2 Sam. 20:14-15 and 1 Ki 15:20. Chapter 17 1 And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place, and he strengthened himself against Israel. 2 And he placed a force in all the unassailable cities of Judah, and he placed garrisons in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim, which Asa his father had captured. 3 And Yahweh was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the first ways of David his father, and he did not seek the Baals. [1] 4 Instead, the God of his father he sought, and in his commandments he walked and not according to the work of Israel. 5 And Yahweh established the kingdom in his hand, and all Judah gave tribute to Jehoshaphat. And there was to him wealth and glory in abundance. 6 And his heart was high in the ways of Yahweh. And also, he took away the high places and the Asherim from Judah. 7 And in the third year of his reign he sent his chiefs, Ben-Hail, and Obadiah, and Zechariah, and Nethanel, and Micaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah. 8 And with them the Levites: Shemaiah, and Nethaniah, and Zebadiah, and Asahel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehonathan, and Adonijah, and Tobijah, and Tob-Adonijah, the Levites; and with them, Elishama and Jehoram, the priests. 9 And they taught in Judah, and with them, the scroll of the law of Yahweh. And they went around in all the cities of Judah, and they taught among the people. 10 And the dread of Yahweh was on all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, and they did not fight with Jehoshaphat. 11 And some of the Philistines were bringing to Jehoshaphat tribute, and a silver load. Also, the Arabians were bringing to him flocks, 7,700 rams and 7,700 goats. 12 And it happened Jehoshaphat was walking and becoming increasingly great. And he built in Judah palaces and cities of stores. 13 And much work was to him in the cities of Judah, and men of battle, mighty ones of strength in Jerusalem. 14 And these were their mustering according to the house of their fathers: for Judah, chiefs of thousands, Adnah the chief, and with him mighty ones of strength, 300,000; 15 and on his hand, Jehohanan the chief and with him 280,000; 16 and on his hand Amasiah the son of Zichri, who freely offered himself to Yahweh, and with him 200,000 mighty ones of strength. 17 And from Benjamin: a mighty one of strength, Eliada, and with him, ones armed with bow and shield, 200,000; 18 and on his hand, Jehozabad and with him 180,000 equipped for war. 19 These ministered to the king, besides those whom the king placed in the cities of fortification in all Judah. 17:3 [1] Some ancient copies do not have David , and some modern versions leave it out. Chapter 18 1 And it was to Jehoshaphat wealth and glory in abundance; and he became son-in-law to Ahab. 2 And he went down at the end of years to Ahab in Samaria, and Ahab sacrificed for him sheep and oxen in abundance and for the people who were with him. And he incited him to go up against Ramoth Gilead. 3 And Ahab, the king of Israel, said to Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, “Will you go with me to Ramoth Gilead?” And he said to him, “Like me, like you, and like your people, my people, and with you in battle.” 4 And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please seek as the day the word of Yahweh.” 5 And the king of Israel gathered the prophets, 400 men. And he said to them, “Should we go against Ramoth Gilead in battle, or should I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, and God will give into the hand of the king.” 6 And Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not here another prophet of Yahweh, that we might seek from him?” 7 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Still one man to seek Yahweh from him. But I myself hate him for nothing does he prophesy about me that is good, but all his days evil. He is Micaiah the son of Imlah.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say thus.” 8 And the king of Israel called to one officer, and he said, “Hasten Micaiah the son of Imlah.” 9 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting, each on his throne, clothed with robes. And they were sitting at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them. 10 And Zedekiah the son of Kenaanah made for himself horns of iron, and he said, “Thus says Yahweh: With these you will gore Aram until they are finished.” 11 And all the prophets were prophesying thus, saying, “Go up to Ramoth Gilead and succeed. And Yahweh will give into the hand of the king.” 12 And the messenger who went to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, “Behold, the words of the prophets, one mouth, good to the king. And please let your word be as one from them, and speak good.” 13 And Micaiah said, “As Yahweh lives, surely that which my God says, it I will speak.” 14 And he came to the king, and the king said to him, “Micaiah, should we go against Ramoth Gilead for battle, or should I refrain?” And he said, “Go up and succeed. And they will be given into your hand.” 15 And the king said to him, “How many times must I myself make you swear that you will speak not to me, only truth in the name of Yahweh?” 16 And he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills, like sheep which do not have to them one who shepherds. And Yahweh said, ‘No master to these; they will turn, each to his house in peace.’” 17 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not say to you, he will not prophesy about me good, but only evil?” 18 And he said, “Therefore, hear the word of Yahweh: I saw Yahweh sitting on his throne and all the host of heaven standing on his right and his left. 19 And Yahweh said, ‘Who will entice Ahab, the king of Israel, so he will go up, and he will fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ And this speaker said thus, and this speaker thus. 20 And the spirit went out, and he stood before Yahweh. And he said, ‘I myself will entice him.’ And Yahweh said to him, ‘With what?’ 21 And he said, ‘I will go out and I will become a spirit of deception in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You will entice, and also you will be able. Go out and do thus.’ 22 And now, behold, Yahweh placed a spirit of deception in the mouth of these your prophets, and Yahweh, he has spoken against you disaster.” 23 And Zedekiah the son of Kenaanah, drew near, and he struck Micaiah on the cheek. And he said, “Where is this, the way the Spirit of Yahweh passed over from me to speak with you?” 24 And Micaiah said, “Behold, you will see on that day, when you go chamber by chamber to hide yourself.” 25 And the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon, the chief of the city, and to Joash, the son of the king, 26 and say, ‘Thus says the king: Put this in the house of imprisonment and feed him bread of oppression and water of oppression, until my returning in peace.’” 27 And Micaiah said, “If you certainly return in peace, Yahweh did not speak with me.” And he said, “Hear, O peoples, all of them!” 28 And the king of Israel went up, and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, against Ramoth Gilead. 29 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into the battle, and now put on your garments.” And the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into the battle. 30 And the king of Aram had commanded the chiefs of the chariots which were to him, saying, “Do not fight the small or the great, but with the king of Israel alone.” 31 And it happened when the chiefs of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, and they said, “It is the king of Israel.” And they turned against him to fight. And Jehoshaphat cried out, and Yahweh helped him, and God incited them from him. 32 And it happened when the chiefs of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, and they turned back from after him. 33 And a man drew the bow in his innocence and struck the king of Israel between the joinings and between the armor. And he said to the charioteer, “Turn your hand and bring me out from the camp, for I have been seriously wounded.” 34 And the battle went up that day, and the king of Israel was set up in the chariot opposite Aram until the evening. And he died at the time of the going of the sun. Chapter 19 1 And Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned to his house in peace, to Jerusalem. 2 But Jehu, the son of Hanani the seer, went out to his face, and he said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should the wicked you help and the ones who hate Yahweh you love? And because of this, upon you is wrath from before Yahweh. 3 However, good things have been found with you, for you removed the Asherah from the land, and you established your heart to seek God.” 4 And Jehoshaphat dwelt in Jerusalem. And he turned and he went out among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim. And he brought them back to Yahweh, the God of their fathers. 5 And he appointed judges in the land in all the fortified cities of Judah, for city and city. 6 And he said to the judges, “See what you all are doing. For not for man do you all judge but for Yahweh; and with you all in the matter of judgment. 7 And now, let the dread of Yahweh be upon you all. Watch and act for there is not with Yahweh our God injustice or lifting of faces or taking a bribe.” 8 And also in Jerusalem Jehoshaphat appointed from the Levites and the priests, and from the heads of fathers for Israel, for the judgment of Yahweh, and for dispute. And they returned to Jerusalem. 9 And he commanded them, saying, “Thus you will do in the fear of Yahweh in trustworthiness and with a complete heart. 10 And any dispute that comes to you all from your brothers, the ones dwelling in their cities, between blood to blood, between law to command, to statutes, and to judgments, and you all must caution them, so they will not be guilty to Yahweh, and there will be wrath on you all and on your brothers. Thus you will do, and you all will not be guilty. 11 And behold, Amariah the head priest is over you all for any matter of Yahweh. And Zebadiah, the son of Ishmael, is the leader of the house of Judah for any matter of the king. And officials of the Levites are before you all. Be strong and act! And let Yahweh be with the good!” Chapter 20 1 And it happened after this, the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon, and with them some Meunites came against Jehoshaphat for battle. [1] 2 And they came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Aram. And behold, they are in Hazezon Tamar,” that is, Engedi. [2] 3 And he feared, and Jehoshaphat set his face to seek Yahweh. And he proclaimed a fast over all Judah. 4 And Judah gathered to seek from Yahweh; also from all the cities of Judah, they came to seek Yahweh. 5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of Yahweh, before the new court. 6 And he said, “Yahweh, the God of our fathers, are you not he, the God in the heavens? And you rule in all the kingdoms of the nations. And in your hand are power and might and none stands himself with you. 7 Did you yourself our God not drive out the inhabitants of this land from before your people Israel, and give it to the seed of Abraham, the one who loved you, forever? 8 And they have dwelled in it, and they built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, 9 ‘If disaster comes on us—the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine—we will stand before this house, and before you for your name is in this house. And we will cry to you from our distress, and you will hear and deliver.’ [3] 10 And now behold the sons of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir whom you did not give to Israel to enter against them when they were coming from the land of Egypt, for they turned from against them, and they did not destroy them. 11 And behold they are repaying us, to come to drive us out from your posession which you caused us to possess. 12 Our God, will you not judge them, for there is not in us strength before this great multitude coming against us. And we ourselves do not know what we should do, but on you are our eyes.” 13 And all Judah was standing before Yahweh, even their children, their wives, and their sons. 14 And Jahaziel, the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite from the sons of Asaph, the Spirit of Yahweh was on him in the midst of the assembly. 15 And he said, “Give attention, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat. Thus says Yahweh to you all, ‘You yourselves, do not fear; and do not be dismayed from before this great multitude, for not to you all is the battle but to God. 16 Tomorrow, go down against them. Behold, they are coming up by the Ascent of Ziz. And you will find them at the end of the valley, before the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 Not to you all is it to fight in this. Station yourselves, stand and see the deliverance of Yahweh with you all, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow, go out before them, and Yahweh is with you all.’” 18 And Jehoshaphat bowed down, face to the earth. And all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before Yahweh to worship Yahweh. 19 And the Levites, from the sons of the Kohathites and from the sons of the Korahites, stood up to praise Yahweh, the God of Israel, with a great voice upwards. 20 And they rose early in the morning, and they went out to the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Believe in Yahweh your God, and be confirmed. Believe in his prophets and succeed.” 21 And he consulted with the people, and he appointed ones who sing to Yahweh and ones who praise the holy majesty as they went out before the equipped. And they were saying, “Give thanks to Yahweh, for his covenant faithfulness is forever.” 22 And at the time they began in cry of jubilation and praise, Yahweh placed ambushers against the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir who were coming to Judah. And they were struck. 23 And the sons of Ammon and Moab stood against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, to devote to destruction and to destroy. And when they finished with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped a man against his neighbor for destruction. 24 And Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, and they turned toward the multitude. And behold, corpses fallen to the earth! And there none who escaped. 25 And Jehoshaphat and his people came to plunder the spoils, and they found among them in abundance goods, and corpses, and precious items. And they took for themselves, so there was no carrying away. And there were three days of plundering the spoils, for it was great. [4] 26 And on the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berakah. For there they blessed Yahweh. Therefore they called the name of that place “Valley of Berakah” until today. 27 And they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem and Jehoshaphat at their head, to return to Jerusalem with joy, for Yahweh had made them rejoice over their enemies. 28 And they came to Jerusalem with harps and with lyres and with trumpets to the house of Yahweh. 29 And the dread of God was on all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that Yahweh had fought with the enemies of Israel. 30 And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was quiet, and his God gave rest to him all around. 31 And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. The son of 35 years when he became king, and 25 years he reigned in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother, Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi. 32 And he walked in the way of his father Asa, and he did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the eyes of Yahweh. 33 However, the high places did not turn aside. And still the people did not establish their heart to the God of their fathers. 34 And the remainder of the matters of Jehoshaphat, the first things and the last things, behold, they are written in the words of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is taken up on the scroll of the kings of Israel. 35 And after this Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, allied himself with Ahaziah, the king of Israel; he made himself guilty in so doing. 36 And he allied himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish. And they made ships at Ezion Geber. 37 And Eliezer the son of Dodavahu from Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “When you allied yourself with Ahaziah, Yahweh broke through your works.” And the ships were broken, and they were not able to go to Tarshish. 20:1 [1] The reading some Meunites represents a correction to the Hebrew text, which reads, some Ammonites . It is thought that Meunites was original, and that a copyist changed it to some Ammonites . But this last reading makes no sense, because Ammonites have already been mentioned in this verse. However, different versions deal with this problem in different ways. 20:2 [2] Instead of Aram , some ancient and modern versions have Edom . 20:9 [3] Instead of judgment , some ancient and modern versions read flood . 20:25 [4] Instead of among them , some ancient and modern versions read cattle . Instead of corpses , some ancient manuscripts and most modern versions read garments . Chapter 21 1 And Jehoshaphat laid down with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And Jehoram, his son, reigned in his place. 2 And to him brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, and Jehiel, and Zechariah, and Azariahu, and Michael, and Shephatiah. All these, the sons of Jehoshaphat, the king of Israel. 3 And their father gave to them many gifts of silver and of gold and of precious things with fortified cities in Judah. And the kingdom he gave to Jehoram for he was the firstborn. 4 And Jehoram rose over the kingdom of his father and he strengthened himself. And he killed all his brothers with the sword, and also some of the chiefs of Israel. 5 A son of 32 years Jehoram was when he became king, and eight years he reigned in Jerusalem. 6 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab did, for the daughter of Ahab was to him a wife, and he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh. 7 But Yahweh was not willing to destroy the house of David on account of the covenant which he had cut with David; and just as he said to give to him a lamp and to his sons all the days. 8 In his days, Edom rebelled from under the hand of Judah, and they caused to reign over themselves a king. 9 And Jehoram passed over with his chiefs and all his chariots with him. And it happened he rose at night and he struck Edom surrounding him and the chiefs of the chariots. 10 And Edom rebelled from under the hand of Judah until this day. Then Libnah rebelled at that time from under his hand, for he abandoned Yahweh, the God of his fathers. 11 Also, he himself made the high places in the hills of Judah, and he caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit adultery, and he drove Judah away. 12 And a writing came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of David your father: ‘Because you did not walk in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father and in the ways of Asa, the king of Judah, 13 but you walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and he caused Judah to commit adultery and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, like the house of Ahab committed adultery, and also your brothers, the house of your father, the ones better than you, you have killed. 14 Behold, Yahweh is striking a great striking among your people, and among your sons, and among your wives, and among all your goods, 15 and you with many sicknesses, with a disease of your intestines, until your intestines come out from the sickness, days upon days.” 16 And Yahweh stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and the Arabians who were at the hand of the Cushites. 17 And they came up against Judah, and they broke it up. And they captured all the goods that were found in the house of the king, and also his sons and his wives, and there was not left to him a son except Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons. 18 And after all this, Yahweh struck him in his intestines with a sickness for which there is no cure. 19 And it happened from days to days, and at the time of the going out for the end of days, two, his intestines came out with his sickness, and he died with evil diseases. And his people did not make for him a burning like the burning of his fathers. 20 A son of 32 he was when he became king; and eight years he reigned in Jerusalem, and he went with no delight. And they buried him in the city of David, but not in the grave of the kings. Chapter 22 1 And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, for all the older the band had killed coming with the Arabians to the camp. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, the king of Judah, reigned. 2 A son of 42 years was Ahaziah when he became king, and one year he reigned in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri. 3 Also he himself walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his advisor to do wickedly. 4 And he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, like the house of Ahab, for they themselves were to him advisors after the death of his father, for destruction to him. 5 Also, with their counsel he walked, and he went with Jehoram the son of Ahab, the king of Israel, for battle against Hazael, the king of Aram, at Ramoth Gilead. And the Arameans struck Joram. 6 And he returned to get healed in Jezreel because of the strikings that they struck him at Ramah when he fought Hazael, the king of Aram. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, the king of Judah, went down to see Jehoram, the son of Ahab, in Jezreel because he was wounded. 7 And from God was the downfall of Ahaziah for going to Joram. And when he came, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom Yahweh anointed him to cut off the house of Ahab. 8 And it happened when Jehu was judging on the house of Ahab, and he found the chiefs of Judah and the sons of the brothers of Ahaziah, ones ministering to Ahaziah, and he killed them. 9 And he sought Ahaziah; and they captured him, and he was hiding himself in Samaria. And they brought him to Jehu, and they killed him. And they buried him, for they said, “The son of Jehoshaphat is he, who sought Yahweh with all his heart.” And there was none belonging to the house of Ahaziah to retain power for the kingdom. 10 And Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son died, and she arose, and she destroyed all the seed of the kingdom of the house of Judah. 11 But Jehoshabeath, [1] the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and she stole him from the midst of the sons of the king who were being killed, and she placed him and his nurse in the room of beds. And Jehoshabeath the daughter of the king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoida the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah) hid him from the face of Athaliah, and she did not kill him. 12 And he was with them in the house of God, hiding himself six years. And Athaliah was reigning over the land. 22:11 [1] Jehoshabeath may be spelled Jehoshaba in some versions. Chapter 23 1 And in the seventh year, Jehoiada strengthened himself and took the chiefs of hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, and Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, and Azariah the son of Obed, and Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri with him into the covenant. 2 And they went around in Judah, and they gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah and the heads of the fathers of Israel. And they came to Jerusalem. 3 And all the assembly cut a covenant in the house of God with the king. And he said to them, “Behold, the son of the king will reign, just as Yahweh spoke concerning the sons of David. 4 This is the thing that you must do: A third from you all who come in on the Sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, will be gatekeepers at the threshold. 5 And a third at the house of the king, and a third at the Gate of the Foundation. And all the people will be in the courts of the house of Yahweh. 6 And do not let one enter the house of Yahweh, except the priests and the ministering ones from the Levites; they are entering for sacred are they. And all the people must keep the charge of Yahweh. 7 And the Levites will surround the king all around, each and his weapon in his hand. And the one going into the house will be killed. And they will be with the king in his coming in and his going out.” 8 And the Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. And each took his men, those coming in on the Sabbath, with those going out on the Sabbath, for Jehoiada the priest did not release the divisions. 9 And Jehoiada the priest gave to the chiefs of the hundreds the spears and the shields and the large shields which belonged to King David which were in the house of God. 10 And he stationed all the people, and each, his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, at the altar and at the house, about the king all around. 11 And they brought out the son of the king, and they placed on him the crown and the testimony. And they made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him. And they said, “May the king live!” 12 And Athaliah heard the sound of the people running and praising the king, and she came to the people at the house of Yahweh. 13 And she looked, and, behold, the king was standing by his pillar at the entrance, and the chiefs and the trumpets were by the king. And all the people of the land were joyful and blowing trumpets, and the singers with the articles of the song and leading the praising. And Athaliah ripped to pieces her clothes, and she said, “Conspiracy! Conspiracy!” 14 And Jehoiada the priest brought out the chiefs of the hundreds who were appointed over the army, and he said to them, “Bring her out to before the house of the ranks; and the one who goes after her, let him be killed with the sword.” For the priest had said, “Do not kill her in the house of Yahweh.” 15 And they laid hands on her, and she went into the entrance of the Horse Gate of the house of the king. And they put her to death there. 16 And Jehoiada cut a covenant between himself, and between all the people, and between the king, to become a people for Yahweh. 17 And all the people entered the house of Baal, and they tore it down, and its altars and its images they smashed, and Mattan, the priest of Baal, they killed before the altars. 18 And Jehoiada set the musterings of the house of Yahweh by the hand of the priests, the Levites whom David assigned over the house of Yahweh, to offer the burnt offerings of Yahweh, as is written in the law of Moses, with joy and with song, by the hands of David. 19 And he stationed gatekeepers at the gates of the house of Yahweh, and unclean in any way did not enter. 20 And he took the chiefs of the hundreds, and the majestic ones, and the rulers among the people, and all the people of the land. And he brought down the king from the house of Yahweh; and they came into the midst of the Upper Gate of the house of the king, and they sat the king on the throne of the kingdom. [1] 21 And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet. And Athaliah they put to death with the sword. 23:20 [1] Some modern versions have, they brought down the king . Chapter 24 1 A son of seven years was Joash when he became king; and 40 years he reigned in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Zibiah from Beersheba. 2 And Joash did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh all the days of Jehoiada the priest. 3 And Jehoiada lifted up for him two wives, and he fathered sons and daughters. 4 And it happened after this, there was with the heart of Joash to restore the house of Yahweh. 5 And he gathered the priests and the Levites, and he said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah and gather from all Israel enough money to make strong the house of your God year by year. And you all yourselves, hasten to the matter.” But the Levites did not hasten. 6 And the king called for Jehoiada the head, and he said to him, “Why did you not seek after the Levites to bring in from Judah and from Jerusalem the tribute of Moses, the servant of Yahweh, and of the assembly of Israel for the tent of the testimony?” 7 For wicked Athaliah, her sons had broken into the house of God and also, all the sacred things of the house of Yahweh, they used for the Baals. 8 And the king commanded, and they made one chest. And they placed it by the gate of the house of Yahweh outside. 9 And they gave voice in Judah and in Jerusalem to bring in to Yahweh the tribute of Moses, the servant of God, over Israel in the wilderness. 10 And all the chiefs and all the people rejoiced. And they brought in and they threw into the chest until completed. 11 And it happened at the time one brings in the chest to the oversight of the king by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that there was an abundance of money, then a scribe of the king would come, and the officer of the head priest. And they would empty the chest, and they would carry it, and they would return it to its place. Thus they did day by day, and they gathered money in abundance. 12 And the king and Jehoiada gave it to the ones doing the work of the service of the house of Yahweh. And they were hiring stonemasons and craftsmen to restore the house of Yahweh, and also for craftsmen of iron and bronze to make strong the house of Yahweh. 13 And the doers of the work did, and the restoration of the work went up by their hand. And they made stand the house of God according to its measurement, and they strengthened it. 14 And when they finished, they brought in before the king and Jehoiada the remainder of the money. And they made items for the house of Yahweh, items of ministry and of burnt offerings and pans and items of gold and silver. And they were offering up burnt offerings at the house of Yahweh regularly all the days of Jehoiada. 15 And Jehoiada grew old and was full of days, and he died, a son of 130 years at his death. 16 And they buried him in the city of David with the kings, because he did good in Israel and toward God and his house. 17 And after the death of Jehoiada, the chiefs of Judah came and bowed down to the king. Then the king listened to them. 18 And they abandoned the house of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and they served the Asherim and the idols. And there was wrath on Judah and Jerusalem on account of this, their guilt. 19 And he sent among them prophets to bring them back to Yahweh. And they testified against them, but they did not listen. 20 And the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest. And he stood above the people, and he said to them, “Thus says God: Why are you passing over the commands of Yahweh, and you do not prosper? Because you all abandoned Yahweh, then he has abandoned you all.” 21 But they conspired against him, and they stoned him with stones by the command of the king in the court of the house of Yahweh. 22 And King Joash did not remember the covenant faithfulness that Jehoiada, his father did with him, and he killed his son. And when he died, he said, “May Yahweh see and seek.” 23 And it happened at the turn of the year, the army of Aram came up against him, and they came to Judah and Jerusalem. And they destroyed all the chiefs of the people from the people. And all the plunder they sent to the king of Damascus. 24 Indeed with a small amount of men the army of Aram came, yet Yahweh gave into their hand a very large army because they abandoned Yahweh, the God of their fathers. And they did judgment on Joash. 25 And when they went from him, for they left him with many wounds, his servants conspired against him on account of the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest. And they killed him on his bed, and he died. And they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the graves of the kings. 26 And these were the ones who conspired against him: Zabad the son of Shimeath, the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith, the Moabitess. 27 And his sons, and many oracles against him, and the establishing of the house of God, behold, they are written in the exposition of the scroll of the Kings. And Amaziah his son became king in his place. Chapter 25 1 A son of 25 years, Amaziah became king. And 29 years he reigned in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Jehoaddan from Jerusalem. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, only not with a complete heart. 3 And it happended when the kingdom was strong upon him, then he killed his servants, the ones who struck down the king, his father. 4 But their sons he did not put to death for as it is written in the law, in the scoll of Moses, whom Yahweh commanded saying, “Fathers must not die on account of their sons, and sons must not die on account of their fathers, but each for his sin, they must die.” 5 And Amaziah gathered Judah, and he appointed them according to the house of the fathers, for chiefs of thousands and for chiefs of hundreds for all of Judah and Benjamin. And he mustered them from a son of 20 years and upward. And he found them, 300,000 chosen, going out to war grasping spear and large shield. 6 And he hired from Israel 100,000 mighty ones of strength for 100 talents of silver. 7 But a man of God came to him, saying, “O King, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for Yahweh is not with Israel, all the sons of Ephraim. 8 But if you go, act, be strong in battle; God will cause you to fall before the enemy, for there is power in God to help and to cause to fall.” 9 And Amaziah said to the man of God, “And what will we do with the 100 talents that I have given to the troop of Israel?” And the man of God said, “There is to Yahweh to give to you much more than this.” 10 And Amaziah separated them, the troop that had come to him from Ephraim to go to their place. And their anger burned greatly against Judah, and they returned to their place in the burning of anger. 11 And Amaziah, he strengthened himself, and he led out his people. And he went to the Valley of Salt. And he struck down the sons of Seir, 10,000. 12 And 10,000 alive the sons of Judah took captive. And they brought them to the head of the cliff, and they threw them from the head of the cliff. And all of them were dashed to pieces. 13 But the sons of the troop that Amaziah sent back from going with him to battle, and they raided against the cities of Judah from Samaria and until Beth Horon. And they struck down from them 3,000 and they plundered much plunder. 14 And it happened after Amaziah had come from striking the Edomites, and he brought the gods of the sons of Seir, and set them up for himself to be gods. And before them he bowed down and to them he made sacrifices. 15 And the anger of Yahweh burned against Amaziah. And he sent to him a prophet, and he said to him, “Why do you seek the gods of the people who did not deliver their people from your hand?” 16 And it happened when he was speaking with him, and he said to him, “For a counselor to the king have we placed you? Stop yourself! Why should they strike you down?” And the prophet stopped. And he said, “I know that God has counselled to destroy you because you have done this and you did not listen to my counsel.” 17 And Amaziah, the king of Judah, took counsel and sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, the king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us meet each other face to face.” 18 And Joash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah, the king of Judah, saying, “A bramble that was in Lebanon sent to a cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son for a wife,’ but an animal passed over the field that was in Lebanon and trampled the bramble. 19 You have said, Behold, you have struck down Edom, and your heart has lifted you to boast. Now, sit in your house. Why excite yourself in evil and fall, you and Judah with you?” 20 But Amaziah did not listen, because from God it was, in order to give them into the hand because they sought the gods of Edom. 21 And Joash, the king of Israel, went up, and he and Amaziah, the king of Judah, looked at each other face to face at Beth Shemesh, which belonged to Judah. 22 And Judah was struck down before Israel, and each fled to his tent. 23 And Amaziah, the king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, Joash, the king of Israel, seized at Beth Shemesh. And he brought him to Jerusalem, and he broke through the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim until the gate of the Corner, 400 cubits. 24 And with all the gold and the silver and all the items that were found in the house of God with Obed Edom, and the treasures in the house of the king, and the sons of the hostages, he returned to Samaria. 25 And Amaziah the son of Joash, the king of Judah, lived after the death of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, the king of Israel, 15 years. 26 And the remainder of the matters of Amaziah, the first things and the last things, behold, are they not written on the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel? 27 And from the time that Amaziah turned from after Yahweh, and they bound against him a conspiracy in Jerusalem. And he fled to Lachish. And they sent after him to Lachish, and they put him to death there. 28 And they carried him on horses, and they buried him with his fathers in a city of Judah. Chapter 26 1 And all the people of Judah took Uzziah, and he was a son of 16 years. And they made him king in the place of his father Amaziah. 2 He himself built Eloth, and he restored it to Judah after the lying down of the king with his fathers. 3 A son of 16 years was Uzziah when he became king. And 52 years he reigned in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Jekoliah from Jerusalem. 4 And he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that Amaziah his father had done. 5 And he was seeking God in the days of Zechariah, the one instructing to see God [1] . And in the days of his seeking Yahweh, God caused him to prosper. 6 And he went out, and he fought against the Philistines. And he broke through the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod. And he built cities in Ashdod and among the Philistines. 7 And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians who dwelled in Gurbaal, and the Meunites. 8 And the Ammonites gave tribute to Uzziah. And his name went as far as the border of Egypt because he was becoming strong increasingly. 9 And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, and at the Valley Gate, and at the Angle, and he made them strong. 10 And he built towers in the wilderness, and he dug out many cisterns, for much cattle was to him, both in the lowlands and in the plains, and plowmen and vinedressers in the hills and in Carmel, for a lover of the ground he was. 11 And there was to Uzziah an army of doers of battle who went out for war according to the troop by the numbering of the mustering by the hand of Jeiel, the scribe, and Maaseiah, the official, under the hand of Hananiah, from the chiefs of the king. 12 All the number of the heads of the fathers according to the mighty ones of strength, 2,600. 13 And under their hand, an army of war 307,500 doers of battle with strength of power to help the king against the enemy. 14 And Uzziah prepared for them—for all the army—shields, and spears, and helmets, and armor, and bows, and stones of slings. 15 And he made in Jerusalem war machines, invention of an inventor, to be on the towers and on the corners to shoot arrows and great stones. And his name went out as far as a distance, for he did wondrously to be helped until when he was strong. 16 But at his strength, his heart was high until destroying, and he acted unfaithfully against Yahweh, his God, and he went into the temple of Yahweh to sacrifice on the altar of incense. 17 And Azariah, the priest, went in after him, and with him the priests of Yahweh, 80 sons of strength. 18 And they stood against Uzziah the king, and they said to him, “Not for you, Uzziah, to sacrifice to Yahweh, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, the ones consecrated to sacrifice. Go out from the sanctuary, for you acted unfaithfully, and not for you for honor from Yahweh God.” 19 And Uzziah raged, and in his hand was a censer to sacrifice. And when he raged against the priests, and the leprosy, it appeared on his forehead before the priests in the house of Yahweh from beside the altar of incense. 20 And Azariah the head priest turned to him, and all the priests, and, behold, he was leprous on his forehead. And they hastened him from there. And also, he himself hastened to go out, for Yahweh afflicted him. 21 And Uzziah the king was leprous until the day of his death. And he dwelled in the house of separation, being leprous, for he was cut off from the house of Yahweh. And Jotham his son was over the house of the king, judging the people of the land. 22 And the remainder of the matters of Uzziah, the first things and the last things, Isaiah, the son of Amoz, the prophet wrote. 23 And Uzziah laid down with his fathers. And they buried him with his fathers in the field of the grave that belonged to the kings, for they said, “Leprous is he.” And Jotham his son became king in his place. 26:5 [1] The Hebrew text can be read either, to honor God , or in the fear of God or in seeing God . Scholars are divided. Chapter 27 1 A son of 25 years was Jotham when he became king. And 16 years he reigned in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Jerushah, the daughter of Zadok. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that Uzziah his father did, except he did not go into the temple of Yahweh. And yet the people were acting corruptly. 3 He himself built the upper gate of the house of Yahweh, and on the wall of Ophel he built in abundance. 4 And cities he built in the hill country of Judah, and in the forests he built fortresses and towers. 5 And he himself fought with the king of the sons of Ammon, and he was strong over them. And the sons of Ammon gave to him in that year 100 talents of silver, 10,000 kors of wheat, and 10,000 barley. This the sons of Ammon brought back to him, and in the second year and the third. 6 And Jotham strengthened himself for he established his ways before Yahweh his God. 7 And the remainder of the matters of Jotham, and all his battles and his ways, behold, they are written on the scroll of the king of Israel and Judah. 8 A son of 25 years he was when he became king; and 16 years he reigned in Jerusalem. 9 And Jotham laid down with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Ahaz his son reigned in his place. Chapter 28 1 A son of 20 years was Ahaz when he became king, and 16 years he reigned in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, like David his father. 2 And he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel; and also metal images he made for the Baals. 3 And he himself offered incense in the Valley of Ben Hinnom. And he caused his sons to burn in fire, according to the abominations of the nations that Yahweh drove away from before the sons of Israel. 4 And he sacrificed and offered incense at the high places and on the hills and under every leafy tree. 5 And Yahweh his God gave him into the hand of the king of Aram. And he struck him, and they took captive from him many captives. And they brought to Damascus. And also into the hand of the king of Israel he gave, and he struck him a great striking. 6 And Pekah the son of Remaliah killed in Judah 120,000 in one day, all sons of strength, when they abandoned Yahweh the God of their fathers. 7 And Zicri, a mighty one of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah, the son of the king, and Azrikam, the leader of the house, and Elkanah, the second of the king. 8 And the sons of Israel took captive from their brothers 200,000 wives, sons, and daughters. And also much plunder they plundered from them. And they brought the plunder back to Samaria. 9 And there, a prophet of Yahweh was, Oded his name. And he went out before the army coming to Samaria. And he said to them, “Behold, in wrath, Yahweh, the God of your fathers was against Judah; he gave them into your hand. But you all killed them in rage; up to the heavens it reached. 10 And now the sons of Judah and Jerusalem you all are saying to subjugate as male slaves and as female slaves for yourselves. Are you surely not with wrongdoings of your own against Yahweh your God? 11 And now, hear me and bring back the captives whom you all took captive from your brothers. For the burning anger of Yahweh is upon you all.” 12 And men rose from the heads of the sons of Ephraim—Azariah the son of Jehohanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, and Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai—against the ones coming from the army. 13 And they said to them, “Do not bring the captives here, for wrongdoing of Yahweh against us you all are saying to add upon our sins and upon our wrongdoings. For much is the guilt to us and the burning anger upon Israel.” 14 And the armed ones released the captives and the spoils before the chiefs and all the assembly. 15 And the men who were marked by names rose and they grasped among the captives, and all their naked persons they clothed from the plunder. And they clothed them, and they gave them sandals. And they fed them, and they gave them drink. And they poured on them, and they led them on donkeys all who stumble. And they brought them to Jericho, the City of Palms, near their brothers. And they returned to Samaria. 16 At that time, King Ahaz sent to the kings of Assyria to help him. 17 And again the Edomites had come, and they struck Judah. And they took captive captives. 18 And the Philistines had raided among the cities of the lowlands and the Negev of Judah. And they captured Beth Shemesh, and Aijalon, and Gederoth, and Soko and its daughters, and Timnah and its daughters, and Gimzo and its daughters. And they dwelled there. 19 For Yahweh humbled Judah because of Ahaz, the king of Israel; for he caused to break loose in Judah and to act faithlessly in faithlessness against Yahweh. 20 And Tiglath-Pileser, the king of Assyria, came against him. And he harassed him, and he did not strengthen him. 21 For Ahaz divided up the house of Yahweh and the house of the king and the chiefs. And he gave to the king of Assyria, but it was not a help to him. 22 And in the time of his harassment, and he added to act faithlessly against Yahweh, this King Ahaz. 23 And he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, those striking him, and he said, “Because the gods of the kings of Aram, they were helping them, to them I will sacrifice, and they will help me.” But they themselves were to him a cause to fall and to all Israel. 24 And Ahaz gathered the items of the house of God and cut up the items of the house of God. And he shut the doors of the house of Yahweh. And he made for himself altars in every corner in Jerusalem. 25 And in every city and city of Judah he made high places to make sacrifices to other gods. And he provoked to anger Yahweh, the God of his fathers. 26 And the remainder of his matters and all his ways, the first things and the last things, behold, they are written on the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel. 27 And Ahaz laid down with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, but they did not bring him to the graves of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son reigned in his place. Chapter 29 1 Hezekiah became king as a son of 25 years, and 29 years he reigned in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, like all that David his father did. 3 He, in the first year of his reigning, in the first month, himself opened the doors of the house of Yahweh, and he made them strong. 4 And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and he gathered them into the plaza to the east. 5 And he said to them, “Hear me, Levites! Now, consecrate yourselves and consecrate the house of Yahweh, the God of your fathers, and bring out the defilement from the holy place. 6 For our fathers acted unfaithfully, and they did evil in the eyes of Yahweh our God. And they have abandoned him. And they turned their faces from the tabernacle of Yahweh, and they turned the back. 7 Also, they shut the doors of the porch. And they extinguished the lamps, and incense they did not offer and burnt offerings they did not offer in the holy place of the God of Israel. 8 And the wrath of Yahweh was on Judah and Jerusalem. And he gave them to be a terror, to be a horror, and to be a hissing, just as you all are seeing with your eyes. 9 And behold, our fathers fell by the sword, and our sons, and our daughters, and our wives are in captivity on account of this. 10 Now with my heart to cut a covenant with Yahweh, the God of Israel, so that his burning anger may turn from us. 11 My sons, now, do not be negligent for you all Yahweh has chosen to stand before him, to minister to him, and to be to him ones ministering and ones offering sacrifices.” 12 And the Levites arose: Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, from the sons of the Kohathites; and from the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; and from the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah; 13 and from the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel; and from the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah; 14 and from the sons of Heman, Jehuel and Shimei; and from the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel. 15 And they gathered their brothers, and they consecrated themselves, and they entered, according to the commandment of the king with the words of Yahweh, to cleanse the house of Yahweh. 16 And the priests entered the inner part of the house of Yahweh to cleanse; and they brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of Yahweh to the court of the house of Yahweh. And the Levites took to bring out to the brook Kidron outside. 17 And they began on the first of the first month to consecrate. And on the eighth day of the month they came to the porch of Yahweh, and they consecrated the house of Yahweh for eight days. And on the 16th day of the first month they finished. 18 And they came within to Hezekiah, the king, and they said, “We have cleansed all the house of Yahweh, the altar of burnt offerings and all its items, and the table of the arrangement and all its items, 19 and all the items which King Ahaz rejected in his reign in his unfaithfulness. We have prepared, and we have consecrated, and, behold, they are before the altar of Yahweh.” 20 And Hezekiah the king rose early and gathered the chiefs of the city. And he went up to the house of Yahweh. 21 And they brought seven bulls, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven male goats of female goats for a sin offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And he said to the sons of Aaron, the priests, to cause to go up to the altar of Yahweh. 22 And they slaughtered the cattle, and the priests took the blood, and they scattered on the altar. And they slaughtered the rams, and they scattered the blood on the altar. And they slaughtered the lambs, and they scattered the blood on the altar. 23 And they brought near the goats of the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands on them. 24 And the priests slaughtered them, and they made a sin offering with their blood on the altar to atone for all Israel, because “For all Israel,” the king said, “are the burnt offering and the sin offering.” 25 And he stationed the Levites in the house of Yahweh with cymbals, with harps, and with lyres, according to the commandment of David and Gad, the seer of the king, and Nathan the prophet, for by the hand of Yahweh was the commandment by the hand of his prophets. 26 And the Levites stood with the instruments of David and the priests with the trumpets. 27 And Hezekiah said to offer the burnt offering on the altar. And at the time the burnt offering began, the song of Yahweh began and the trumpets, and by the hands of the instruments of David, the king of Israel. 28 And the whole assembly was worshipping, and the song was singing, and the trumpets were sounding, all until the burnt offering was finished. 29 And when the burnt offering was finished, the king bowed down and all who were found with him, and they worshiped. 30 And King Hezekiah said, and the chiefs, to the Levites to praise Yahweh according to the words of David and Asaph the seer. And they praised with joy, and they bowed down, and they worshiped. 31 And Hezekiah answered, and he said, “You yourselves have filled your hand to Yahweh. Come near and bring in sacrifices and thanksgivings to the house of Yahweh.” And the assembly brought in sacrifices and thanksgivings, and all inclined of heart, burnt offerings. 32 And the number of the burnt offering that the assembly brought in was 70 bulls, 100 rams, 200 lambs, for the burnt offering to Yahweh was all these. 33 And the consecrated were 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep. 34 Except the priests were too few and they were not able to skin all the burnt offerings, so their brothers, the Levites, made them strong until the work was finished, and until the priests consecrated themselves, for the Levites were right of heart to consecrate themselves more than the priests. 35 And also, there were burnt offerings in abundance with the fat of the peace offerings and with the drink offerings for the burnt offering. And the service of the house of Yahweh was established. 36 And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, over God having prepared for the people, for in suddenness the matter happened. Chapter 30 1 And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and also letters he wrote to Ephraim and Manasseh to come to the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem to do a Passover to Yahweh, the God of Israel. 2 And the king consulted, and his chiefs, and all the assembly in Jerusalem, to do the Passover in the second month. 3 for they were not able to do it at that time because the priests had not consecrated themselves sufficiently, and the people had not assembled to Jerusalem. 4 And the matter was right in the eyes of the king and in the eyes of all the assembly. 5 And they caused to stand a word to cause a voice to pass over among all Israel, from Beersheba and to Dan to come to do a Passover to Yahweh, the God of Israel, in Jerusalem; for they had not in abundance done as was written. 6 And runners went with letters from the hand of the king and his chiefs among all Israel and Judah and according to the command of the king, saying, “Sons of Israel, return to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the escaped remaining of you all from the palm of the kings of Assyria. 7 And do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who acted unfaithfully against Yahweh, the God of their fathers. And he made them to be a horror, just as you all are seeing. 8 Now, do not harden your neck like your fathers; give hand to Yahweh and come to his sanctuary which he has consecrated forever, and serve Yahweh your God, that he may turn from you all his burning anger. 9 For in your turning back to Yahweh, your brothers and your sons will have mercies before their captors and return this land. For gracious and compassionate is Yahweh your God, and he will not turn away his face from you all, if you return to him.” 10 And the runners were passing from city to city in the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and until Zebulun, but they were mocking them and ridiculing them. 11 However, men from Asher and Manasseh and from Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. 12 Also on Judah was the hand of God to give them one heart to do the command of the king and the chiefs by the word of Yahweh. 13 And many people gathered in Jerusalem to do the Feast of the Unleavened Bread in the second month, a very abundant assembly. 14 And they rose, and they took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the incense altars they took away, and they threw into the brook Kidron. 15 And they slaughtered the Passover lambs on the 14th of the second month. And the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and they consecrated themselves, and they brought in the burnt offerings to the house of Yahweh. 16 And they stood at their stations according to their judgment, according to the law of Moses, the man of God. The priests were scattering the blood from the hand of the Levites, 17 for many were in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves. And the Levites were over the slaughtering of the Passover lambs for all were not clean to consecrate to Yahweh. 18 For a multitude of the people, many from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not purified themselves, but they ate the Passover, against what is written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May Yahweh who is good atone for 19 everyone who prepares his heart to seek God, Yahweh, the God of his fathers, but not according to the purifying of the holy place.” 20 And Yahweh listened to Hezekiah, and he healed the people. 21 And the sons of Israel who were found in Jerusalem did the Feast of the Unleavened Bread seven days with great joy. And the Levites and the priests were praising Yahweh day by day, with instruments of might to Yahweh. 22 And Hezekiah spoke to the heart of all the Levites, who were insightful with good insight of Yahweh. And they ate the appointed seven days, sacrificing sacrifices of peace offerings and confessing to Yahweh, the God of their fathers. 23 And all the assembly consulted to do seven days after them, and they did seven days joyfully. 24 For Hezekiah the king of Judah contributed to the assembly 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep; and the chiefs contributed to the assembly 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep. And many priests consecrated themselves. 25 And they rejoiced, all the assembly of Judah and the priests and the Levites, and all the assembly who came from Israel, and the sojourners who came from the land of Israel and the inhabitants of Judah. 26 And there was great joy in Jerusalem, for from the days of Solomon the son of David, the king of Israel, there was not like this in Jerusalem. 27 And the priests, the Levites, rose, and they blessed the people. And their voice was heard, and their prayer came to his holy dwelling in the heavens. Chapter 31 1 And when all this was finished, all Israel who were to be found went out to the cities of Judah, and they shattered the pillars. And they cut to pieces the Asherim, and they tore down the high places and the altars from all Judah and Benjamin, and in Ephraim and Manasseh, until finished. And all the sons of Israel returned, each to his possession, to their cities. 2 And Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests and the Levites according to their divisions, each according to the mouth of his service, for the priests and for the Levites for burnt offering and for peace offerings, to minister, and to give thanks, and to praise at the gates of the camp of Yahweh. 3 And the portion of the king was from his property for burnt offerings, for the burnt offerings of the morning and the evening and the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths and for the new moons and for the appointed times, as is written in the law of Yahweh. 4 And he said to the people, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, in order that they might be strong in the law of Yahweh. 5 And when the word broke through, the sons of Israel gave in abundance firstfruits of grain, new wine, and oil, and honey, and all the produce of the field. And the tithe of all the abundance they brought in. 6 And the sons of Israel and Judah, the inhabitants in the cities of Judah, also they, the tithe of cattle and sheep, and the tithe of sacred things consecrated to Yahweh their God, they brought in, and they gave heaps, heaps. 7 In the third month, they began the heaps to establish, and in the seventh month they finished. 8 And Hezekiah and the chiefs came, and they saw the heaps. And they blessed Yahweh and his people Israel. 9 And Hezekiah sought the priests and the Levites about the heaps. 10 And Azariah, the head priest, of the house of Zadok, said to him, and he said, “From the beginning of the bringing of the contribution to the house of Yahweh we ate, and were full and had left over in abundance, for Yahweh has blessed his people, and this abundance is left.” 11 And Hezekiah said to prepare the chambers in the house of Yahweh, and they prepared. 12 And they brought in the contribution and the tithe and the sacred things in faithfulness. And over them as a leader was Konaniah the Levite, and Shimei his brother, second. 13 And Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ismakiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah were overseers under the hand of Konaniah and Shimei his brother, by the arrangement of Hezekiah, the king, and Azariah, the leader over the house of God. 14 And Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the gatekeeper to the east was over the free will offering of God, to give the contribution of Yahweh and the most holy things, 15 and by his hand Eden, and Miniamin, and Jeshua, and Shemaiah, and Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests in faithfulness to give to their brothers in divisions, like great, like small, 16 regardless of their genealogy, to males from a son of three years and upward, to all who came into the house of Yahweh, by the matter of a day in its day, for their service by their charges according to their divisions, [1] 17 and the genealogy of the priests by the house of their fathers and the Levites from a son of 20 years and upward by their charges according to their divisions, 18 and to the genealogy with all their children, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, to all the assembly, for in their faithfulness they were consecrating themselves in holiness. 19 And for the sons of Aaron, the priests, in the fields of open land of their cities, in each city and city, were men who were marked by names to give portions to every male among the priests, and to all genealogically among the Levites. 20 And Hezekiah did like this in all Judah. And he did what is good, and what is right, and faithful before Yahweh his God. 21 And in every deed that he began in the service of the house of God, and by the law, and by the commandment to seek his God, with all his heart he did and succeeded. 31:16 [1] Instead of males three years old and up , some modern versions have males thirty years old and up . Chapter 32 1 After these things and faithfulness, Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, came. And he came into Judah. And he encamped against the fortified cities. And he said to capture them for himself. 2 And Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and his face was to battle against Jerusalem. 3 And he consulted with his chiefs and his mighty ones to stop up the waters of the springs that were outside the city; and they helped him. 4 And many people gathered, and they stopped up all the springs and the stream that was flowing in the midst of the land, saying, “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find many waters?” 5 And he strengthened himself. And he built all the broken wall, and he brought up the towers and the other outer wall. And he strengthened the Millo in the city of David. And he made weapons in abundance and shields. [1] 6 And he placed chiefs of battle over the people. And he gathered them to himself to the plaza at the city gate. And he spoke to their heart, saying, 7 “Be strong and be courageous. Do not be afraid, and do not be dismayed from before the king of Assyria and from before all the multitude that is with him, for with us is one greater than with him. 8 With him, an arm of flesh, but with us, Yahweh, our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people leaned on the words of Hezekiah, the king of Judah. 9 After this, Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, sent his servants to Jerusalem (and he was by Lachish, and all his military strength was with him) to Hezekiah, the king of Judah, and to all Judah who was in Jerusalem, saying, 10 “Thus says Sennacherib, the king of Assyria: On what are you all trusting and dwelling in siege in Jerusalem? 11 Is not Hezekiah misleading you all, to give you all to die by famine and by thirst, saying, ‘Yahweh our God will deliver us from the palm of the king of Assyria’? 12 Did not he, Hezekiah, take away his high places and his altars and he said to Judah and to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Before one altar you all must worship, and on it you all must make sacrifice’? 13 Do you all not know what I have done, I and my fathers, to all the peoples of the lands? Were the gods of the nations of the lands surely able to deliver their land from my hand? 14 Who is among all the gods of these nations whom my fathers devoted to destruction who is able to deliver his people from my hand, that your God is able to deliver you all from my hand? 15 And now do not let Hezekiah deceive you all and do not let him mislead you all like this. And do not believe him for any god of any nation or kingdom has not been able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. Also, indeed, your God will not deliver you all from my hand.” 16 And again his servants spoke against Yahweh God and against Hezekiah, his servant. 17 And letters he wrote to taunt Yahweh, the God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, “Like the gods of the nations of the lands who did not deliver their people from my hand, thus the God of Hezekiah will not deliver his people from my hand.” 18 And they called in a great voice in Judean against the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten them and to dismay them, in order that they might capture the city. 19 And they spoke about the God of Jerusalem as against the gods of the peoples of the land, the work of the hands of man. 20 And Hezekiah, the king, prayed, and Isaiah the son of Amoz, the prophet, about this, and they cried out to the heavens. 21 And Yahweh sent an angel, and he wiped out all the mighty ones of the army and leaders and chiefs in the camp of the king of Assyria. And he returned with shame on faces to his land. And he came to the house of his god, and some of the ones coming forth from his inward parts, there they caused him to fall by the sword. 22 And Yahweh saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all. And he gave them rest all around. [2] 23 And many were bringing gifts to Yahweh to Jerusalem and precious things to Hezekiah the king of Judah. And he was lifted up in the eyes of all the nations from after that. 24 In those days Hezekiah was sick unto death. And he prayed to Yahweh, and he spoke to him. And a sign he gave to him. 25 But according to the benefit to him Hezekiah did not return, for his heart was high. And there was on him wrath and on Judah and Jerusalem. 26 And Hezekiah humbled himself from the height of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the wrath of Yahweh did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah. 27 And there was to Hezekiah very many riches and glory, and treasuries he made for himself for silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all desirable items, 28 and storehouses for produce of grain, and new wine, and oil, and stalls for all beasts and beasts, and flocks for the stalls. 29 And cities he made for himself and livestock of sheep and cattle in abundance, for God gave to him very much property. [3] 30 And this same Hezekiah stopped up the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon, and he directed them down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah succeeded in all his work. 31 And thus, when the envoys of the chiefs of Babylon sent to him to seek the sign that was in the land, God left him to test him, to know all in his heart. 32 And the remainder of the matters of Hezekiah, and his covenant faithfulnesses, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, the prophet, on the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel. 33 And Hezekiah laid down with his fathers, and they buried him in the ascent of the graves of the sons of David. And honor they did for him in his death, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And Manasseh his son reigned in his place. 32:5 [1] Instead of and he brought up the towers , some ancient and modern versions have, he built towers on it , that is, on the wall. 32:22 [2] Instead of gave them rest all around , some ancient and modern versions have guided them on every side . The original reading is uncertain. 32:29 [3] Instead of cities , some modern versions have donkeys , and some other modern versions leave out the word entirely. Chapter 33 1 A son of 12 years was Manasseh when he became king; and 55 years he reigned in Jerusalem. 2 And he did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh, like the abominations of the nations whom Yahweh had driven out from before the sons of Israel. 3 And he turned and built the high places that Hezekiah his father had torn down, and he erected altars to the Baals, and he made Asheroth, and he bowed down to all the host of the heavens, and he served them. 4 And he built altars in the house of Yahweh, about which Yahweh had said, “In Jerusalem, my name will be forever.” 5 And he built altars for all the host of the heavens in the two courts of the house of Yahweh. 6 And he himself caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and he practiced soothsaying, and divination, and he practiced magic, and he dealth with mediums and spirists. He multiplied doing what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh to provoke him to anger. 7 And he put the image of the idol which he made in the house of God of which God said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will set my name forever. 8 And I will not again remove the foot of Israel from upon the soil that I appointed for your fathers, only if they are careful to do all that I commanded them, all the law, and the statutes, and the judgments by the hand of Moses.” 9 And Manasseh led astray Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to do evil more than the nations that Yahweh had exterminated from before the sons of Israel. 10 And Yahweh spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they did not pay attention. 11 And Yahweh brought against them the chiefs of the army which belonged to the king of Assyria. And they captured Manasseh in chains, and they bound him in bronze, and they took him to Babylon. 12 And when he was in distress, he entreated the face of Yahweh, his God, and he humbled himself much from before the God of his fathers. 13 And he prayed to him; and he was entreated by him, and he heard his supplication, and he brought him back to Jerusalem to his kingdom. And Manasseh knew that Yahweh, he is God. 14 And after this, he built an outer wall for the city of David, on the west of Gihon, in the valley, and at the entrance of the Fish Gate, and around the hill, and he made it very high. And he put chiefs of the army in all the fortified cities in Judah. 15 And he took away the foreign gods, and the idol from the house of Yahweh, and all the altars that he built on the mountain of the house of Yahweh and in Jerusalem. And he threw them outside the city. 16 And he built the altar of Yahweh, and he sacrificed on it sacrifices of peace offerings and thank offerings. And he said to Judah to serve Yahweh, the God of Israel. 17 However, the people were still sacrificing on the high places, only to Yahweh, their God. 18 And the remainder of the matters of Manasseh, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers, those speaking to him in the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel, behold, they are on the words of the kings of Israel. 19 And his prayer and how he was entreated by him, and all his sin, and his unfaithfulness, and the places where he built in them high places, and he raised Asherim and idols before he humbled himself—behold, they are written in the Words of Hozai. [1] 20 And Manasseh laid down with his fathers, and they buried him in his house. And Amon, his son, became king in his place. 21 A son of 22 years was Amon when he became king; and two years he reigned in Jerusalem. 22 And he did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh, just as Manasseh, his father, had done. And to all the idols that Manasseh his father made, Amon sacrificed, and he served them. 23 And he did not humble himself from before Yahweh, as Manasseh his father humbled himself, for this Amon multiplied guilt. 24 And his servants conspired against him, and they put him to death in his house. 25 But the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah, his son, king in his place. 33:19 [1] Some modern versions have the Words of Hozai , which is the reading of the original text. But many modern versions correct it to read the Chronicles of the Seers . Also, a few modern versions have the Chronicles of his seers . Chapter 34 1 A son of eight years was Josiah when he became king; and 31 years he reigned in Jerusalem. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, and he walked in the ways of David his father, and he did not turn to the right or to the left. 3 And in the eighth year of his reigning, and he was still a youth, he began to seek the God of David, his father. And in the 12th year, he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the Asherim, and the idols, and the metal images. 4 And they tore down before him the altars of the Baals, and the incense altars which were above them he cut to pieces. And the Asherim and the idols and the metal images he shattered, and he crushed, and he scattered over the faces of the graves of those who sacrificed to them. 5 And the bones of the priests he burned on their altars. And he cleansed Judah and Jerusalem, 6 and in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, and unitl Naphtali, in the hills of their houses all around. 7 And he tore down the altars, and the Asherim and the idols he beat to pieces to grinding, and all the incense altars he cut to pieces in all the land of Israel. And he returned to Jerusalem. 8 And in the 18th year of his reigning, to cleanse the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah, the chief of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the secretary, to make strong the house of Yahweh his God. 9 And they came to Hilkiah, the great priest, and they gave the money that had been brought to the house of God, that the Levites gathered, the keepers of the threshold, from the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and from all the remnant of Israel, and from all Judah and Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10 And they gave to the hand of the doer of the work, the ones appointed over the house of Yahweh. And they gave it to the doers of the work who were working on the house of Yahweh to repair and to make strong the house. 11 And they gave to the craftsmen and the builders to buy cut stone and woods for the braces, and to make beams for the houses that the kings of Judah had destroyed. 12 And the men were working with faithfulness in the work. And over them were appointed Jahath, and Obadiah, the Levites from the sons of Merari, and Zechariah, and Meshullam, from the sons of the Kohathites, to direct, and the Levites, all who understand about the instruments of song. 13 And over the burden bearers and directors for every doer of the work for service and service, and from the Levites, were scribes and officials and gatekeepers. 14 And when they were bringing out the money that had been brought into the house of Yahweh, Hilkiah the priest found the scroll of the law of Yahweh by the hand of Moses. 15 And Hilkiah answered, and he said to Shaphan the scribe, “The scroll of the law I have found in the house of Yahweh.” And Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan. 16 And Shaphan brought the scroll to the king, and brought further to the king word, saying, “All that was given by the hand of your servants they are doing. 17 And they poured out the money that was found in the house of Yahweh, and they gave it to the hand of those appointed and to the hand of the doers of the work.” 18 And Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, “A scroll Hilkiah the priest gave to me.” And Shaphan read from it before the king. 19 And it happened when the king heard the words of the law, and he tore his clothes. 20 And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah, the servant of the king, saying, 21 “Go, seek Yahweh on behalf of me, and on behalf of the one who remains in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the scroll that has been found. For great is the rage of Yahweh that is poured out on us because our fathers have not kept the word of Yahweh to do like all that is written on this scroll.” [1] 22 And Hilkiah went, and those of the king, to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, the keeper of the garments. And she was dwelling in Jerusalem in the Second. And they spoke to her about this. 23 And she said to them, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: Say to the man who sent you all to me, 24 ‘Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I am bringing disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants all the curses written on the scroll that they read before the king of Judah, 25 because they abandoned me and burned incense to other gods in order to provoke me to anger in all the works of their hands. And my rage will pour out on this place, and it will not be quenched.’ [2] 26 But to the king of Judah, the one who sent you all to seek Yahweh, thus you all shall say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel about the words that you heard: 27 because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words concerning this place and concerning its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me, and you have torn your clothes, and you wept before me, and also I myself have heard—declares Yahweh— 28 behold, I myself will gather you to your fathers. And you will be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes will not see all the disaster that I am bringing on this place and on its inhabitants.’” And they brought back word to the king. 29 And the king sent, and he gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 30 And the king went up to the house of Yahweh, and each man of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, from the great to the small. And he read in their ears all the words of the scroll of the covenant, the one that was found in the house of Yahweh. 31 And the king stood in his place, and he cut the covenant before Yahweh, to walk after Yahweh, and to keep his commandments, and his testimony, and his statutes, with all his heart and with all his being, to do the words of the covenant that were written on this scroll. 32 And he made stand each one found in Jerusalem and Benjamin. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem acted according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. 33 And Josiah took away all the abominations from all the lands that belonged to the sons of Israel. And he caused to serve each one found in Israel, to serve Yahweh, their God. All his days, they did not turn away from after Yahweh, the God of their fathers. 34:21 [1] Instead of that has been poured out on us , some versions have, that has been kindled against us . 34:25 [2] Instead of will pour out on this place , some versions have, will be kindled against this place . Chapter 35 1 And Josiah did a Passover in Jerusalem to Yahweh. And they slaughtered the Passover on the 14th of the first month. 2 And he appointed the priests over their charges, and he strengthened them for the service of the house of Yahweh. 3 And he said to the Levites who are teaching all Israel, who are sacred to Yahweh, “Place the Holy Box in the house that Solomon, the son of David, the king of Israel built; not to you all a burden on your shoulder. Now serve Yahweh your God and his people Israel. 4 And prepare by the house of your fathers, according to your divisions, by the writing of David, the king of Israel, and by the writing of Solomon, his son. 5 And stand in the holy place, according to the division of the house of the fathers of your brothers, the sons of the people, and the portion of the house of a father of the Levites. 6 And slaughter the Passover, and consecrate yourselves, and prepare for your brothers, to do according to the word of Yahweh by the hand of Moses.” 7 And Josiah raised to the sons of the people a flock of lambs and sons of female goats, the entirety for the Passovers, for all who are found, for the number, 30,000. And oxen, 3,000. These were from the property of the king. 8 And his chiefs, for a free will offering to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites, they raised. Hilkiah, and Zechariah, and Jehiel, leaders in the house of God, to the priests they gave for the Passovers, 2,600, and oxen, 300. 9 And Konaniah, and Shemaiah and Nethanel, his brothers, and Hashabiah, and Jeiel, and Jozabad, the chiefs of the Levites, raised to the Levites for the Passovers, 5,000 and oxen, 300. 10 And the service was prepared, and the priests stood at their places, and the Levites by their divisions, according to the commandment of the king. 11 And they slaughtered the Passover, and the priests scattered from their hand, and the Levites were skinning. 12 And they took away the burnt offering, in order to place them according to the divisions of the house of fathers, for the sons of the people to bring near to Yahweh according to what is written in the scoll of Moses. And thus for the oxen. 13 And they cooked the Passover in fire according to the judgment. And the consecrated things they cooked in pots, and in kettles, and in pans, and they brought to all the sons of the people. 14 And after they prepared for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron, were offering the burnt offering and the fat portions until night, and the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron. 15 And the singers, the sons of Asaph, in their place, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun, the seer of the king, and the gatekeepers for gate and gate. It was not for them to turn aside from their place because their brothers, the Levites, prepared for them. 16 And all the service of Yahweh was prepared on that day to do the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of Yahweh, according to the commandment of King Josiah. 17 And the sons of Israel who were found did the Passover at that time and the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days. 18 And a Passover was not done like it in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet, and all the kings of Israel did not do like the Passover that Josiah did, and the priests and the Levites and all Judah and Israel who were found and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 19 In the 18th year of the reign of Josiah, this Passover was done. 20 After all this, when Josiah prepared the house, Necho, the king of Egypt, went up to fight against Carchemish near the Euphrates. And Josiah went out to meet him. 21 And he sent to him messengers, saying, “What to me and to you, King of Judah? Not against you yourself today, but against the house of my battle. And God said for me to hurry. Stop yourself from God, who is with me, and let him not destroy you.” 22 But Josiah did not turn his face from him, but, in order to fight with him, he disguised himself. And he did not listen to the words of Necho, the mouth of God. And he came to fight on the plain of Megiddo. 23 And the archers shot King Josiah, and the king said to his servants, “Cause me to pass over for I am badly wounded.” 24 And his servants carried him away from the chariot, and they made him ride on the second chariot which belonged to him. And they brought him to Jerusalem. And he died, and he was buried in the graves of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem were mourning on account of Josiah. 25 And Jeremiah sang a dirge for Josiah, and all the male singers and the female singers said in their dirges about Josiah until today. And they placed for a statute over Israel; and behold, they are written in the Laments. 26 And the remainder of the matters of Josiah and his covenant faithfulnesses as is written in the law of Yahweh— 27 and his matters, the first things and the last things, behold, they are written in the scroll of the kings of Israel and Judah. Chapter 36 1 And the people of the land took Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, and they made him king in the place of his father in Jerusalem. 2 A son of 23 years was Joahaz [1] when he became king. And three months he reigned in Jerusalem. 3 And the king of Egypt removed him at Jerusalem, and he imposed a fine on the land, 100 talents of silver and a talent of gold. 4 And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem. And he turned his name to Jehoiakim. And Joahaz his brother Necho took, and he brought him to Egypt. 5 A son of 25 years was Jehoiakim when he became king, and 11 years he reigned in Jerusalem. And he did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh his God. 6 Against him Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came up, and he bound him with bronze to bring him to Babylon. 7 and some of the items of the house of Yahweh Nebuchadnezzar brought to Babylon, and he placed them in his temple at Babylon. 8 And the remainder of the matters of Jehoiakim, and the abominations that he did, and what was found against him, behold, they are written on the scroll of the kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin, his son, became king in his place. 9 A son of eight years was Jehoiachin when he became king; and three months and ten days he reigned in Jerusalem. And he did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh. 10 And in the return of the year, King Nebuchadnezzar sent and he brought him to Babylon, with the desirable items of the house of Yahweh And he made Zedekiah, his brother, king over Judah and Jerusalem. 11 A son of 21 years was Zedekiah when he became king; and 11 years he reigned in Jerusalem. 12 And he did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh his God; he did not humble himself from before Jeremiah the prophet from the mouth of Yahweh. 13 And also against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God, he rebelled. And he stiffened his neck, and he hardened his heart from turning to Yahweh, the God of Israel. 14 Also, all the chiefs of the priests and the people multiplied doing acts of unfaithfulness like all the abominations of the nations. And they defiled the house of Yahweh which he had consecrated in Jerusalem. 15 And Yahweh, the God of their fathers, sent to them by the hand of his messengers, rising early and sending, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling. 16 But they were deriding the messengers of God, and despising his words, and mocking his prophets, until the wrath of Yahweh went up against his people, until there was no healing. 17 And he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, and he killed their young men with the sword in the house of their holy place, and he did not spare a young man or a virgin, old or aged. All he gave into his hand. 18 All the items of the house of God, great things and small things, and the treasures of the house of Yahweh, and the treasures of the king and his chiefs—the entirety he brought to Babylon. 19 And they burned the house of God, and they tore down the wall of Jerusalem; and all of its palaces they burned with fire, and all the precious objects, destroyed. 20 And the remaining from the sword he led into exile to Babylon, and they became to him and to his sons servants until the reign of the kingdom of Persia 21 to fulfill the word of Yahweh by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land restored its Sabbaths. All the days of its being desolate, it kept to fulfill 70 years. 22 And in the first year of Cyrus, the king of Persia, to complete the word of Yahweh by the mouth of Jeremiah. Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, the king of Persia, and he caused voice to pass through all his kingdom, and also in writing, saying, 23 “Thus says Cyrus, the king of Persia: ‘All the kingdoms of the earth Yahweh, the God of the heavens, has given to me. And he himself has charged me to build for him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you all from all his people, may Yahweh his God, be with him, and let him go up.’” 36:2 [1] Joahaz is written in the Hebrew but refers to the same person as Jehoahaz in 36:1. Ezra Chapter 1 1 Now in year one of Cyrus, the king of Persia, in order to accomplish the word of Yahweh from the mouth of Jeremiah, Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, the king of Persia. So he caused a sound to pass throughout all his kingdom, and also in writing, saying: 2 “Thus says Cyrus, the king of Persia: Yahweh, the God of heaven, has given to me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he himself has appointed me to build for him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Whoever among you is from all his people, may his God be with him, and may he go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and may he build the house of Yahweh, the God of Israel. He is the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 And every one who is remaining in all of the places where he is sojourning there, let the men of his place lift him with silver and with gold, and with goods and with livestock, along with the freewill offering for the house of God, which is in Jerusalem.” 5 Then the heads of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, that is, all whose spirit God had stirred up, arose to go up to build the house of Yahweh, which is in Jerusalem. 6 And all those around them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with livestock, and with precious gifts, apart from all that was freely offered. 7 And the king Cyrus brought out the vessels of the house of Yahweh that Nebuchadnezzar had brought out from Jerusalem and had put in the house of his gods. 8 And Cyrus, the king of Persia, brought them out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer. And he counted them out to Sheshbazzar, the ruler of Judah. 9 And this was their number: 30 basins of gold, 1000 basins of silver, 29 knives, 10 30 bowls of gold, 410 bowls of silver of a second kind, and 1000 other vessels. 11 All the vessels of gold and of silver were 5400. Sheshbazzar brought up all this with the going up of the exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem. Chapter 2 1 Now these are the sons of the province, the ones who went up from the captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had exiled to Babylon. And they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, a man to his city; 2 who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. This is the number of the men of the people of Israel. 3 The sons of Parosh were 2, 172. 4 The sons of Shephatiah were 372. 5 The sons of Arah were 775. 6 The sons of Pahath-Moab, of the sons of Jeshua and Joab were 2, 812. 7 The sons of Elam were 1, 254. 8 The sons of Zattu were 945. 9 The sons of Zakkai were 760. 10 The sons of Bani were 642. 11 The sons of Bebai were 623. 12 The sons of Azgad were 1, 222. 13 The sons of Adonikam were 666. 14 The sons of Bigvai were 2,056. 15 The sons of Adin were 454. 16 The sons of Ater, of Hezekiah were 98. 17 The sons of Bezai were 323. 18 The sons of Jorah were 112. 19 The sons of Hashum were 223. 20 The sons of Gibbar were 95. 21 The sons of Bethlehem were 123. 22 The men of Netophah were 56. 23 The men of Anathoth were 128. 24 The sons of Azmaveth were 42. 25 The sons of Kirjath-Arim, Kephirah, and Beeroth were 743. 26 The sons of the Ramah and Geba were 621. 27 The men of Michmas were 122. 28 The men of Bethel and the Ai were 223. 29 The sons of Nebo were 52. 30 The sons of Magbish were 156. 31 The sons of the other Elam were 1, 254. 32 The sons of Harim were 320. 33 The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono were 725. 34 The sons of Jericho were 345. 35 The sons of Senaah were 3, 630. 36 The priests: the sons of Jedaiah of the house of Jeshua were 973. 37 The sons of Immer were 1,052. 38 The sons of Pashhur were 1, 247. 39 The sons of Harim were 1,017. 40 The Levites: the sons of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodaviah, were 74. 41 The singers: the sons of Asaph were 128. 42 The sons of the gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, and the sons of Shobai were 139 in all. 43 The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, 44 the sons of Keros, the sons of Siaha, the sons of Padon, 45 the sons of Lebanah, the sons of Hagabah, the sons of Akkub, 46 the sons of Hagab, the sons of Shalmai, and the sons of Hanan, 47 the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, the sons of Reaiah, 48 the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, the sons of Gazzam, 49 the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, the sons of Besai, 50 the sons of Asnah, the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephusim, 51 the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, 52 the sons of Bazluth, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, 53 the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah, 54 the sons of Neziah, and the sons of Hatipha. 55 The sons of the servants of Solomon: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Hassophereth, the sons of Peruda, 56 the sons of Jaalah, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, 57 the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth Hazzebaim, and the sons of Ami. 58 All the temple servants and the sons of the servants of Solomon were 392. 59 And these were the ones who went up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon, and Immer; but they were not able to tell the house of their fathers or their seed, whether they were from Israel. 60 The sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, and the sons of Nekoda were 652. 61 And from the sons of the priests: the sons of Habaiah; the sons of Hakkoz; and the sons of Barzillai, who took a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, so he was called by their name. 62 These ones sought their record among the ones who were enrolled by genealogy, but they were not found. And they were desecrated from the priesthood. 63 And the Tirshatha said to them that they must not eat from the holiest holy food until a priest stood with Urim and with Thummim. 64 All the assembly, as one, was 42, 360: 65 apart from their male servants and their female servants, these were 7, 337; and for them were 200 men who sang and women who sang. 66 Their horses were 736. Their mules were 245. 67 Their camels were 435. Their donkeys were 6, 720. 68 And when some from the heads of the fathers came to the house of Yahweh which is in Jerusalem, they freely gave for the house of God to cause it to stand upon its place. 69 They gave according to their ability to the treasury of the work: 61000 gold darics, and 5000 silver minas, and 100 tunics of the priests. 70 So the priests, and the Levites, and some from the people, and the singers, and the gatekeepers, and the temple servants dwelt in their cities. So all Israel was in their cities. Chapter 3 1 Then the seventh month came and the sons of Israel were in their cities. And the people were gathered together as one man to Jerusalem. 2 Then arose Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brothers the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brothers, and they built the altar of the God of Israel to offer up burnt up offerings on it as is written in the law of Moses, the man of God. 3 And they set up the altar on its foundation, for dread was on them because of the peoples of the lands. Then they offered up on it burnt up offerings to Yahweh, burnt up offerings at the morning and at the evening. 4 Then they performed the Festival of Huts as is written, with a burnt up offering day by day, by number according to the ordinance of the matter of the day, on its day. 5 And after this was a continual burnt up offering, and for the new moons, and for all the consecrated appointed times of Yahweh, and for everyone who freely offered a freewill offering to Yahweh. 6 From day one of the seventh month they began to offer up burnt up offerings to Yahweh, but the temple of Yahweh had not been founded. 7 And they gave silver to the masons and to the carpenters, and food, and drink, and oil to the Sidonians and to the Tyrians, to bring trees of cedar from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the permission of Cyrus, the king of Persia, given to them. 8 Then in the second year of their coming to the house of God in Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all the ones who came from captivity to Jerusalem began, and they appointed the Levites from a son of 20 years and above to act as overseers for the work of the house of Yahweh. 9 And Jeshua, his sons and his brothers, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, stood as one to act as overseers for the ones doing the work at the house of God, the sons of Henadad, their sons, and their brothers the Levites. [1] 10 Then the ones who were building laid the foundation of the temple of Yahweh. And they caused to stand the clothed priests with the trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with the cymbals, to praise Yahweh in accordance with the hands of David, the king of Israel. 11 Then they sang in response, praising and giving thanks to Yahweh: “For he is good, for his covenant faithfulness to Israel is to eternity!” And all the people shouted a great shout in praise to Yahweh because the foundation of the house of Yahweh had been laid. 12 But many from the priests and the Levites, and the heads of the fathers, the old men who had seen the first house, at the founding of this house in their eyes, were weeping with a loud voice. Yet many with a shout, with joy, were lifting up a voice. 13 So the people could not differentiate the sound of the shout of joy from the sound of the weeping of the people. For the people were shouting a great shout, and the sound was heard as far as from a remote place. 3:9 [1] the sons of Judah or perhaps the sons of Hodaviah (Ezra 2:40). Chapter 4 1 Now the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the sons of the exile were building a temple for Yahweh, the God of Israel. 2 So they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the fathers and they said to them, “Let us build with you, for, like you, we seek your God and to him we have been sacrificing since the days of Esarhaddon, the king of Assyria, the one who caused us to come up here.” 3 But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the fathers of Israel said to them, “It is not for you and for us to build a house for our God, but we ourselves together will build for Yahweh, the God of Israel, just as the king Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us.” 4 And it happened that the people of the land were making the hands of the people of Judah weak, and making them afraid to build, 5 and hiring counselors against them to frustrate their plans all the days of Cyrus, the king of Persia, and until the reign of Darius, the king of Persia. 6 Now in the reign of Ahasuerus, [1] in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against those who dwelled in Judah and Jerusalem. 7 And in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his companions wrote to Artaxerxes, the king of Persia, and the script of the letter was written in Aramaic and was interpreted in Aramaic. 8 Rehum, a lord of decree, and Shimshai the scribe wrote one letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows: 9 Then Rehum, a lord of decree, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions, the judges and the rulers, the officials, the Persians, the Erechites, the Babylonians, the Susaites (that is, the Elamites), 10 and the rest of the nations whom Ashurbanipal the great and the noble caused to be exiled and caused them to dwell in the cities of Samaria, and the rest of Beyond-the-River. And now: 11 (This is a copy of the letter that they sent to him.) “To Artaxerxes the king; your servants, men of Beyond-the-River; and now: 12 let it be known to the king that the Jews who went up from near you have come to us at Jerusalem. Rebuilding the rebellious and evil city, they are completing the walls and repairing the foundations. 13 Now let it be known to the king that if that city is built and the walls are completed, they will not give tax, tribute, or custom, and the revenue of the kings will suffer harm. 14 Now, because we have eaten the salt of the palace, and it is not appropriate for us to see the nakedness of the king, on account of this we have sent and made known to the king, 15 so that he may search in the book of the records of your fathers. And you will discover in the book of the records and learn that that city is a rebellious city and one that has caused harm to kings and provinces, and they have made revolt in its midst since the ancient days. On account of this, that city was destroyed. 16 We are making known to the king that if that city is built and the walls are completed, because of this there will be no share for you in Beyond-the-River.” 17 The king sent the answer: “To Rehum, a lord of decree, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions who dwell in Samaria, and the rest of Beyond the River: Peace. And now: 18 The letter that you sent to us has been carefully read aloud before me. 19 So from me was set a decree, and they searched and discovered that that city since the ancient days has risen up against kings and rebellion and revolt have been made in it. 20 And mighty kings were over Jerusalem, even rulers over all of Beyond the River; and tax, tribute, and custom were paid to them. 21 Now, set a decree to stop these men, so that city may not be rebuilt until the decree is set from me. 22 And be careful of negligence of action concerning this. Why should the damage increase to the harm of the kings?” 23 Then from when the copy of the letter of Artaxerxes the king was read aloud before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went in a hurry to Jerusalem against the Jews, and they stopped them by an arm and strength. 24 At that time the work of the house of God which is in Jerusalem stopped, and it was stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius, the king of Persia. 4:6 [1] Also known as Xerxes . Chapter 5 1 Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and in Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel who was over them. 2 Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, arose and began to build the house of God which is in Jerusalem, and the prophets of God were with them, supporting them. 3 At that time, Tattenai, the governor of Beyond-the-River, and Shethar-Bozenai, and their companions came to them and spoke to them thus, “Who set for you a decree to build this house and to complete this structure?” 4 Then accordingly we said to them, “What are the names of the men who are building this building?” 5 But the eye of God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until the report came to Darius and then they returned the letter concerning this matter. 6 A copy of the letter that Tattenai, the governor of Beyond-the-River, and Shethar-Bozenai and his companions, the officials who were in Beyond-the-River, sent to Darius the king. 7 They sent a report to him and thus was written within it: “To Darius the king: All peace. 8 Let it be known to the king that we went to Judah, the province, to the house of the great God, and it is being built of large stones, and timber is being placed in the walls. And this work is being done diligently and is succeeding in their hand. 9 Then we asked these elders, we said thus to them, ‘Who set a decree for you to build this house and to complete this structure?’ 10 And also we asked of them their names, to let you know, so that we could write down the names of the men who were at their head. 11 And thus is the answer they returned us, saying, ‘We are servants of him who is the God of heaven and earth, and we are building the house that was built many years before this, and a great king of Israel built it and completed it. 12 However, because of this, that our fathers caused the God of heaven to be angry, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, and he destroyed this house and caused the people to be exiled to Babylon. 13 But in year one of Cyrus, the king of Babylon, Cyrus the king set a decree to build this house of God. 14 And also the vessels of the house of God, of gold and silver, that Nebuchadnezzar had taken out from the temple that was in Jerusalem and had brought them to the temple of Babylon—Cyrus the king took them out from the temple of Babylon and they were given to one whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had set as governor. 15 Then he said to him, “Take away these vessels. Go deposit them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be built on its place.” 16 Then that Sheshbazzar came; he laid the foundation of the house of God which is in Jerusalem. And from then even until now it is being built, but it is not complete.’ 17 And now, if it is good to the king, let a search be made in the house of the treasures of the king which is there in Babylon, if it is that a decree was set by Cyrus the king to build this house of God in Jerusalem. And let him send to us the will of the king concerning this.” Chapter 6 1 Then Darius the king set a decree and they searched in the house of the books where the treasures had been deposited there in Babylon. 2 And one scroll was found in the fortress at Ecbatana that is in the province of Media, and the record was written within it thusly: 3 “In year one of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king set a decree about the house of God in Jerusalem: ‘Let the house be built, a place where sacrifices are sacrificed, and let its foundations be raised. Its height will be 60 cubits. Its width will be 60 cubits, 4 with three layers of large stone and a layer of new timber. And let the cost be given from the house of the king. 5 And also, the vessels of the house of God, of gold and silver, that Nebuchadnezzar had taken out from the temple that was in Jerusalem and had brought to Babylon, must be returned. And let each go to the temple that is in Jerusalem, to its place. So you must put them in the house of God.’” 6 “Now Tattenai, the governor of Beyond-the-River, Shethar-Bozenai, and their companions, the officials who are in Beyond-the-River: be far away from there. 7 Leave alone the work of that house of God. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build that house of God on its place. 8 And from me is set a decree for what it is that you shall do with these elders of the Jews to build that house of God. And from the treasures of the king (that is, the tribute of Beyond-the-River) let the expense be given to those men diligently, so that it does not stop. 9 And whatever is needed (whether sons of bulls, or rams, or lambs for burnt up offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, according to the command of the priests who are in Jerusalem), let it be given to them day by day (that is, without neglect), 10 so that they may be offering sweet-smelling sacrifices to the God of heaven and praying for the life of the king and his sons. 11 And from me is set a decree that, for any man who changes this edict, a beam shall be pulled from his house, and, being erect, he shall be impaled on it. And his house shall be made a rubbish heap on account of this. 12 And may the God who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who stretches out his hand to change, to destroy that house of God which is in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have set a decree. Let it be done diligently.” 13 Then Tattenai, the governor of Beyond-the-River, Shethar-Bozenai, and their companions did thus diligently, according to what Darius the king had sent. 14 And the elders of the Jews were building and prospering by the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built and completed by the decree of the God of Israel and by the decree of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes, the king of Persia. 15 And this house was done by day three of the month of Adar, which was year six of the reign of Darius the king. 16 And the sons of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the sons of the exile performed the dedication of this house of God with joy. 17 And they offered for the dedication of this house of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and 12 bucks of goats for a sin offering for all Israel, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. 18 And they caused the priests to stand in their divisions, and the Levites in their sections, for the service of the God who is in Jerusalem, according to the writing of the book of Moses. 19 So the sons of the exile performed the Passover on day 14 of the first month. 20 For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves as one, all of them were pure. And they slaughtered the Passover for all the sons of the exile, and for their brothers, the priests, and for themselves. 21 And the sons of Israel ate, the ones who had returned from the exile and every one who separated himself to them from the uncleanness of the nations of the land in order to seek Yahweh, the God of Israel. 22 Then they performed the Festival of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, because Yahweh had caused them to be joyful, and had caused the heart of the king of Assyria to turn toward them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel. Chapter 7 1 Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes, the king of Persia: Ezra (the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, 2 the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub, 3 the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth, 4 the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki, 5 the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the head priest), 6 this Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a skilled scribe in the law of Moses that Yahweh, the God of Israel, had given. And the king granted to him all his request according to the hand of Yahweh his God upon him. 7 And some from the sons of Israel and from the priests, and the Levites, and the ones who sang, and the gatekeepers, and the temple servants went up to Jerusalem in year seven of Artaxerxes the king. 8 And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. 9 For on the first of the first month was the beginning of the ascent from Babylon. And on the first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him. 10 For Ezra had made his heart firm to seek the law of Yahweh, and to do it, and to teach statute and ordinance in Israel. 11 Now this is a copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a scribe of the words of the commandments of Yahweh and his statutes for Israel: 12 “Artaxerxes, the king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven: Peace. And now: 13 from me is set a decree that everyone in my kingdom who freely offers to go to Jerusalem with you, from the people ‘Israel’ and its priests and the Levites, may go. 14 Because it was sent from before the king and his seven counselors to inquire about Judah and about Jerusalem by the law of your God which is in your hand, 15 and to bring silver and gold that the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, 16 with all the silver and the gold that you find in all the province of Babylon, along with the freewill offering of the people and the priests who freely give for the house of God, which is in Jerusalem: 17 therefore, diligently you shall buy with this money bulls, rams, lambs, and their grain offerings and their drink offerings; and you shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God, which is in Jerusalem. 18 And you may do whatever seems good to you and to your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, according to the will of your God. 19 And the vessels that were given to you for the service of the house of your God, deliver in full before the God of Jerusalem. 20 And the rest of what is needed for the house of your God that falls to you to give, you may give from the house of the treasures of the king. 21 And from me myself, Artaxerxes the king, is set a decree for all the treasurers who are in Beyond-the-River: that all that Ezra (the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven) may ask of you, let it be done diligently; 22 as much as 100 silver kikkars, and as much as 100 cors of wheat, and as much as 100 baths of wine, and as much as 100 baths of oil, and salt which is not written. 23 Everything that is from the decree of the God of heaven shall be done exactly for the house of the God of heaven. For why should there be wrath against the kingdom of the king and his sons? 24 And to you is made known that there is no authority to set tax, tribute, or custom upon all the priests, and the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, the temple servants, and the servants of that house of God. 25 And as for you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people who are in Beyond-the-River, all who know the laws of your God. And you shall teach those who do not know. 26 And everyone who will not do the law of your God and the law of the king, judgment shall be exacted from him diligently, whether for death, whether for banishment, whether for confiscation of goods, or for imprisonment.” 27 Blessed be Yahweh, the God of our fathers, who gave according to this in the heart of the king, to glorify the house of Yahweh, which is in Jerusalem, 28 and caused covenant faithfulness to extend to me before the face of the king, and his counselors, and before all the mighty officials of the king. And as for me, I gained strength according to the hand of Yahweh my God upon me, and I gathered from Israel heads to go up with me. Chapter 8 1 Now these are the heads of their fathers and their enrollment by genealogy, the ones who went up with me from Babylon in the reign of Artaxerxes the king: 2 From the sons of Phinehas: Gershom. From the sons of Ithamar: Daniel. From the sons of David: Hattush, 3 from the sons of Shecaniah. From the sons of Parosh: Zechariah, and with him were 150 males enrolled by genealogy. 4 From the sons of Pahath-Moab: Eliehoenai, the son of Zerahiah, and with him were 200 males. 5 From the sons of … Shecaniah the son of Jahaziel, and with him were 300 males. [1] 6 And from the sons of Adin: Ebed, the son of Jonathan, and with him were 50 males. 7 And from the sons of Elam: Jeshaiah, the son of Athaliah, and with him were 70 males. 8 And from the sons of Shephatiah: Zebadiah, the son of Michael, and with him were 80 males. 9 From the sons of Joab: Obadiah, the son of Jehiel, and with him were 218 males. 10 And from the sons of … Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah, and with him were 160 males. [2] 11 And from the sons of Bebai: Zechariah, the son of Bebai, and with him were 28 males. 12 And from the sons of Azgad: Johanan, the son of Hakkatan, and with him were 110 males. 13 And from the last sons of Adonikam, and these were their names: Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and with them were 60 males. 14 And from the sons of Bigvai: Uthai and Zaccur, and with him were 70 males. 15 And I gathered them to the river, the one that goes to Ahava, and we encamped there three days. And I examined the people and the priests, but I did not find there any from the sons of Levi. 16 Then I sent for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, the heads; and for Joiarib, and for Elnathan, men of understanding. 17 And I commanded them to go to Iddo, the head at the place Kasiphia. And I put in their mouth words to speak to Iddo and his brothers, the temple servants in the place Kasiphia, to bring to us those who minister for the house of our God. 18 And according to the good hand of our God upon us, they brought to us: a man of insight from the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, even Sherebiah, and his sons and his brothers were 18; 19 and Hashabiah, and with him, Jeshaiah, from the sons of Merari, whose brothers and their sons were 20; 20 and 220 temple servants from the temple servants whom David with the officials had given for the service of the Levites. All of them were designated by names. 21 Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river Ahava, to afflict ourselves before the face of our God to seek from him a straight way for us, and for our children, and for all our property. 22 For I was ashamed to ask from the king an army and horsemen to help us from an enemy on the way. For we had spoken to the king, saying, “The hand of our God is for good upon all those who seek him, but his might and his nose are against all those who forsake him.” 23 So we fasted and sought from our God concerning this, and he was entreated by us. 24 Then I separated 12 from the leaders of the priests to Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and with them ten from their brothers. 25 And I weighed out to them the silver and the gold and the vessels, the offering of the house of our God that the king, and his counselors, and his officials, and all Israel (the ones who were found) had offered. 26 And I weighed out to their hand 650 kikkars of silver, and vessels of silver of 100 kikkars, 100 kikkars of gold, 27 and 20 bowls of gold of 1000 darics, and two good, gleaming vessels of bronze, precious as gold. 28 And I said to them, “You are holy to Yahweh, and the vessels are holy. And the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to Yahweh, the God of your fathers. 29 Watch and keep until you weigh them out before the face of the leaders of the priests and the Levites and the leaders of the fathers of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of Yahweh.” 30 So the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God. 31 Then we set out from the river Ahava on day 12 of the first month to go to Jerusalem. And the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the palm of the enemy and ambush on the way. 32 So we came to Jerusalem, and we stayed there three days. 33 And on the fourth day, the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed out: in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth, the son of Uriah, the priest, and with him was Eleazar, the son of Phinehas (and with them were Jozabad, the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah, the son of Binnui, the Levites); 34 by number and weight of everything. And all the weight was written at that time. 35 The ones who had come from the captivity, the sons of the exile, offered burnt up offerings to the God of Israel: 12 bulls for all Israel, 96 rams, 77 lambs, 12 male goats of a sin offering. The whole was a burnt up offering to Yahweh. 36 And they gave the laws of the king to the satraps of the king and the governors of Beyond-the-River. And they lifted the people and the house of God. 8:5 [1] From the sons of Shekaniah was the son of Jahaziel or perhaps From the sons of Zattu was Shekaniah, the son of Jahaziel (Greek Septuagint and other ancient versions). 8:10 [2] From the sons of Shelomith was the son of Josphiah or perhaps From the sons of Bani was Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah (Greek Septuagint and other ancient versions). Chapter 9 1 Now as soon as these things were finished, the leaders came to me, saying, “The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands according to their abominations, of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, the Ammonite, the Moabite, the Egyptian, and the Amorite. 2 For they have lifted from their daughters for themselves and for their sons, so they have mixed the seed of holiness with the peoples of the lands. And the hand of the leaders and the rulers has been first in this unfaithfulness.” 3 And as soon as I heard this matter, I tore my garment and my robe. And I pulled out some from the hair of my head and my beard, and I sat down appalled. 4 And all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel on account of the unfaithfulness of the exiles were gathered to me. And I was sitting appalled until the offering of the evening. 5 And at the offering of the evening I arose from my humilation, and when I tore my garment and my robe. And I knelt down on my knees, and spread out my palms to Yahweh my God. 6 And I said, “My God, I am ashamed and humiliated to raise my face to you, my God. For our iniquities have multiplied to above the head, and our guilt has grown up as far as to the heavens. 7 From the days of our fathers until this day we are in great guilt. And in our iniquities, we ourselves, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands by sword, by captivity, and by plunder, and by shame of face, as this day. 8 But now, according to a little moment, favor has come from with Yahweh our God to leave for us survivors and to give to us a peg in his holy place, for our God to brighten our eyes and to give us a little reviving in our slavery. 9 For we are slaves, yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery. But he has extended to us covenant faithfulness before the face of the kings of Persia to give to us reviving, to raise up the house of our God and to cause its ruins to stand, and to give to us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem. 10 So now, our God, what can we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, 11 which you commanded by the hand of your servants, the prophets, saying, ‘The land that you are entering to possess is a land of impurity by the impurity of the peoples of the lands, by their abominations that have filled it from mouth to mouth with their uncleanness. 12 So now, neither give your daughters to their sons nor lift their daughters for your sons, nor shall you seek their peace or their good until eternity, so that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and cause your sons to inherit it until eternity.’ 13 Yet after all that has come upon us because of our evil deeds and because of our great guilt (although you, our God, you have restrained it to lower than our iniquities, and you have given to us a survival such as this), 14 should we return to breaking your commandments and to intermarrying with the peoples of these abominations? Would you not be angry with us as far as completion, so that there is neither remnant nor survivors? 15 Yahweh, the God of Israel, you are righteous, for we are left as survivors, as this day. Behold us, before your face in our guilt, for there is none to stand before your face on account of this.” Chapter 10 1 And when Ezra prayed, and when he confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the face of the house of God, an extremely great assembly from Israel, men and women and children, gathered to him. Indeed the people wept an abundant weeping. 2 Then Shekaniah, the son of Jehiel, from the sons of Elam, answered and said to Ezra, “We ourselves have acted unfaithfully against our God and have caused foreign women from the peoples of the land to dwell. But now, there is hope for Israel concerning this. 3 So now, let us cut a covenant with our God to cause all the women to go out, and the ones who were born from them, by the counsel of my lord and the ones who tremble at the commandment of our God. And let it be done according to the law. 4 Arise, for the matter is on you, and we are with you. Be strong and do.” 5 And Ezra arose and caused the leaders of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel to swear an oath to do according to this word. So they swore an oath. 6 And Ezra rose up from before the face of the house of God, and he went to the chamber of Jehohanan, the son of Eliashib. And he went there. He did not eat bread and he did not drink water, but was mourning on account of the unfaithfulness of the exiles. 7 And they caused a sound to pass throughout Judah and Jerusalem for all the sons of the exile to gather to Jerusalem. 8 And for all who did not come in three days according to the counsel of the leaders and the elders, all his property would be devoted to the ban. And he himself would be separated from the assembly of the exiles. 9 So all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered to Jerusalem in three days. It was the ninth month, on 20 in the month. And all the people sat in the open place of the house of God, trembling on account of the matter and because of the rains. 10 And Ezra the priest rose up and said to them, “You yourselves have acted unfaithfully and have caused foreign wives to dwell, to add to the guilt of Israel. 11 But now, give praise to Yahweh, the God of your fathers, and do his will, and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the foreign women.” 12 Then all the assembly answered and said in a loud voice, “Thus, according to your word, it is on us to do. 13 However, the people are many, and the time is rain showers and there is no strength to stand in the outdoors. And the work is neither for one day nor for two, for we have done much to rebel in this matter. 14 Let our leaders stand for all the assembly. And let all who are in our cities, the ones who have caused foreign women to dwell, come at appointed times, and with them the elders of city by city and its magistrates, until the burning of the nose of our God is turned back from us as far as it concerns this matter.” 15 Only Jonathan, the son of Asahel, and Jahzeiah, the son of Tikvah, stood against this. And Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite supported them. 16 So the sons of the exile did thus, and men (the heads of the fathers by the house of their fathers, and all of them by names) were separated to Ezra the priest. And they sat down on day one of the tenth month to seek out the matter. 17 And they finished with all the men, the ones who had caused foreign women to dwell, by day one of the first month. 18 And some were found from the sons of the priests who had caused foreign women to dwell: from the sons of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah. 19 So they gave their hand to cause their wives to go out, and, being guilty ones, a ram of the flock for their guilt. 20 And from the sons of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah. 21 And from the sons of Harim: Maaseiah, and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah. 22 And from the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah. 23 And from the Levites: Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah (that is, Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer. 24 And from the singers: Eliashib. And from the gatekeepers: Shallum, and Telem, and Uri. 25 And these were from Israel. From the sons of Parosh: Ramiah, and Izziah, and Malkijah, and Mijamin, and Eleazar, and Malkijah, and Benaiah. [1] 26 And from the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, and Abdi, and Jeremoth, and Elijah. 27 And from the sons of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, and Jeremoth, and Zabad, and Aziza. 28 And from the sons of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai. 29 And from the sons of Bani: Meshullam, Malluk, and Adaiah, Jashub, and Sheal, Jeremoth. [2] 30 And from the sons of Pahath-Moab: Adna, and Kelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, and Binnui, and Manasseh. 31 And from the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Ishijah, Malkijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, 32 Benjamin, Malluk, Shemariah. 33 From the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei. 34 From the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, and Uel, 35 Benaiah, Bedeiah, Keluhi, 36 Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, 37 Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu, 38 and Bani, and Binnui, Shimei, [3] 39 and Shelemiah, and Nathan, and Adaiah, 40 Maknadebai, Shashai, Sharai, 41 Azarel, and Shelemiah, Shemariah, 42 Shallum, Amariah, Joseph. 43 From the sons of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, and Joel, Benaiah. 44 All of these had lifted foreign women. And there were women among them, and they bore sons. [4] 10:25 [1] and Malkijah, and Benaiah or perhaps and Hashabiah, and Benaiah (LXX). 10:29 [2] Bani or perhaps Binnui (LXX). 10:38 [3] and Bani, and Binnui or perhaps the sons of Binnui (LXX). 10:44 [4] And there were women among them, and they bore sons or perhaps And they sent them away with their sons (1 Esdras 9:36). Nehemiah Chapter 1 1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hakaliah: And it happened in the month of Kislev, in year 20, that I myself was in Susa the citadel. 2 And Hanani, one of my brothers, came, he and men from Judah. And I asked them about the Jews who escaped, who were left behind from the captivity, and about Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me, “The ones left behind, who were left behind from the captivity there in the province, are in great evil and in reproach. And the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.” 4 And it happened that, when I heard these words, I sat down and wept, and I mourned for days. And I was fasting and praying before the face of the God of heaven. 5 And I said, “Ah! Yahweh, the God of heaven, the great and fearsome God, who keeps the covenant and covenant faithfulness to those who love him and to those who keep his commandments: 6 Please let your ear be attentive and your eyes opened to listen to the prayer of your servant that I am praying before your face today, day and night, on account of the sons of Israel, your servants. And I am confessing on account of the sins of the sons of Israel that we have sinned against you. Even I and the house of my father, we have sinned. 7 With extreme corruption we have acted corruptly against you. And we have not kept the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments that you commanded Moses your servant. 8 Please remember the word that you commanded Moses your servant, saying, ‘If you yourselves act unfaithfully, I myself will scatter you among the peoples. 9 But if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, although your banished ones are at the extremity of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause my name to dwell there.’ 10 And they are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. 11 Ah! My Lord, please let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants, the ones who delight to fear your name. And please cause your servant to succeed today, and give him mercies before the face of this man.” Now as for me, I was a cupbearer for the king. Chapter 2 1 And it happened that, in the month of Nisan, in year 20 of Artaxerxes the king, wine was before his face. And I lifted the wine, and I gave it to the king, and I was not unpleasant before his face. 2 And the king said to me, “Why is your face unpleasant? Now as for you, you are not sick. This is nothing except unpleasantness of heart.” And I was extremely much afraid. 3 And I said to the king, “May the king live to eternity! Why should not my face be unpleasant, when the city, the house of the graves of my fathers, is desolate, and its gates have been consumed by fire.” 4 And the king said to me, “For what is this you are seeking?” And I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 And I said to the king, “If it is good to the king, and if your servant is good before your face, that you would send me to Judah, to the city of the graves of my fathers, and I will build it.” 6 And the king said to me, with the queen sitting beside him, “Until when will be your journey? And when will you return?” And it was good before the face of the king, and he sent me, and I gave to him a time. 7 And I said to the king, “If it is good to the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of Beyond-the-River, that they will bring me across as far as where I enter into Judah; 8 and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the forest that belongs to the king, that he will give to me timbers to lay the beams of the gates of the citadel, which is for the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house into which I will enter.” And the king gave to me, according to the good hand of my God upon me. 9 And I came to the governors of Beyond-the-River, and I gave to them the letters of the king. And the king sent with me officers of the army and horsemen. 10 And Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah, the servant, the Ammonite, heard. And it was evil to them, a great evil, that someone had come to seek good for the sons of Israel. 11 And I came to Jerusalem, and I was there three days. 12 And I arose in the night, myself and a few men with me, and I did not tell anyone what my God had been giving to my heart to do for Jerusalem. Now there was no animal with me except the animal upon which I was riding. 13 And I went out at the gate of the valley at night, even to the face of the spring of the dragon, and to the gate of dung. And I was looking intently at the walls of Jerusalem, seeing that they were broken down, and its gates had been consumed by fire. [1] 14 And I crossed to the gate of the spring and to the pool of the king, but there was no place for the animal under me to pass. 15 And I was going up by the wadi at night, and I was looking intently at the wall. And I turned back, and I came in at the gate of the valley, and I returned. 16 Now the prefects did not know where I had gone or what I was doing. And until this time I had not yet told the Jews, or the priests, or the nobles, or the prefects, or the rest of the doers of the work. 17 And I said to them, “You see the evil that we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates have been burned by fire. Come, and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be a reproach.” 18 And I declared to them the hand of my God, that it was good upon me, and also the words of the king that he had spoken to me. And they said, “We will rise up and build.” And they strengthened their hands for good. 19 And Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah, the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian heard, and they mocked us, and they despised us. And they said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” 20 And I returned them a word, and I said to them: “The God of heaven, he will cause us to succeed, and we ourselves, his servants, will rise up and build. But for you there is neither share nor right nor memorial in Jerusalem.” 2:13 [1] they were broken down or perhaps the broken-down places (Hebrew Ketiv). Chapter 3 1 And Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the gate of sheep. They themselves consecrated it and erected its doors. And they consecrated it as far as the tower of the hundred and as far as the tower of Hananel. 2 And the men of Jericho built at his hand. And Zaccur the son of Imri built at his hand. 3 And the sons of Hassenaah built the gate of fish. They themselves laid its beams and erected its doors, its bolts, and its bars. 4 And Meremoth, the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, strengthened at their hand. And Meshullam, the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel, strengthened at their hand. And Zadok the son of Baana strengthened at their hand. 5 And the Tekoites strengthened at their hand, but their nobles did not bring their necks to the service of their lords. 6 And Joiada the son of Paseah, and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah, strengthened the gate of old. They themselves laid its beams and erected its doors, its bolts, and its bars. 7 And Melatiah the Gibeonite, and Jadon the Meronothite, men of Gibeon and the Mizpah, strengthened at their hand, to the seat of authority of the governor of Beyond-the-River. 8 Uzziel, the son of Harhaiah, of the goldsmiths, strengthened at his hand. And Hananiah, a son of the perfumers, strengthened at his hand. And they restored Jerusalem as far as the broad wall. 9 And Rephaiah, the son of Hur, the administrator for half of the district of Jerusalem, strengthened at their hand. 10 And Jedaiah the son of Harumaph strengthened at their hand, even in front of his house. And Hattush the son of Hashabneiah strengthened at his hand. 11 Malkijah the son of Harim, and Hasshub the son of Pahath-Moab, strengthened a second section along with the tower of ovens. 12 And Shallum, the son of Hallohesh, the administrator for half of the district of Jerusalem, strengthened at his hand, he and his daughters. 13 Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah strengthened the gate of the valley. They themselves built it and erected its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and a thousand cubits of the wall as far as the gate of dung. 14 And Malkijah, the son of Recab, the administrator for the district of Beth-Hakkerem, strengthened the gate of dung. He himself was building it and erecting its doors, its bolts, and its bars. 15 And Shallun, the son of Kol-Hozeh, the administrator for the district of the Mizpah, strengthened the gate of the spring. He himself was building it and covering it and erecting its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and the wall of the pool of the Siloam at the garden of the king even as far as the stairs descending from the city of David. [1] 16 After him, Nehemiah, the son of Azbuk, the administrator for half of the district of Beth-Zur, strengthened as far as in front of the graves of David, and as far as the pool that was made, and as far as the house of the mighty men. 17 After him, the Levites strengthened: Rehum the son of Bani; at his hand, Hashabiah, the administrator for half of the district of Keilah, strengthened for his district; 18 after him, their brothers strengthened, Binnui, the son of Henadad, the administrator for half of the district of Keilah. 19 And at his hand, Ezer, the son of Jeshua, the administrator for the Mizpah, was strengthening a second section opposite the ascent to the armory at the angle. 20 After him, Baruch the son of Zabbai burned, and strengthened a second section from the angle as far as the opening of the house of Eliashib the high priest. [2] 21 After him, Meremoth, the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, strengthened a second section, from the opening of the house of Eliashib even as far as the end of the house of Eliashib. 22 And after him, the priests, the men of the valley, strengthened. 23 After him, Benjamin and Hasshub strengthened in front of their house. After him, Azariah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ananiah, strengthened beside his house. 24 After him: Binnui the son of Henadad strengthened a second section from the house of Azariah as far as the angle and as far as the corner; 25 Palal the son of Uzai, from opposite the angle and the tower projecting from the upper house of the king which is by the court of the guard; after him, Pedaiah the son of Parosh. 26 And the Nethinim were dwelling in the Ophel, as far as in front of the gate of water to the east and the projecting tower. 27 After him, the Tekoites strengthened a second section from in front of the high projecting tower even as far as the wall of the Ophel. 28 The priests strengthened from above the gate of horses, a man to the front of his house. 29 After him, Zadok the son of Immer strengthened in front of his house. And after him, Shemaiah, the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the gate of the east, strengthened. 30 After him, Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, with Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, strengthened a second section. After him, Meshullam the son of Berechiah strengthened in front of his chamber. [3] 31 After him, Malkijah, a son of the goldsmiths, strengthened as far as the house of the Nethinim and the merchants in front of the gate of mustering, even as far as the upper chamber of the corner. [4] 32 And the goldsmiths and the merchants strengthened between the upper chamber of the corner to the gate of sheep. 3:15 [1] and erecting or perhaps and they were erecting (Hebrew Ketiv). 3:20 [2] Zabbai or perhaps Zakkai (Hebrew Qere). 3:30 [3] After him or perhaps Afterwards (Hebrew Ketiv). 3:31 [4] After him or perhaps Afterwards (Hebrew Ketiv). Chapter 4 1 And it happened that, when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, it burned him, and he was very angry. And he mocked at the Jews. 2 And he spoke before the face of his brothers and the army of Samaria, and he said, “What are the feeble Jews doing? Will they restore for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish in a day? Will they bring to life the stones from piles of dust, when they have been burned?” 3 And Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him. And he said, “Yes, if a fox goes up on what they are building, then he would break down their wall of stones!” 4 Hear, our God, that we are a contempt, and cause their taunts to return on their heads! And give them for plunder in a land of captivity. 5 And do not cover over their iniquity, and do not wipe out their sin from before your face, for they have provoked anger before the front of the builders. 6 So we built the wall, and all the wall was joined together up to half of it. And the heart of the people was for working. 7 And it happened that, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the health of the walls of Jerusalem was going up and the breaks were beginning to be closed, it burned them extremely. 8 And all of them together conspired to come to fight against Jerusalem and to make confusion for it. 9 And we prayed to our God. And we set up a guard on account of them, by day and by night against their faces. 10 And Judah said, “The strength of the burden-bearers is failing, and there is much rubble. And as for us, we are not able to build the wall.” 11 And our adversaries said, “They will not know, and they will not see until when we come into their midst and kill them. And we will cause the work to stop.” 12 And it happened that, when the Jews dwelling beside them came, they said to us ten times, “From all the places where you turn, they are on us!” [1] 13 And I stationed from the lowest of places behind the wall, in the bare places; and I stationed the people by families with their swords, their spears, and their bows. 14 And I looked, and I rose up, and I said to the nobles, and to the prefects, and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of their faces. Remember my great and fearsome Lord! And fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your houses.” 15 And it happened that, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and God had frustrated their counsels, all of us returned to the wall, a man to his work. 16 And it happened that, from that day, half of my young men were doing the work, and half of them were grasping, even the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the breastplates. And the officials were behind all the house of Judah. 17 Those who were building the wall, and those who were carrying burdens, the loaders, they were doing the work with one of his hands and one grasping weaponry. 18 And the builders: a man girded his sword to his loins and built. And the one who blew the ram’s horn was beside me. 19 And I said to the nobles and to the prefects and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and vast, and we are separated on the wall, a man far from his brother. 20 At the place where you hear the sound of the ram’s horn, you shall gather to us there. Our God will fight for us.” 21 So we were doing the work. And half of them were grasping spears from the rising of the dawn until the coming out of the stars. 22 Also, at that time I said to the people, “Let a man and his young man lodge the night in the midst of Jerusalem, and they will be for us by night a guard and by day a worker.” 23 And neither I, nor my brothers, nor my young men, nor the men of the guard who were behind me, none of us stripped off our clothes, or a man his weapon at the water. [2] 4:12 [1] From all the places where you turn, they are on us meaning of Hebrew uncertain 4:23 [2] or a man his weapon at the water meaning of Hebrew uncertain Chapter 5 1 And there was a great outcry of the people and their wives against their brothers, the Jews. 2 And there were those who said, “Our sons and our daughters, we are many. And let us take grain, so we can eat, and we can live.” 3 And there were those who said, “We are mortgaging our fields and our vineyards and our houses so we can get grain during the famine.” 4 And there were those who said, “We have borrowed silver for the tribute of the king on our fields and our vineyards. 5 And now, our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our sons are as their sons. And behold, we are putting our sons and our daughters into bondage as slaves. There are those even of our daughters who have been put into bondage, and there is nothing to God in our hand, for our fields and our vineyards belong to others.” 6 And it burned me extremely when I heard their outcry and these words. 7 And my heart reigned over me, and I contended with the nobles and with the prefects. And I said to them, “You are lending interest, a man against his brother!” And I put forth a great assembly against them. 8 And I said to them, “We ourselves, according to our ability, have bought back our brothers, the Jews, the ones who were sold to the nations. But even you yourselves are selling your brothers, and they are being bought back by us!” Then they were silent, and they did not find a word. 9 And I said, “This thing that you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God, because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies? [1] 10 Also, even I, my brothers, and my young men are lending against them silver and grain. Please, let us forsake this interest! 11 Please, even today, return to them their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and a hundred of the silver and the grain, the new wine, and the oil that you are lending against them.” 12 And they said, “We will return, and we will seek nothing from them. Thus we will do according to what you say.” And I called the priests, and I caused them to swear to do according to this word. 13 Also, I shook out my bosom, and I said, “Thus may God shake out from his house and from his labor every man who does not cause this word to stand. And thus may he be shaken out and emptied.” And all the assembly said, “Amen!” And they praised Yahweh, and the people did according to this word. 14 Also, from the day that he appointed me to be their governor in the land of Judah, from year 20 even until year 32 of Artaxerxes the king, twelve years, I myself did not eat the bread of the governor, nor did my brothers. 15 But the former governors who were before my face had been heavy on the people, and they took from them bread and wine, after forty silver shekels. Also, their young men had acted dominantly over the people. But I myself did not do thus, from the face of the fear of God. 16 Yes, also I held fast to the work of this wall, and we did not buy a field. And all my young men were gathered there for the work. 17 Now the Jews and the prefects were 150 men at my table, with the ones coming to us from the nations that were around us. 18 And what was made for one day was one bull, six choice sheep, and birds were made for me, and between ten days all kinds of wine in abundance. So with this I did not seek the bread of the governor, because the bondage was heavy on this people. 19 Remember me, my God, for good, all that I have done for this people. 5:9 [1] And I said or perhaps And he said (Hebrew Ketiv). Chapter 6 1 And it happened, when it was heard by Sanballat and Tobiah, and by Geshem the Arabian, and by the rest of our enemies, that I had built the wall and a break was not remaining in it (although until that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), 2 that Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come, and let us appoint a time to meet together among the villages in the valley of Ono.” And they were thinking to do evil to me. 3 And I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, and I am not able to go down. Why should the work stop while I abandon it and go down to you?” 4 And they sent to me according to this word four times, and I turned them back according to this word. 5 Then Sanballat sent his young man to me a fifth time according to this word, and an opened letter was in his hand. 6 In it was written, “It is heard among the nations, and Gashmu is saying, that you and the Jews are thinking to rebel, therefore you are building the wall. And you are becoming a king over them, according to these words. 7 And also, you have set up prophets to call out concerning you in Jerusalem, saying, ‘A king is in Judah!’ And now, it will be heard by the king according to these words. So now, come, and let us consult together.” 8 And I sent to him, saying, “No such thing has been done according to these words that you are saying, but you are inventing them out of your own heart.” 9 For all of them were frightening us, saying, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” So now, strengthen my hands. 10 Now as for me, I entered the house of Shemaiah, the son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, and he was confined. And he said, “Let us appoint a time to meet in the house of God, in the midst of the temple. And let us shut the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. Yes, at night they are coming to kill you.” 11 And I said, “Should a man such as I run away? And who, such as I, is it that could go in to the temple and live? I will not go in!” 12 And I recognized, and behold, God had not sent him. But he spoke the prophecy against me, for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 For this purpose he was hired, so that I would be afraid, and I would do thus and sin. And it might become an evil name to them, so that they could reproach me. 14 My God, remember Tobiah, and Sanballat according to these deeds of his, and also Noadiah the prophetess, and the rest of the prophets who are frightening me. 15 And the wall was finished on 25 of Elul, on day 52. 16 And it happened that, when all our enemies heard, all the nations that were around us were afraid, and they fell extremely in their eyes. And they knew that this work was done by our God. 17 Also, in those days, the nobles of Judah were multiplying their letters going to Tobiah, and those belonging to Tobiah were coming to them. 18 For many in Judah were masters of oath to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah. And Jehohanan his son had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah. 19 Also, they were saying his good deeds before my face, and they were taking out my words to him. Tobiah sent letters to frighten me. Chapter 7 1 And it happened that, when the wall was built and I had set up the doors, the gatekeepers and the ones who sang and the Levites were appointed. 2 And I gave Hanani, my brother, and Hananiah, the official for the citadel, charge over Jerusalem. For he was according to a faithful man, and he feared God more than many. 3 And I said to them, “Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun becomes hot. And while they are still standing, let them shut the doors, and they must bar them. And set up watches for those who dwell in Jerusalem, a man in his watch, and a man in front of his house.” 4 Now the city was wide on two hands and great, and the people were few in the midst of it. And there were no built houses. 5 And my God gave to my heart, and I gathered together the nobles and the prefects and the people to be enrolled by genealogy. And I found the book of the genealogy for the ones who came up at the first. And I found written in it: 6 “These are the sons of the province, the ones who went up from the captivity of the exiles, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon exiled. And they returned to Jerusalem and to Judah, a man to his city, 7 the ones who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel: 8 The sons of Parosh were 2, 172. 9 The sons of Shephatiah were 372. 10 The sons of Arah were 652. 11 The sons of Pahath-Moab, of the sons of Jeshua and Joab, were 2, 818. 12 The sons of Elam were 1, 254. 13 The sons of Zattu were 845. 14 The sons of Zakkai were 760. 15 The sons of Binnui were 648. 16 The sons of Bebai were 628. 17 The sons of Azgad were 2, 322. 18 The sons of Adonikam were 667. 19 The sons of Bigvai were 2,067. 20 The sons of Adin were 655. 21 The sons of Ater, of Hezekiah, were 98. 22 The sons of Hashum were 328. 23 The sons of Bezai were 324. 24 The sons of Hariph were 112. 25 The sons of Gibeon were 95. 26 The men of Bethlehem and Netophah were 188. 27 The men of Anathoth were 128. 28 The men of Beth Azmaveth were 42. 29 The men of Kiriath Jearim, Kephirah, and Beeroth were 743. 30 The men of Ramah and Geba were 621. 31 The men of Michmas were 122. 32 The men of Bethel and Ai were 123. 33 The men of the other Nebo were 52. 34 The sons of the other Elam were 1, 254. 35 The sons of Harim were 320. 36 The sons of Jericho were 345. 37 The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono were 721. 38 The sons of Senaah were 3, 930. 39 The priests: the sons of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, were 973; 40 the sons of Immer were 1,052; 41 the sons of Pashhur were 1, 247; 42 the sons of Harim were 1,017. 43 The Levites: the sons of Jeshua, of Kadmiel, of the sons to Hodevah, were 74. [1] 44 The ones who sang: the sons of Asaph were 148. 45 The gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, the sons of Shobai, were 138. 46 The Nethinim were: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, 47 the sons of Keros, the sons of Sia, the sons of Padon, 48 the sons of Lebana, the sons of Hagaba, the sons of Shalmai, 49 the sons of Hanan, the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, 50 the sons of Reaiah, the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, 51 the sons of Gazzam, the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, 52 the sons of Besai, the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephushesim, 53 the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, 54 the sons of Bazluth, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, 55 the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah, 56 the sons of Neziah, the sons of Hatipha. 57 The sons of the servants of Solomon were: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Sophereth, the sons of Perida, 58 the sons of Jaala, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, 59 the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth Hazzebaim, the sons of Amon. 60 All the Nethinim and the sons of the servants of Solomon were 392. 61 And these are the ones who went up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon, and Immer, but they were not able to tell the house of their fathers and their seed, whether they were from Israel. 62 The sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, the sons of Nekoda, were 642. 63 And from the priests: the sons of Habaiah; the sons of Hakkoz; the sons of Barzillai, who took a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and he was called by their name. 64 These ones sought their record among the ones who were enrolled by genealogy, but it was not found. And they were desecrated from the priesthood. 65 And the Tirshatha said to them that they must not eat from the holiest holy food until the priest stood with Urim and Thummim. 66 All the assembly, as one, was 42, 360: 67 apart from their male servants and their female servants, these were 7, 337; and for them, the men who sang and the women who sang were 245. 68 The horses were 736. The mules were 245. [2] 69 The camels were 435. The donkeys were 6, 720. 70 And some from the extremity of the heads of the fathers gave to the work. The Tirshatha gave to the treasury 1,000 gold darics, 50 basins, 530 tunics of priests. 71 And some from the heads of the fathers gave to the treasury of the work 20,000 gold darics and 2, 200 silver minas. 72 And what the remnant of the people gave was 20,000 gold darics, and 2,000 silver minas, and 67 tunics of priests.” 73 And the priests, and the Levites, and the gatekeepers, and the ones who sang, and some from the people, and the Nethinim, and all Israel dwelt in their cities. And the seventh month came, and the sons of Israel were in their cities. 7:43 [1] of the sons to Hodevah or perhaps of Binnui, of Hodevah (Ezra 2:40). 7:68 [2] The best Hebrew manuscripts do not include this verse. The text of this verse is taken from Ezra 2:66. Chapter 8 1 And all the people gathered as one man to the open area that is before the face of the gate of water. And they said to Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which Yahweh had commanded Israel. 2 And Ezra the priest brought the law before the face of the assembly of both men and women and all who were understanding to hear, on day one of the seventh month. 3 And he read it aloud before the face of the open area that is before the face of the gate of water, from the light until the middle of the day, in front of the men and the women, and the ones who were understanding. And the ears of all the people listened to the book of the law. 4 And Ezra the scribe stood on a platform of wood that they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood: Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Uriah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand; and from his left, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malkijah, and Hashum, and Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, Meshullam. 5 And Ezra opened the book before the eyes of all the people, for he was higher than all the people. And as soon as he opened it, all the people stood. 6 And Ezra blessed Yahweh the great God. And all the people answered, “Amen! Amen!” with their hands uplifted. And they knelt and prostrated themselves to Yahweh, nostrils to the ground. 7 And Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites were causing the people to understand the law. And the people were in their place. 8 And they read aloud carefully from the book, from the law of God, and set the interpretation. And they understood the reading. [1] 9 And Nehemiah, who was the Tirshatha, and Ezra, the priest, the scribe, and the Levites who were causing the people to understand, said to all the people: “Today is holy; it belongs to Yahweh your God. Do not mourn and do not weep.” For all the people were weeping after they heard the words of the law. 10 And he said to them, “Go, eat the fat and drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared, for today is holy, belonging to our Lord. And do not grieve, for, the joy of Yahweh, it is your strength.” 11 And the Levites caused all the people to be silent, saying, “Hush, for today is holy. And do not grieve.” 12 And all the people went to eat and to drink and to send away portions and to make a great rejoicing, for they understood the words that had been made known to them. 13 And on the second day, the heads of the fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levites were gathered to Ezra the scribe, even to give attention to the words of the law. 14 And they found written in the law that Yahweh commanded by the hand of Moses: that the sons of Israel should live in huts during the feast in the seventh month; 15 and that they should cause others to hear and cause a sound to pass throughout all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the mountain, and bring branches of olive, and branches of oil trees, and branches of myrtle, and branches of palms, and branches of leafy trees, to make huts, as it is written.” 16 And the people went out and brought and made huts for themselves, a man on his roof, and in their courtyards, and in the courtyards of the house of God, and in the open area of the gate of water, and in the open area of the gate of Ephraim. 17 And all the assembly, the ones who returned from the captivity, made huts, and they dwelt in the huts. For the sons of Israel had not done thus from the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day. And there was extremely great rejoicing. 18 And he read aloud from the book of the law of God, day by day, from the first day to the last day. And they made a seven-days feast, and on the eighth day an assembly, according to the ordinance. 8:8 [1] and set the interpretation meaning of Hebrew uncertain Chapter 9 1 And on day 24 of this month the sons of Israel were gathered in fasting and in sackcloth, and dust was upon them. 2 And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all the sons of a foreigner. And they stood, and they confessed concerning their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 And they rose up in their place, and they read aloud the book of the law of Yahweh their God a fourth of the day, and a fourth of the day were confessing and prostrating themselves to Yahweh their God. 4 And Jeshua rose up on the stairs of the Levites, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, Kenani. And they cried out with a loud voice to Yahweh their God. 5 And the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, Pethahiah, said: “Rise up! Bless Yahweh your God from eternity to eternity! And may they bless your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. 6 You alone are he, Yahweh: you yourself made the heavens, the heavens of the heavens and all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you cause all of them to live; and the host of the heavens prostrates themselves to you. [1][2] 7 You are he, Yahweh, the God who chose Abram. Also, you brought him out from Ur of the Chaldees. Also, you made his name ‘Abraham.’ 8 Also, you found his heart faithful before your face: and cut with him the covenant, to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give to his seed; and you have caused your words to stand, for you are righteous. 9 And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and you heard their cry at the sea of reeds. 10 And you gave signs and wonders to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all the people of his land, because you knew that they were acting presumptuously toward them. And you made for yourself a name, as it is this day. 11 And you split open the sea before their face, and they passed through the midst of the sea on the dry land. And you cast their pursuers into the depths, like a stone in mighty waters. 12 And you led them with a pillar of cloud by day, and with a pillar of fire by night to shine for them on the way in which they should go. 13 And you came down on the mountain of Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. And you gave to them just judgments and laws of truth, good statutes and commandments. 14 And you made known to them your holy sabbath. And you charged them with commandments, and statutes, and a law, by the hand of Moses your servant. 15 And you gave to them bread from heaven for their hunger, and you brought out for them water from a rock for their thirst. And you said to them to go in to possess the land that you had raised your hand to give to them. 16 But they and our fathers, they acted presumptuously. And they stiffened their neck and did not listen to your commandments. 17 And they refused to hear, and they did not remember your wonderful deeds that you performed with them. And they stiffened their neck and in their rebellion chose a head in order to return to their servitude. But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and compassionate, long of nostrils and abounding in covenant faithfulness, and you did not forsake them. 18 Even when they made for themselves a calf image and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up from Egypt,’ and they performed great blasphemies, 19 still you, in your great mercies, did not forsake them in the wilderness. He did not take away the pillar of cloud from over them by day to lead them on the way, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine for them and on the way in which they should go. 20 And you gave your good spirit to give them insight. And you did not withhold your manna from their mouth, and you gave them water for their thirst. 21 And you sustained them forty years in the wilderness; they did not lack. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell. 22 And you gave to them kingdoms and peoples, and you allocated to them as far as the corners. And they took possession of the land of Sihon, even the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og, the king of Bashan. 23 And you multiplied their sons like the stars of the heavens. And you brought them to the land that you said to their fathers to enter in order to possess it. 24 And the sons went in and possessed the land, and before their face you subdued the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites. And you gave them into their hands, and their kings, and the peoples of the land, to do with them according to their will. 25 And they captured fortified cities and fat ground. And they possessed houses full of all good things, hewn cisterns, vineyards, and olive orchards, and food trees in abundance. And they ate and were satisfied and grew fat and reveled in your great goodness. 26 And they disobeyed and rebelled against you, and they cast your law behind their back. And they killed your prophets, who testified against them in order to bring them back to you. And they performed great blasphemies. 27 And you gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they harassed them. And in the time of their distress they cried out to you, and you yourself heard from heaven. And, according to your many mercies, you gave to them saviors, and they saved them from the hand of their adversaries. 28 And after rest belonged to them, they returned to doing evil before your face. And you left them to the hand of their enemies, and they oppressed them. And they returned and cried out to you, and you yourself heard from heaven and delivered them many times according to your mercies. 29 And you testified against them to bring them back to your law. But as for them, they acted presumptuously and did not listen to your commandments. And, concerning your judgments, they sinned against them, which, if a person does, then he will live by them. And they gave a stubborn shoulder, and stiffened their neck, and did not hear. 30 And you continued with them many years, and you testified against them with your spirit by the hand of your prophets, but they did not give an ear. And you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. 31 But, in your many mercies, you did not make a complete end of them, and you did not forsake them. For you are a gracious and merciful God. 32 So now, our God, the great, mighty, and fearsome God, who keeps the covenant and covenant faithfulness, do not let all the hardship be little before your face, that has found us, our kings, our leaders, and our priests, and our prophets, and our fathers, and all your people from the days of the kings of Assyria until this day. 33 And you are righteous concerning all that has come upon us. For you have acted faithfully; but as for us, we have acted wickedly. 34 And our kings, our leaders, our priests, and our fathers have not done your law. And they have not attended to your commandments or to your testimonies that you testified against them. 35 And as for them, they did not serve you in their kingdom, and in your great goodness that you gave to them, and in the wide and fat land that you gave before their face. And they did not turn away from their evil deeds. 36 Behold us today; we are servants. And the land that you gave to our fathers, to eat its fruit and its goodness; behold us, we are servants in it! 37 And its great produce belongs to the kings whom you have given to be over us in our sins, and to be ruling over our bodies and over our livestock, according to their will. And we are in great distress. 38 And in all of this, we are cutting a faithful covenant, and writing even on a sealed document our leaders, our Levites, our priests.” 9:6 [1] the heavens of the heavens meaning of Hebrew uncertain 9:6 [2] all their host meaning of Hebrew uncertain Chapter 10 1 And on the sealed documents were: Nehemiah, the Tirshatha, the son of Hakaliah, and Zedekiah, 2 Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, 3 Pashhur, Amariah, Malkijah, 4 Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluk, 5 Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, 6 Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, 7 Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, 8 Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah. These were the priests. 9 And the Levites were: even Jeshua, the son of Azaniah; Binnui, from the sons of Henadad; Kadmiel; 10 also their brothers, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, 11 Mika, Rehob, Hashabiah, 12 Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, 13 Hodiah, Bani, Beninu. 14 The heads of the people were: Parosh, Pahath-Moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, 15 Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, 16 Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, 17 Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur, 18 Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, 19 Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai, [1] 20 Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, 21 Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua, 22 Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, 23 Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, 24 Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, 25 Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, 26 Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, 27 Malluk, Harim, Baanah. 28 And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the ones who sing, the Nethinim, and all the ones who were separating themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons and their daughters, all who were knowing, being able to understand, 29 were clinging to their brothers, their nobles, and were entering into a curse and into an oath: to walk in the law of God, which was given by the hand of Moses the servant of God; and to keep and to do all the commandments of Yahweh our Lord, and his judgments and his statutes; 30 and that we would not give our daughters to the peoples of the land, and we would not take their daughters for our sons; 31 and, on the sabbath or on a holy day, we would not take from the peoples of the land, the ones bringing goods and all kinds of grain to sell on the day of the sabbath; and we would leave alone the seventh year and interest of every hand. 32 Also, we caused to stand for us commandments to give over us a third of a shekel in a year for the service of the house of our God: 33 for the bread in rows and the continual offering, and for the continual burnt offering, the sabbaths, the new moons, for the appointed times, and for the holy things, and for the sin offerings to cover over for Israel, and all the work of the house of our God. 34 And we cast lots among the priests, the Levites, and the people: concerning the offering of pieces of wood, to bring them to the house of our God, for the house of our fathers at the appointed times year by year, for burning on the altar of Yahweh our God as written in the law; 35 and to bring the firstfruits of our soil and the firstfruits of all the fruit of every tree, year by year, to the house of Yahweh; 36 and the firstborns of our sons and our livestock, as written in the law, even the firstborns of our herds and our flocks, to bring them to the house of our God, to the priests, the ones who minister in the house of our God. 37 And we will bring: the first of our dough and our offerings, and the fruit of every tree, wine, and oil, for the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and a tithe of our soil for the Levites. And they, the Levites, will be the ones receiving tithes in all the cities of our labor. 38 And a priest who is a son of Aaron will be with the Levites when the Levites receive tithes. And the Levites will bring a tithe of the tithe to the house of our God, to the chambers of the house of the treasury. 39 For the sons of Israel and the sons of Levi shall bring to the chambers the offerings of grain, wine, and oil. And there shall be the vessels for the sanctuary, and the priests, the ones who are ministering, and the gatekeepers, and the ones who sing. And we shall not neglect the house of our God. 10:19 [1] Nebai or perhaps Nobai (Hebrew Ketiv). Chapter 11 1 And the leaders of the people dwelt in Jerusalem. And the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city, and nine hands were in the cities. 2 And the people blessed all the men, the ones who freely offered to dwell in Jerusalem. 3 And these are the heads of the province who dwelt in Jerusalem. And in the cities of Judah they dwelt, a man on his property, in their cities: Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the Nethinim, and the sons of the servants of Solomon. 4 And some from the sons of Judah and from the sons of Benjamin dwelt in Jerusalem. Those from the sons of Judah were: Athaiah, the son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalalel, from the sons of Perez; 5 and Maaseiah, the son of Baruch, the son of Kol-Hozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, a son of the Shiloni. [1] 6 All the sons of Perez, the ones dwelling in Jerusalem, were 468 men of strength. 7 And these are the sons of Benjamin: Sallu, the son of Meshullam, the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, the son of Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, the son of Jeshaiah; 8 and after him, Gabbai, Sallai, 928. 9 And Joel the son of Zichri was the overseer for them. And Judah, the son of Hassenuah, was the second over the city. 10 From the priests: Jedaiah the son of Joiarib; Jakin; 11 Seraiah, the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the leader of the house of God; 12 and their brothers, who were doing the work for the house, were 822; and Adaiah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malkijah; 13 and his brothers, the heads of fathers, were 242; and Amashsai, the son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer; 14 and their brothers, mighty men of strength, were 128. And Zabdiel the son of Haggedolim was overseer for them. [2] 15 And from the Levites: Shemaiah, the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni; 16 and Shabbethai and Jozabad, from the heads of the Levites, were over the work outside of the house of God; 17 and Mattaniah, the son of Mika, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, the head of the beginning who offered the thanksgiving prayer; and Bakbukiah, second from his brothers; and Abda, the son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun. [3][4] 18 All the Levites in the holy city were 284. 19 And the gatekeepers, Akkub, Talmon, and their brothers, the ones who guarded at the gates, were 172. 20 And the rest of Israel, the priests, the Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, a man in his inheritance. 21 And the Nethinim were dwelling in the Ophel, and Ziha and Gishpa were over the Nethinim. 22 And the overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi, the son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mika, from the sons of Asaph, the ones who sang, who were over the work of the house of God. 23 For the commandment of the king was upon them, that support for the ones who sang was a daily matter in its day. 24 And Pethahiah, the son of Meshezabel, from the sons of Zerah, the son of Judah, was at the hand of the king for every matter of the people. 25 And for the villages in their fields, some from the sons of Judah dwelt: in Kiriath Arba and its daughters; and in Dibon and its daughters; and in Jekabzeel and its villages; 26 and in Jeshua; and in Moladah; and in Beth-Palet; 27 and in Hazar-Shual; and in Beersheba and its daughters; 28 and in Ziklag; and Mekonah and its daughters; 29 and in En-Rimmon; and in Zorah; and in Jarmuth; 30 Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages; Lachish and its fields; Azekah and its daughters. And they encamped from Beersheba as far as the valley of Hinnom: 31 and the sons of Benjamin from Geba, at Mikmash, and Aija, and Bethel and its daughters, 32 Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, 33 Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim, 34 Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat, 35 Lod, and Ono, the valley of the craftsmen; 36 and some from the Levites, who were divisions of Judah, in Benjamin. 11:5 [1] Shiloni or perhaps Shelani (1 Chronicles 9:5). 11:14 [2] the son of Haggedolim or perhaps a son of the great men 11:17 [3] Zabdi or perhaps Zichri (1 Chronicles 9:15). 11:17 [4] beginning or perhaps praise songs (some ancient versions). Chapter 12 1 And these are the priests and the Levites who came up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, 2 Amariah, Malluk, Hattush, 3 Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, 4 Iddo, Ginnethon, Abijah, 5 Mijamin, Moadiah, Bilgah, 6 Shemaiah and Joiarib, Jedaiah, 7 Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These were the heads of the priests and their brothers in the days of Jeshua. 8 And the Levites were: Jeshua; Binnui; Kadmiel; Sherebiah; Judah; Mattaniah, he and his brothers were over the thanksgiving songs; 9 and Bakbukiah and Unni, their brothers, were opposite them in the service watches. 10 And Jeshua fathered Joiakim; and Joiakim fathered Eliashib; and Eliashib, Joiada; 11 and Joiada fathered Jonathan; and Jonathan fathered Jaddua. 12 And in the days of Joiakim priests were the heads of the fathers: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah; 13 of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan; 14 of Malluk, Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph; [1] 15 of Harim, Adna; of Meremoth, Helkai; 16 of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam; 17 of Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin, of Moadiah, Piltai; 18 of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan; 19 of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi; 20 of Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber; 21 of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethanel. 22 In the days of Eliashib, the Levites Joiada, and Johanan, and Jaddua, were written as heads of fathers: also the priests, during the reign of Darius the Persian. 23 The sons of Levi, the heads of fathers, were written in the book of the events of days even until the days of Johanan, the son of Eliashib. 24 And the heads of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua, the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers opposite them, service watch by service watch, to praise and give thanks by the commandment of David, the man of God. 25 Mattaniah, and Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, Akkub, were guardians, gatekeepers, a guard at the storehouses of the gates. 26 These were in the days of Joiakim, the son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor and Ezra, the priest, the scribe. 27 And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sought out the Levites from all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to perform the dedication with rejoicing, and with thanksgivings, and with song, cymbals, lyres, and harps. 28 And the sons of the ones who sang gathered themselves, both from the circle around Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophati, 29 and from Beth-Gilgal and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth; for the ones who sang had built villages for themselves around Jerusalem. 30 And the priests and the Levites purified themselves. And they purified the people, and the gates, and the wall. 31 And I caused the officials of Judah to go up on top of the wall. And I caused to stand two great thanksgiving groups, and processions to the right hand on top of the wall toward the gate of dung. 32 And after them went Hoshaiah with half of the officials of Judah, 33 and Azariah, Ezra, and Meshullam, 34 Judah, and Benjamin, and Shemaiah, and Jeremiah. 35 And some from the sons of the priests had trumpets: Zechariah, the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph; 36 and his brothers, Shemaiah, and Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel and Judah, Hanani, with the instruments of song of David, the man of God. And Ezra the scribe was before their face. 37 And by the gate of the spring and opposite them, they went up on the stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the wall on top of the house of David and as far as the gate of water, east. 38 And the second thanksgiving group, the one proceeding to the opposite direction, and I after it, with half of the people on top of the wall, on top of the tower of ovens even as far as the broad wall, 39 and on top of the gate of Ephraim, and above the gate of old, and above the gate of fish and the tower of Hananel and the tower of the hundred, even as far as the gate of sheep: and they stood in the gate of the guard. 40 And the two thanksgiving groups stood at the house of God: also I, and half of the prefects with me; 41 and the priests, Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, Hananiah, with trumpets; 42 and Maaseiah, and Shemaiah, and Eleazar, and Uzzi, and Jehohanan, and Malkijah, and Elam, and Ezer. And the ones who sang made themselves heard, with Jezrahiah the overseer. 43 And on that day they sacrificed great sacrifices, and they rejoiced, for God had made them glad with great rejoicing. Yes, even the women and the children rejoiced, so the rejoicing of Jerusalem was heard from far away. 44 And on that day men were appointed over the chambers for the storehouses, for the offerings, for the firstfruits, and for the tithes, to gather into them from the fields of the cities the portions of the law for the priests and for the Levites. For Judah rejoiced over the priests and over the Levites, the ones who were standing. 45 And they kept the service watch of their God and the service watch of purification, also the ones who sang and the gatekeepers, according to the commandment of David and Solomon his son. 46 For in the days of David and Asaph, from ancient time there was a head of the ones who sang, and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. [2] 47 And in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah, all Israel was giving the portions of the ones who sang and the gatekeepers, as a daily matter in its day. And they were consecrating for the Levites, and the Levites were consecrating for the sons of Aaron. 12:14 [1] Malluk or perhaps Meliku (Hebrew Qere). 12:46 [2] head or perhaps heads (Hebrew Qere). Chapter 13 1 On that day it was read in the book of Moses, in the ears of the people, and it was found written in it, that no Ammonite or Moabite shall enter into the assembly of God until eternity. 2 For they did not meet the sons of Israel with bread and with water. And he hired Balaam against them to curse them, but our God overturned the curse to a blessing. 3 And it happened that, as soon as they heard the law, they separated all the mixed company from Israel. 4 Now, before the face of this, Eliashib the priest, nearly-related to Tobiah, was being put in the chamber of the house of our God. 5 And he made for him a great chamber, and there previously they were putting offerings: the frankincense; and the vessels; and the tithes of the grain, the wine, and the oil, the commandment for the Levites, and the ones who sang, and the gatekeepers; and the offerings of the priests. 6 And during all this I was not in Jerusalem. For I had gone to the king in year 32 of Artaxerxes, the king of Babylon. And at an end of days I requested leave from the king. 7 And I came to Jerusalem. And I understood about the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah by making for him a chamber in the courts of the house of God. 8 And it was extremely evil to me, and I cast out all the things of the house of Tobiah from the storeroom to the outside. 9 And I spoke, and they purified the chambers. And I returned to there the vessels of the house of God, with the offering and the incense. 10 And I knew that the portions of the Levites had not been given, and the Levites and the ones who sang, who did the work, had fled, a man to his field. 11 And I contended with the prefects, and I said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them and caused them to stand at their stations. 12 And all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, and the wine, and the oil to the treasuries. 13 And I appointed treasurers over the treasuries: Shelemiah the priest, and Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah from the Levites; and at their hand was Hanan, the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah. For they were considered faithful, and it was for them to apportion to their brothers. 14 Remember me, my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my faithful kindness that I have done for the house of my God and for its service watches. 15 In those days I saw in Judah ones treading winepresses on the sabbath, and ones bringing in grain-heaps, and ones loading onto donkeys, yes, even wine, grapes, and figs, and all kinds of loads, and ones bringing to Jerusalem on the day of the sabbath. And I protested on the day of their selling provisions. 16 And the Tyrians who dwelt in it were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise and were selling them on the sabbath to the sons of Judah, even in Jerusalem. 17 And I contended with the nobles of Judah. And I said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, and profaning the day of the sabbath? 18 Did not your fathers do thus, and our God brought all this evil on us and on this city? And you are increasing wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath.” 19 And it happened that, when the gates of Jerusalem grew dark before the face of the sabbath, I spoke, and the doors were shut, and I said that they should not open them until after the sabbath. And I caused some from my young men to stand at the gates; a load could not enter on the day of the sabbath. 20 And the ones who traded and the ones who sold all kinds of goods to sell lodged outside of Jerusalem a time or two. 21 And I testified against them, and I said to them, “Why are you lodging in front of the wall? If you repeat, I will stretch out a hand on you!” From that time, they did not come on the sabbath. 22 And I said to the Levites that they should purify themselves and come keep the gates to consecrate the day of the sabbath. Remember me concerning this also, my God, and have pity on me according to the greatness of your covenant faithfulness. 23 In those days I also saw Jews who had given a dwelling to Ashdodite, Ammonite, and Moabite women. 24 And their sons, half were speaking Ashdodite, and none of them were knowing to speak Hebrew, but according to the tongue of people group by people group. 25 And I contended with them, and cursed them, and struck some of their men, and pulled out their hair. And I caused them to swear an oath by God: “If you give your daughters to their sons, or if you lift from their daughters for your sons, or for yourselves! 26 Did not Solomon, the king of Israel, sin concerning these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him: and he was beloved by his God, and God gave him as king over all Israel. The foreign women caused even him to sin. 27 Should we then listen to you, to do all this great evil, to act unfaithfully toward our God and give a dwelling to foreign women?” [1] 28 And one from the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. And I caused him to flee from beside me. 29 Remember them, my God, on account of the defiling of the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites. 30 And I purified them from everything foreign. And I caused the service watches to stand: for the priests and for the Levites, a man in his work; 31 and for the offering of pieces of wood at the appointed times; and for the firstfruits. Remember me, my God, for good. 13:27 [1] Should we then listen to you or perhaps Will it then be heard of you Esther Chapter 1 1 Now it happened in the days of Ahasuerus (he was Ahasuerus, the one who ruled from India even as far as Ethiopia, 127 provinces); 2 in those days, as the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his royalty, which was in Susa the citadel: 3 in year three of his reign, he made a feast for all his officials and his administrators, the army of Persia and Media, the noblemen, and the officials of the provinces before his face, 4 when he displayed the wealth of the glory of his kingdom and the splendor of the beauty of his greatness for many days, 180 days. 5 And when those days were fulfilled, the king made a feast for all the people who were found in Susa the citadel, from the greatest even to the least, for seven days, in the courtyard of the garden of the palace of the king. 6 Linens cotton and blue were hanging by cords of byssus and purple on rings of silver and pillars of marble. Couches of gold and silver were on the pavement of porphyry and alabaster and pearl and precious stone. 7 And the serving was in vessels of gold, with vessels differing from other vessels, and the wine of royalty was abundant according to the hand of the king. 8 And the drinking was according to the law “There is no compulsion,” for thus the king had established for every overseer of his house to do according to the desire of man by man. 9 Also Vashti the queen made a feast of women in the palace of royalty that belonged to the king Ahasuerus. 10 On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was pleased by the wine, he said to Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha and Abagtha, Zethar and Karkas (the seven eunuchs who served before the face of the king Ahasuerus), 11 to bring Vashti the queen to the face of the king in a crown of royalty in order to show the people and the officials her beauty, for she was pleasing of appearance. 12 But the queen Vashti refused to come at the word of the king that was by the hand of the eunuchs. Then the king became very angry, and his rage burned within him. 13 Then the king said to the wise men, who were knowers of the times (for thus was the manner of the king before the face of all those who were knowers of law and judgment, 14 and the ones near to him were Karshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Mersena, Memukan, seven officials of Persia and Media who were seers of the face of the king, the ones who sat first in the kingdom): 15 “According to law, what is to be done with the queen Vashti on account of this, that she did not perform the command of the king Ahasuerus by the hand of the eunuchs?” 16 And Memukan replied before the face of the king and the officials, “Not toward the king alone has Vashti the queen done wrong, but toward all the officials and toward all the peoples who are in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus. 17 For the matter of the queen will go out to all the women in order to make their husbands despised in their eyes when they say, ‘The king Ahasuerus said to bring Vashti the queen before his face, but she did not come.’ 18 Now this day, the noblewomen of Persia and Media who have heard the matter of the queen will speak to all the officials of the king. And there will be contempt and wrath enough! 19 If it is good to the king, let a decree of royalty go out from before his face, and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media (which do not pass away) that Vashti shall never come before the face of the king Ahasuerus. And let the king give her royalty to her female neighbor, the woman who is better than she. 20 And the decree of the king will be heard that he will make for all his kingdom, though it is great. Then all the women will give honor to their husbands, from the greatest to the least.” 21 And the word seemed good in the eyes of the king and the officials. And the king acted according to the word of Memukan. 22 And he sent letters to all the provinces of the king, to province by province according to its own writing, and to people by people according to its own tongue: that every man should be ruling in his house and speaking according to the tongue of his people. Chapter 2 1 After these things, when the rage of the king Ahasuerus subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done, and what had been decided concerning her. 2 And the young men of the king who served him said, “Let them seek for the king young women who are virgins and pleasing of appearance. 3 And let the king appoint administrators in all the provinces of his kingdom. Then let them gather every young woman who is a virgin and pleasing of appearance to Susa the citadel, to the house of women into the hand of Hegai (the eunuch of the king who is overseer of the women). Then give their ointments. 4 And let the young woman who is pleasing in the eyes of the king become queen instead of Vashti.” And the word was pleasing in the eyes of the king, so he did thus. 5 A man, a Jew, was in Susa the citadel, and his name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish (a man, a Benjamite, 6 who had been exiled from Jerusalem with the exiles who had been exiled along with Jeconiah, the king of Judah, who Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had exiled). 7 And he was fostering Hadassah (she is Esther), the daughter of his uncle, because there was not for her a father or a mother. Now the young woman was beautiful of form and pleasing of appearance. And at the death of her father and her mother, Mordecai had taken her for him as a daughter. 8 And it happened that, when the decree of the king and his law were heard, and when many young women were gathered to Susa the citadel into the hand of Hegai, Esther was taken to the palace of the king, into the hand of Hegai (who was overseer of the women). 9 And the young woman was pleasing in his eyes, and she lifted kindness before his face. And he quickly gave her ointments, gave her portions of food, and gave her seven young women chosen from the house of the king. And he transferred her and her young women to the best of the house of women. 10 Esther had not declared her people or her ancestry, for Mordecai had laid a charge upon her that she should not tell it. 11 And always, day by day, Mordecai was walking about before the face of the courtyard of the house of women in order to know the peace of Esther and what was being done with her. 12 Now when the turn came for young woman by young woman to go to the king Ahasuerus, it was after her 12 months, according to the law of women. For thus the days of their beautification would be fulfilled: six months by oil of myrrh, then six months by perfumes and by the ointments of women. 13 Then at this, the young woman would go to the king. Anything that she said would be given to her, to go with her from the house of women to the house of the king. 14 In the evening she would go, and in the morning she would return to the second house of women, into the hand of Shaashgaz (the eunuch of the king who was overseer of the concubines). She would not go to the king again unless the king had delighted in her and she was called by name. 15 Now when the turn of Esther (the daughter of Abihail, the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for him as a daughter) came to go to the king, she did not seek anything except what Hegai (the eunuch of the king who was overseer of the women) said. And Esther was a lifter of favor in the eyes of everyone who saw her. 16 And Esther was taken to the king Ahasuerus, to the palace of his royalty, in the tenth month (which is the month of Tebeth), in year seven of his reign. 17 And the king loved Esther more than all the women and she lifted favor and kindness before his face more than all the virgins. And he set a crown of royalty on her head, and he made her queen instead of Vashti. 18 And the king made a great feast for all his officials and his servants, the feast of Esther. And he made a holiday for the provinces, and he gave gifts according to the hand of the king. 19 Now when virgins were being gathered a second time, Mordecai was then sitting at the gate of the king. 20 Esther had not yet declared her ancestry (that is, her people), according to the charge that Mordecai had laid upon her. And Esther continued to do the command of Mordecai according to how she was with him in her fostering. 21 In those days, when Mordecai was sitting at the gate of the king, Bigthan and Teresh (two eunuchs of the king who were guardians of the doorway) became angry; and they sought to stretch out a hand against the king Ahasuerus. 22 And the matter was made known to Mordecai, and he declared it to Esther the queen. And Esther spoke to the king in the name of Mordecai. 23 And the matter was sought out and was found out, and the two of them were hanged on a pole. And it was written in the book of the events of days before the face of the king. Chapter 3 1 After these things, the king Ahasuerus made Haman, the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, great. And he lifted him up and placed his seat of authority from over all the officials who were with him. 2 And all the servants of the king who were at the gate of the king were bowing down and prostrating themselves to Haman, for thus the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai would neither bow down nor would he prostrate himself. 3 And the servants of the king who were at the gate of the king said to Mordecai, “Why are you trespassing the command of the king?” 4 And it happened that, when they spoke to him day after day, he did not listen to them. So they told Haman to see if the words of Mordecai would stand, for he had told them that he was a Jew. [1] 5 And Haman saw that Mordecai would neither bow down nor prostrate himself to him. And Haman was filled with rage. 6 And it was despised in his eyes to stretch out a hand against Mordecai alone, for they had told him the people of Mordecai. And Haman sought to annihilate all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus. 7 In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in year 12 of the king Ahasuerus, a Pur (which is “the lot”) was cast before the face of Haman from day to day and from month to month: the twelfth, which is the month of Adar. 8 And Haman said to the king Ahasuerus, “He has one people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. And their laws are different from every people, and the laws of the king they do not obey. And there is no profit to the king to leave them untouched. 9 If it is good to the king, let it be written to destroy them, and I will weigh out 10,000 talents of silver into the hands of the doers of the work, to bring into the treasuries of the king.” 10 And the king removed his signet ring from on his hand, and he gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the adversary of the Jews. 11 And the king said to Haman, “The silver is given to you, and the people, to do with them as is good in your eyes.” 12 And the scribes of the king were called in the first month, on day 13 of it, and it was written according to all that Haman commanded: to the satraps of the king, and to the governors who were over province by province, and to the officials of people by people, province by province according to its writing, and people by people according to its tongue. In the name of the king Ahasuerus it was written, and it was sealed with the signet ring of the king. 13 And letters were sent by the hand of runners to all of the provinces of the king, to annihilate, to slaughter, and to destroy all the Jews from young even to old, children and women, in one day, on the thirteenth of month 12 (which is the month of Adar), and to plunder their spoils. 14 A copy of the writing, to be given as a law in every province by province, was uncovered for all the peoples to be ready for this day. 15 The runners went out, hurrying by decree of the king, and the law was given in Susa the citadel. And the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was in confusion. 3:4 [1] when they spoke to him or perhaps as soon as they spoke to him (Hebrew Qere). Chapter 4 1 Now when Mordecai knew about all that had been done, Mordecai tore his garments and put on sackcloth and ashes. And he went out into the midst of the city and cried out a great and bitter outcry. 2 And he came only as far as before the face of the gate of the king because no one was to come into the gate of the king while wearing sackcloth. 3 And in every province by province, any place where the decree of the king and his law reached, there was great mourning by the Jews, and fasting and weeping and lamenting; sackcloth and ashes were laid out by the multitudes. 4 When the young female attendants of Esther came with her eunuchs and they told her, even the queen was seized with extreme fear. And she sent garments to clothe Mordecai and to take off his sackcloth from upon him, but he did not accept. 5 And Esther called for Hathak, from the eunuchs of the king whom he had caused to stand before her face. She commanded him concerning Mordecai to know what this was and on account of what this was. 6 And Hathak went out to Mordecai, to the open place of the city that was before the face of the gate of the king. 7 And Mordecai reported to him all that had happened to him, and the exact amount of silver that Haman had said to weigh out into the treasuries of the king against the Jews to destroy them. 8 Also he gave to him a copy of the writing of the law that had been given in Susa to annihilate them, in order to show Esther and to inform her and to lay a charge upon her to go to the king to implore his favor and to seek from before his face concerning her people. 9 And Hathak went and told Esther the words of Mordecai. 10 And Esther spoke to Hathak and commanded him to say to Mordecai: 11 “All the servants of the king and the people of the provinces of the king are knowing that for any man or woman who goes to the king, to the inner court, who has not been called, his law is one: to cause to die, apart from when the king holds out to him the scepter of gold; then he will live. But as for me, I have not been called to come to the king these 30 days.” 12 And they told to Mordecai the words of Esther. 13 And Mordecai said to return to Esther: “Do not think to yourself to escape in the palace of the king, different from all the Jews. 14 For if you indeed remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and the house of your father will perish. And who knows if you have arrived at royalty for such a time as this?” 15 And Esther said to return to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather all the Jews who are found in Susa. And fast on account of me, neither eating nor drinking for three days, both night and day. Also, I myself and my young female attendants will fast likewise. Then, in such circumstances, I will go to the king, which is not according to the law. And if I perish, I perish.” 17 And Mordecai went and did according to the whole charge that Esther had laid upon him. Chapter 5 1 And it happened on the third day that Esther put on royalty and stood in the inner court of the palace of the king, opposite to the house of the king. Now the king was sitting on the throne of his royalty in the palace of royalty opposite to the entrance of the palace. 2 And it happened that, as soon as the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she lifted favor in his eyes. And the king held out to Esther the scepter of gold that was in his hand, so Esther approached and touched the head of the scepter. 3 And the king said to her, “What is to you, Esther the queen? And what is your request? As much as half of the kingdom, and let it be given to you.” 4 And Esther said, “If it is good to the king, let the king come with Haman today to the banquet that I have made for him.” 5 And the king said, “Bring Haman quickly in order to do the word of Esther.” And the king came with Haman to the banquet that Esther had made. 6 And the king said to Esther during the banquet of wine, “What is your petition? And let it be given to you. And what is your request? As much as half of the kingdom, and let it be done.” 7 And Esther answered and said, “My petition and my request: 8 if I have found favor in the eyes of the king, and if it is good to the king to grant my petition and to perform my request, let the king come with Haman to the banquet that I will make for them, and tomorrow I will do according to the word of the king.” 9 And Haman went out that day joyful and pleased of heart. But as soon as Haman saw Mordecai at the gate of the king, that he neither rose up nor trembled from him, then Haman was filled with rage on account of Mordecai. 10 But Haman restrained himself and went to his house. Then he sent and brought his friends and Zeresh his wife. 11 And Haman recounted to them the glory of his wealth and the multitude of his sons and all about how the king had made him great and how he had lifted him over the officials and administrators of the king. 12 And Haman said, “In addition, Esther the queen did not bring anyone with the king to the banquet that she had made except me. And also for tomorrow, I am called by her with the king. 13 But all of this is not equal for me to every time that I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the gate of the king.” 14 And Zeresh his wife, with all of his friends, said to him, “Let them make a pole 50 cubits high. And in the morning speak to the king, and let them hang Mordecai on it. Then go with the king to the banquet joyful.” And the word was good before the face of Haman, and he made the pole. Chapter 6 1 That night the sleep of the king fled away. And he said to bring the book of records of the events of days, and they were being called out before the face of the king. 2 And it was found written that Mordecai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the eunuchs of the king who were from the guardians of the doorway, that they had sought to stretch out a hand against the king Ahasuerus. 3 And the king said, “What honor or greatness was done for Mordecai on account of this?” And the young men of the king who served him said, “Not a thing has been done with him.” 4 And the king asked, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had come into the outer court of the house of the king to say to the king to hang Mordecai on the pole that he had prepared for him. 5 And the young men of the king said to him, “Behold, Haman is standing in the courtyard.” And the king said, “Let him come.” 6 And Haman came, and the king said to him, “What is one to do for the man in whose honor the king is delighted?” Then Haman said in his heart, “For whom would the king delight to do honor more than me?” 7 And Haman said to the king, “For a man whom the king delights to honor: 8 let them bring a garment of royalty with which the king has clothed himself, and a horse on which the king has ridden and which has been given a crown of royalty for its head. 9 And give this garment and this horse into the hand of a man from the most noble officials of the king. And let them clothe the man whom the king delights to honor, and cause him to ride on the horse in the open square of the city, and proclaim before his face, ‘Thus shall it be done for the man whom the king delights to honor!’” 10 And the king said to Haman, “Hurry, take the garment and the horse, according to how you have spoken, and do thus for Mordecai the Jew, the man who sits at the gate of the king. Do not allow a word to fall of all that you have spoken.” 11 And Haman took the garment and the horse, and he clothed Mordecai and caused him to ride in the open place of the city and called out before his face, “Thus shall it be done for the man whom the king delights to honor!” 12 And Mordecai returned to the gate of the king, but Haman hurried to his house, mourning with a covering of head. 13 And Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and to all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai, before whose face you have begun to fall, is from the seed of the Jews, then you will not prevail against him, but you will surely fall before his face.” 14 They were still speaking with him when the eunuchs of the king arrived. And they hurried to bring Haman to the banquet that Esther had made. Chapter 7 1 And the king came with Haman to drink with Esther the queen. 2 And the king said to Esther again on the second day during the banquet of wine, “What is your petition, Esther the queen? And let it be given to you. And what is your request? As much as half of the kingdom, and let it be done.” 3 And Esther the queen answered and said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, O king, and if it is good to the king, let my life be given to me at my petition and my people at my request. 4 For we have been sold, I and my people, for annihilation, for slaughter, and for destruction. Now if we had been sold as slaves and female servants, I would have kept silent, because the distress would not have been equal to a burden of the king.” 5 And the king Ahasuerus spoke and said to Esther the queen, “Who is he, this man? Where is this man, he whose heart is full to do thus?” 6 Esther answered, “A man, an adversary, and an enemy—this evil Haman!” Then Haman was terrified from before the face of the king and the queen. 7 And the king rose up in his rage from the banquet of wine to the garden of the palace. But Haman remained in order to seek for his life from Esther the queen, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king. 8 Now when the king returned from the garden of the palace to the house of the banquet of wine, Haman was fallen on the couch on which Esther was. And the king said, “Is it also to subdue the queen with me in the house?” The word was going out from the mouth of the king when they covered the face of Haman. 9 And Harbona, one from the eunuchs before the face of the king, said, “Also, behold, the pole that Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke good for the king, is standing at the house of Haman 50 cubits high.” And the king said, “Hang him on it.” 10 And they hanged Haman on the pole that he had prepared for Mordecai, and the rage of the king subsided. Chapter 8 1 On that day, the king Ahasuerus gave to Esther the queen the house of Haman, the adversary of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the face of the king because Esther told what he was to her. 2 And the king removed his signet ring, which he had caused to pass from Haman, and he gave it to Mordecai. And Esther placed Mordecai over the house of Haman. 3 And Esther repeated her action, and she spoke before the face of the king. She fell before the face of his feet and wept and implored favor from him to take away the evil of Haman the Agagite and his plot that he had plotted against the Jews. 4 And the king held out to Esther the scepter of gold, so Esther rose up and stood before the face of the king. 5 And she said, “If it is good to the king, and if I have found favor before his face, and the word is proper before the face of the king, and I am good in his eyes, let it be written to bring back the letters, the plot of Haman, the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the king. 6 For how could I bear to see the evil that my people would find? And how could I bear seeing the destruction of my kindred?” 7 And the king Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given the house of Haman to Esther, and they have hanged him on the pole on account of this, that he stretched out his hand against the Jews. 8 So, in the name of the king, you write for the Jews as is good in your eyes, and seal it with the signet ring of the king. For there is none to take back a writing that has been written in the name of the king and has been sealed with the signet ring of the king.” 9 And the scribes of the king were called at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third of it. And according to all that Mordecai commanded, it was written to the Jews, and to the satraps, and the governors and officials of the provinces that were from India even as far as Ethiopia: 127 provinces, province by province according to its writing, and people by people according to its tongue, and to the Jews according to their writing and according to their tongue. 10 And he wrote in the name of the king Ahasuerus, and he sealed with the signet ring of the king. And he sent letters (by the hand of runners on horses, riders of the royal pack horses, sons of the mares) 11 that the king gave to the Jews who were in every city, city by city: to gather and to stand for their life, to annihiliate, and to slaughter, and to destroy any strength of a people or province that would attack them, children and women, and plunder their spoil; 12 on one day in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth of month 12, which is the month of Adar. 13 A copy of the writing was to be given as a law in every province by province, being uncovered for all the peoples, and for the Jews to be prepared for that day to take revenge from their enemies. 14 The runners, the riders of the royal pack horses, went out hastened and hurried by the word of the king. And the law was given in Susa the citadel. 15 And Mordecai went out from before the face of the king in a garment of royalty of blue and white, with a great crown of gold and a robe of fine linen and purple, and the city of Susa cheered and rejoiced. 16 For the Jews there was light and joy and rejoicing and honor. 17 In every province by province and in every city by city, any place where the word of the king and his law came, there was joy and rejoicing for the Jews, a feast and a good day. And many from the peoples of the land became Jews because dread of the Jews had fallen upon them. Chapter 9 1 Now in month 12, which is the month of Adar, on day 13 of it, when the word of the king and his law had reached the time to be done, on the day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to dominate them: but being overturned, it happened that the Jews themselves dominated those who hated them. 2 The Jews assembled themselves in their cities in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus to stretch out a hand against those seeking their evil. But a man did not stand to their face, for sudden fear of them had fallen on all the peoples. 3 And all the officials of the provinces, and the satraps and the governors and those doing the work that was for the king were lifting up the Jews, for dread of Mordecai had fallen on them. 4 For Mordecai was great in the palace of the king, and the report of him was going out into all the provinces, for the man Mordecai was progressing and becoming great. 5 And the Jews struck to all their enemies a strike of sword and slaughter and destruction. And they did to those who hated them according to their pleasure. 6 And in Susa the citadel the Jews slaughtered and destroyed 500 men. 7 And Parshandatha and Dalphon and Aspatha 8 and Poratha and Adalia and Aridatha 9 and Parmashta and Arisai and Aridai and Vaizatha, 10 the ten sons of Haman, the son of Hammedatha, the adversary of the Jews, they slaughtered. But they did not stretch out their hand to the plunder. 11 On that day, the report of the number of those who were killed in Susa the citadel came to the face of the king. 12 And the king said to Esther the queen, “In Susa the citadel the Jews have slaughtered and destroyed 500 men, with the ten sons of Haman. In the rest of the provinces of the king, what have they done? Now what is your petition? And it will be given to you. And what is your request? Again, and it will be done.” 13 And Esther said, “If it is good to the king, let it be given also tomorrow to the Jews who are in Susa to do according to the law of today, and let the ten sons of Haman hang on the pole.” 14 And the king said for this to be done. And a law was given in Susa, and they hanged the ten sons of Haman. 15 And the Jews who were in Susa assembled themselves also on day 14 of the month of Adar, and they killed 300 men in Susa. But they did not stretch out their hand to the plunder. 16 And the rest of the Jews who were in the provinces of the king assembled themselves and stood for their lives, and they rested from their enemies, and they slaughtered 75,000 of those who hated them. But they did not stretch out their hand to the plunder. 17 On day 13 of the month of Adar, then they rested. On the fourteenth of it, then they made it a day of feasting and rejoicing. 18 But the Jews who were in Susa assembled themselves on the thirteenth of it and on the fourteenth of it. And they rested on the fifteenth of it, and they made it a day of feasting and rejoicing. 19 Therefore, the Jews, the ones of the open country, the ones who dwell in the cities of the open areas, make day 14 of the month of Adar for rejoicing and for feasting and a good day and for the sending of gifts, a man to his friend. 20 And Mordecai wrote these things. And he sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, the near ones and the far ones, 21 to set up for them to be making day 14 of the month of Adar and day 15 of it, every year by year, 22 as the days when the Jews rested on them from their enemies and as the month when it had turned for them from sorrow into joy and from mourning into a good day, in order to make them days of feasting and rejoicing and sending of gifts, a man to his friend and gifts to the needy. 23 And the Jews accepted what they had begun to do and what Mordecai had written to them. 24 For Haman, the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the adversary of all the Jews, had plotted concerning the Jews to annihilate them. And he had cast a Pur (which is “the lot”) to vex them and to destroy them. 25 But when she came to the face of the king, he said with the letter, “Let his evil plot that he plotted concerning the Jews return on his head, and let them hang him and his sons on the pole.” 26 Therefore, they called these days “Purim,” on account of the name of Pur. Therefore, on account of all the words of this letter and what they had seen concerning this and what had come upon them, 27 the Jews set up and accepted for themselves and for their seed and for all those who unite themselves to them (and it will not pass away) to be making these two days according to their writing and according to their appointed time every year by year. 28 And these days are remembered and are made in every generation by generation, family by family, province by province, and city by city. And these days of Purim will not pass away from the midst of the Jews, and their remembrance will not come to an end from their seed. 29 And Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew wrote with all power to set up this second letter of Purim. 30 And he sent letters to all the Jews, to 127 provinces, the kingdom of Ahasuerus, words of peace and truth 31 to set up these days of Purim at their appointed times according to what Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had set up for them and according to what they had set up concerning their lives and concerning their seed, the matters of the fasts and their outcry. 32 And the decree of Esther set up these matters of Purim, and it was written in the book. Chapter 10 1 And the king Ahasuerus set a tribute on the land and the islands of the sea. 2 And all the deeds of his power and his might, with the full account of the greatness of Mordecai to which the king had made him great, are they not written in the book of the events of days for the kings of Media and Persia? 3 For Mordecai the Jew was second to the king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and favored by the multitude of his brothers, seeking good for his people and speaking peace to all its seed. Job Chapter 1 1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and Job was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned from evil. 2 There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 3 He possessed seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred pairs of oxen, and five hundred donkeys and a great many servants. He was the man who was the greatest of all the people of the East. 4 On each son’s assigned day, he would give a feast in his house. They would send and call for their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 When the days of the feast were over, Job would send for them and he would consecrate them. He would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings for each of his children, for he would say, “It may be that my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Job always did this. 6 Then it was the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Yahweh. Satan also came with them. 7 Yahweh said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Then Satan answered Yahweh and said, “From wandering on the earth, from going back and forth on it.” 8 Yahweh said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and turns from evil.” 9 Then Satan answered Yahweh and said, “Does Job fear God without reason? 10 Have you not put a barrier around him, around his house, and around all that is his from every side? You have blessed the deeds of his hands, and his cattle have burst forth in the land. 11 But now stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and see if he does not curse you to your face.” 12 Yahweh said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him himself do not stretch out your hand.” Then Satan went away from the presence of Yahweh. 13 It came about that on a certain day, his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house. 14 A messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were feeding beside them. 15 Then the Sabeans fell on them and took them away. As for the servants, they have struck them with the edge of the sword. I alone have escaped to tell you.” 16 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The fire of God fell from the heavens and burned up the sheep and the servants. I alone have escaped to tell you.” 17 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups, attacked the camels, and have taken them away. As for the servants, they have struck them with the edge of the sword. I alone have escaped to tell you.” 18 While he was yet speaking, another also came and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house. 19 A strong wind came from the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house. It fell on the young people, and they died. I alone have escaped to tell you.” 20 Then Job rose, tore his robe, shaved his head, lay facedown on the ground, and worshiped God. 21 He said, “I was naked when I came out of my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I will return there. It is Yahweh who gave, and it is Yahweh who has taken away. May the name of Yahweh be blessed.” 22 In all this matter, Job did not sin, nor did he accuse God of wrongdoing. Chapter 2 1 Then it was the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Yahweh. Satan also came with them to present himself before Yahweh. 2 Yahweh said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Then Satan answered Yahweh and said, “From wandering on the earth, from going back and forth on it.” 3 Yahweh said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil. He still holds fast to his integrity, although you misled me against him, to destroy him without cause.” 4 Satan answered Yahweh and said, “Skin for skin, indeed; a man will give all he has for his life. 5 But stretch out your hand now and touch his bones and his flesh, and see if he does not curse you to your face.” 6 Yahweh said to Satan, “See, he is in your hand; it is only his life that you must spare.” 7 Then Satan went away from the presence of Yahweh. He struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his feet to his head. 8 Job took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself with, and he sat down in the middle of ashes. 9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die.” 10 But he said to her, “You talk as a foolish woman talks. Should we receive the good from God and not receive the bad?” In all this matter, Job did not sin with his lips. 11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come on him, each of them came from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They set a time to come to mourn with him and to comfort him. 12 When they lifted up their eyes at a distance, they did not recognize him. They raised their voices and wept; each tore his robe and threw dust into the air and upon his own head. 13 Then they sat with him on the ground for seven days and seven nights. No one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great. Chapter 3 1 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day he was born. 2 He said, 3 “May the day on which I was born perish, the night that said, ‘A boy has been conceived.’ 4 May that day be dark; may not God from above call it to mind, neither may the sun shine on it. 5 May darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own. May a cloud live over it; may everything that makes the day black truly terrify it. 6 As for that night, may thick darkness seize it. May it not rejoice among the days of the year; may it not come into the number of the months. 7 See, may that night be barren; may no joyful voice come into it. 8 May they curse that day, those who know how to wake up Leviathan. 9 May the stars of that day’s dawn be dark. May that day look for light, but find none; neither may it see the eyelids of the dawn, 10 because it did not shut up the doors of my mother’s womb, and because it did not hide trouble from my eyes. 11 Why did I not die when I came out from the womb? Why did I not give up my spirit when my mother bore me? 12 Why did her knees welcome me? Why did her breasts receive me so that I should suck? 13 For now I would have been lying down quietly. I would have slept and been at rest 14 with kings and counselors of the earth, who built up tombs for themselves that are now in ruins. 15 Or I would have been lying with princes who once had gold, who had filled their houses with silver. 16 Or perhaps I would have been stillborn, like infants that never see the light. 17 There the wicked cease from trouble; there the weary are at rest. 18 There the prisoners are at ease together; they do not hear the voice of the slave driver. 19 Both small and great people are there; the servant is free from his master there. 20 Why is light given to him who is in misery? Why is life given to the one who is bitter in soul, 21 to one who longs for death without it coming; to one who digs for death more than for hidden treasure? 22 Why is light given to one who rejoices very much and is glad when he finds the grave? 23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, a man whom God has hedged in? 24 For my sighing happens instead of eating; my groaning is poured out like water. 25 For the thing that I feared has come on me; what I was afraid of has come to me. 26 I am not at ease, I am not quiet, and I have no rest; trouble comes instead.” Chapter 4 1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, 2 If anyone tries to speak with you, will you be impatient? But who can stop himself from speaking? 3 See, you have instructed many; you have strengthened weak hands. 4 Your words have supported him who was falling; you have made feeble knees firm. 5 But now trouble has come to you, and you are weary; it touches you, and you are troubled. 6 Is not your fear your confidence, and the integrity of your ways your hope? 7 Think about this, please: Who has ever perished when innocent? Or when were the upright people ever cut off? 8 According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap it. 9 By the breath of God they perish; by the blast of his anger they are consumed. 10 The roaring of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion, the teeth of the young lions—they are broken. 11 The old lion perishes for lack of victims; the cubs of the lioness are scattered everywhere. 12 Now a certain matter was secretly brought to me, and my ear received a whisper about it. 13 Then came thoughts from visions in the night, when deep sleep falls on people. 14 It was at night when fear and trembling came upon me, and all my bones shook. 15 Then a spirit passed before my face, and the hair of my flesh stood up. 16 The spirit stood still, but I could not discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes; there was silence, and I heard a voice that said, 17 “Can a mortal man be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker? 18 See, if God puts no trust in his servants; if he accuses his angels of folly, 19 how much more is this true of those who live in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed sooner than a moth? 20 Between morning and evening they are destroyed; they perish forever without anyone noticing them. 21 Are not their tent cords plucked up among them? They die; they die without wisdom. Chapter 5 1 Call out now; is there anyone who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn? 2 For anger kills the foolish man; jealousy kills the silly one. 3 I have seen a foolish person taking root, but suddenly I cursed his home. 4 His children are far from safety; they are crushed in the city gate. There is no one to rescue them. 5 The hungry eat up their harvest; they even take it from among the thorns. The thirsty pant for their wealth. 6 For difficulties do not come out from the soil; neither does trouble sprout from the ground. 7 Instead, mankind is born for trouble, just as sparks fly upward. 8 But as for me, I would turn to God himself; to him I would commit my cause— 9 he who does great and unsearchable things, marvelous things without number. 10 He gives rain on the earth, and sends water on the fields. 11 He does this in order to set up on high those who are low; to raise to safety those who mourn. 12 He breaks the plans of the crafty people, so that their hands cannot achieve success. 13 He traps wise people in their own crafty actions; the plans of twisted people are hurried to their end. 14 They encounter darkness in the daytime, and grope at noonday as if it were night. 15 But he saves the poor person from the sword in their mouths and the needy person from the hand of mighty people. 16 So the poor person has hope, and injustice shuts her own mouth. 17 See, blessed is the man whom God corrects; therefore, do not despise the chastening of the Almighty. 18 For he wounds and then binds up; he wounds and then his hands heal. 19 He will rescue you out of six troubles; indeed, in seven troubles, no evil will touch you. 20 In famine he will ransom you from death, and in war from the hands of the sword. 21 You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue; and you will not be afraid of destruction when it comes. 22 You will laugh at destruction and famine, and you will not be afraid of beasts of the earth. 23 For you will have a covenant with the stones in your field, and the beasts of the field will be at peace with you. 24 You will know that your tent is in safety; you will visit your sheepfold and you will not miss anything. 25 You will also know that your seed will be great, that your offspring will be like the grass on the ground. 26 You will come to your grave at a full age, like a stack of grain bundles that goes up at its time. 27 See, we have examined this matter; it is like this; listen to it, and know it for yourself.” Chapter 6 1 Then Job answered and said, 2 “Oh, if only my anguish were weighed; if only all my calamity were laid in the balance! 3 For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas. That is why my words were reckless. 4 For the arrows of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks up the poison; the terrors of God have arranged themselves in array against me. 5 Does the wild donkey bray in despair when he has grass? Or does the ox low in hunger when it has fodder? 6 Can that which has no taste be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg? 7 I refuse to touch them; they are like disgusting food to me. 8 Oh, that I might have my request; oh, that God would grant me the thing I long for: 9 that it would please God to crush me once, that he would let loose his hand and cut me off from this life! 10 May this still be my consolation— even if I exult in pain that does not lessen: that I have not denied the words of the Holy One. 11 What is my strength, that I should try to wait? What is my end, that I should prolong my life? 12 Is my strength the strength of stones? Or is my flesh made of bronze? 13 Is it not true that I have no help in myself, and that wisdom has been driven out of me? 14 To the person who is about to faint, faithfulness should be shown by his friend; even to him who forsakes the fear of the Almighty. 15 But my brothers have been as faithful to me as a desert streambed, as channels of water that pass away to nothing, 16 which are darkened because of ice over them, and because of the snow that hides itself in them. 17 When they thaw out, they vanish; when it is hot, they melt out of their place. 18 The caravans that travel by their way turn aside for water; they wander into barren land and then perish. 19 Caravans from Tema looked there, while companies of Sheba hoped in them. 20 They were disappointed because they had been confident of finding water. They went there, but they were deceived. 21 For now you friends are nothing to me; you see my dreadful situation and are afraid. 22 Did I say to you, ‘Give something to me’ or, ‘Offer me a gift from your wealth’ 23 or, ‘Save me from my adversary’s hand’ or, ‘Ransom me from the hand of my oppressors’? 24 Teach me, and I will hold my peace; make me understand where I have been wrong. 25 How painful are truthful words! But your arguments, how do they actually rebuke me? 26 Do you plan to ignore my words, treating the words of a desperate man like the wind? 27 Indeed, you cast lots for a fatherless child, and haggle over your friend like merchandise. 28 Now, therefore, please look at me, for surely I would not lie to your face. 29 Relent, I beg you; let there be no injustice with you; Indeed, relent, for my cause is just. 30 Is there evil on my tongue? Cannot my mouth detect malicious things? Chapter 7 1 Does not man have hard labor on earth? Are not his days like the days of a hired man? 2 Like a slave earnestly desires the shadows of evening, like a hired man looks for his wages— 3 so I have been made to endure months of misery; I have been given trouble-filled nights. 4 When I lie down, I say to myself, ‘When will I get up and when will the night be gone?’ I am full of tossing to and fro until the day’s dawning. 5 My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; the sores in my skin harden up and then dissolve and run afresh. 6 My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they pass without hope. 7 God, call to mind that my life is only a breath; my eye will no more see good. 8 The eye of God, who sees me, will see me no more; God’s eyes will be on me, but I will not exist. 9 As a cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he who goes down to Sheol will come up no more. 10 He will return no more to his house; neither will his place know him again. 11 Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. 12 Am I the sea or a sea monster that you place a guard over me? 13 When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me, and my couch will ease my complaint,’ 14 then you scare me with dreams and terrify me through visions, 15 so that I would choose strangling and death rather than preserving these bones of mine. 16 I loathe my life; I would not wish to always be alive; let me alone for my days are useless. 17 What is man that you should pay attention to him, that you should set your mind on him, 18 that you should observe him every morning and test him every moment? 19 How long will it be before you look away from me, before you let me alone long enough for me to swallow down my own saliva? 20 Even if I have sinned, what would that do to you, you who watch men? Why have you made a target of me, so that I am a burden for you? 21 Why do you not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now will I lie down in the dust; you will seek me carefully, but I will not exist.” Chapter 8 1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said, 2 “How long will you say these things? How long will the words of your mouth be a mighty wind? 3 Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert righteousness? 4 Your children have sinned against him; we know this, for he gave them into the hand of their sins. 5 But suppose you diligently sought God and presented your request to the Almighty. 6 If you are pure and upright, then he would surely stir himself on your behalf and restore you to your rightful place. 7 Even though your beginning was small, still your final condition would be much greater. 8 Please ask the former generations, and give your attention to what our ancestors learned. 9 (We were only born yesterday and know nothing because our days on earth are a shadow.) 10 Will they not teach you and tell you? Will they not speak words from their hearts? 11 Can papyrus grow without a marsh? Can reeds grow without water? 12 While they are still green and not cut down, they wither before any other plant. 13 So also are the paths of all who forget God; the hope of the godless will perish. 14 His confidence will break apart, and his trust is as weak as a spider’s web. 15 He leans on his house, but it will not support him; he takes hold of it, but it does not stand. 16 Under the sun he is green, and his shoots go out over his entire garden. 17 His roots are wrapped about the heaps of stone; they look for good places among the rocks. 18 But if this person is destroyed out of his place, then that place will deny him and say, ‘I never saw you.’ 19 See, this is the “joy” of such a person’s behavior; other plants will sprout out of the same soil in his place. 20 See, God will not cast away an innocent man; neither will he take the hand of evildoers. 21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, your lips with shouting. 22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame; the tent of the wicked will be no more.” Chapter 9 1 Then Job answered and said, 2 “I truly know that this is so. But how can a person be in the right with God? 3 If he wants to argue with God, he cannot answer him once in a thousand times. 4 God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has ever hardened himself against him and succeeded?— 5 he who removes the mountains without warning anyone when he overturns them in his anger— 6 he who shakes the earth out of its place and sets its supports trembling. 7 It is the same God who tells the sun not to rise, and it does not, and who covers up the stars, 8 who by himself stretches out the heavens and tramples down the waves of the sea, 9 who makes the Bear, Orion, the Pleiades, and the constellations of the south. 10 He does great and unsearchable things, and wonderful things that cannot be counted. 11 See, he goes by me, and I do not see him; he passes on also, but I do not perceive him. 12 If he takes something away, who can stop him? Who can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’ 13 God will not withdraw his anger; the helpers of Rahab bow beneath him. 14 How much less could I answer him, could I choose words to reason with him? 15 Even if I were righteous, I could not answer him; I could only plead for mercy with my judge. 16 Even if I called and he answered me, I would not believe that he was listening to my voice. 17 For he breaks me with a tempest and multiplies my wounds without cause. 18 He does not allow me to regain my breath; but he fills me with bitterness. 19 If it is a matter of strength, behold, he is mighty! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him? 20 Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me; and though I am blameless, my words would prove me to be guilty. 21 I am blameless, but I do not care any more about myself; I despise my own life. 22 It makes no difference, which is why I say that he destroys blameless people and wicked people together. 23 When a whip suddenly kills, he mocks the despair of the innocent. 24 The earth is given into the hand of wicked people; God covers the faces of its judges. If it is not he who does it, then who is it? 25 My days are swifter than a running messenger; my days flee away; they see no good anywhere. 26 They are as fast as papyrus reed boats, and as fast as the eagle that swoops down on its victim. 27 If I said that I would forget about my complaints, that I would take off my sad face and be happy, 28 I would be afraid of all my sorrows because I know that you will not consider me innocent. 29 I will be condemned; why, then, should I try in vain? 30 If I washed myself with snow water and made my hands ever so clean, 31 God would plunge me in a ditch, and my own clothes would be disgusted with me. 32 For God is not a man, as I am, that I could answer him, that we could come together in court. 33 There is no judge between us who might lay his hand upon us both. 34 There is no other judge who could take God’s rod off me, who could keep his terror from frightening me. 35 Then would I speak up and not fear him. But as things are now, I cannot do that. Chapter 10 1 I am weary of my life; I will give free expression to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. 2 I will say to God, ‘Do not merely condemn me; show me why you accuse me. 3 Is it good to you that you should oppress me, to despise the work of your hands while you smile on the plans of the wicked? 4 Do you have eyes of flesh? Do you see like a man sees? 5 Are your days like the days of mankind or your years like the years of people, 6 that you inquire after my iniquity and search after my sin, 7 although you know I am not guilty and there is no one who can rescue me from your hand? 8 Your hands have framed and fashioned me together round about, yet you are destroying me. 9 Call to mind, I beg you, that you have fashioned me like clay; will you bring me into dust again? 10 Have you not poured me out like milk and curdled me like cheese? 11 You have clothed me with skin and flesh and knit me together with bones and sinews. 12 You have granted me life and covenant faithfulness; your help has guarded my spirit. 13 Yet these things you hid in your heart— I know that this is what you were thinking: 14 that if I sinned, you would notice it; you would not acquit me of my iniquity. 15 If I have acted wickedly, woe to me; and even if I acted righteously, I could not lift up my head, since I am filled with disgrace— see my affliction! 16 If my head were lifted up, you would stalk me like a lion; and again you would show yourself with marvellous acts of power against me. 17 You bring new witnesses against me and increase your anger against me; you attack me with fresh armies. 18 Why, then, have you brought me out of the womb? I wish I had given up my spirit and that no eye had ever seen me. 19 I would have been as though I had never existed; I would have been carried from the womb to the grave. 20 Are not my days only a few? Stop then, let me alone, so that I may have a little rest 21 before I go from where I will not return, to the land of darkness and of the shadow of death, 22 the land that is as dark as midnight, the land of the shadow of death, without any order, where the light is like midnight.’” Chapter 11 1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said, 2 “Should not such a multitude of words be answered? Should this man, so full of talk, be believed? 3 Should your boasting make others remain silent? When you mock, will no one make you feel ashamed? 4 For you say to God, ‘My beliefs are pure, I am blameless in your eyes.’ 5 But, oh, that God would speak and open his lips against you; 6 that he would show you the secrets of wisdom! For he is great in understanding. Know then that God demands from you less than your iniquity deserves. 7 Can you understand God by searching for him? Can you comprehend the Almighty perfectly? 8 The matter is as high as heaven; what can you do? It is deeper than Sheol; what can you know? 9 Its measure is longer than the earth, and wider than the sea. 10 If he passes through and shuts anyone up, if he calls anyone to judgment, then who can stop him? 11 For he knows false people; when he sees iniquity, does he not notice it? 12 But foolish people have no understanding; they will get it when a wild donkey gives birth to a man. 13 But suppose that you had set your heart right and had reached out with your hands toward God; 14 suppose that iniquity were in your hand, but that then you put it far away from you, and did not let unrighteousness live in your tents. 15 Then you would certainly lift up your face without a sign of shame; indeed, you would be steadfast and would not fear. 16 You would forget your misery; you would remember it only like waters that have flowed away. 17 Your life would be brighter than the noonday; though there were darkness, it would become like the morning. 18 You would be secure because there is hope; indeed, you would find safety about you and would take your rest in safety. 19 Also you would lie down in rest, and none would make you afraid; indeed, many would seek your favor. 20 But the eyes of wicked people will fail; they will have no way to flee; their only hope will be a last gasp of life.” Chapter 12 1 Then Job answered and said, 2 “No doubt you are the people; wisdom will die with you. 3 But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Indeed, who does not know such things as these? 4 I am something for my neighbor to laugh at— I, one who called on God and who was answered by him! I, a just and blameless man—I am now something to laugh at. 5 In the thought of someone who is at ease, there is contempt for misfortune; he thinks in a way that brings more misfortune to those whose foot is slipping. 6 The tents of robbers prosper, and those who provoke God feel secure; their own hands are their gods. 7 But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; ask the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you. 8 Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; the fish of the sea will declare to you. 9 Which animal among all these does not know that the hand of Yahweh has done this? 10 In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind. 11 Does not the ear test words just as the palate tastes its food? 12 With aged men is wisdom; in length of days is understanding. 13 With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding. 14 See, he breaks down, and it cannot be built again; if he imprisons someone, there can be no release. 15 See, if he withholds the waters, they dry up; and if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land. 16 With him are strength and wisdom; people who are deceived and the deceiver are both in his power. 17 He leads counselors away barefoot in sorrow; he turns judges into fools. 18 He takes off the chain of authority from kings; he wraps a cloth about their waists. 19 He leads priests away barefoot in sorrow and overthrows mighty people. 20 He removes the speech of those who had been trusted and takes away the understanding of the elders. 21 He pours contempt upon princes and unfastens the belt of strong people. 22 He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into the light. 23 He makes nations strong, and he also destroys them; He enlarges nations, and he also leads them along as prisoners. 24 He takes away understanding from the leaders of the people of the earth; he causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no path. 25 They grope in the dark without light; he makes them stagger like a drunk man. Chapter 13 1 See, my eye has seen all this; my ear has heard and understood it. 2 What you know, the same I also know; I am not inferior to you. 3 However, I would rather speak with the Almighty; I wish to reason with God. 4 But you whitewash the truth with lies; you are all physicians of no value. 5 Oh, that you would altogether hold your peace! That would be your wisdom. 6 Hear now my own reasoning; listen to the pleading of my own lips. 7 Will you speak unrighteously for God, and will you talk deceitfully for him? 8 Will you show him partiality? Will you argue the case for God? 9 Will it be good for you when he searches you out? Could you deceive him as you might deceive men? 10 He would surely reprove you if in secret you showed partiality. 11 Will not his majesty terrify you, and the dread of him fall upon you? 12 Your memorable sayings are proverbs made of ashes; your defenses are defenses made of clay. 13 Hold your peace, let me alone, so that I may speak, let come what may on me. 14 I will take my own flesh in my teeth; I will take my life in my hands. 15 See, if he kills me, I will have no hope left; nevertheless, I will defend my ways before him. 16 This will be the reason for my deliverance, for no godless person would come before him. 17 God, listen carefully to my speech; let my declaration come to your ears. 18 See now, I have set my defense in order; I know that I am innocent. 19 Who is the one who would argue against me in court? If you came to do so, and if I were proved wrong, then I would be silent and give up my life. 20 God, do only two things for me, and then I will not hide myself from your face: 21 withdraw your oppressive hand from me, and do not let your terrors make me afraid. 22 Then call me, and I will answer; or let me speak to you, and you answer me. 23 How many are my iniquities and sins? Let me know my transgression and my sin. 24 Why do you hide your face from me and treat me like your enemy? 25 Will you persecute a driven leaf? Will you pursue dry stubble? 26 For you write down bitter things against me; you make me inherit the iniquities of my youth. 27 You also put my feet in the stocks; you closely watch all my paths; you examine the ground where the soles of my feet have walked 28 although I am like a rotten thing that wastes away, like a garment that moths have eaten. Chapter 14 1 Man, who is born of woman, lives only a few days and is full of trouble. 2 He sprouts from the ground like a flower and is cut down; he flees like a shadow and does not last. 3 Do you look at any of these? Do you bring me into judgment with you? 4 Who can bring something clean out of something unclean? No one. 5 Man’s days are determined. The number of his months is with you; you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass. 6 Look away from him that he may rest, so that he may enjoy his day like a hired man if he can do so. 7 There can be hope for a tree; if it is cut down, it might sprout again, so that its tender stalk does not disappear. 8 Though its root grows old in the earth, and its stump dies in the ground, 9 yet even if it only smells water, it will bud and send out branches like a plant. 10 But man dies; he becomes weak; indeed, man stops breathing, and then where is he? 11 As water disappears from a lake, and as a river loses water and dries up, 12 so people lie down and do not rise again. Until the heavens are no more, they will not awake nor be roused out of their sleep. 13 Oh, that you would hide me away in Sheol away from troubles, and that you would keep me in private until your wrath is over, that you would set me a fixed time to stay there and then call me to mind! 14 If a man dies, will he live again? If so, I would wish to wait all my weary time there until my release should come. 15 You would call, and I would answer you. You would have a desire for the work of your hands. 16 You would number and care for my footsteps; you would not keep track of my sin. 17 My transgression would be sealed up in a bag; you would cover up my iniquity. 18 But even mountains fall and come to nothing; even rocks are moved out of their place; 19 the waters wear down the stones; their flooding washes away the dust of the earth. Like this, you destroy the hope of man. 20 You always defeat him, and he passes away; you change his face and send him away to die. 21 If his sons are honored, he does not know it; and if they are brought low, he does not see it. 22 He feels only the pain of his own body, and he mourns for himself.” Chapter 15 1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, 2 “Should a wise man answer with useless knowledge and fill himself with the east wind? 3 Should he reason with unprofitable talk or with speeches with which he can do no good? 4 Indeed, you diminish respect for God; you obstruct devotion to him, 5 for your iniquity teaches your mouth; you choose to have the tongue of a crafty man. 6 Your own mouth condemns you, not mine; indeed, your own lips testify against you. 7 Are you the first man that was born? Were you brought into existence before the hills? 8 Have you heard the secret knowledge of God? Do you limit wisdom to yourself? 9 What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that is not also in us? 10 With us are both the gray-headed and the very aged men who are much older than your father. 11 Are the consolations of God too small for you, the words that are gentle toward you? 12 Why does your heart carry you away? Why do your eyes flash, 13 so that you turn your spirit against God and bring out such words from your mouth? 14 What is man that he should be clean? What is he who is born of a woman that he should be righteous? 15 See, God puts no trust even in his holy ones; indeed, the heavens are not clean in his sight; 16 how much less clean is one who is abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks iniquity like water! 17 I will show you; listen to me; I will announce to you the things I have seen, 18 the things that wise men have passed down from their fathers, the things that their ancestors did not hide. 19 These were their ancestors, to whom alone the land was given, and among whom no stranger ever passed. 20 The wicked man twists in pain all his days, the number of years that are laid up for the oppressor to suffer. 21 A sound of terrors is in his ears; while he is in prosperity, the destroyer will come upon him. 22 He does not think that he will return out of darkness; the sword waits for him. 23 He goes to various places for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’ He knows that the day of darkness is at hand. 24 Distress and anguish make him afraid; they prevail against him, as a king ready for battle. 25 Because he has reached out with his hand against God and has behaved proudly against the Almighty, 26 this wicked man runs at God with a stiff neck, with a thick shield. 27 This is true, even though he has covered his face with his fat and gathered fat on his loins, 28 and has lived in desolate cities; in houses which no man inhabits now and which were ready to become heaps. 29 He will not be rich; his wealth will not last and his possessions will not spread over the land. 30 He will not depart out of darkness; [1] a flame will dry up his stalks; at the breath of God’s mouth he will go away. [2] 31 Let him not trust in useless things, deceiving himself; for uselessness will be his reward. 32 It will happen before his time should come to die; his branch will not be green. 33 He will drop his unripe grapes like a grapevine; he will cast off his flowers like the olive tree. 34 For the company of godless people will be barren; fire will consume their tents of bribery. 35 They conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity; their womb conceives deceit.” 15:30 [1] Several modern versions leave out He will not depart out of darkness , because they believe that this expression was mistakenly copied from 15:22. 15:30 [2] The Hebrew text has He will go away by the breath of his mouth , which some modern versions, including the ULT and UST, interpret as meaning the breath of God’s mouth. However, other modern versions follow an ancient Greek reading, his flower will fall with the wind . Chapter 16 1 Then Job answered and said, 2 “I have heard many such things; you are all miserable comforters. 3 Will useless words ever have an end? What is wrong with you that you answer like this? 4 I also could speak as you do, if you were in my place; I could collect and join words together against you and shake my head at you in mockery. 5 I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the quivering of my lips will bring you relief! 6 If I speak, my grief is not lessened; if I keep from speaking, how am I helped? 7 But now, God, you have made me weary; you have made all my family desolate. 8 You have made me dry up, which itself is a witness against me; the leanness of my body rises up against me, and it testifies against my face. 9 God has torn me in his wrath and persecuted me; He grinds his teeth in rage; my enemy fastens his eyes on me as he tears me apart. 10 People have gaped with open mouth at me; they have hit me reproachfully on the cheek; they have gathered together against me. 11 God hands me over to ungodly people, and throws me into the hands of wicked people. 12 I was at ease, and he broke me apart. Indeed, he has taken me by the neck and dashed me to pieces; he has also set me up as his target. 13 His archers surround me all around; God pierces my kidneys and does not spare me; he pours out my bile on the ground. 14 He smashes through my wall again and again; he runs upon me like a warrior. 15 I have sewn sackcloth on my skin; I have thrust my horn into the ground. 16 My face is red with weeping; on my eyelids is the shadow of death 17 although there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure. 18 Earth, do not cover up my blood; let my cry have no resting place. 19 Even now, see, my witness is in heaven; he who vouches for me is on high. 20 My friends scoff at me, but my eye pours out tears to God. 21 I ask for that witness in heaven to argue for this man with God as a man does with his neighbor! 22 For when a few years have passed, I will go to a place from where I will not return. Chapter 17 1 My spirit is consumed, and my days are over; the grave is ready for me. 2 Surely there are mockers with me; my eye must always see their provocation. 3 Give now a pledge, be a guarantee for me with yourself; who else is there who will help me? 4 For you, God, have kept their hearts from understanding; therefore, you will not exalt them over me. 5 He who denounces his friends for a reward, the eyes of his children will fail. 6 But he has made me a byword of the people; they spit in my face. 7 My eye is also dim because of sorrow; all my body parts are as thin as shadows. 8 Upright men will be stunned by this; the innocent man will stir himself up against godless men. 9 The righteous man will keep to his way; he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger. 10 But as for you all, come on now; I will not find a wise man among you. 11 My days are past; my plans are shattered, and so are the desires of my heart. [1] 12 These people, these mockers, change the night into day; light is near to darkness. 13 If the only home I hope for is Sheol; and if I have spread my couch in the darkness; 14 and if I have said to the pit, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘You are my mother or my sister,’ 15 where then is my hope? As for my hope, who can see any? 16 Will hope go down with me to the gates of Sheol when we descend to the dust?” 17:11 [1] Some modern versions have My days are past, as are my plans. The wishes of my heart are finished or … the strings of my heart have been broken . Others have My days are past; my plans are over, as are the wishes of my heart. Chapter 18 1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said, 2 “When will you stop your talk? Consider, and afterwards we will speak. 3 Why are we regarded as beasts, stupid in your sight? 4 You who tear at yourself in your anger, should the earth be forsaken for you or should the rocks be removed out of their places? 5 Indeed, the light of the wicked person will be put out; the spark of his fire will not shine. 6 The light will be dark in his tent; his lamp above him will be put out. 7 The steps of his strength will be made short; his own plans will cast him down. 8 For he will be thrown into a net by his own feet; he will walk into a pitfall. 9 A trap will take him by the heel; a snare will lay hold on him. 10 A noose is hidden for him on the ground; and a trap for him in the way. 11 Terrors will make him afraid on every side; they will chase him at his heels. 12 His wealth will turn into hunger, and calamity will be ready at his side. 13 The parts of his body will be devoured; indeed, the firstborn of death will devour his parts. 14 He is torn from the safety of his tent and marched off to the king of terrors. 15 People not his own will live in his tent after they see that sulfur is scattered within his home. 16 His roots will be dried up beneath; above will his branch be cut off. 17 His memory will perish from the earth; he will have no name in the street. 18 He will be driven from light into darkness and be chased out of this world. 19 He will have no son or son’s son among his people, nor any remaining kinfolk where he had stayed. 20 Those who live in the west will be horrified at what happens to him one day; those who live in the east will be frightened by it. 21 Surely such are the homes of unrighteous people, the places of those who do not know God.” Chapter 19 1 Then Job answered and said, 2 “How long will you make me suffer and break me into pieces with words? 3 These ten times you have reproached me; you are not ashamed that you have treated me harshly. 4 If it is indeed true that I have erred, my error remains my own concern. 5 If indeed you will exalt yourselves above me and use my humiliation against me, 6 then you should know that God has done wrong to me and has caught me in his net. 7 See, I cry out, “ ‘Violence!’ but I get no answer. I call out for help, but there is no justice. 8 He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass, and he has set darkness in my path. 9 He has stripped me of my glory, and he has taken the crown from my head. 10 He has broken me down on every side, and I am gone; he has pulled up my hope like a tree. 11 He has also kindled his wrath against me; he regards me as one of his adversaries. 12 His troops come on together; they cast up siege mounds against me and encamp around my tent. 13 He has put my brothers far from me; my acquaintances are wholly alienated from me. 14 My kinsfolk have failed me; my close friends have forgotten me. 15 Those who once stayed as guests in my house and my female servants regard me as a stranger; I am an alien in their sight. 16 I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer although I entreat him with my mouth. 17 My breath is offensive to my wife; I am even disgusting to those who were born from my mother’s womb. 18 Even young children despise me; if I rise to speak, they speak against me. 19 All my familiar friends abhor me; those whom I love have turned against me. 20 My bones cling to my skin and to my flesh; I survive only by the skin of my teeth. 21 Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, my friends, for the hand of God has touched me. 22 Why do you pursue me like God does? Will you ever be satisfied with my flesh? 23 Oh, that my words were now written down! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book! 24 Oh, that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever! 25 But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at last he will stand on the earth; 26 after my skin, that is, this body, is destroyed, then in my flesh I will see God. 27 I will see him with my own eyes—I, and not someone else. My heart fails within me. 28 If you say, ‘How we will persecute him! The root of his troubles lies in him,’ 29 then be afraid of the sword, because wrath brings the punishment of the sword, so that you may know there is a judgment.” Chapter 20 1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said, 2 “My thoughts make me answer quickly because of the worry that is in me. 3 I hear a rebuke that dishonors me, but a spirit from my understanding answers me. 4 Do you not know this fact from ancient times, when God placed man on earth: 5 the triumph of a wicked man is short, and the joy of a godless man lasts only for a moment? 6 Though his height reaches up to the heavens, and his head reaches to the clouds, 7 yet such a person will perish permanently like his own feces; those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’ 8 He will fly away like a dream and will not be found; indeed, he will be chased away like a vision of the night. 9 The eye that saw him will see him no more; his place will see him no longer. 10 His children will apologize to poor people; his hands will have to give back his wealth. 11 His bones are full of youthful strength, but it will lie down with him in the dust. 12 Although wickedness is sweet in his mouth, although he hides it under his tongue, 13 although he holds it there and does not let it go but keeps it still in his mouth— 14 the food in his intestines turns bitter; it becomes the poison of asps inside him. 15 He swallows down riches, but he will vomit them up again; God will cast them out of his stomach. 16 He will suck the poison of asps; the viper’s tongue will kill him. 17 He will not enjoy the streams, the torrents of honey and butter. 18 He will give back the fruit of his labor and will not be able to eat it; he will not enjoy the wealth earned by his commerce. 19 For he has oppressed and neglected poor people; he has violently taken away houses that he did not build. 20 Because he has known no satisfaction himself, he will not be able to save anything in which he takes pleasure. 21 There is nothing left that he did not devour; therefore his prosperity will not be permanent. 22 In the abundance of his wealth he will fall into trouble; the hand of everyone who is in poverty will come against him. 23 When he is about to fill his stomach, God will throw the fierceness of his wrath on him; God will rain it down on him while he is eating. 24 Although that man will flee from the iron weapon, a bow of bronze will shoot him. 25 He pulls it out of his back and the gleaming point comes out of his liver. Terrors come over him. 26 Complete darkness is reserved for his treasures; a fire not fanned will devour him; it will consume what is left in his tent. 27 The heavens will reveal his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him as a witness. 28 The wealth of his house will vanish; his goods will flow away on the day of God’s wrath. 29 This is the wicked man’s portion from God, the heritage reserved for him by God.” Chapter 21 1 Then Job answered and said, 2 “Listen carefully to my words, and let this be the comfort you offer to me. 3 Put up with me, and I also will speak; after I have spoken, mock on. 4 As for me, is my complaint to a person? Why should I not be impatient? 5 Look at me and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth. 6 When I think about my sufferings, I am terrified, and trembling seizes my body. 7 Why do wicked people continue to live, become old, and grow mighty in power? 8 Their descendants are established with them in their sight, and their offspring are established before their eyes. 9 Their houses are safe from fear; neither is the rod of God on them. 10 Their bull breeds; it does not fail to do so; their cow gives birth and does not lose her calf prematurely. 11 They send out their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. 12 They sing to the tambourine and harp and rejoice with the music of the flute. 13 They spend their days in prosperity, and they go down quietly to Sheol. 14 They say to God, ‘Depart from us for we do not wish any knowledge of your ways. 15 What is the Almighty, that we should worship him? What advantage would we get if we prayed to him?’ 16 See, is not their prosperity in their own hands? I have nothing to do with the advice of wicked people. 17 How often is it that the lamp of wicked people is put out, or that their calamity comes upon them? How often does it happen that God distributes sorrows to them in his anger? 18 How often is it that they become like stubble before the wind or like chaff that the storm carries away? 19 You say, ‘God lays up one’s guilt for his children to pay.’ Let him pay it himself, so that he might know his guilt. 20 Let his eyes see his own destruction, and let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty. 21 For what does he care about his family after him when the number of his months is cut off? 22 Can anyone teach God knowledge since he judges even those who are high? 23 One man dies in his full strength, being completely quiet and at ease. 24 His body is full of milk, and the marrow of his bones is moist. 25 Another man dies in bitterness of soul, one who has never experienced anything good. 26 They lie down alike in the dust; the worms cover them both. 27 See, I know your thoughts, and the ways in which you wish to wrong me. 28 For you say, ‘Where now is the house of the prince? Where is the tent in which the wicked man once lived?’ 29 Have you never asked traveling people? Do you not know the evidence they can tell, 30 that the wicked man is kept from the day of calamity, and that he is led away from the day of wrath? 31 Who will condemn the wicked man’s way to his face? Who will repay him for what he has done? 32 Yet he will be borne to the grave; men will keep watch over his tomb. 33 The clods of the valley will be sweet to him; all people will follow after him, as there were innumerable people before him. 34 How then do you comfort me with nonsense, since in your answers there is nothing but falsehood?” Chapter 22 1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, 2 “Can a man be useful to God? Can a wise man be useful to him? 3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteous? Is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless? 4 Is it because of your reverence for him that he rebukes you and takes you to judgment? 5 Is not your wickedness great? Is there no end to your iniquities? 6 For you have demanded guarantee of a loan from your brother for no reason, and you have stripped away clothing from the naked. 7 You have not given water to weary people to drink; you have withheld bread from hungry people 8 although you, a mighty man, possessed the earth, although you, an honored man, lived in it. 9 You have sent widows away empty; the arms of the fatherless have been broken. 10 Therefore, snares are all around you, and sudden fear troubles you. 11 There is darkness, so that you cannot see; an abundance of waters covers you. 12 Is not God in the heights of heaven? Look at the height of the stars, how high they are! 13 You say, ‘What does God know? Can he judge through the thick darkness? 14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, so that he does not see us; he walks on the vault of heaven.’ 15 Will you keep the old way that wicked men have walked— 16 those who were snatched away before their time, those whose foundations have washed away like a river, 17 those who said to God, ‘Depart from us’; those who said, ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’ 18 Yet he filled their houses with good things; the plans of wicked people are far from me. 19 Righteous people see their fate and are glad; innocent people laugh them to scorn. 20 They say, ‘Surely those who rose up against us are cut off; fire has consumed their possessions.’ 21 Now agree with God and be at peace with him; in that way, good will come to you. 22 Receive, I beg you, instruction from his mouth; store up his words in your heart. 23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up, if you put unrighteousness far away from your tents. 24 Lay your treasure down in the dust, the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks, 25 and the Almighty will be your treasure, precious silver to you. 26 For then you will take pleasure in the Almighty; you will lift up your face to God. 27 You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you; you will pay your vows to him. 28 You will also decree anything, and it will be confirmed for you; light will shine on your paths. 29 God humbles a proud man, and he saves the one with lowered eyes. 30 He will rescue even the man who is not innocent; who will be rescued through the cleanness of your hands.” Chapter 23 1 Then Job answered and said, 2 “Even today my complaint is bitter; my hand [1] is heavy because of my groaning. 3 Oh, that I knew where I might find him! Oh, that I might come to his place! 4 I would lay my case in order before him and fill my mouth with arguments. 5 I would learn the words with which he would answer me and would understand what he would say to me. 6 Would he argue against me in the greatness of his power? No, he would pay attention to me. 7 There the upright person might argue with him. In this way I would be acquitted forever by my judge. 8 See, I go eastward, but he is not there, and westward, but I cannot perceive him. 9 To the north, where he is at work, but I cannot see him, and to the south, where he hides himself so that I cannot see him. 10 But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come out like gold. 11 My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept to his way and turned not aside. 12 I have not gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food. 13 But he is one of a kind, who can turn him back? What he desires, he does. 14 For he carries out his decree against me; there are many like them. 15 Therefore, I am terrified in his presence; when I think about him, I am afraid of him. 16 For God has made my heart weak; the Almighty has terrified me. 17 I have not been brought to an end by darkness, because of the thick darkness that covers the gloom of my face. 23:2 [1] Some manuscripts have his hand Chapter 24 1 Why are times for judging wicked people not set by the Almighty? Why do not those who are faithful to God see his days of judgment come? 2 There are wicked people who remove boundary markers; there are wicked people who take away flocks by force and put them in their own pastures. 3 They drive away the donkey of those without fathers; they take the widow’s ox as security. 4 They force needy people out of their path; poor people of the earth all hide themselves from them. 5 See, these poor people go out to their work like wild donkeys in the wilderness, looking carefully for food; perhaps the Arabah will provide them food for their children. 6 Poor people reap in the night in other people’s fields; they glean grapes from the harvest of those wicked people. 7 They lie naked all night without clothing; they have no covering in the cold. 8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains; they lie next to large rocks because they have no shelter. 9 There are wicked people who pluck orphans from their mothers’ breast, and wicked people who take children as security from poor people. 10 But the poor people go about naked without clothing; although they go hungry, they carry bundles of grain belonging to other people. 11 The poor people make oil within the walls of those wicked men; they tread the wicked men’s winepresses, but they themselves suffer thirst. 12 From out of the city the dying groan, and the throat of the wounded cries out for help. But God does not ascribe blame 13 Some of these wicked people rebel against the light; they know not its ways, nor do they stay in its paths. 14 Before daylight the murderer rises and he kills poor and needy people; in the night he is like a thief. 15 Also, the eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight; he says, ‘No eye will see me.’ He disguises his face. 16 In the darkness wicked people dig into houses; but they shut themselves up in the daytime; they do not care for the light. 17 For all of them, thick darkness is like the morning; for they are friends with the terrors of thick darkness. 18 Swiftly they pass away, however, like foam on the surface of the waters; their portion of the land is cursed; no one goes to work in their vineyards. 19 As drought and heat melt away the snow into waters, so Sheol takes away those who have sinned. 20 The womb that bore him will forget him; the worm will feed sweetly on him; he will be remembered no more; in this way, wickedness will be broken like a tree. 21 The wicked one devours the barren women who have not borne children; he does no good to the widow. 22 Yet God drags away the mighty people by his power; he rises up and does not strengthen them in life. 23 God allows them to think they are secure, and they are happy about that, but his eyes are on their ways. 24 These people are exalted; still, in only a little while, they will be gone; indeed, they will be brought low; they will be gathered up like all the others; they will be cut off like the tops of ears of grain. 25 If it is not so, who can prove me to be a liar; who can make my speech worth nothing?” Chapter 25 1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said, 2 “Dominion and fear are with him; he makes order in his high places of heaven. 3 Is there any end to the number of his armies? Upon whom does his light not shine? 4 How then can man be righteous with God? How can he who is born of a woman be clean, acceptable to him? 5 See, even the moon has no brightness to him; the stars are not pure in his sight. 6 How much less man, who is a worm— a son of man, who is a worm!” Chapter 26 1 Then Job answered and said, 2 “How you have helped one who has no power! How you have saved the arm that has no strength! 3 How you have advised one who has no wisdom and announced to him sound knowledge! 4 With whose help have you spoken these words? Whose spirit was it that came out from you? 5 The dead are made to tremble, those who are beneath the waters and all who dwell in them. 6 Sheol is naked before God; destruction itself has no covering against him. 7 He stretches out the northern skies over the empty space, and he hangs the earth over nothing. 8 He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, but the clouds are not torn under them. 9 He covers the surface of the moon and spreads his clouds on it. 10 He has engraved a circular boundary on the surface of the waters as the line between light and darkness. 11 The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his rebuke. 12 He calmed the sea with his power; by his understanding he shattered Rahab. 13 By his breath he made the skies clear; his hand pierced the fleeing serpent. 14 See, these are but the fringes of his ways; how small a whisper do we hear of him! Who can understand the thunder of his power?” Chapter 27 1 Job resumed speaking and he said, 2 “As surely as God lives, who has taken away my justice, the Almighty, who made my life bitter, 3 while my life is yet in me, and the breath from God is in my nostrils, this is what I will do. 4 My lips will not speak wickedness, neither will my tongue speak deceit; 5 I will never admit that you three are right; until I die I will never deny my integrity. 6 I hold fast to my righteousness and will not let it go; my thoughts will not reproach me so long as I live. 7 Let my enemy be like a wicked man; let him who rises up against me be like an unrighteous man. 8 For what is the hope of a godless man when God cuts him off, when God takes away his life? 9 Will God hear his cry when trouble comes upon him? 10 Will he delight himself in the Almighty and call upon God at all times? 11 I will teach you concerning the hand of God; I will not conceal the thoughts of the Almighty. 12 See, all of you have seen this yourselves; why then have you spoken all this nonsense? 13 This is the portion of a wicked man with God, the heritage of the oppressor that he receives from the Almighty: 14 If his children multiply, it is for the sword; his offspring will never have enough food. 15 Those who survive him will be buried by plague, and their widows will make no lament for them. 16 Though the wicked man heaps up silver like the dust, and heaps up clothing like clay, 17 he may heap up clothing, but righteous people will put it on, and innocent people will divide up the silver among themselves. 18 He builds his house like a spider, like a hut that a guard makes. 19 He lies down in bed rich, but he will not keep doing so; he opens his eyes, and everything is gone. 20 Terrors overtake him like waters; a storm takes him away in the night. 21 The east wind carries him away, and he leaves; it sweeps him out of his place. 22 It throws itself at him and does not stop; he tries to flee out of its hand. 23 It claps its hands at him and hisses him from his place. Chapter 28 1 Surely there is a mine for silver, a place where they refine gold. 2 Iron is taken out of the earth; copper is smelted out of the stone. 3 A man sets an end to darkness and searches out, to the farthest limit, the stones in obscurity and thick darkness. 4 He breaks open a shaft away from where people live, places that are forgotten by anyone’s foot. He hangs far away from people; he swings to and fro. 5 As for the earth, out of which comes bread, it is turned up below as if by fire. 6 Its stones are the place where sapphires are found, and its dust contains gold. 7 No bird of prey knows the path to it, nor has the falcon’s eye seen it. 8 The proud animals have not walked such a path, nor has the fierce lion passed there. 9 A man lays his hand on the flinty rock; he overturns mountains by their roots. 10 He cuts out channels among the rocks; his eye sees every valuable thing there. 11 He ties up the streams so they do not run; what is hidden there he brings out to the light. 12 Where will wisdom be found? Where is the place of understanding? 13 Man does not know its price; neither is it found in the land of the living. 14 The deep waters under the earth say, ‘It is not in me’; the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’ 15 It cannot be gotten for gold; neither can silver be weighed as its price. 16 It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with precious onyx or sapphire. 17 Gold and crystal cannot equal it in worth; neither can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold. 18 No mention is worth making of coral or jasper; indeed, the price of wisdom is more than rubies. 19 The topaz of Cush does not equal it; neither can it be valued in terms of pure gold. 20 From where, then, comes wisdom? Where is the place of understanding? 21 Wisdom is hidden from the eyes of all living things and is kept hidden from the birds of the heavens. 22 Destruction and Death say, ‘We have heard just a rumor about it with our ears.’ 23 God understands the way to it; he knows its place. 24 For he looks to the very ends of the earth and sees under all the heavens. 25 He made the force of the wind and parceled out the waters by measure. 26 He made a decree for the rain and a path for the thunder. 27 Then he saw wisdom and announced it; he established it, indeed, and he examined it. 28 To people he said, ‘See, the fear of the Lord—that is wisdom; to depart from evil is understanding.’” Chapter 29 1 Job resumed speaking and said, 2 “Oh, that I were as I was in the past months when God cared for me, 3 when his lamp shined on my head, and when I walked through darkness by his light. 4 Oh, that I were as I was in the ripeness of my days when the friendship of God was on my tent, 5 when the Almighty was yet with me, and my children were around me, 6 when my way was covered with cream, and the rock poured out for me streams of oil! 7 When I went out to the city gate, when I sat in my place in the city square, 8 the young men saw me and kept their distance from me in respect, and the aged people rose and stood for me. 9 The princes used to refrain from talking when I came; they would lay their hand on their mouths. 10 The voices of the noblemen were hushed, and their tongue clung to the roof of their mouths. 11 For after their ears heard me, they would then bless me; after their eyes saw me, they would then give witness to me and approve of me 12 because I rescued the one who was poor when he cried out, and the one who had no father when he had no one to help him. 13 The blessing of him who was about to perish came on me; I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. 14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban. 15 I was eyes to blind people; I was feet to lame people. 16 I was a father to needy people; I would examine the case even of one whom I did not know. 17 I broke the jaws of the unrighteous man; I plucked the victim out from between his teeth. 18 Then I said, ‘I will die in my nest; I will multiply my days like the grains of sand. 19 My roots are spread out to the waters, and dew lies all night on my branches. 20 The honor in me is always fresh, and the bow of my strength is always new in my hand.’ 21 To me men listened; they waited for me; they stayed silent to hear my advice. 22 After my words were done, they did not speak again; my speech dropped like water on them. 23 They always waited for me as they waited for rain; they opened their mouth wide to drink in my words, as they would do for the latter rain. 24 I smiled on them when they did not expect it; they did not reject the light of my face. 25 I selected their way and sat as their chief; I lived like a king in his army, like one who comforts mourners. Chapter 30 1 Now those who are younger than I have nothing but mockery for me— these young men whose fathers I would have refused to allow to work beside the dogs of my flock. 2 Indeed, the strength of their fathers’ hands, how could it have helped me— men in whom the strength of their mature age had perished? 3 They were thin from poverty and hunger; they gnawed at the dry ground in the darkness of wilderness and desolation. 4 They plucked saltwort and bushes’ leaves; the roots of the broom tree were their food. 5 They were driven out from among people who shouted after them as one would shout after a thief. 6 So they had to live in river valleys, in holes of the earth and of the rocks. 7 Among the bushes they brayed like donkeys and they gathered together under the nettles. 8 They were the sons of fools, indeed, sons of nameless people! They were driven out of the land with whips. 9 But now I have become the subject of their taunting song; I have become a byword for them. 10 They abhor me and stand far off from me; they do not refrain from spitting in my face. 11 For God has unstrung the string to my bow and afflicted me, and those who taunt me cast off restraint before my face. 12 Upon my right hand rise the rabble; they drive me away and pile up against me their siege mounds. 13 They destroy my path; they push forward disaster for me, men who have no one to hold them back. 14 They come against me like an army through a wide hole in a city wall; in the midst of the destruction they roll themselves in on me. 15 Terrors are turned upon me; my honor is driven away as if by the wind; my prosperity passes away as a cloud. 16 Now my life is pouring out from within me; many days of suffering have laid hold on me. 17 In the night my bones in me are pierced; the pains that gnaw at me take no rest. 18 God’s great force has seized my clothing; it wraps around me like the collar of my tunic. 19 He has thrown me into the mud; I have become like dust and ashes. 20 I cry to you, God, but you do not answer me; I stand up, and you merely look at me. 21 You have changed and become cruel to me; with the strength of your hand you persecute me. 22 You lift me up to the wind and cause it to drive me along; you throw me back and forth in a storm. [1] 23 For I know that you will bring me to death, to the house appointed for all the living. 24 However, does no one reach out with his hand to beg for help when he falls? Does no one in trouble call out for help? 25 Did not I weep for him who was in trouble? Did I not grieve for the needy man? 26 When I hoped for good, then evil came; when I waited for light, darkness came instead. 27 My heart is troubled and does not rest; days of affliction have come on me. 28 I have gone about like one who was living in the dark, but not because of the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help. 29 I am a brother to jackals, a companion of ostriches. 30 My skin is black and falls away from me; my bones are burned with heat. 31 Therefore my harp is tuned for songs of mourning, my flute for the singing of those who wail. 30:22 [1] Some modern versions have you dissolve me in a storm . Chapter 31 1 I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then should I look with desire on a virgin? 2 For what is the portion from God above, the inheritance from the Almighty on high? 3 I used to think that calamity is for unrighteous people, and that disaster is for doers of wickedness. 4 Does not God see my ways and count all my steps? 5 If I have walked with falsehood, if my foot has hurried to deceit, 6 let me be weighed in an even balance so that God will know my integrity. 7 If my step has turned aside from the way, if my heart has gone after my eyes, if any spot has stuck to my hands, 8 then let me sow, and let another eat, and let my crops be uprooted. 9 If my heart has been deceived by a woman, if I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door, 10 then let my wife grind grain for another, and let others bow down on her. 11 For that would be a terrible crime; indeed, it would be a crime to be punished by judges. 12 For that is a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon, and it would burn all my harvest to the root. 13 If I ignored the plea for justice from my male or female servant when they argued with me, 14 what then would I do when God rises up to accuse me? When he comes to judge me, how would I answer him? 15 Did the one who made me in the womb not make them also? Did not the same one mold us all in the womb? 16 If I have withheld poor people from their desire, or if I have caused the eyes of the widow to grow dim from crying, 17 or if I have eaten my morsel alone and not allowed those without fathers to eat it also— 18 because from my youth the orphan grew up with me as with a father, and I have guided his mother, a widow, from my own mother’s womb. 19 If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or if I have seen that a needy man had no clothing; 20 if his heart has not blessed me because he has not been warmed with the wool of my sheep, 21 if I have lifted up my hand against fatherless people because I saw my support in the city gate, then bring charges against me! 22 If I have done these things, then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder blade, and let my arm be broken from its joint. 23 For I dreaded destruction from God; because of his majesty, I was not able to do those things. 24 If I have made gold my hope, and if I have said to fine gold, ‘You are what I am confident in’; 25 if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, because my hand had gotten many possessions, then bring charges against me! 26 If I have seen the sun when it shone, or the moon walking in its brightness, 27 and if my heart has been secretly attracted, so that my mouth has kissed my hand in worship of them— 28 this also would be a crime to be punished by judges, for I would have denied the God who is above. 29 If I have rejoiced at the destruction of anyone who hated me or congratulated myself when disaster overtook him, then bring charges against me! 30 Indeed, I have not even allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his life with a curse. 31 If the men of my tent have never said, ‘Who can find one who has not been filled with Job’s food?’ 32 (even the foreigner has never had to stay in the city square, because I have always opened my doors to the traveler), and if that is not so, then bring charges against me! 33 If, like mankind, I have hidden my sins by hiding my guilt inside my tunic 34 (because I feared the great multitude, because the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silent and would not go outside), then bring charges against me! 35 Oh, if only I had someone to hear me! See, here is my signature; let the Almighty answer me! If only I had the indictment that my opponent has written! 36 Surely I would carry it openly on my shoulder; I would put it on like a crown. 37 I would declare to him an accounting for my steps; as a confident prince I would go up to him. 38 If my land ever cries out against me, and its furrows weep together, 39 if I have eaten its harvest without paying for it or have caused its owners to lose their lives, 40 then let thorns grow instead of wheat and weeds instead of barley.” The words of Job are finished. Chapter 32 1 So these three men stopped answering Job because he was righteous in his own eyes. 2 Then was kindled the anger of Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram; it was kindled against Job because he justified himself rather than God. 3 Elihu’s anger was also kindled against his three friends because they had found no answer to Job, and yet they had condemned Job. 4 Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because the other men were older than he. 5 However, when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouths of these three men, his anger was kindled. 6 Then Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite spoke up and said, “I am young, and you are very old. That is why I held back and did not dare to tell you my own opinion. 7 I said, ‘Length of days should speak; a multitude of years should teach wisdom. 8 But there is a spirit in a man; the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding. 9 It is not only the great people who are wise, nor the aged people alone who understand justice.’ 10 Therefore I say to you, ‘Listen to me; I will also tell you my knowledge.’ 11 See, I waited for your words; I listened to your arguments while you were thinking about what to say. 12 Indeed, I paid attention to you, but, see, there was not one of you who could convince Job or who could respond to his words. 13 Be careful not to say, ‘We have found wisdom!’ God will have to defeat Job; mere man cannot do it. 14 For Job has not directed his words against me, so I will not answer him with your words. 15 These three men are dumbfounded; they can answer Job no longer; they have not a word more to say. 16 Should I wait because they are not speaking, because they stand there silent and answer no more? 17 No, I also will answer on my part; I will also tell them my knowledge. 18 For I am full of words; the spirit in me compels me. 19 See, my breast is like fermenting wine that has no vent; like new wineskins, it is ready to burst. 20 I will speak so that I may be refreshed; I will open my lips and answer. 21 I will not show favoritism; neither will I give honorific titles to any man. 22 For I do not know how to give such titles; if I did so, my Maker would soon take me away. Chapter 33 1 So now, Job, I beg you, hear my speech; listen to all my words. 2 See now, I have opened my mouth; my tongue has spoken in my mouth. 3 My words come from the uprightness of my heart; my lips speak pure knowledge. 4 The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty has given me life. 5 If you can, answer me; set your words in order before me and stand up. 6 See, I am just as you are in God’s sight; I also have been formed out of the clay. 7 See, terror of me will not make you afraid; neither will my pressure be heavy upon you. 8 You have certainly spoken in my hearing; I have heard the sound of your words saying, 9 ‘I am clean and without transgression; I am innocent, and there is no sin in me. 10 See, God finds opportunities to attack me; he regards me as his enemy. 11 He puts my feet in stocks; he watches all my paths.’ 12 See, in this you are not right—I will answer you, for God is greater than man. 13 Why do you struggle against him? He does not account for any of his doings. 14 For God speaks once— yes, twice, though man does not notice it. 15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, in slumber on the bed— 16 then God opens the ears of men, and frightens them with threats, 17 in order to pull man back from his sinful purposes, and keep pride from him. 18 God keeps man’s life back from the pit, his life from crossing over to death. 19 Man is punished also with pain on his bed, with constant agony in his bones, 20 so that his life abhors food, and his soul abhors delicacies. 21 His flesh is consumed away so that it cannot be seen; his bones, once not seen, now stick out. 22 Indeed, his soul draws close to the pit, his life to those who wish to destroy it. 23 But if there is an angel who can be a mediator for him, one out of a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him, 24 to be gracious to him and say, ‘Save this person from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom for him.’ 25 Then his flesh will become fresher than a child’s; it is restored to the days of his youth. 26 He will pray to God, and God will be kind to him, so that he sees God’s face with joy. God will give the person his triumph. 27 Then that person will sing in front of other people and say, ‘I sinned and perverted that which was right, but my sin was not punished. 28 God has rescued my soul from going down into the pit; my life will continue to see light.’ 29 See, God does all these things with a person, twice, yes, even three times, 30 to bring his soul back from the pit, so that he may be enlightened with the light of life. 31 Pay attention, Job, and listen to me; be silent and I will speak. 32 If you have anything to say, answer me; speak, for I wish to prove that you are in the right. 33 If not, then listen to me; remain silent, and I will teach you wisdom.” Chapter 34 1 Moreover, Elihu continued to speak: 2 “Listen to my words, you wise men; hear me, you who have knowledge. 3 For the ear tries words as the palate tastes food. 4 Let us choose for ourselves what is just: let us discover among ourselves what is good. 5 For Job has said, ‘I am righteous, but God has taken away my rights. 6 Regardless of my rights, I am considered to be a liar. My wound is incurable, although I am without sin.’ 7 What man is like Job, who drinks up mockery like water, 8 who goes around in the company of those who do evil, and who walks with wicked men? 9 For he has said, ‘It is no use to a person to take pleasure in doing what God wants.’ 10 So listen to me, you men of understanding: far be it from God that he should do wickedness; far be it from the Almighty that he should commit sin. 11 For he pays back a person’s work; he makes every man come upon the reward of his own ways. 12 Indeed, God does nothing wicked, nor does the Almighty ever pervert justice. 13 Who put him in charge over the earth? Who put the whole world under him? 14 If he ever set his intentions only on himself, and if he ever gathered back to himself his spirit and his breath, 15 then all flesh would perish together; mankind would return to dust again. 16 If now you have understanding, listen to this; listen to the sound of my words. 17 Can one who hates justice govern? Will you condemn God, who is righteous and mighty? 18 God, who says to a king, ‘You are vile,’ or says to nobles, ‘You are wicked’? 19 God, who does not show favoritism to leaders and does not acknowledge rich people more than poor, for they all are the work of his hands. 20 In a moment they will die; at midnight people will be shaken and will pass away; mighty people will be taken away, but not by human hands. 21 For God’s eyes are upon a person’s ways; he sees all his steps. 22 There is no darkness, no thick gloom where the doers of iniquity may hide themselves. 23 For God does not need to examine a person further; there is no need for any person to go before him in judgment. 24 He breaks mighty men into pieces for their ways that need no further investigation; he puts others in their places. 25 In this way he has knowledge of their deeds; he overthrows these people in the night; they are destroyed. 26 In the open sight of others, he kills them for their wicked deeds like criminals 27 because they turned away from following him and refused to acknowledge any of his ways. 28 In this way, they made the cry of poor people come to him; he heard the cry of afflicted people. 29 When he stays silent, who can condemn him? If he hides his face, who can perceive him? He rules over nation and individual alike, 30 so that a godless man may not rule, so that there may be no one to entrap people. 31 Suppose someone says to God, ‘I am certainly guilty, but I will not sin any longer; 32 teach me what I cannot see; I have committed sin, but I will do it no longer.’ 33 Do you think that God will punish that person’s sin, since you dislike what God does? You must choose, not I. So say what it is that you know. 34 Men of understanding will say to me— indeed, every wise man who hears me will say, 35 ‘Job speaks without knowledge; his words are without wisdom.’ 36 If only Job were put on trial in the smallest details of his case because of his talking like wicked men. 37 For he adds rebellion to his sin; he claps his hands in mockery in our midst; he piles up words against God.” Chapter 35 1 Moreover Elihu continued, saying, 2 “Do you think this is just when you say, ‘My right before God’? 3 For you ask, ‘What use is it to me?’ and, ‘Would I be better off if I had sinned?’ 4 I will answer you, both you and your friends. 5 Look up at the sky, and see it; see the sky, which is higher than you. 6 If you have sinned, what harm do you do to God? If your transgressions pile up high, what do you do to him? 7 If you are righteous, what can you give to him? What will he receive from your hand? 8 Your wickedness may hurt a man, as you are a man, and your righteousness might benefit another son of man. 9 Because of many acts of oppression, people cry out; they call for help from the arms of mighty men. 10 But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night, 11 who teaches us more than he teaches the beasts of the earth, and who makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?’ 12 There they cry out, but God gives no answer because of the pride of evil men. 13 God will certainly not hear a foolish cry; the Almighty will pay no attention to it. 14 How much less will he answer you if you say that you do not see him, that your case is before him, and that you are waiting for him! 15 Now you say that his anger does not punish, and he does not take even a litte notice of transgression. 16 So Job opens his mouth only to speak foolishness; he piles up words without knowledge.” Chapter 36 1 Elihu continued on and said, 2 “Permit me to speak a little longer, and I will show you some things because I have a little more to say in defense of God. 3 I will obtain my knowledge from far off; I will acknowledge that righteousness belongs to my Maker. 4 For indeed, my words will not be false; someone who is mature in knowledge is with you. 5 See, God is mighty, and despises no one; he is mighty in strength of understanding. 6 He does not preserve the life of wicked people but instead does what is right for those who suffer. 7 He does not withdraw his eyes from righteous people but instead sets them on thrones like kings forever, and they are lifted up. 8 If they are bound in chains and trapped in cords of suffering, 9 then he reveals to them what they have done, and their transgressions and their pride. 10 He also opens their ears to his instruction, and commands them to turn back from iniquity. 11 If they listen to him and worship him, they will spend their days in prosperity, their years in contentment. 12 However, if they do not listen, they will perish by the sword; they will die because they have no knowledge. 13 Those who are godless in heart store up their anger; they do not cry out for help even when God ties them up. 14 They die in their youth; their lives end among the cultic prostitutes. 15 God rescues afflicted people by means of their afflictions; he opens their ears by means of their oppression. 16 Indeed, he would like to draw you out of distress into a broad place where there is no hardship and where your table would be set with food full of fatness. 17 But you are full of judgment on wicked people; judgment and justice have laid hold of you. 18 Do not let your anger entice you to mockery, or the greatness of a ransom to turn you aside. 19 Can your wealth benefit you, so that you will not be in distress, or can all the force of your strength help you? 20 Do not desire the night, to commit sin against others, when peoples are cut off in their place. 21 Be careful that you do not turn to sin because you are being tested by suffering so that you will stay away from sinning. 22 See, God is exalted in his power; who is a teacher like him? 23 Who has ever instructed him about his way? Who can ever say to him, ‘You have committed unrighteousness?’ 24 Remember to praise his deeds, of which people have sung. 25 All people have looked on those deeds, but they see those deeds only from far away. 26 See, God is great, but we do not understand him well; the number of his years is incalculable. 27 For he draws up the drops of water that he distills as rain from his vapor, [1] 28 which the clouds pour down and drop in abundance on mankind. 29 Indeed, can anyone understand the extensive spread of the clouds and the thunder from his hut? 30 See, he spreads his lightning around him and covers the roots of the sea. 31 In this way he judges the peoples and gives food in abundance. 32 He fills his hands with the lightning until he commands it to strike its mark. 33 Its thunder warns of the storm, the cattle can also hear it is coming. 36:27 [1] Some modern versions have that distill as rain from his vapor . Chapter 37 1 Indeed, my heart trembles at this; it is moved out of its place. 2 Hear, oh, hear the noise of his voice, the sound that goes out from his mouth. 3 He sends it out under the whole sky, and he sends out his lightning to the edges of the earth. 4 A voice roars after it; he thunders with the voice of his majesty; he does not restrain the lightning bolts when his voice is heard. 5 God thunders marvelously with his voice; he does great things that we cannot comprehend. 6 For he says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth’; likewise to the rain shower, ‘Become a great shower of rain.’ 7 He stops the hand of every man from working, so that all people whom he has made may see his deeds. 8 Then the beasts go into hiding and stay in their dens. 9 The storm comes from its chamber in the south and the cold from the scattering winds in the north. 10 By the breath of God ice is given; the expanse of the waters is frozen like metal. 11 Indeed, he weighs down the thick cloud with moisture; he scatters his lightning through the clouds. 12 He swirls the clouds around by his guidance, so that they may do whatever he commands them above the surface of the whole world. 13 He makes all of this happen; sometimes it happens for correction, sometimes for his land, and sometimes as acts of covenant faithfulness. 14 Listen to this, Job; stop and think about God’s marvelous deeds. 15 Do you know how God establishes the clouds and makes the lightning bolts to flash in them? 16 Do you understand the floating of the clouds, the marvelous deeds of God, who is perfect in knowledge? 17 Do you understand how your garments become hot when the land is still because the wind comes from the south? 18 Can you spread out the sky as he can— the sky, which is as strong as a mirror of cast metal? 19 Teach us what we should say to him, for we cannot lay out our arguments in order because of the darkness of our minds. 20 Should he be told that I wish to speak with him? Would a person wish to be swallowed up? 21 Now, people cannot look at the sun when it is bright in the sky after the wind has passed through and has cleared it of its clouds. 22 Out of the north comes golden splendor— over God is fearsome majesty. 23 As for the Almighty, we cannot find him! He is great in power; he does not oppress justice and abundant righteousness. 24 Therefore, people fear him. He does not pay any attention to those who are wise in their own minds.” Chapter 38 1 Then Yahweh called to Job out of a fierce storm and said, 2 “Who is this who brings darkness to plans by means of words without knowledge? 3 Now gird up your loins like a man for I will ask you questions, and you must answer me. 4 Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundations? Tell me, if you have so much understanding. 5 Who determined its dimensions? Tell me, if you know. Who stretched the measuring line over it? 6 On what were its foundations laid? Who laid its cornerstone 7 when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? 8 Who shut up the sea with doors when it burst out, as if it had come out of the womb— 9 when I made clouds its clothing, and thick darkness its swaddling bands? 10 That was when I marked out for the sea my boundary, and when I placed its bars and doors, 11 and when I said to it, ‘You may come this far, but no farther; here is where I will put a boundary to the pride of your waves.’ 12 Have you given orders to the morning, or caused the dawn to know its place, 13 so that it might take hold of the edges of the earth and shake the wicked out of it? 14 The earth is changed in appearance like clay changes under a seal; all things on it stand out clearly like the folds of a piece of clothing. 15 From wicked people their ‘light’ is taken away; their uplifted arm is broken. 16 Have you gone to the sources of the waters of the sea? Have you walked in the lowest parts of the deep? 17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death? 18 Have you understood the earth in its expanse? Tell me, if you know it all. 19 Where is the way to the resting place of light— as for darkness, where is its place? 20 Can you lead light and darkness to their places of work? Can you find the way back to their houses for them? 21 Undoubtedly you know, for you were born then; the number of your days is so large! 22 Have you entered the storehouses for the snow, or have you seen the storehouses for the hail, 23 these things that I have kept for times of trouble, for days of battle and war? 24 What is the path to where the lightning bolts are distributed or to where the winds are scattered from the east over the earth? 25 Who has created the channels for the floods of rain, or who has made a path for the thunder, 26 to cause it to rain on lands where no person exists, and on the wilderness, in which there is no one, 27 to satisfy the devastated and desolate places, and to make the ground sprout with grass? 28 Does the rain have a father, or, who fathers the drops of dew? 29 Out of whose womb did the ice come? Who bore the white frost out of the sky? 30 The waters hide themselves and become like stone; the surface of the deep becomes frozen. 31 Can you fasten chains on the Pleiades, or undo the cords of Orion? 32 Can you lead the constellations to appear at their proper times? Can you guide the Bear with its children? 33 Do you know the regulations of the sky? Could you set in place the sky’s rule over the earth? 34 Can you raise your voice up to the clouds, so that an abundance of rainwater may cover you? 35 Can you send out bolts of lightning that they may go out, that they say to you, ‘Here we are’? 36 Who has put wisdom in the clouds or has given understanding to the mists? 37 Who can number the clouds by his skill? Who can pour out the water skins of the sky 38 when the dust runs into a hard mass and the clods of earth clump tightly together? 39 Can you hunt down a victim for a lioness or satisfy the appetite of her young lion cubs 40 when they are crouching in their dens and sheltering in hiding to lie in wait? 41 Who provides victims for the ravens when their young ones cry out to God and stagger about for lack of food? Chapter 39 1 Do you know at what time the wild goats in the rocks bear their young? Can you watch when the deer are having their fawns? 2 Can you count the months that they gestate? Do you know the time when they bear their young? 3 They crouch down and birth their young, and then they finish their labor pains. 4 Their young ones become strong and grow up in the open fields; they go out and do not come back again. 5 Who let the wild donkey go free? Who has untied the bonds of the swift donkey, 6 whose home I have made in the Arabah, his house in the salt land? 7 He laughs in scorn at the noises in the city; he does not hear the driver’s shouts. 8 He roams over the mountains as his pastures; there he looks for every green plant to eat. 9 Will the wild ox be happy to serve you? Will he consent to stay by your manger? 10 Can you use ropes to hold the wild ox in the furrows? Will he harrow the valleys as he follows after you? 11 Will you trust him because his strength is great? Will you leave your work to him to do? 12 Will you depend on him to bring your grain home, to gather the grain for your threshing floor? 13 The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, but are they the pinions and plumage of love? 14 For she leaves her eggs on the earth, and she lets them keep warm in the dust; 15 she forgets that a foot might crush them or that a wild beast might trample them. 16 She deals roughly with her young ones as if they were not hers; she does not fear that her labor might have been in vain, 17 because God has deprived her of wisdom and has not given her any understanding. 18 When she runs swiftly, she laughs in scorn at the horse and its rider. 19 Have you given the horse his strength? Did you clothe his neck with his flowing mane? 20 Have you ever made him jump like a locust? The majesty of his snorting is fearsome. 21 He paws in might and rejoices in his strength; he rushes out to meet the weapons. 22 He mocks fear and is not dismayed; he does not turn back from the sword. 23 The quiver rattles against his flank, along with the flashing spear and the javelin. 24 He swallows up ground with fierceness and rage; at the trumpet’s sound, he cannot stand in one place. 25 Whenever the trumpet sounds, he says, ‘Aha!’ He smells the battle from far away— the thunderous shouts of the commanders and the outcries. 26 Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, that he stretches out his wings for the south? 27 Is it at your orders that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest in high places? 28 He lives on cliffs and makes his home on the peaks of cliffs, a stronghold. 29 From there he searches for victims; his eyes see them from very far away. 30 His young also drink up blood; where killed people are, there he is.” Chapter 40 1 Yahweh continued to speak to Job; he said, 2 “Should anyone who wishes to criticize try to correct the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer.” 3 Then Job answered Yahweh and said, 4 “See, I am insignificant; how can I answer you? I put my hand over my mouth. 5 I spoke once, and I will not answer; indeed, twice, but I will proceed no further.” 6 Then Yahweh answered Job out of a fierce storm and said, 7 “Now gird up your loins like a man, for I will ask you questions, and you must answer me. 8 Will you actually say that I am unjust? Will you condemn me so you may claim you are right? 9 Do you have an arm like God’s? Can you thunder with a voice like him? 10 Now clothe yourself in glory and dignity; array yourself in honor and majesty. 11 Scatter around the excess of your anger; look at everyone who is proud and bring him down. 12 Look at everyone who is proud and bring him low; trample down wicked people where they stand. 13 Bury them in the earth together; imprison their faces in the hidden place. 14 Then will I also acknowledge about you that your own right hand can save you. 15 Look now at the behemoth, which I made when I made you; he eats grass like an ox. 16 See now, his strength is in his loins; his power is in his belly’s muscles. 17 He makes his tail like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are joined together. 18 His bones are like tubes of bronze; his legs are like bars of iron. 19 He is the chief of the creatures of God. Only God, who made him, can defeat him. 20 For the hills provide him with food; the beasts of the field play nearby. 21 He lies under the lotus plants in the shelter of the reeds, in the marshes. 22 The lotus plants cover him with their shade; the willows of the brook are all around him. 23 See, if a river floods its banks, he does not tremble; he is confident, though the Jordan should surge up to his mouth. 24 Can anyone capture him with a hook, or pierce his nose through with a snare? Chapter 41 1 Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook? Or tie up his jaws with a cord? 2 Can you put a rope into his nose, or pierce his jaw through with a hook? 3 Will he make many pleas to you? Will he speak soft words to you? 4 Will he make a covenant with you, that you should take him for a servant forever? 5 Will you play with him as you would with a bird? Will you tie him up for your servant girls? 6 Will the groups of fishermen bargain for him? Will they divide him up to trade among the merchants? 7 Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears? 8 Put your hand on him just once, and you will remember the battle and do it no more. 9 See, the hope of anyone who does that is a lie; will not anyone be thrown down to the ground just by the sight of him? 10 None is so fierce that he dare stir Leviathan up; who, then, is he who can stand before me? 11 Who has first given anything to me in order that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole sky is mine. 12 I will not keep silent concerning Leviathan’s legs, nor about the matter of his strength, nor about his graceful form. 13 Who can strip off his outer covering? Who can penetrate his double armor? 14 Who can open the doors of his face— ringed with his teeth, which are a terror? 15 his back is made up of rows of shields, tight together as with a close seal. 16 One is so near to another that no air can come between them. 17 They are joined to each other; they stick together, so that they cannot be pulled apart. 18 Light flashes out from his snorting; his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning dawn. 19 Out of his mouth go burning torches, sparks of fire leap out. 20 Out of his nostrils goes smoke like a boiling pot on a fire that has been fanned to be very hot. 21 His breath kindles coals into flame; fires go out from his mouth. 22 In his neck is strength, and terror dances in front of him. 23 The folds of his flesh are joined together; they are firm on him; they cannot be moved. 24 His heart is as hard as a stone— indeed, as hard as a lower millstone. 25 When he raises himself up, even the gods become afraid; because of fear, they draw back. 26 If a sword strikes him, it does nothing— and neither does a spear, an arrow, or any other pointed weapon. 27 He thinks of iron as if it were straw, and of bronze as if it were rotten wood. 28 An arrow cannot make him flee; to him sling stones become chaff. 29 Clubs are regarded as straw; he laughs at the whirring flight of a spear. 30 His lower parts are like sharp pieces of broken pottery; he leaves a spreading trail in the mud as if he were a threshing sledge. 31 He makes the deep to foam up like a pot of boiling water; he makes the sea like a pot of ointment. 32 He makes a shining wake behind him; one would think the deep had gray hair. 33 On earth there is no equal to him, who has been made to live without fear. 34 He sees everything that is proud; he is king over all the sons of pride.” Chapter 42 1 Then Job answered Yahweh and said, 2 “I know that you can do all things, that no purpose of yours can be stopped. 3 ‘Who is this who without knowledge conceals plans?’ Indeed, I have spoken things that I did not understand, things too difficult for me to understand, which I did not know about. 4 You said to me, ‘Listen, now, and I will speak; I will ask you things, and you will tell me.’ 5 I had heard about you by my ear’s hearing, but now my eye sees you. 6 So I despise myself; I repent in dust and ashes.” 7 It came about that after he had said these words to Job, Yahweh said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has done. 8 Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer, so that I may not deal with you after your folly. You have not said what is right about me, as my servant Job has done.” 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as Yahweh had commanded them, and Yahweh accepted Job. 10 When Job prayed for his friends, Yahweh restored his fortunes. Yahweh gave him twice as much as he had possessed before. 11 Then all Job’s brothers, and all his sisters, and all who knew him before, came to him and ate food with him in his house. They showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the disasters that Yahweh had brought upon him, and each of them gave Job a piece of silver and a ring of gold. 12 Yahweh blessed the final end of Job’s life more than the first; he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. 13 He also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 He named the first daughter Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-Happuch. 15 In all the land no women were found as beautiful as Job’s daughters. Their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers. 16 After this, Job lived 140 years; he saw his sons and his sons’ sons, up to four generations. 17 Then Job died, being old and full of days. Psalms Book One Psalm 1 1 Happy is the man who walks not in the advice of the wicked {ones}, and stands not in the pathway of sinners, and sits not in the seat of scoffers. 2 But in the instruction of Yahweh {is} his delight, and in his instruction he meditates day and night. 3 And he is like a tree transplanted on streams of water, which gives its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither, and he makes successful all that he does. 4 Not so the wicked {ones}! But {they are} like the chaff that wind chases away. 5 Thus the wicked {ones} will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous {ones}. 6 For Yahweh knows the way of the righteous {ones}, but the way of the wicked {ones} will perish. Psalm 2 1 Why do the nations conspire, and why do the peoples make plots in vain? 2 The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers conspire together against Yahweh and against his anointed, 3 “Let us break their bonds and let us cast their cords away from us.” 4 He who sits in the heavens sneers; the Lord mocks them. 5 Then he will speak to them in his anger and terrify them in his fury, 6 “I myself have anointed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.” 7 I will announce a decree of Yahweh. He said to me, “You are my son! Today I have fathered you. 8 Ask of me, and I will give the nations as your inheritance and for your possession the farthermost regions of the earth. 9 You will break them with an iron rod; like a jar of a potter, you will smash them to pieces.” 10 So now, you kings, act prudently; be instructed, you rulers of the earth. 11 Serve Yahweh in fear and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the son lest he be angry, and you die in the way because his anger burns for just a moment. How blessed are all those who seek refuge in him. Psalm 3 A psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. 1 Yahweh, how many are my enemies! Many have risen against me. 2 Many say about me, “There is no help for him from God.” Selah 3 But you, Yahweh, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head. 4 I lift up my voice to Yahweh, and he answers me from his holy hill. Selah 5 I lay down and slept; I awoke, for Yahweh protected me. 6 I will not be afraid of the multitudes of people who have set themselves against me on every side. 7 Rise up, Yahweh! Save me, my God! For you will hit all my enemies on the jaw; you will break the teeth of the wicked. 8 Salvation comes from Yahweh. May your blessings be on your people. Selah Psalm 4 For the chief musician; on stringed instruments. A psalm of David. 1 Answer me when I call, God of my righteousness; give me room when I am hemmed in. Have mercy on me and listen to my prayer. 2 You people, how long will you turn my honor into shame? How long will you love that which is worthless and seek after lies? Selah 3 But know that Yahweh has set apart the faithful ones for himself. Yahweh will hear when I call to him. 4 Tremble in fear, but do not sin! Meditate in your heart on your bed and be silent. Selah 5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness and put your trust in Yahweh. 6 Many say, “Who will show us anything good?” Yahweh, lift up the light of your face on us. 7 You have given my heart more gladness than others have when their grain and new wine abound. 8 It is in peace that I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Yahweh, make me safe and secure. Psalm 5 For the chief musician; with wind instruments. A psalm of David. 1 Listen to my call to you, Yahweh; think about my groanings. 2 Listen to the sound of my call, my King and my God, for it is to you that I pray. 3 Yahweh, in the morning you hear my cry; in the morning I will bring my petition to you and wait expectantly. 4 Certainly you are not a God who approves of evil; evil people will not be your guests. 5 The arrogant will not stand in your presence; you hate all who behave wickedly. 6 You will destroy liars; Yahweh despises violent and deceitful men. 7 But as for me, because of your great covenant faithfulness, I will come into your house; in reverence I will bow down toward your holy temple. 8 Oh Lord, lead me in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your path straight before me. 9 For there is no truth in their mouth; their inward being is wicked; their throat is an open tomb; they flatter with their tongue. 10 Declare them guilty, God; may their schemes be their downfall! Drive them out for their many transgressions, for they have rebelled against you. 11 But may all those who take refuge in you rejoice; let them always shout for joy because you defend them; let them be joyful in you, those who love your name. 12 For you will bless the righteous, Yahweh; you will surround them with favor as with a shield. Psalm 6 For the chief musician; on stringed instruments, set to the Sheminith style. A psalm of David. 1 Yahweh, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. 2 Have mercy on me, Yahweh, for I am frail; heal me, Yahweh, for my bones are shaking. 3 My soul also is very troubled. But you, Yahweh—how long will this continue? 4 Return, Yahweh! rescue me. Save me because of your covenant faithfulness! 5 For in death there is no remembrance of you. In Sheol who will give you thanks? 6 I am weary with my groaning. All night I drench my bed with tears; I wash my couch away with my tears. 7 My eyes grow dim from grief; they grow weak because of all my adversaries. 8 Get away from me, all you who practice iniquity; for Yahweh has heard the sound of my weeping. 9 Yahweh has heard my appeal for mercy; Yahweh has accepted my prayer. 10 All my enemies will be ashamed and greatly troubled. They will turn back and be suddenly humiliated. Psalm 7 A musical composition of David, which he sang to Yahweh concerning the words of Cush the Benjamite. 1 Yahweh my God, I take refuge in you! Save me from all who chase me, and rescue me. 2 Otherwise, they will rip me apart like a lion, tearing me in pieces with no one else able to bring me to safety. 3 Yahweh my God, if I have done this, and there is guilt on my hands— 4 if I have done evil to him who was at peace with me, or senselessly harmed my enemy without cause, then hear my words. 5 Then let my enemy pursue my life and overtake me; let him trample my life to the ground and lay my honor in the dust. Selah 6 Arise, Yahweh, in your anger; stand up against the rage of my enemies; wake up for my sake and carry out the righteous decrees that you have commanded for them. 7 The countries are assembled all around you; take once more your rightful place over them. 8 Yahweh, judge the nations; vindicate me, Yahweh, because I am righteous and innocent, Most High. 9 May the evil deeds of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous people, righteous God, you who examine hearts and minds. 10 My shield comes from God, the one who saves the upright in heart. 11 God is a righteous judge, a God who is indignant each day. 12 If a person does not repent, God will sharpen his sword and will prepare his bow for battle. 13 He prepares to use weapons against him; he makes his arrows flaming shafts. 14 Think about the one who is pregnant with wickedness, who conceives destructive plans, who gives birth to harmful lies. 15 He digs a pit and hollows it out and then falls into the hole he has made. 16 His own destructive plans return to his own head, for his violence comes down on his own head. 17 I will give thanks to Yahweh for his justice; I will sing praise to Yahweh Most High. Psalm 8 For the chief musician; set to the gittith style. A psalm of David. 1 Yahweh our Lord, how magnificent is your name in all the earth, you who reveal your glory in the heavens above. 2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants you have established praise [1] because of your enemies, so that you might silence both the enemy and the avenger. 3 When I look up at your heavens, which your fingers have made, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 Of what importance is the human race that you notice them, or mankind that you pay attention to them? 5 Yet you have made them only a little lower than the heavenly beings and have crowned them with glory and honor. 6 You make him to rule over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet: 7 all sheep and oxen, and even the animals of the field, 8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, everything that passes through the currents of the seas. 9 Yahweh our Lord, how magnificent is your name in all the earth! 8:2 [1] The Hebrew text can be read either as established praise or, established strength . Psalm 9 For the chief musician; set to Muth Labben style. A psalm of David. 1 I will give thanks to Yahweh with my whole heart; I will tell about all your marvelous deeds. 2 I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, Most High! 3 When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before you. 4 For you have defended my just cause; you sit on your throne, a righteous judge! 5 You rebuked the nations; you have destroyed the wicked; you have blotted out their name forever and ever. 6 The enemy crumbled like ruins when you overthrew their cities. All remembrance of them has perished. 7 But Yahweh remains forever; he has established his throne for justice. 8 He will judge the world with righteousness, and he will execute judgment for the nations with fairness. 9 Yahweh also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. 10 Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Yahweh, do not abandon those who seek you. 11 Sing praises to Yahweh, who rules in Zion; tell the nations what he has done. 12 For the God who avenges bloodshed remembers; he does not forget the cry of the oppressed. 13 Have mercy on me, Yahweh; see how I am oppressed by those who hate me, you who can snatch me from the gates of death. 14 Oh, that I might proclaim all your praise. In the gates of the daughter of Zion I will rejoice in your salvation! 15 The nations have sunk down into the pit that they made; their feet are caught in the net that they hid. 16 Yahweh has made himself known; he has executed judgment; the wicked is ensnared by his own actions. Selah 17 The wicked are turned back and sent to Sheol, all the nations that forget God. 18 For the needy will not always be forgotten, nor will the hope of the oppressed be forever dashed. 19 Arise, Yahweh; do not let man win against you; may the nations be judged in your sight. 20 Terrify them, Yahweh; may the nations know that they are mere men. Selah Psalm 10 1 Why, Yahweh, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? 2 Because of their arrogance, wicked people chase the oppressed; but please let the wicked be trapped by their own schemes that they have devised. 3 For the wicked person boasts of his deepest desires; he blesses the greedy and insults Yahweh. 4 The wicked man has a raised face; he does not seek God. He never thinks about God because he does not care at all about him. 5 He is secure at all times, but your righteous decrees are too high for him; he snorts at all his enemies. 6 He says in his heart,” I will never fail; throughout all generations I will not meet adversity.” 7 His mouth is full of curses and lies and oppression; under his tongue are mischief and evil. 8 He waits in ambush near the villages; in the secret places he murders the innocent; his eyes look for some helpless victim. 9 He lurks in secret like a lion in the thicket; he lies in wait to catch the oppressed. He catches the oppressed when he pulls in his net. 10 His victims are crushed and beaten down; they fall into his strong nets. 11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten; he covers his face; he will not bother to look.” 12 Arise, Yahweh! Lift up your hand, God! Do not forget the oppressed. 13 Why does the wicked man reject God and say in his heart, “You will not hold me accountable”? 14 You have taken notice, for you always see the one who inflicts the misery and sorrow. The helpless entrusts himself to you; you rescue the fatherless. 15 Break the arm of the wicked and evil man. Make him account for his evil deeds, which he thought you would not discover. 16 Yahweh is King forever and ever; the nations are driven out of his land. 17 Yahweh, you have heard the needs of the oppressed; you strengthen their heart, you listen to their prayer; 18 You defend the fatherless and the oppressed so that no man on the earth will cause terror again. Psalm 11 For the chief musician. A psalm of David. 1 To the Chief Musician A psalm of David I take refuge in Yahweh; how will you say to me, “Flee like a bird to the mountain”? 2 For see! The wicked prepare their bows. They make ready their arrows on the strings to shoot in the darkness at the upright in heart. 3 For if the foundations are ruined, what can the righteous do? 4 Yahweh is in his holy temple; his eyes watch, his eyes examine the children of mankind. 5 Yahweh examines both the righteous and the wicked, but he hates those who love to do violence. 6 He rains burning coals and brimstone upon the wicked; a scorching wind will be their portion from his cup! 7 For Yahweh is righteous, and he loves righteousness; the upright will see his face. Psalm 12 For the chief musician; set to the Sheminith. A psalm of David. 1 Help, Yahweh, for the faithful ones have disappeared; those who have integrity have vanished from the children of men. 2 Everyone says empty words to his neighbor; everyone speaks with flattering lips and a double heart. 3 Yahweh, cut off all flattering lips, every tongue declaring great things. 4 These are those who have said, “With our tongues will we prevail. When our lips speak, who can be master over us?” 5 “Because of violence against the poor, because of the groans of the needy, I will arise,” says Yahweh. “I will provide the safety for which they long.” 6 The words of Yahweh are pure words, like silver purified in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times. 7 You are Yahweh! You keep them. You preserve the godly people from this wicked generation and forever. 8 The wicked walk on every side when evil is exalted among the children of mankind. Psalm 13 For the chief musician. A psalm of David. 1 How long, Yahweh, will you keep forgetting about me? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I worry and have grief in my heart all day? How long will my enemy triumph over me? 3 Look at me and answer me, Yahweh my God! Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death. 4 Do not let my enemy say, “I have defeated him,” so that my enemy may not say, “I have prevailed over my adversary”; otherwise, my enemies will rejoice when I am brought down. 5 But I have trusted in your covenant faithfulness; my heart rejoices in your salvation. 6 I will sing to Yahweh because he has treated me very generously. Psalm 14 For the chief musician. A psalm of David. 1 To the chief musician A psalm of DavidA A fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt and have done abominable iniquity; there is no one who does good. 2 Yahweh looks down from heaven on the children of mankind to see if there are any who understand, who seek after him. 3 They have all turned away. Together they have become corrupt. There is no one who does good, no, not one. 4 Do they not know anything, those who commit iniquity, those who eat up my people as they eat bread, but who do not call on Yahweh? 5 They tremble with dread, for God is with the righteous assembly! 6 You want to humiliate the poor person even though Yahweh is his refuge. 7 Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come from Zion! When Yahweh brings back his people from the captivity, then Jacob will rejoice and Israel will be glad! Psalm 15 A psalm of David. 1 To the chief musician A psalm of David Yahweh, who may stay in your tabernacle? Who may live on your holy hill? 2 Whoever walks blamelessly, does what is right and speaks truth from his heart. 3 He does not slander with his tongue, he does not harm others, and he does not insult his neighbor. 4 The worthless person is despised in his eyes, but he honors those who fear Yahweh. He swears to his own disadvantage and does not take back his promises. 5 He does not charge interest when he lends money. He does not take bribes to testify against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken. Psalm 16 A michtam of David. 1 A song of David Protect me, God, for I take refuge in you. 2 You say to Yahweh, “You are my Lord; my goodness is nothing apart from you. 3 As for the holy ones who are in the land, they are noble people; all my delight is in them. 4 Their troubles will increase, those who seek out other gods. I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood or lift up their names with my lips. 5 Yahweh is the portion of my inheritance and my cup. You hold onto my lot. 6 Measuring lines have been laid for me in pleasant places; surely a pleasing inheritance is mine. 7 I will bless Yahweh, who counsels me; even at night my mind instructs me. 8 I set Yahweh before me continually, for he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 9 Therefore my heart rejoices, and my glory is joyful. Surely my flesh will dwell in security. 10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol. You will not let your faithful one see the pit. 11 You teach me the path of life; abundant joy is in your face; pleasures are at your right hand forever!” Psalm 17 A prayer of David. 1 A prayer of David Listen to my plea for justice, Yahweh; pay attention to my call for help! Give ear to my prayer from lips without deceit. 2 Let my vindication come from your presence; let your eyes see what is right! 3 If you test my heart, if you come to me in the night, you will purify me and will not find any evil plans; my mouth will not transgress. 4 As for the deeds of mankind, it is at the word of your lips that I have kept myself from the ways of the lawless. 5 My steps have held firmly to your tracks; my feet have not slipped. 6 I call to you, for you answer me, God; turn your ear to me and listen when I speak. 7 Show your covenant faithfulness in a wonderful way, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their enemies! 8 Protect me like the apple of your eye; hide me under the shadow of your wings 9 from the presence of the wicked ones who assault me, my enemies who surround me. 10 They have no mercy on anyone; their mouths speak with pride. 11 They have surrounded my steps. They set their eyes to strike me to the ground. 12 They are like a lion eager for a victim, like a young lion crouching in hidden places. 13 Arise, Yahweh! Attack them! Throw them down on their faces! Rescue my life from the wicked by your sword! 14 Rescue me from men by your hand, Yahweh, from men of this world whose prosperity is in this life alone! You will fill the bellies of your treasured ones with riches; they will have many children and will leave their wealth to their children. 15 As for me, I will see your face in righteousness; I will be satisfied, when I awake, with a sight of you. Psalm 18 For the chief musician. A psalm of David, the servant of Yahweh, when he sang to Yahweh the words of this song on the day that Yahweh rescued him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He sang: 1 I love you, Yahweh, my strength. 2 Yahweh is my rock, my fortress, the one who brings me to safety; he is my God, my rock; I take refuge in him. He is my shield, the horn of my salvation, and my stronghold. 3 I will call on Yahweh who is worthy to be praised, and I will be saved from my enemies. 4 The cords of death surrounded me, and the rushing waters of worthlessness overwhelmed me. 5 The cords of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death trapped me. 6 In my distress I called to Yahweh; I called for help to my God. He heard my voice from his temple; my call for help went into his presence; it went into his ears. 7 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of the mountains also trembled and were shaken because God was angry. 8 Smoke went up from out of his nostrils, and blazing fire came out of his mouth. Coals were ignited by it. 9 He opened the heavens and came down, and thick darkness was under his feet. 10 He rode on a cherub and flew; he glided on the wings of the wind. 11 He made darkness a tent around him, heavy rainclouds in the skies. 12 Hailstones and coals of fire fell from the lightning before him. 13 Yahweh thundered in the heavens! The voice of the Most High shouted hailstones and coals of fire [1] 14 He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies; many lightning bolts dispersed them. 15 Then the water channels appeared; the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, Yahweh, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils. 16 He reached down from above; he took hold of me! He pulled me out of the surging water. 17 He rescued me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me. 18 They came against me on the day of my distress but Yahweh was my support! 19 He set me free in a wide open place; he saved me because he was pleased with me. 20 Yahweh has rewarded me because of my righteousness; he has restored me because my hands were clean. 21 For I have kept the ways of Yahweh and have not wickedly turned away from my God. 22 For all his righteous decrees have been before me; as for his statutes, I have not turned away from them. 23 I have also been innocent before him, and I have kept myself from sin. 24 Therefore Yahweh has restored me because of my righteousness, because my hands were clean before his eyes. 25 To the one who is faithful, you show yourself to be faithful; to a man who is blameless, you show yourself to be blameless. 26 To anyone who is pure, you show yourself pure; but you are clever toward anyone who is twisted. 27 For you save afflicted people, but you bring down those with proud, uplifted eyes! 28 For you give light to my lamp; Yahweh my God lights up my darkness. 29 For by you I can run over a barricade; by my God I can leap over a wall. 30 As for God—his way is perfect! The word of Yahweh is pure! He is a shield to everyone who takes refuge in him. 31 For who is God except Yahweh? Who is a rock except our God? 32 It is God who puts strength on me like a belt, who places the blameless person on his path. 33 He makes my feet swift like a deer and places me on the heights! 34 He trains my hands for war and my arms to bend a bow of bronze. 35 You have given me the shield of your salvation. Your right hand has supported me, and your favor has made me great. 36 You have made a wide place for my feet beneath me so that my feet have not slipped. 37 I pursued my enemies and caught them; I did not turn back until they were destroyed. 38 I smashed them so that they were unable to rise; they have fallen under my feet. 39 For you put strength on me like a belt for battle; you put under me those who rise up against me. 40 You gave me the back of my enemies’ necks; I annihilated those who hated me. 41 They called for help, but no one saved them; they called out to Yahweh, but he did not answer them. 42 I beat them into fine pieces like dust before the wind; I threw them out like mud in the streets. 43 You rescued me from the disputes of people. You have made me the head over nations. People that I have not known serve me. 44 As soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me; foreigners were forced to bow to me. 45 The foreigners came trembling out of their strongholds. 46 Yahweh lives; may my rock be praised. May the God of my salvation be exalted. 47 He is the God who executes vengeance for me, who subdues the nations under me. 48 I am set free from my enemies! Indeed, you lifted me above the ones who rose against me! You rescued me from violent men. 49 Therefore I will give thanks to you, Yahweh, among the nations; I will sing praises to your name! 50 God gives great victory to his king, and he shows his covenant loyalty to his anointed one, to David and to his descendants forever. 18:13 [1] Some modern versions add after shouted, hailstones and coals of fire this expression may be an accidental repetition from the previous verse. Psalm 19 For the chief musician. A psalm of David. 1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the skies make his handiwork known! 2 Day after day speech pours out; night after night it reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech or spoken words; their voice is not heard. 4 Yet their words go out over all the earth, and their speech to the end of the world. He has pitched a tent for the sun among them. 5 The sun is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber and like a strong man who rejoices when he runs his race. 6 The sun rises from the one horizon and crosses the sky to the other; nothing escapes its heat. 7 The law of Yahweh is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of Yahweh is reliable, making the simple wise. 8 The instructions of Yahweh are right, making the heart glad; the commandment of Yahweh is pure, bringing light to the eyes. 9 The fear of Yahweh is pure, enduring forever; the righteous decrees of Yahweh are true and altogether right! 10 They are of greater value than gold, even more than much fine gold; they are sweeter than honey and the dripping honey from the honeycomb. 11 Yes, by them your servant is warned; in obeying them there is great reward. 12 Who can discern all his own errors? Cleanse me from hidden faults. 13 Keep your servant also from arrogant sins; let them not rule over me. Then I will be perfect, and I will be innocent from many transgressions. 14 May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be acceptable in your sight, Yahweh, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 20 For the chief musician. A psalm of David. 1 May Yahweh help you in the day of trouble; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you 2 and send help from the holy place to support you from Zion. 3 May he call to mind all your offerings and accept your burnt sacrifice. Selah 4 May he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans. 5 Then we will rejoice in your victory, and, in the name of our God, we will raise banners. May Yahweh grant all your petitions. 6 Now I know that Yahweh will rescue his anointed one; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the strength of his right hand that can rescue him. 7 These trust in chariots and others in horses, but we will remember the name of Yahweh our God. 8 They will be brought down and fall, but we will rise and stand upright! 9 Yahweh, rescue the king; help us when we call. Psalm 21 For the chief musician. A psalm of David. 1 The king rejoices in your strength, Yahweh! How greatly he rejoices in the salvation you provide! 2 You have given him his heart’s desire and have not held back the request of his lips. Selah 3 For you bring him rich blessings; you placed on his head a crown of purest gold. 4 He asked you for life; you gave it to him; you gave him the length of his days forever and ever. 5 His glory is great because of your victory; you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty. 6 For you grant him lasting blessings; you make him glad with the joy of your presence. 7 For the king trusts in Yahweh; through the covenant faithfulness of the Most High he will not be moved. 8 Your hand will seize all your enemies; your right hand will seize those who hate you. 9 At the time of your anger, you will burn them up as in a fiery furnace. Yahweh will consume them in his wrath, and the fire will devour them. 10 You will destroy their offspring from the earth and their descendants from among the human race. 11 For they intended evil against you; they conceived a plot with which they will not succeed! 12 For you will turn them back; you will draw your bow before them. 13 Be exalted, Yahweh, in your strength; we will sing and praise your power. Psalm 22 For the chief musician; set to “The rhythm of the deer.” A psalm of David. 1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far from saving me and far from the words of my anguish? 2 My God, I cry out in the daytime, but you do not answer, and at night I am not silent! 3 Yet you are holy; you sit as king with the praises of Israel. 4 Our ancestors trusted in you; they trusted in you, and you rescued them. 5 They cried to you and they were rescued. They trusted in you and were not disappointed. 6 But I am a worm and not a man, a disgrace to humanity and despised by the people. 7 All those who see me taunt me; they mock me; they shake their heads at me. 8 They say, “He trusts in Yahweh; let Yahweh rescue him. Let him rescue him, for he delights in him.” 9 For you brought me from the womb; you made me trust you when I was on my mother’s breasts. 10 I have been thrown on you from the womb; you are my God since I was in my mother’s womb! 11 Do not be far away from me, for trouble is near; there is no one to help. 12 Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me. 13 They open their mouths wide against me like a roaring lion ripping its victim. 14 I am being poured out like water, and all my bones are dislocated. My heart is like wax; it melts away within my inner parts. 15 My strength has dried up like a piece of pottery; my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have laid me in the dust of death. 16 For dogs have surrounded me; a company of evildoers has encircled me; they have pierced my hands and my feet. 17 I can count all my bones. They look and stare at me. 18 They divide my garments among themselves, they cast lots for my clothes. 19 Do not be far away, Yahweh; please hurry to help me, my strength! 20 Rescue my soul from the sword, my only life from the claws of wild dogs. 21 Save me from the lion’s mouth; rescue me from the horns of the wild oxen. 22 I will declare your name to my brothers; in the midst of the assembly I will praise you. 23 You who fear Yahweh, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel! 24 For he has not despised or abhorred the suffering of the afflicted one; Yahweh has not hidden his face from him; when the afflicted one cried to him, he heard. 25 My praise will be because of you in the great assembly; I will fulfill my vows before those who fear him. 26 The oppressed will eat and be satisfied; those who seek Yahweh will praise him. May your hearts live forever. 27 All the peoples of the earth will remember and turn to Yahweh; all the families of the nations will bow down before you. 28 For the kingdom is Yahweh’s; he is the ruler over the nations. 29 All the prosperous people of the earth will feast and will worship; all those who are descending into the dust will bow before him, those who cannot preserve their own lives. 30 A generation to come will serve him; they will tell the next generation of the Lord. 31 They will come and tell of his righteousness; they will tell to a people not yet born what he has done! Psalm 23 A psalm of David. 1 [A Psalm of David] Yahweh is my shepherd; I will lack nothing. 2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside tranquil water. 3 He brings back my life; he guides me along right paths for the sake of his name. 4 Even though I walk through a valley of darkest shadow, I will not fear harm since you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you have anointed my head with oil; my cup runs over. 6 Surely goodness and covenant faithfulness will pursue me all the days of my life; and I will live in the house of Yahweh for the length of my days! Psalm 24 A psalm of David. 1 The earth is Yahweh’s, and its fullness, the world, and all who live in it. 2 For he has founded it upon the seas and established it on the rivers. 3 Who will ascend the mountain of Yahweh? Who will stand in his holy place? 4 The one with clean hands and a pure heart; who has not lifted up my life as a falsehood, and has not sworn an oath in order to deceive. 5 He will receive a blessing from Yahweh and righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, those who seek the face of Jacob. Selah 7 Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, everlasting doors, so that the King of glory may come in! 8 Who is this King of glory? Yahweh, strong and mighty; Yahweh, mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, everlasting doors, so that the King of glory may come in! 10 Who is this King of glory? Yahweh of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah Psalm 25 A psalm of David. 1 David To you, Yahweh, I lift up my life! 2 My God, I trust in you. Do not let me be humiliated; do not let my enemies rejoice triumphantly over me. 3 May no one who hopes in you be disgraced may those who act treacherously without cause be ashamed! 4 Make known to me your ways, Yahweh; teach me your paths. 5 Guide me into your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; I hope in you all day long. 6 Call to mind, Yahweh, your acts of compassion and of covenant faithfulness; for they have always existed. 7 Do not think about the sins of my youth or my rebelliousness; Call me to mind with covenant faithfulness because of your goodness, Yahweh! 8 Yahweh is good and upright; therefore he teaches sinners the way. 9 He guides the humble in what is right and he teaches them his way. 10 All the paths of Yahweh are steadfast love and faithfulness to those who keep his covenant and his solemn commands. 11 For your name’s sake, Yahweh, pardon my sin, for it is great. 12 Who is the man who fears Yahweh? The Lord will instruct him in the way that he should choose. 13 His life will go along in goodness; and his descendants will inherit the land. 14 The friendship of Yahweh is for those who honor him, and he makes his covenant known to them. 15 My eyes are always on Yahweh, for he will free my feet from the net. 16 Turn toward me and have mercy on me; for I am alone and afflicted. 17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged; draw me out from my distress! 18 See my affliction and my toils; forgive all my sins. 19 See my enemies, for they are many; they hate me with cruel hatred. 20 Protect my life and rescue me; do not let me be humiliated, for I take refuge in you! 21 May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I hope in you. 22 Rescue Israel, God, from all of his troubles! Psalm 26 A psalm of David. 1 David Judge me, Yahweh, for I have walked with integrity; I have trusted in Yahweh without wavering. 2 Examine me, Yahweh, and test me; test the purity of my inner parts and my heart! 3 For your covenant faithfulness is before my eyes, and I walk about in your faithfulness. 4 I do not associate with deceitful people, nor do I mingle with dishonest people. 5 I hate the assembly of evildoers, and I do not live with the wicked. 6 I wash my hands in innocence, and I go around your altar, Yahweh, 7 to sing a loud song of praise and report all your wonderful deeds. 8 Yahweh, I love the house where you live, the place where your glory lives! 9 Do not sweep me away with sinners, or my life with people who are bloodthirsty, 10 in whose hands there is a plot, and whose right hand is full of bribes. 11 But as for me, I will walk in integrity; redeem me and have mercy on me. 12 My foot stands on level ground; in the assemblies will I bless Yahweh! Psalm 27 A psalm of David. 1 David Yahweh is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? Yahweh is my life’s refuge; whom should I dread? 2 When evildoers approached me to devour my flesh, my adversaries and my enemies stumbled and fell. 3 Though an army encamps against me, my heart will not fear; though war rises up against me, even then I will remain confident. 4 One thing have I asked of Yahweh, and I will seek that: that I may live in the house of Yahweh all the days of my life, to see the beauty of Yahweh and to meditate in his temple. 5 For in the day of trouble he will hide me in his shelter; in the cover of his tent he will conceal me. He will lift me high on a rock! 6 Then my head will be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer sacrifices of joy in his tent! I will sing and make songs to Yahweh! 7 Hear, Yahweh, my voice when I cry out! Have mercy on me, and answer me! 8 My heart says about you, “Seek his face!” I seek your face, Yahweh! 9 Do not hide your face from me; do not turn your servant away in anger! You have been my helper; do not forsake me or abandon me, God of my salvation! 10 Even if my father and my mother forsake me, Yahweh will take me in. 11 Teach me your way, Yahweh! Lead me on a level path because of my enemies. 12 Do not give me up to the desires of my enemies, for false witnesses have risen up against me, and they breathe out violence! 13 What would have happened to me if I had not believed that I would see the goodness of Yahweh in the land of the living? 14 Wait for Yahweh; be strong, and let your heart be courageous! Wait for Yahweh! Psalm 28 A psalm of David. 1 David To you, Yahweh, I cry out; my rock, do not ignore me. If you do not respond to me, I will join those who go down to the grave. 2 Hear the sound of my pleading when I call for help from you, when I lift up my hands toward your most holy place! 3 Do not drag me away with the wicked, those who do iniquity, who speak peace with their neighbors but have evil in their hearts. 4 Give them what their deeds deserve and repay them what their wickedness demands, repay them for the work of their hands and render to them their due. 5 Because they do not understand the deeds of Yahweh or the work of his hands, he will tear them down and never rebuild them. 6 Blessed be Yahweh because he has heard the sound of my pleading! 7 Yahweh is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and I will praise him with singing. 8 Yahweh is the strength of his people, and he is the saving refuge of his anointed one. 9 Save your people and bless your inheritance. Be their shepherd and carry them forever. Psalm 29 A psalm of David. 1 A Psalm of David Ascribe to Yahweh, you sons of God, ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength! 2 Ascribe to Yahweh the glory his name deserves. Bow down to Yahweh in the splendor of holiness! 3 The voice of Yahweh is heard over the waters; the God of glory thunders, Yahweh thunders over many waters. 4 The voice of Yahweh is powerful; the voice of Yahweh is majestic. 5 The voice of Yahweh breaks the cedars; Yahweh breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf and Sirion like a young ox. 7 The voice of Yahweh sends out flames of fire. 8 The voice of Yahweh shakes the wilderness; Yahweh shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of Yahweh causes the oaks to twist and strips the forests bare. Everyone in his temple says, “Glory!” 10 Yahweh sits as king over the flood; Yahweh sits as king forever. 11 Yahweh gives strength to his people; Yahweh blesses his people with peace. Psalm 30 A psalm; a song at the dedication of the temple. A psalm of David. 1 I will exalt you, Yahweh, for you have raised me up and have not allowed my enemies to rejoice over me. 2 Yahweh my God, I cried to you for help, and you healed me. 3 Yahweh, you have brought up my soul from Sheol; you have kept me alive from going down to the grave. 4 Sing praises to Yahweh, you his faithful ones! Give thanks when you remember his holiness. 5 For his anger is only for a moment; but his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping comes for a night, but joy comes in the morning. 6 In confidence I said, “I will never be shaken.” 7 Yahweh, by your favor you established me as a strong mountain; but when you hid your face, I was troubled. 8 I cried to you, Yahweh, and sought favor from my Lord! 9 What advantage is there in my death, if I go down to the grave? Will the dust praise you? Will it declare your trustworthiness? 10 Hear, Yahweh, and have mercy on me! Yahweh, be my helper. 11 You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have removed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness. 12 So now my glory will sing praise to you and not be silent; Yahweh my God, I will give thanks to you forever! Psalm 31 For the chief musician. A psalm of David. 1 In you, Yahweh, I take refuge; never let me be humiliated. Rescue me in your righteousness. 2 Listen to me; rescue me quickly; be my rock of refuge, a stronghold to save me. 3 For you are my rock and my fortress; therefore for your name’s sake, lead and guide me. 4 Pluck me out of the net that they have hidden for me, for you are my refuge. 5 Into your hands I entrust my spirit; you will redeem me, Yahweh, God of trustworthiness. 6 I hate those who serve worthless idols, but I trust in Yahweh. 7 I will be glad and rejoice in your covenant faithfulness, for you saw my affliction; you knew the distress of my soul. 8 You have not given me into the hand of my enemy. You have set my feet in a wide open place. 9 Have mercy upon me, Yahweh, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weary with grief with my soul and my body. 10 For my life is weary with sorrow and my years with groaning. My strength fails because of my sin, and my bones are wasting away. 11 Because of all my enemies, people disdain me; my neighbors are appalled at my situation, and those who know me are horrified. Those who see me in the street run from me. 12 I am forgotten as a dead man whom no one thinks about. I am like a broken pot. 13 For I have heard the whispering of many, terrifying news from every side as they plot together against me. They plot to take away my life. 14 But I trust in you, Yahweh; I say, “You are my God.” 15 My times are in your hand. Rescue me from the hands of my enemies and from those who pursue me. 16 Make your face shine on your servant; save me in your covenant faithfulness. 17 Do not let me be humiliated, Yahweh; for I call out to you! May the wicked be humiliated! May they be silent in Sheol. 18 May lying lips be silenced that speak against the righteous defiantly with arrogance and contempt. 19 How great is your goodness that you have stored up for those who revere you, that you perform for those who take refuge in you before all the children of mankind! 20 In the shelter of your presence, you hide them from the plots of men. You hide them in a shelter from the violence of tongues. 21 Blessed be Yahweh, for he showed me his marvelous covenant faithfulness when I was in a besieged city. 22 Though I said in my haste, “I am cut off from your eyes,” yet you heard my plea for help when I cried to you. 23 Love Yahweh, all you faithful ones. Yahweh protects the faithful, but he pays back the arrogant in full. 24 Be strong and confident, all you who trust in Yahweh for help. Psalm 32 A psalm of David. A maschil. 1 A writing of David Blessed is the person whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man to whom Yahweh reckons no guilt and in whose spirit there is no deceit. 3 When I remained silent, my bones were wasting away while I groaned all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me. My strength withered as in summer drought. Selah 5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and I no longer hid my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to Yahweh,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah 6 For this reason every one of your faithful followers should pray to you at a time of great distress. When the surging waters overflow, the waters will not reach them. 7 You are my hiding place; you will guard me from trouble. You will surround me with the songs of victory. Selah 8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go. I will instruct you with my eye upon you. 9 Do not be like a horse or like a mule, which have no understanding; it is only with bridle and bit to control them that they will go where you want them to. 10 The wicked have many sorrows, but Yahweh’s covenant faithfulness will surround the one who trusts in him. 11 Be glad in Yahweh, and rejoice, you righteous; shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart. Psalm 33 1 Rejoice in Yahweh, you righteous; praise is appropriate for the upright. 2 Give thanks to Yahweh with the harp; sing praises to him with the harp of ten strings. 3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully and sing with joy. 4 For Yahweh’s word is upright, and everything he does is fair. 5 He loves righteousness and justice. The earth is full of Yahweh’s covenant faithfulness. 6 By the word of Yahweh the heavens were made, and all the stars were made by the breath of his mouth. 7 He gathers the waters of the sea together like a heap; he puts the oceans in storehouses. 8 Let the whole earth fear Yahweh; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. 9 For he spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood in place. 10 Yahweh frustrates the alliances of nations; he overrules the plans of the peoples. 11 The plans of Yahweh stand forever, the plans of his heart for all generations. 12 Blessed is the nation whose God is Yahweh, the people whom he has chosen as his own inheritance. 13 Yahweh looks from heaven; he sees all the people. 14 From the place where he lives, he looks down on all who live on the earth. 15 He who shapes the hearts of them all observes all their deeds. 16 No king is saved by a vast army; a warrior is not saved by his great strength. 17 A horse is a false hope for victory; in spite of his great strength, he cannot rescue. 18 See, Yahweh’s eye is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his covenant faithfulness 19 to deliver their lives from death and to keep them alive in times of famine. 20 We wait for Yahweh; he is our help and our shield. 21 Our hearts rejoice in him, for we trust in his holy name. 22 Let your covenant faithfulness, Yahweh, be with us as we put our hope in you. Psalm 34 A psalm of David; when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him out. 1 I will praise Yahweh at all times, his praise will always be in my mouth. 2 I will praise Yahweh! May the oppressed hear and rejoice. 3 Praise Yahweh with me, let us lift up his name together. 4 I sought Yahweh and he answered me, and he gave me victory over all my fears. 5 Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces are not ashamed. 6 This oppressed man cried and Yahweh heard him and saved him from all his troubles. 7 The angel of Yahweh camps around those who fear him and rescues them. 8 Taste and see that Yahweh is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. 9 Fear Yahweh, you his holy people. There is no lack for those who fear him. 10 The young lions sometimes lack food and suffer hunger, but those who seek Yahweh will not lack anything good. 11 Come, sons, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of Yahweh. 12 What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? 13 Then keep your tongue from evil and keep your lips from speaking lies. 14 Turn away from evil and do good. Seek peace and go after it. 15 The eyes of Yahweh are on the righteous and his ears are directed toward their cry. 16 The face of Yahweh is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. 17 The righteous cry out and Yahweh hears and he rescues them from all their troubles. 18 Yahweh is close to the brokenhearted, and he saves those who are crushed in spirit. 19 Many are the troubles of the righteous, but Yahweh delivers them out of them all. 20 He keeps all his bones, not one of them will be broken. 21 Evil will kill the wicked. Those who hate the righteous will be condemned. 22 Yahweh rescues the lives of his servants. None of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. Psalm 35 A psalm of David. 1 David Yahweh, work against those who work against me; fight against those who fight against me. 2 Grab your small shield and large shield; rise up and help me. 3 Use your spear and battle ax against those who chase me; say to my soul, “I am your salvation.” 4 May those who seek my life be shamed and dishonored. May those who plan to harm me be turned back and confounded. 5 May they be as chaff before the wind, as the angel of Yahweh drives them away. 6 May their way be dark and slippery, as the angel of Yahweh chases them. 7 Without cause they set their net for me; without cause they dug a pit for my life. 8 Let destruction overtake them by surprise. Let the net that they have set catch them. Let them fall into it, to their destruction. 9 But I will be joyful in Yahweh and rejoice in his salvation. 10 All my bones will say, “Yahweh, who is like you, who rescues the oppressed from those who are too strong for them and the poor and needy from those who try to rob them?” 11 Unrighteous witnesses rise up; they accuse me falsely. 12 They repay me evil for good. I am sorrowful. 13 But, when they were sick, I wore sackcloth; I fasted for them with my head bowed on my chest. 14 I went about in grief as for my brother; I bent down in mourning as for my mother. 15 But when I stumbled, they rejoiced and gathered together; they gathered together against me, and I was surprised by them. They tore at me without stopping. 16 With no respect at all they mocked me; they grind their teeth at me in rage. 17 Lord, how long will you look on? Rescue my soul from their destructive attacks, my life from the lions. 18 Then I will thank you in the great assembly; I will praise you among many people. 19 Do not let my deceitful enemies rejoice over me; do not let them carry out their wicked schemes. 20 For they do not speak peace, but they devise deceitful words against those in our land who live in peace. 21 They open their mouths wide against me; they said, “Aha, Aha, our eyes have seen it.” 22 You have seen it, Yahweh, do not be silent; Lord, do not be far from me. 23 Arouse yourself and awake to my defense; My God and my Lord, defend my cause. 24 Defend me, Yahweh my God, because of your righteousness; do not let them rejoice over me. 25 Do not let them say in their heart, “Aha, we have what we wanted.” Do not let them say, “We have devoured him.” 26 May they be put to shame and may they be confounded who rejoice at my distress. May those who exalt themselves over me be clothed with shame and dishonor. 27 Let those who desire my vindication shout for joy and be glad; may they say continually, “Yahweh be praised, he who delights in the welfare of his servant.” 28 Then I will tell of your justice and praise you all day long. Psalm 36 For the chief musician. A psalm of David the servant of Yahweh. 1 An evil man speaks of his transgression from deep in his heart, there is no fear of God before his eyes. 2 For he comforts himself, thinking that his sin will not be discovered and be hated. 3 His words are sinful and deceitful; he does not want to be wise and do good. 4 While he lies in bed, he plans ways to sin; he sets out on an evil way; he does not reject evil. 5 Your covenant faithfulness, Yahweh, reaches to the heavens; your loyalty reaches to the clouds. 6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep. Yahweh, you preserve both mankind and the animals. 7 How precious is your covenant faithfulness, God! Humanity takes refuge under the shadow of your wings. 8 They feast upon the abundance of your house; you let them drink from the river of your delights. 9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we will see light. 10 Extend your covenant faithfulness fully to those who know you, your defense to the upright of heart. 11 Do not let the foot of the arrogant man come near to me. Do not let the hand of the wicked drive me away. 12 Over there the evildoers have fallen; they are knocked down and are not able to get up. Psalm 37 A psalm of David. 1 David Do not be irritated because of evildoers; do not be envious of those who act unrighteously. 2 For they will soon dry up as the grass and wither as the green plants. 3 Trust in Yahweh and do what is good; settle in the land and graze in faithfulness. 4 Then delight yourself in Yahweh, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Give your ways to Yahweh; trust in him, and he will act on your behalf. 6 He will display your justice like the daylight and your innocence like the day at noon. 7 Be still before Yahweh and wait patiently for him. Do not be angry if someone succeeds in what he does, or when he makes evil plots. 8 Do not be angry and frustrated. Do not worry. This only makes trouble. 9 Evildoers will be cut off, but those who wait for Yahweh will inherit the land. 10 In a little while the evil man will disappear; you will look at his place, but he will be gone. 11 But the meek will inherit the land and will delight in great prosperity. 12 The wicked man plots against the righteous and he grinds his teeth in rage against him. 13 The Lord laughs at him, for he sees that his day is coming. 14 The wicked have drawn out their swords and have bent their bows to cast down the oppressed and needy, to kill those who are upright. 15 Their swords will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken. 16 Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked people. 17 For the arms of the wicked people will be broken, but Yahweh supports the righteous people. 18 Yahweh watches over the blameless day by day, and their heritage will be forever. 19 They will not be ashamed when times are bad. When famine comes, they will have enough to eat. 20 But evil men will perish. Yahweh’s enemies will be like the glory of the pastures; they will be consumed and disappear in the smoke. 21 The wicked person borrows but does not repay, but the righteous person is generous and gives. 22 Those who are blessed by God will inherit the land; those who are cursed by him will be cut off. 23 It is by Yahweh that a man’s steps are established, the man whose way is commendable in God’s sight. 24 Though he stumbles, he will not fall down, for Yahweh is holding him with his hand. 25 I was young and now am old; I have never seen the righteous person abandoned or his children begging for bread. 26 All the day long he is gracious and lends, and his children become a blessing. 27 Turn away from evil and do what is right; then you will be safe forever. 28 For Yahweh loves justice and does not abandon his faithful ones. They are preserved forever, but the descendants of the wicked will be cut off. 29 The righteous will inherit the land and live there forever. 30 The mouth of the righteous person speaks wisdom and increases justice. 31 The law of his God is in his heart; his feet will not slip. 32 The wicked person watches the righteous person and seeks to kill him. 33 Yahweh will not abandon him into the evil person’s hand or condemn him when he is judged. 34 Wait for Yahweh and keep his way, and he will raise you up to possess the land. You will see when the wicked are cut off. 35 I have seen the wicked and terrifying person spread out like a green tree in its native soil. 36 But when I passed by again, he was not there. I looked for him, but he could not be found. 37 Observe the man of integrity, and mark the upright; there is a good future for a man of peace. 38 Sinners will be totally destroyed; the future for the wicked man is cut off. 39 Salvation of the righteous comes from Yahweh; he protects them in the times of trouble. 40 Yahweh helps them and rescues them. He rescues them from evil men and saves them because they have taken refuge in him. Psalm 38 A psalm of David, to bring to remembrance. 1 Yahweh, do not rebuke me in your anger; do not punish me in your wrath. 2 For your arrows pierce me, and your hand presses me down. 3 My whole body is sick because of your anger; there is no health in my bones because of my sin. 4 For my iniquities overwhelm me; they are a burden too heavy for me. 5 My wounds are infected and smell because of my foolish sins. 6 I am stooped over and humiliated every day; I go about mourning all day long. 7 For within me, I am filled with burning; there is no health in my flesh. 8 I am numb and utterly crushed; I groan because of the anguish of my heart. 9 Lord, you understand my heart’s deepest yearnings, and my groanings are not hidden from you. 10 My heart pounds, my strength fades, and my eyesight dims. 11 My friends and companions shun me because of my condition; my neighbors stand far off. 12 Those who seek my life lay snares for me. They who seek my harm speak destructive words and say deceitful words all day long. 13 But I, I am like a deaf man and hear nothing; I am like a mute man who says nothing. 14 I am like a man who does not hear and who has no reply. 15 Surely I wait for you, Yahweh; you will answer, Lord my God. 16 For I said "Hear me, so that they will not gloat over me. If my foot slips, they will do terrible things to me. 17 For I am about to stumble, and I am in constant pain. 18 I confess my guilt; I am concerned about my sin. 19 But my enemies are numerous; those who hate me wrongfully are many. 20 They repay me evil for good; they hurl accusations at me although I have pursued what is good. 21 Do not abandon me, Yahweh; my God, do not stay far away from me. 22 Come quickly to help me, Lord, my salvation. Psalm 39 For the chief musician, for Jeduthun. A psalm of David. 1 I decided, “I will watch what I say so that I do not sin with my tongue. I will muzzle my mouth while in the presence of an evil man.” 2 I kept silent; I kept back my words even from saying anything good, and my pain grew worse. 3 My heart became hot; when I thought about these things, it burned like a fire. Then finally I spoke. 4 “Yahweh, make me know when will be the end of my life and the extent of my days. Show me how transient I am. 5 See, you have made my days only the width of my hand, and my lifetime is like nothing before you. Surely every man is a single breath. Selah 6 Surely every man walks about like a shadow. Surely everyone hurries about to accumulate riches although they do not know who will receive them. 7 Now, Lord, for what am I waiting? You are my only hope. 8 Rescue me from my sins; do not make me the reproach of fools. 9 I am silent and cannot open my mouth, because it is you who has done it. 10 Stop wounding me; I am overwhelmed by the blow of your hand. 11 When you discipline people for sin, you consume the things they desire like a moth; surely all people are nothing but vapor. Selah 12 Hear my prayer, Yahweh, and listen to me; listen to my weeping! Do not be deaf to me, for I am like a foreigner with you, a refugee like all my ancestors were. 13 Turn your gaze from me so that I may smile again before I die.” Psalm 40 For the chief musician. A psalm of David. 1 I waited patiently for Yahweh; he listened to me and heard my cry. 2 He brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and he set my feet on a rock and made my steps secure. 3 He has put a new song in my mouth, praise to our God. Many will see it and honor him and will trust in Yahweh. 4 Blessed is the man who makes Yahweh his trust and does not honor the proud or those who turn away from him to lies. 5 Many, Yahweh my God, are the wonderful deeds that you have done, and your thoughts which are about us cannot be numbered; if I declared and spoke of them, they would be more than could be counted. 6 You have no delight in sacrifice or offering, but you have opened my ears; you have not required burnt offerings or sin offerings. 7 Then said I, “See, I have come; it is written about me in the scroll of the document. 8 I delight to do your will, my God; your laws are in my heart.” 9 I have proclaimed good news of your righteousness in the great assembly; Yahweh, you know that my lips have not kept back from doing this. 10 I have not concealed your righteousness in my heart; I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your covenant faithfulness or your trustworthiness from the great assembly. 11 Do not keep back your acts of mercy from me, Yahweh; let your covenant faithfulness and your trustworthiness always preserve me. 12 Troubles that cannot be numbered surround me; my iniquities have caught up with me so that I am no longer able to see anything; they are more than the hairs on my head, and my heart has failed me. 13 Be pleased, Yahweh, to rescue me; hurry to help me, Yahweh. 14 Let them be ashamed and completely disappointed who pursue my life to take it away. Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor, those who delight in hurting me. 15 Let them be shocked because of their shame, those who say to me, “Aha, aha!” 16 But may all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; let everyone who loves your salvation say continually, “May Yahweh be praised.” 17 I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinks about me. You are my help and you come to my rescue; do not delay, my God. Psalm 41 For the chief musician. A psalm of David. 1 Blessed is he who is concerned for the weak; in the day of trouble, Yahweh will rescue him. 2 Yahweh will preserve him and keep him alive, and he will be blessed on the earth; Yahweh will not turn him over to the will of his enemies. 3 Yahweh will support him on the bed of suffering; you will make his bed of sickness into a bed of healing. 4 I said, “Yahweh, have mercy on me! Heal me, for I have sinned against you.” 5 My enemies speak evil against me, saying, ‘When will he die and his name perish?’ 6 If my enemy comes to see me, he says worthless things; his heart gathers up my disaster for itself; when he goes away from me, he tells others about it. 7 All who hate me whisper together against me; against me they hope for my hurt. 8 They say, “An evil disease holds on tightly to him; now that he is lying down, he will rise up no more.” 9 Indeed, even my own close friend, in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me. 10 But you, Yahweh, have mercy on me and raise me up so that I may pay them back. 11 By this I know that you delight in me, for my enemy does not triumph over me. 12 As for me, you support me in my integrity and will keep me before your face forever. 13 May Yahweh, the God of Israel be praised from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen. Book Two Psalm 42 For the chief musician. A maschil of the sons of Korah. 1 As the deer pants after streams of water, so I thirst for you, God. 2 I thirst for God, for the living God, when will I come and appear before God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while my enemies are always saying to me, “Where is your God?” 4 These things I call to mind as I pour out my soul: how I went with the throng and led them to the house of God with the voice of joy and praise, a multitude celebrating a festival. 5 Why are you bowed down, my soul? Why are you upset within me? Hope in God, for again I will praise him who is my salvation. 6 My God, my soul is bowed down within me, therefore I call you to mind from the land of the Jordan, from the three peaks of Mount Hermon, and from the hill of Mizar. 7 Deep calls to deep at the noise of your waterfalls; all your waves and your billows have gone over me. 8 Yet Yahweh will command his covenant faithfulness in the daytime; in the night his song will be with me, a prayer to the God of my life. 9 I will say to God, my rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” 10 As with a sword in my bones, my adversaries rebuke me, while they always say to me, “Where is your God?” 11 Why are you bowed down, my soul? Why are you upset within me? Hope in God, for again I will praise him who is my salvation and my God. Psalm 43 1 Bring me justice, God, and plead my cause against a nation that is not faithful. Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man. 2 For you are the God of my strength. Why have you rejected me? Why do I go about in mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? 3 Oh, send out your light and your truth, let them lead me. Let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling. 4 Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy. I will praise you with the harp, God, my God. 5 Why are you bowed down, my soul? Why are you upset within me? Hope in God, for again I will praise him who is my salvation and my God. Psalm 44 For the chief musician. A psalm of the sons of Korah. A maschil. 1 We have heard with our ears, God, our fathers have told us what work you did in their days, in the days of old. 2 You drove out the nations with your hand, but you planted our people; you afflicted the peoples, but you spread our people out in the land. 3 For they did not obtain the land for their possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them; but your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, because you were favorable to them. 4 God, You are my King; command victory for Jacob. 5 Through you we will push down our adversaries; through your name we will tread them under, those who rise up against us. 6 For I will not trust in my bow, neither will my sword save me. 7 But you have saved us from our adversaries, and have put to shame those who hate us. 8 In God we have made our boast all the day long, and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah 9 But now you have thrown us off and brought us dishonor, and you do not go out with our armies. 10 You make us turn back from the adversary; and those who hate us take spoil for themselves. 11 You have made us like sheep to be slaughtered and have scattered us among the nations. 12 You sell your people for nothing; you have not increased your wealth by doing so. 13 You make us a rebuke to our neighbors, scoffed and mocked by those around us. 14 You make us an insult among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples. 15 All the day long my dishonor is before me, and the shame of my face has covered me 16 because of the voice of him who rebukes and insults, because of the enemy and the avenger. 17 All this has come on us; yet we have not forgotten you or dealt falsely with your covenant. 18 Our heart has not turned back; our steps have not gone from your way. 19 Yet you have severely broken us in the place of jackals and covered us with the shadow of death. 20 If we have forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a strange god, 21 would not God search this out? For he knows the secrets of the heart. 22 Indeed, for your sake we are being killed all day long; we are considered to be sheep for the slaughter. 23 Awake, why do you sleep, Lord? Arise, do not throw us off permanently. 24 Why do you hide your face and forget our affliction and our oppression? 25 For we have sunk down into the dust; our bodies cling to the earth. 26 Rise up for our help and redeem us for the sake of your covenant faithfulness. Psalm 45 For the chief musician; set to Shoshannim. A psalm of the sons of Korah. A maschil. A song of loves. 1 My heart overflows on a good subject; I will read aloud the words I have composed about the king; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer. 2 You are fairer than the children of mankind; grace is poured onto your lips; therefore we know that God has blessed you forever. 3 Put your sword on your side, mighty one, in your glory and your majesty. 4 In your majesty ride on triumphantly because of trustworthiness, meekness, and righteousness; your right hand will teach you fearful things. 5 Your arrows are sharp; the peoples fall under you; your arrows are in the hearts of the king’s enemies. 6 Your throne, God, is forever and ever; a scepter of justice is the scepter of your kingdom. 7 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions. 8 All your garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia; out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made you glad. 9 Kings’ daughters are among your honorable women; at your right hand stands the queen clothed in gold of Ophir. 10 Listen, daughter, consider and incline your ear; forget your own people and your father’s house. 11 In this way the king will desire your beauty; he is your master; revere him. 12 The daughter of Tyre will be there with a gift; the rich among the people will beg for your favor. 13 The royal daughter in the palace is all glorious; her clothing is worked with gold. 14 She will be led to the king in embroidered dress; the virgins, her companions who follow her, will be brought to you. 15 They will be led by gladness and rejoicing; they will enter into the king’s palace. 16 In the place of your fathers will be your children, whom you will make princes in all the earth. 17 I will make your name to be remembered in all generations; therefore the peoples will give you thanks forever and ever. Psalm 46 For the chief musician. A psalm of the sons of Korah; set to Alamoth. A song. 1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains should be shaken into the heart of the seas, 3 though its waters roar and rage, and though the mountains tremble with their swelling. Selah 4 There is a river whose streams make the city of God happy, the holy place where the Most High dwells. 5 God is in the middle of her; she will not be moved; God will help her, and he will do so at the dawn of morning. 6 The nations raged and the kingdoms were shaken; he lifted up his voice, and the earth melted. 7 Yahweh of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah 8 Come, behold the deeds of Yahweh, the destruction he has caused on earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and cuts the spear into pieces; he burns up the shields. 10 Be quiet and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted on the earth. 11 Yahweh of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah Psalm 47 For the chief musician. A psalm of the sons of Korah. 1 Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with the sound of triumph. 2 For Yahweh Most High is terrifying; he is a great King over all the earth. 3 He subdues peoples under us and nations under our feet. 4 He chooses our inheritance for us, the glory of Jacob whom he loved. Selah 5 God has gone up with a shout, Yahweh with the sound of a trumpet. 6 Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. 7 For God is the King over all the earth; sing praises with understanding. 8 God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne. 9 The princes of the peoples have gathered together to the people of the God of Abraham; for the shields of the earth belong to God; he is greatly exalted. Psalm 48 A song; a psalm of the sons of Korah. 1 Great is Yahweh and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God on his holy mountain. 2 Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. 3 God has made himself known in her palaces as a refuge. 4 For, see, the kings assembled themselves; they passed by together. 5 They saw it, then they were amazed; they were dismayed, and they hurried away. 6 Trembling took hold of them there, pain as when a woman is in labor. 7 With the east wind you break the ships of Tarshish. 8 As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of Yahweh of hosts, in the city of our God; God will establish it forever. Selah 9 We have thought about your covenant faithfulness, God, in the middle of your temple. 10 As your name is, God, so is your praise to the ends of the earth; your right hand is full of righteousness. 11 Let Mount Zion be glad, let the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your righteous decrees. 12 Walk around Mount Zion, go round about her; count her towers, 13 notice well her walls, and look at her palaces so that you may tell it to the next generation. 14 For this God is our God forever and ever; he will be our guide to death. Psalm 49 For the chief musician. A psalm of the sons of Korah. 1 Hear this, all you peoples; give ear, all you inhabitants of the world, 2 both low and high, rich and poor together. 3 My mouth will speak wisdom and the meditation of my heart will be of understanding. 4 I will incline my ear to a parable; I will begin my parable with the harp. 5 Why should I fear the days of evil, when iniquity surrounds me at my heels? 6 Why should I fear those who trust in their wealth and boast about the amount of their riches? 7 It is certain that no one can redeem his brother or give God a ransom for him, 8 For the redemption of one’s life is costly, and no one can pay what we owe. 9 No one can live forever so that his body should not decay. 10 For he will see decay. Wise men die; the fool and the brute alike perish and leave their wealth to others. 11 Their inner thought is that their families will continue forever, and the places where they live, to all generations; they call their lands after their own names. 12 But man, having wealth, does not remain alive; he is like the beasts that perish. 13 This, their way, is their folly; yet after them, men approve of their sayings. Selah 14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol, and death will be their shepherd. The upright will rule over them in the morning, and their bodies will be consumed in Sheol, with no place for them to live. 15 But God will redeem my life from the power of Sheol; he will receive me. Selah 16 Do not be afraid when one becomes rich, and the glory of his house increases. 17 For when he dies he will take nothing away; his glory will not go down after him. 18 He blessed his soul while he lived— and men praise you when you live for yourself— 19 he will go to the generation of his fathers and they will never see the light again. 20 One who has wealth but no understanding is like the beasts, which perish. Psalm 50 A psalm of Asaph. 1 A Psalm of Asaph The Mighty One, God, Yahweh, has spoken and called the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. 2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shone. 3 Our God comes and does not stay silent; a fire devours before him, and it is very stormy around him. 4 He calls to the heavens above and to the earth so that he may judge his people: 5 “Gather my faithful ones together to me, those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” 6 The heavens will declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge. Selah 7 “Israel, I will testify against you. Hear, my people, and I will speak; I am God, your God. 8 I will not reprove you for your sacrifices; your burnt offerings are always before me. 9 I will take no bull out of your house, or male goats out of your folds. 10 For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. 11 I know all the birds of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are mine. 12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world is mine, and everything in it. 13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? 14 Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High. 15 Call on me in the day of trouble; I will rescue you, and you will glorify me.” 16 But to the wicked God says, “What have you to do with declaring my statutes, that you have taken my covenant in your mouth, 17 since you hate instruction and throw my words away? 18 When you see a thief, you agree with him; you participate with those who commit adultery. 19 You give your mouth to evil, and your tongue expresses deceit. 20 You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother’s son. 21 You have done these things, but I have kept silent, so you thought that I was someone just like yourself. But I will reprove you and bring up, right before your eyes, all the things you have done. 22 Give this careful consideration, you who forget God, otherwise I will tear you to pieces, and there will be no one to come to help you! 23 The one who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving praises me, and to anyone who plans his path in the right way I will show God’s salvation.” Psalm 51 For the chief musician. A psalm of David; when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had gone in to Bathsheba. 1 Have mercy on me, God, because of your covenant faithfulness; for the sake of the multitude of your merciful actions, blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight; you are right when you speak; you are correct when you judge. 5 See, I was born in iniquity; as soon as my mother conceived me, I was in sin. 6 See, you desire trustworthiness in my inner self; and you teach me wisdom in the secret place within. 7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Make me hear joy and gladness so that the bones that you have broken may rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, God, and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Do not drive me away from your presence, and do not take your holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit. 13 Then will I teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will be converted to you. 14 Forgive me for shedding blood, God of my salvation, and I will shout for the joy of your righteousness. 15 Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will express your praise. 16 For you do not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you have no pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. You, God, will not despise a broken and a contrite heart. 18 Do good in your good pleasure to Zion; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then will you delight in the sacrifices of righteousness, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then our people will offer bulls on your altar. Psalm 52 For the chief musician. A maschil of David; when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.” 1 Why are you proud of making trouble, you mighty man? The covenant faithfulness of God comes every day. 2 Your tongue plans destruction like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. 3 You love evil more than good and lying rather than speaking righteousness. Selah 4 You love all words that devour others, you deceitful tongue. 5 God will likewise destroy you forever; he will take you up and pluck you out of your tent and root you out of the land of the living. Selah 6 The righteous will also see it and fear; they will laugh at him and say, 7 “See, this is a man who did not make God his refuge, but he trusted in the abundance of his wealth, and he was strong when he destroyed others.” 8 But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in God’s house; I will trust in the covenant faithfulness of God forever and ever. 9 I will give you thanks forever for what you have done. I will wait for your name, because it is good, in the presence of your faithful ones. Psalm 53 For the chief musician; set to Mahalath. A maschil of David. 1 A fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt and have done abominable iniquity; there is no one who does good. 2 God looks down from heaven on the children of mankind to see if there are any who understand, who seek after him. 3 They have all turned away. Together they have become corrupt. There is not one who does good, not even one. 4 Do those who commit iniquity have no understanding— those who devour my people as if they were eating bread and they do not call on God? 5 They were in great fear, although no reason to fear was there; for God will scatter the bones of whoever will camp against you; such people will be put to shame because God has rejected them. 6 Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come from Zion! When God brings back his people from the captivity, then Jacob will rejoice and Israel will be glad! Psalm 54 For the chief musician; on stringed instruments. A maschil of David; when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Does David not hide himself with us?” 1 Save me, God, by your name, and judge me in your might. 2 Hear my prayer, God; give ear to the words of my mouth. 3 For strangers have risen up against me, and pitiless men have sought after my life; they have not set God before them. Selah 4 See, God is my helper; the Lord is the one who upholds me. 5 He will repay my enemies with evil; in your faithfulness, destroy them! 6 I will sacrifice to you with a freewill offering; I will give thanks to your name, Yahweh, for it is good. 7 For he has rescued me from every trouble; my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies. Psalm 55 For the chief musician; on stringed instruments. A maschil of David. 1 Give ear to my prayer, God; and do not hide yourself from my plea. 2 Pay attention to me and answer me; I have no rest in my troubles 3 because of the voice of my enemies, because of the oppression of the wicked; for they bring trouble on me and persecute me in anger. 4 My heart trembles within me, and the terrors of death have fallen on me. 5 Fearfulness and trembling have come on me, and horror has overwhelmed me. 6 I said, “Oh, if only I had wings like a dove! Then would I fly away and be at rest. 7 See, then I would wander far away; I would stay in the wilderness. Selah 8 I would hurry to a shelter from the stormy wind and tempest.” 9 Devour them, Lord, confuse their language! For I have seen violence and strife in the city. 10 Day and night they go about on its walls; wickedness and trouble are in the middle of it. 11 Wickedness is in the middle of it; oppression and deceit do not leave its streets. 12 For it was not an enemy who rebuked me, then I could have borne it; neither was it he who hated me who raised himself up against me, then I would have hidden myself from him. 13 But it was you, a man equal to myself, my companion and my close friend. 14 We had sweet fellowship together; we walked in the house of God with the throng. 15 Let death come suddenly on them; let them go down alive to Sheol, for wickedness is where they live, right among them. 16 As for me, I will call on God, and Yahweh will save me. 17 In the evening, morning and at noonday I complain and moan; he will hear my voice. 18 He will safely rescue my life from the battle that was against me, for those who fought against me were many. 19 God, the one who rules from eternity, will hear them and humiliate them. Selah They never change, and they do not fear God. 20 My friend has raised his hands against those who were at peace with him; he has not respected the covenant that he had. 21 His mouth was smooth as butter, but his heart was hostile; his words were softer than oil, yet they were actually drawn swords. 22 Place your burdens on Yahweh, and he will sustain you; he will never allow a righteous person to totter. 23 But you, God, will bring the wicked down into the pit of destruction; bloodthirsty and deceitful men will not live even half as long as others, but I will trust in you. Psalm 56 For the chief musician; set to Jonath elem rehokim. A psalm of David. A michtam; when the Philistines took him in Gath. 1 Be merciful to me, God, for men are attacking me! All the day long those who fight me press their assault. 2 My enemies trample me all day long; for there are many who arrogantly fight against me. 3 When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. 4 In God, whose word I praise— in God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid; what can mere man do to me? 5 All the day long they twist my words; all their thoughts are against me for evil. 6 They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, and they mark my steps, just as they have waited for my life. 7 Do not let them escape doing iniquity. Bring down the peoples in your anger, God. 8 You number my wanderings and put my tears into your bottle; are they not in your book? 9 Then my enemies will turn back on the day that I call to you; this I know, that God is for me. 10 In God—whose word I praise, in Yahweh—whose word I praise, 11 in God I trust, I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me? 12 The duty to fulfill my vows to you is on me, God; I will give thank offerings to you. 13 For you have rescued my life from death; you have kept my feet from falling, so that I may walk before God in the light of the living. Psalm 57 For the chief musician; set to Al Tashheth. A psalm of David. A michtam; when he fled from Saul, in the cave. 1 Be merciful to me, God, be merciful to me, for I take refuge in you until these troubles are over. I stay under your wings for protection until this destruction is over. 2 I will cry to God Most High, to God, who does all things for me. 3 He will send help from heaven and save me, he is angry with those who crush me. Selah God will send me his loving kindness and his faithfulness. 4 My life is among lions; I am among those who are ready to devour me. I am among people whose teeth are spears and arrows, and whose tongues are sharp swords. 5 Be exalted, God, above the heavens; let your glory be above all the earth. 6 They spread out a net for my feet; I was distressed. They dug a pit in front of me. They themselves have fallen into the middle of it! Selah 7 My heart is fixed, God, my heart is fixed; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises. 8 Wake up, my honored heart; wake up, lute and harp; I will wake up the dawn. 9 I will give thanks to you, Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. 10 For great is your unfailing love, reaching to the heavens; and your faithfulness to the clouds. 11 Be exalted, God, above the heavens; may your glory be exalted over all the earth. Psalm 58 For the chief musician; set to Al Tashheth. A psalm of David. A michtam. 1 Do you indeed rulers speak righteousness you silent ones? Do you judge uprightly, you people? 2 No, you commit wickedness in your heart; you distribute violence throughout the land with your hands. 3 The wicked go astray even when they are in the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies. 4 Their poison is like a snake’s poison; they are like a deaf adder that stops up its ears, 5 that pays no attention to the voice of charmers, no matter how skillful they are. 6 Break their teeth in their mouths, God; break out the great teeth of the young lions, Yahweh. 7 Let them melt away as water that runs off; when they shoot their arrows, let them be as though they had no points. 8 Let them be like a snail that melts and passes away, like the untimely-born child of a woman that never sees the sunlight. 9 Before your pots can feel the thorn’s burning heat, he will take them away with a whirlwind, the green thorns and the burning thorns alike. 10 The righteous will rejoice when he sees God’s vengeance; he will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked, 11 so that men will say, “Truly, there is a reward for the righteous person; truly there is a God who judges the earth.” Psalm 59 For the chief musician; set to Al Tashheth. A psalm of David. A michtam; when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him. 1 Rescue me from my enemies, my God; set me on high away from those who rise up against me. 2 Keep me safe from the workers of iniquity, and save me from the bloodthirsty men. 3 For, see, they wait in ambush to take my life. The powerful men gather themselves together against me, but not because of my transgression or my sin, Yahweh. 4 They prepare to run at me although I am without fault; awake and help me and see. 5 You, Yahweh God of hosts, the God of Israel, arise and punish all the nations; do not be merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah 6 They return at evening, they howl like dogs and go around the city. 7 See, they belch out with their mouths; swords are in their lips, for they say, “Who hears us?” 8 But you, Yahweh, laugh at them; you hold all the nations in derision. 9 God, my strength, I will pay attention to you; you are my high tower. 10 My God will meet me with his covenant faithfulness; God will let me see my desire on my enemies. 11 Do not kill them, or my people will forget. Scatter them by your power and make them fall, Lord our shield. 12 For the sins of their mouths and the words of their lips, let them be captured in their pride, and for the curses and lies that they express. 13 Consume them in wrath, consume them so that they will be no more; let them know that God rules in Jacob and to the ends of the earth. Selah 14 At evening they return, howling like dogs going around the city. 15 They wander about looking for food and they growl like a dog if they are not satisfied. 16 But I will sing about your strength, and in the morning I will sing about your steadfast love! For you have been my high tower and a refuge in the day of my distress. 17 To you, my strength, I will sing praises; for God is my high tower, the God of covenant faithfulness. Psalm 60 For the chief musician; set to Shushan Eduth. A michtam of David, for teaching. When he fought with Aram Naharaim and with Aram Zobah, and Joab returned and killed twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. 1 God, you have cast us off; you have broken through our defenses; you have been angry; restore us again. 2 You have made the land tremble; you have torn it apart; heal its fissures, for it is shaking. 3 You have made your people see difficult things; you have made us drink the wine of staggering. 4 For those who honor you, you have set up a banner to be displayed against those who carry the bow. Selah 5 So that those you love may be rescued, rescue us with your right hand and answer me. 6 God has spoken in his holiness, “I will rejoice; I will divide Shechem and apportion out the Valley of Succoth. 7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is my helmet; Judah is my scepter. 8 Moab is my washbasin; over Edom I will throw my shoe; I will shout in triumph because of Philistia.” 9 Who will bring me into the strong city? Who will lead me to Edom? 10 But you, God, have you not rejected us? You do not go into battle with our army. 11 Give us help against the enemy, for man’s help is futile. 12 We will triumph with God’s help; he will trample down our enemies. Psalm 61 For the chief musician; on a stringed instrument. A psalm of David. 1 Hear my cry, God; attend to my prayer. 2 From the ends of the earth will I call to you when my heart is faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. 3 For you have been a refuge for me, a strong tower from the enemy. 4 Let me live in your tabernacle forever! Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings. Selah 5 For you, God, have heard my vows, you have given me the inheritance of those who honor your name. 6 You will prolong the king’s life; his years will be like many generations. 7 Oh prepare mercy and truth which may preserve him. He will remain before God forever. 8 I will sing praise to your name forever so that I may perform my vows every day. Psalm 62 For the chief musician; after the manner of Jeduthun. A psalm of David. 1 I wait in silence for God alone; my salvation comes from him. 2 He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my high tower; I will not be greatly moved. 3 How long, all of you, will you attack a man, that you may tip him over like a leaning wall or a shaky fence? 4 They consult with him only to bring him down from his honorable position; they love to tell lies; they bless him with their mouths, but in their hearts they curse him. Selah 5 I wait in silence for God alone; for my hope is set on him. 6 He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my high tower; I will not be moved. 7 With God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength and my refuge are in God. 8 Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah 9 Surely men of low standing are vanity, and men of high standing are a lie; they will weigh lightly in the scales; weighed together, they are lighter than nothing. 10 Do not trust in oppression or robbery; and do not hope uselessly in riches, for they will bear no fruit; do not fix your heart on them. 11 God has spoken once, twice have I heard this: power belongs to God. 12 Also to you, Lord, belongs covenant faithfulness, for you pay back every person for what he has done. Psalm 63 A psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. 1 God, you are my God! I earnestly search for you, my soul thirsts for you, and my flesh longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. 2 So I have looked on you in the sanctuary, to see your power and your glory. 3 Because your covenant faithfulness is better than life, my lips will praise you. 4 So I will bless you with my life; I will lift up my hands in your name. 5 It will be like when my throat is satisfied with fatty meats and rich foods; with joyful lips my mouth will praise you, 6 when I remember you on my bed and meditate on you in the night hours. 7 For you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I rejoice. 8 My soul clings to you; your right hand supports me. 9 But those who seek to destroy my life will go down into the lowest parts of the earth; 10 they will be given over to the power of the sword, and they will become food for the jackals. 11 But the king will rejoice in God; everyone who swears by him will exult, but the mouth of those who speak lies will be shut. Psalm 64 For the chief musician. A psalm of David. 1 Hear my voice, God, listen to my complaint; preserve my life from fear of my enemies. 2 Hide me from the secret plotting of evildoers, from the commotion of the doers of iniquity. 3 They have sharpened their tongues like swords; they have aimed their arrows, bitter words, 4 so that they may shoot from secret places at someone who is innocent; suddenly they shoot at him and fear nothing. 5 They encourage themselves in an evil plan; they consult privately together in order to set traps; they say, “Who will see us?” 6 They invent sinful plans; “We have finished,” they say, “a careful plan.” The inner thoughts and hearts of man are deep. 7 But God will shoot them; suddenly they will be wounded with his arrows. 8 They will be made to stumble, since their own tongues are against them; all who see them will wag their heads. 9 All people will fear and will declare God’s deeds. They will wisely think about what he has done. 10 The righteous will be glad about Yahweh and will take refuge in him; all the upright in heart will take pride in him. Psalm 65 For the chief musician. A psalm. A song of David. 1 For you, God in Zion, our praise waits; our vows will be carried out to you. 2 You who hear prayer, to you all flesh will come. 3 Iniquities prevail against us; as for our transgressions, you will forgive them. 4 Blessed is the man whom you choose to bring near to you so that he may live in your courts. We will be satisfied with the goodness of your house, your holy temple. 5 In righteousness you will answer us by doing amazing things, God of our salvation; you who are hope of all the ends of the earth and of those who are far across the sea. 6 For it is you who made the mountains firm, you who are belted with strength. 7 It is you who quiet the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the commotion of the peoples. 8 Those who live in the uttermost parts of the earth are afraid of the evidence of your deeds; you make the east and the west rejoice. 9 You come to help the earth; you water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide mankind grain when you have prepared the earth. 10 You water its furrows abundantly; you settle down the furrows’ ridges; you make them soft with rain showers; you bless the sprouts between them. 11 You crown the year with your goodness, and your wagon tracks overflow with abundance. 12 The pastures in the wilderness drip with dew, and the hills are clothed with joy. 13 The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with grain; they shout for joy, and they sing. Psalm 66 For the chief musician. A song, a psalm. 1 To the chief musician. A song. A psalm. Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth; 2 Sing out the glory of his name; make his praise glorious. 3 Say to God, “How terrifying are your deeds! By the greatness of your power your enemies will submit to you. 4 All the earth will worship you and will sing to you; they will sing to your name.” Selah 5 Come and see the works of God; he is fearsome in his deeds toward the sons of mankind. 6 He turned the sea into dry land; they went through the river on foot; there we rejoiced in him. 7 He rules forever by his might; his eyes observe the nations; let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah 8 Give blessing to God, you people, let the sound of his praise be heard. 9 He keeps us among the living, and he does not permit our feet to slip. 10 For you, God, have tested us; you have tested us as silver is tested. 11 You brought us into a net; you laid a heavy burden on our backs. 12 You made people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us out into a spacious place. 13 I will come into your house with burnt offerings; I will pay you my vows 14 which my lips promised and my mouth spoke when I was in distress. 15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fat animals with the sweet aroma of rams; I will offer bulls and goats. Selah 16 Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will declare what he has done for my soul. 17 I cried to him with my mouth, and he was praised with my tongue. 18 If I had seen sin within my heart, the Lord would not have listened to me. 19 But God has truly heard; he has paid attention to the voice of my prayer. 20 Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer or his covenant faithfulness from me. Psalm 67 For the chief musician; on stringed instruments. A psalm, a song. 1 May God be gracious to us and bless us and cause his face to shine on us Selah 2 so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. 3 Let the peoples praise you, God; let all the peoples praise you. 4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you will judge the peoples with uprightness and govern the nations on earth. Selah 5 Let the peoples praise you, God; let all the peoples praise you. 6 The earth has yielded its harvest; God, our God, will bless us. 7 May God bless us, and may all the ends of the earth fear him. Psalm 68 For the chief musician; A psalm of David, a song. 1 Let God arise; let his enemies be scattered; let those also who hate him flee before him. 2 As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish in the presence of God. 3 But let the righteous be glad; let them exult before God; may they rejoice and be happy. 4 Sing to God! Sing praises to his name! Praise the one who rides through the plains of the Jordan River valley! Yahweh is his name! Rejoice before him! 5 A father of the fatherless, a judge of the widows, is God in the holy place where he lives. 6 God puts the lonely into families; he brings out the prisoners to live in prosperity; but the rebellious live in a parched land. 7 God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness, Selah 8 The earth trembled; the heavens also dropped rain in God’s presence, in the presence of God when he came to Sinai, in the presence of God, the God of Israel. 9 You, God, sent a plentiful rain; you strengthened your inheritance when it was weary. 10 Your people lived in it; You, God, gave from your goodness to the poor. 11 The Lord gave the orders, and those who announced them were a great army. 12 Kings of armies flee, they flee, and the women waiting at home divide the plunder: 13 Though you lie down among the sheepfolds, You will be like the wings of a dove covered with silver, And her feathers with yellow gold 14 The Almighty scattered kings there, it was as when it snowed on Mount Zalmon. 15 A mighty mountain is the hill country of Bashan; a high mountain is the hill country of Bashan. 16 Why do you look in envy, you high hill country, at the mountain which God desires for the place he will live? Indeed, Yahweh will live in it forever. 17 The chariots of God are twenty thousand, thousands upon thousands; the Lord is among them in the holy place, as at Sinai. 18 You have ascended on high; you have led away captives; you have received gifts from among men, even from those who fought against you, so that you, Yahweh God, might live there. 19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burdens, the God who is our salvation. Selah 20 Our God is a God who saves; Yahweh the Lord is the one who is able to rescue us from death. 21 But God will strike through the heads of his enemies, through the hairy scalps of those who walk in offenses against him. 22 The Lord said, “I will bring my enemies back from Bashan; I will bring them back from the depths of the sea 23 so that you may crush your enemies, dipping your foot in blood, and so that the tongues of your dogs may have their share from your enemies.” 24 They have seen your processions, God, the processions of my God, my King, into the holy place. 25 The singers went first, the minstrels followed after, and in the middle were the unmarried girls playing tambourines. 26 Bless God in the assemblies; praise Yahweh, you who are from the fountain [1] of Israel. 27 There is first Benjamin, the smallest tribe, then the leaders of Judah and their multitudes, the leaders of Zebulun and the leaders of Naphtali. 28 Your God, Israel, has decreed your strength; reveal to us your power, God, as you have revealed it in times past. 29 Reveal your power to us from your temple at Jerusalem, where kings bring gifts to you. 30 Shout in battle against the wild beasts in the reeds, against the peoples, that multitude of bulls and calves. Humiliate them and make them bring you gifts; scatter the peoples who love to wage war. 31 Princes will come out of Egypt; Cush will hurry to reach out with her hands to God. 32 Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth; Selah Sing praises to Yahweh. 33 To him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which exist from ancient times; see, he lifts up his voice with power. 34 Ascribe strength to God; his majesty is over Israel, and his strength is in the skies. 35 God, you are fearsome in your holy place; the God of Israel—he gives strength and power to his people. Blessed be God. 68:26 [1] The Hebrew text can be read either as from the fountain or, from the assembly . Psalm 69 For the chief musician; set to Shoshannim. A psalm of David. 1 Save me, God; for the waters have put my life in danger. 2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no place to stand; I have come into deep waters, where the floods flow over me. 3 I am weary with my crying; my throat is dry; my eyes fail while I wait for my God. 4 Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs on my head; those who would cut me off, being my enemies for wrong reasons, are mighty; what I did not steal, I have to give back. 5 God, you know my foolishness, and my sins are not hidden from you. 6 Let not those who hope in you be put to shame because of me, Lord Yahweh of hosts; let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor because of me, God of Israel. 7 For your sake I have borne rebuke; shame has covered my face. 8 I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother’s children. 9 For the zeal of your house has eaten me up, and the rebukes of those who rebuke you have fallen on me. 10 When I wept and did not eat food, they insulted me. 11 When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became the object of a proverb to them. 12 Those who sit in the city gate talk about me; I am a song of drunkards. 13 But as for me, my prayer is to you, Yahweh, in the acceptable time; in the multitude of your mercy, hear me in the truth of your salvation. 14 Pull me out of the mire, and do not let me sink; let me be taken away from those who hate me and rescued out of the deep waters. 15 Do not let the floods of water overwhelm me, neither let the deep swallow me up. Do not let the pit shut its mouth on me. 16 Answer me, Yahweh, for your covenant faithfulness is good; because your mercies for me are many, turn to me. 17 Do not hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress; answer me quickly. 18 Come to me and redeem me. Because of my enemies, ransom me. 19 You know my rebuke, my shame, and my dishonor; my adversaries are all before you. 20 Rebuke has broken my heart; I am full of heaviness; I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none; I looked for comforters, but I found none. 21 They gave me poison for my food; in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. 22 Let their table before them become a snare; when they think they are in safety, let it become a trap. 23 Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see; and always make their loins shake. 24 Pour out your indignation on them, and let the fierceness of your anger overtake them. 25 Let their place be a desolation; let no one live in their tents. 26 For they persecuted the one you struck down. They repeated the account of the pain of those you have wounded. 27 Accuse them of having committed iniquity after iniquity; do not let them come into your righteous victory. 28 Let them be blotted out of the Book of Life and not be written down along with the righteous. 29 But I am poor and sorrowful; let your salvation, God, set me up on high. 30 I will praise the name of God with a song and will exalt him with thanksgiving. 31 That will please Yahweh better than an ox or a bull that has horns and hooves. 32 The meek have seen it and are glad; you who seek after God, let your hearts live. 33 For Yahweh hears the needy and does not despise his prisoners. 34 Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them. 35 For God will save Zion and will rebuild the cities of Judah; the people will live there and have it as a possession. 36 His servants’ descendants will inherit it; and those who love his name will live there. Psalm 70 For the chief musician. A psalm of David; to bring to remembrance. 1 Save me, God! Yahweh, come quickly and help me. 2 Let those who try to take my life be ashamed and humiliated; let them be turned back and brought to dishonor, those who take pleasure in my pain. 3 Let them be turned back because of their shame, those who say, “Aha, aha.” 4 Let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; let those who love your salvation always say, “May God be praised.” 5 But I am poor and needy; hurry to me, God; you are my help and you rescue me. Yahweh, do not delay. Psalm 71 1 In you, Yahweh, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame. 2 Rescue me and make me safe in your righteousness; turn your ear to me and save me. 3 Be to me a rock for refuge where I may always go; you have given a command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress. 4 Rescue me, my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel. 5 For you are my hope, Lord Yahweh. I have trusted in you ever since I was a child. 6 By you I have been supported from the womb; you are he who took me out of my mother’s belly; my praise will be always about you. 7 I am an example to many people; you are my strong refuge. 8 My mouth will be filled with your praise, all the day with your honor. 9 Do not throw me away in my time of old age; do not abandon me when my strength fails. 10 For my enemies are talking about me; those who watch for my life are plotting together. 11 They say, “God has forsaken him; pursue and take him, for there is no one to save him.” 12 God, do not be far from me; my God, hurry to help me. 13 Let them be put to shame and destroyed, those who are hostile to my life; let them be covered with rebuke and dishonor, those who seek my hurt. 14 But I will always hope in you and will praise you more and more. 15 My mouth will tell about your righteousness and your salvation all the day, although I cannot understand it. 16 I will come with the mighty acts of the Lord Yahweh; I will make mention of your righteousness, yours alone. 17 God, you have taught me from my youth; even now I declare your wonderful deeds. 18 Indeed, even when I am old and gray-headed, God, do not forsake me, as I have been declaring your strength to the next generation, your power to everyone who is to come. 19 Your righteousness also, God, is very high; you who have done great things, God, who is like you? 20 You who made me see many troubles will revive us again and will bring us up again from the depths of the earth. 21 May you increase my honor; turn again and comfort me. 22 I will also give thanks to you with the harp for your trustworthiness, my God; to you I will sing praises with the harp, Holy One of Israel. 23 My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to you— even my soul, which you have redeemed. 24 My tongue will also talk about your righteousness all day long; for they have been put to shame and are confused, those who sought my hurt. Psalm 72 A psalm of Solomon. 1 A Psalm of Solomon Give the king your righteous decrees, God, your righteousness to the king’s son. 2 May he judge your people with righteousness and your poor with justice. 3 May the mountains produce peace for the people; may the hills produce righteousness. 4 May he judge the poor of the people; may he save the children of the needy and break in pieces the oppressor. 5 May they honor you while the sun endures, and as long as the moon lasts throughout all generations. 6 May he come down like rain on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth. 7 May the righteous flourish in his days, and may there be an abundance of peace till the moon is no more. 8 May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. 9 May those who live in the wilderness bow down before him; may his enemies lick the dust. 10 May the kings of Tarshish and of the islands render tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts. 11 Indeed, may all kings fall down before him; may all nations serve him. 12 For he helps the needy person who cries out and the poor person who has no other helper. 13 He has pity on the poor and needy, and he saves the lives of needy people. 14 He redeems their lives from oppression and violence, and their blood is precious in his sight. 15 May he live! May the gold of Sheba be given to him. May people always pray for him; may God bless him all day long. 16 May there be abundance of grain in the land; on the mountaintops may their crops wave. May the fruit of it be like Lebanon; may the people flourish in the cities like the grass of the field. 17 May his name endure forever; may his name continue as long as the sun; may people be blessed in him; may all nations call him blessed. 18 May Yahweh God, the God of Israel, be blessed, who alone does wonderful things. 19 May his glorious name be blessed forever, and may the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen. 20 The prayers of David son of Jesse are finished. Book Three Psalm 73 A psalm of Asaph. 1 A Psalm of Asaph Surely God is good to Israel, to those with a pure heart. 2 But as for me, my feet almost slipped; my feet almost slipped out from under me 3 because I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 For they have no pain until their death, but they are strong and well fed. 5 They are free from the burdens of other men; they are not afflicted like other men. 6 Pride adorns them like a necklace around their neck; violence clothes them like a robe. 7 Out of such blindness comes sin; evil thoughts pass through their hearts. 8 They mock and speak wickedly; in their arrogance they threaten oppression. 9 They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongues march through the earth. 10 Therefore his people turn to them and abundant waters are drained out. 11 They say, “How does God know? Is there knowledge with the Most High?” 12 Take notice: these people are wicked; they are always carefree, becoming richer and richer. 13 Surely it is in vain that I have guarded my heart and washed my hands in innocence. 14 For all the day long I have been afflicted and disciplined every morning. 15 If I had said, “I will say these things,” then I would have betrayed this generation of your children. 16 Though I tried to understand these things, it was too difficult for me. 17 Then I went into God’s sanctuary and came to understand their fate. 18 Surely you put them in slippery places; you bring them down to ruin. 19 How they become a wilderness in a moment! They come to an end and are finished in awful terrors. 20 They are like a dream after one wakes up; Lord, when you arise, you will think nothing of those dreams. 21 For my heart was grieved, and I was deeply wounded. 22 I was ignorant and lacked insight; I was like a senseless animal before you. 23 Yet I am always with you; you hold my right hand. 24 You will guide me with your advice and afterward receive me to glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but you? There is no one on earth that I desire but you. 26 My flesh and my heart grow weak, but God is the strength of my heart forever. 27 Those indeed who are far from you will perish; you will destroy all those who are unfaithful to you. 28 But as for me, all I need to do is to approach God. I have made the Lord Yahweh my refuge. I will declare all your deeds. Psalm 74 A maschil of Asaph. 1 A writing of Asaph God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger burn against the sheep of your pasture? 2 Call to mind your people, whom you purchased in ancient times, the tribe whom you have redeemed to be your own heritage, and Mount Zion, where you live. 3 Come look at the complete ruins, all the damage that the enemy has done in the holy place. 4 Your adversaries roared in the middle of your appointed place; they set up their battle flags. 5 They seem like men who lift up Axes among the thick trees. 6 They smashed and broke down all the engravings; they broke them with axes and hammers. 7 They set your sanctuary on fire; they desecrated where you live, knocking it to the ground. 8 They said in their hearts, “We will destroy them all.” They burned up all of your meeting places in the land. 9 We do not see any more signs; there is no prophet any more, and no one among us knows how long this will last. 10 How long, God, will the enemy throw insults at you? Will the enemy blaspheme your name forever? 11 Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Take your right hand from your garment and destroy them. 12 Yet God has been my king from ancient times, bringing salvation on the earth. 13 You divided the sea by your strength; you smashed the heads of the sea monsters in the waters. 14 You crushed the heads of leviathan; you fed him to those living in the wilderness. 15 You broke open springs and streams; you dried up flowing rivers. 16 The day is yours, and the night is yours also; you set the sun and moon in place. 17 You have set all the borders of the earth; you have made summer and winter. 18 Call to mind how the enemy hurled insults at you, Yahweh, and that a foolish people has blasphemed your name. 19 Do not give the life of your dove to a wild animal. Do not forget forever the life of your oppressed people. 20 Remember your covenant, for the dark regions of the land are full of places of violence. 21 Do not let the oppressed be turned back in shame; let the poor and oppressed praise your name. 22 Arise, God; defend your own honor; call to mind how fools insult you all day long. 23 Do not forget the voice of your adversaries or the uproar of those who continually defy you. Psalm 75 For the chief musician; set to Al Tashheth. A psalm of Asaph, a song. 1 We give thanks to you, God; we give thanks, for you reveal your presence; people tell of your wondrous works. 2 At the appointed time I will judge fairly. 3 Though the earth and all the inhabitants shake in fear, I make steady the earth’s pillars. Selah 4 I said to the arrogant, “Do not be arrogant,” and to the wicked, “Do not lift up the horn. 5 Do not lift up your horn to the heights; do not speak with an insolent neck.” 6 It is not from the east or from the west, and it is not from the wilderness that lifting up comes. 7 But God is the judge; he brings down one and he lifts up another. 8 For Yahweh holds in his hand a cup full of foaming wine, which is mixed with spices, and pours it out. Surely all the wicked of the earth will drink it to the last drop. 9 But I will continually tell what you have done; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. 10 He says, “I will cut off all the horns of the wicked, but the horns of the righteous will be raised up.” Psalm 76 For the chief musician, on stringed instruments. A psalm of Asaph, a song. 1 God has made himself known in Judah; his name is great in Israel. 2 His tent is in Salem; his dwelling place is in Zion. 3 There he broke the arrows of the bow, the shield, the sword, and the other weapons of war. Selah 4 You shine brightly and reveal your glory, as you descend from the mountains, where you killed your victims. 5 The bravehearted were plundered; they fell asleep. All the warriors were helpless. 6 At your rebuke, God of Jacob, both rider and horse fell asleep. 7 You, yes you, are to be feared; who can stand in your sight when you are angry? 8 From heaven you made your judgment heard; the earth was afraid and silent 9 when you, God, arose to execute judgment and to save all the oppressed of the earth. Selah 10 Surely your angry judgment against humanity will bring you praise; you gird yourself with what is left of your anger. 11 Make vows to Yahweh your God and keep them. May all who surround him bring gifts to him who is to be feared. 12 He cuts off the spirit of the princes; he is feared by the kings of the earth. Psalm 77 For the chief musician; after the manner of Jeduthun. A psalm of Asaph. 1 I will call out with my voice to God; I will call with my voice to God, and my God will hear me. 2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; at night I stretched my hands out, and they would not become tired. My soul refused to be comforted. 3 I thought of God as I groaned; I thought about him as I grew faint. Selah 4 You held my eyes open; I was too troubled to speak. 5 I thought about the days of old, about times long past. 6 I call to remembrance my song in the night; I meditate within my heart, And my spirit makes diligent search. 7 Will the Lord reject me forever? Will he never again show me favor? 8 Was his covenant faithfulness gone forever? Had his promise failed forever? 9 Had God forgotten to be gracious? Had his anger shut off his compassion? Selah 10 I said, “This is my sorrow: the changing of the right hand of the Most High toward us.” 11 But I will call to mind your deeds, Yahweh; I will think about your wonderful deeds of old. 12 I will ponder all your deeds and will reflect on them. 13 Your way, God, is holy; what god compares to our great God? 14 You are the God who does wonders; you have revealed your strength among the peoples. 15 You gave your people victory by your great power— the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Selah 16 The waters saw you, God; the waters saw you, and they were afraid; the depths trembled. 17 The clouds poured down water; the cloudy skies also gave voice; your arrows flew about. 18 Your thunderous voice was heard in the wind; the lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled and shook. 19 Your path went through the sea and your way through the surging waters, but your footprints were not seen. 20 You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. Psalm 78 A maschil of Asaph. 1 A writing of Asaph Hear my teaching, my people, listen to the words of my mouth. 2 I will open my mouth in parables; I will sing about hidden things about the past. 3 These are things that we have heard and learned, things that our ancestors have told us. 4 We will not keep them from their descendants. We will tell the next generation about the praiseworthy deeds of Yahweh, his strength, and the wonders that he has done. 5 For he established covenant decrees in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel. He commanded our ancestors that they were to teach them to their children. 6 He commanded this so that the generation to come might know his decrees, the children not yet born, who should tell them in turn to their own children. 7 Then they would place their hope in God and not forget his deeds but keep his commandments. 8 Then they would not be like their ancestors, who were a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose hearts were not right, and whose spirits were not committed and faithful to God. 9 The Ephraimites were armed with bows, but they turned back on the day of battle. 10 They did not keep the covenant with God, and they refused to obey his law. 11 They forgot his deeds, the wonderful things that he had shown them. 12 They forgot the marvelous things he did in the sight of their ancestors in the land of Egypt, in the land of Zoan. 13 He divided the sea and led them across it; he made the waters to stand like walls. 14 In the daytime he led them with a cloud and all the night with the light of fire. 15 He split the rocks in the wilderness, and he gave them water abundantly, enough to fill the depths of the sea. 16 He made streams flow out of the rock and made the water flow like rivers. 17 Yet they continued to sin against him, rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness. 18 They challenged God in their hearts by asking for food to satisfy their appetites. 19 They spoke against God; they said, “Can God really lay out a table for us in the wilderness? 20 See, when he struck the rock, waters gushed out and streams overflowed. But can he give bread also? Will he provide meat for his people?” 21 When Yahweh heard this, he was angry; so his fire burned against Jacob, and his anger attacked Israel, 22 because they did not believe in God and did not trust in his salvation. 23 Yet he commanded the skies above and opened the doors of the sky. 24 He rained down manna for them to eat, and gave them the grain from heaven. 25 People ate the bread of angels. He sent them food in abundance. 26 He caused the east wind to blow in the sky, and by his power he guided the south wind. 27 He rained down meat on them like dust, birds as numerous as the sands of the sea. 28 They fell in the middle of their camp, all around their tents. 29 So they ate and were full. He gave them what they craved. 30 But they had not yet filled up; their food was still in their mouths. 31 Then God’s anger attacked them and killed the strongest of them. He brought down the young men of Israel. 32 Despite this, they continued to sin and did not believe his wonderful deeds. 33 Therefore God cut short their days; their years were filled with terror. 34 Whenever God afflicted them, they would start to seek him, and they would return and look earnestly for him. 35 They would call to mind that God was their rock and that the Most High God was their rescuer. 36 But they would flatter him with their mouth and lie to him with their words. 37 For their hearts were not firmly fixed on him, and they were not faithful to his covenant. 38 Yet he, being merciful, forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them. Yes, many times he held back his anger and did not stir up all his wrath. 39 He called to mind that they were made of flesh, a wind that passes away and does not return. 40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the barren regions! 41 Again and again they challenged God and offended the Holy One of Israel. 42 They did not think about his power, how he had rescued them from the enemy 43 when he performed his terrifying signs in Egypt and his wonders in the region of Zoan. 44 He turned the Egyptians’ rivers to blood so that they could not drink from their streams. 45 He sent swarms of flies that devoured them and frogs that overran their land. 46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper and their labor to the locust. 47 He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamore trees with more hail. 48 He rained hail on their cattle and hurled lightning bolts at their livestock. 49 The fierceness of his anger lashed out against them. He sent wrath, fury, and trouble like agents who bring disaster. 50 He leveled a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death but gave them over to the plague. 51 He killed all the firstborn in Egypt, the firstborn of their strength in the tents of Ham. 52 He led his own people out like sheep and guided them through the wilderness like a flock. 53 He led them secure and unafraid, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. 54 Then he brought them to the border of his holy land, to this mountain that his right hand acquired. 55 He drove out the nations from before them and assigned them their inheritance. He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents. 56 Yet they challenged and defied the Most High God and did not keep his solemn commands. 57 They were unfaithful and acted treacherously like their fathers; they were as undependable as a faulty bow. 58 For they made him angry with their high places and provoked him to jealous anger with their idols. 59 When God heard this, he was angry and completely rejected Israel. 60 He abandoned the sanctuary of Shiloh, the tent where he had lived among people. 61 He allowed his strength to be captured and gave his glory into the enemy’s hand. 62 He handed his people over to the sword, and he was angry with his heritage. 63 Fire devoured their young men, and their young women had no wedding songs. 64 Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows could not weep. 65 Then the Lord awakened as one from sleep, like a warrior who shouts because of wine. 66 He drove his adversaries back; he put them to everlasting shame. 67 He rejected the tent of Joseph, and he did not chose the tribe of Ephraim. 68 He chose the tribe of Judah and Mount Zion that he loved. 69 He built his sanctuary like the heavens, like the earth that he has established forever. 70 He chose David, his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds. 71 He took him from following the ewes with their young, and he brought him to be shepherd of Jacob, his people, and of Israel, his heritage. 72 David shepherded them with the integrity of his heart, and he guided them with the skill of his hands. Psalm 79 A psalm of Asaph. 1 A Psalm of Asaph God, foreign nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple; they have turned Jerusalem into a heap of ruins. 2 They have given the dead bodies of your servants as food to the birds of the skies, the bodies of your faithful ones to the beasts of the earth. 3 They have shed their blood like water around Jerusalem, and there was none to bury them. 4 We have become a reproach for our neighbors, mocking and derision to those who are around us. 5 How long, Yahweh? Will you stay angry forever? How long will your jealous anger burn like fire? 6 Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not know you and on the kingdoms that do not call upon your name. 7 For they have devoured Jacob and destroyed his villages. 8 Do not hold the sins of our forefathers against us; may your merciful actions come to us, for we are very low. 9 Help us, God of our salvation, for the sake of the glory of your name; save us and forgive our sins for your name’s sake. 10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” May the blood of your servants that was shed be avenged on the nations before our eyes. 11 May the groans of the prisoners come before you; with the greatness of your power keep the children of death alive. 12 Pay back into the laps of our neighboring countries seven times as much as the insults with which they have insulted you, Lord. 13 So we your people and sheep of your pasture will give you thanks forever. We will tell your praises to all generations. Psalm 80 For the chief musician, set to the Shoshannim Eduth style. A psalm of Asaph. 1 Pay attention, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock; you who sit above the cherubim, shine on us! 2 In the sight of Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up your power; come and save us. 3 God, restore us; make your face shine on us, and we will be saved. 4 Yahweh God of hosts, how long will you be angry at your people when they pray? 5 You have fed them with the bread of tears and given them tears to drink in great quantities. 6 You make us something for our neighbors to argue over, and our enemies laugh about us among themselves. 7 God of hosts, restore us; make your face shine on us, and we will be saved. 8 You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out nations and transplanted it. 9 You cleared the land for it; it took root and filled the land. 10 The mountains were covered with its shade, the cedars of God by its branches. 11 It sent out its branches as far as the sea and its shoots to the Euphrates River. 12 Why have you broken down its walls so that all who pass by along the road pluck its fruit? 13 The boars out of the forest ruin it, and the beasts of the field feed on it. 14 Turn back, God of hosts; look down from heaven and take notice and take care of this vine. 15 This is the root that your right hand planted, the shoot that you made to grow. 16 It has been burned and cut down; they perish because of your rebuke. 17 May your hand be on the man of your right hand, on the son of man whom you made strong for yourself. 18 Then we will not turn away from you; revive us, and we will call on your name. 19 Yahweh God of hosts, restore us; make your face shine on us, and we will be saved. Psalm 81 For the chief musician; set to the Gittith style. A psalm of Asaph. 1 Sing aloud to God our strength; shout out for joy to the God of Jacob. 2 Sing a song and play the tambourine, the pleasant lyre with the harp. 3 Blow the trumpet on the day of the new moon, on the day of the full moon, when our feast day begins. 4 For it is a statute for Israel, a decree given by the God of Jacob. 5 He issued it as a regulation in Joseph when he went against the land of Egypt, where I heard a voice that I did not recognize: 6 “I removed the burden from his shoulder; his hands were freed from holding the basket. 7 In your distress you called out, and I helped you; I answered you from a dark thundercloud. I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah 8 Listen, my people, for I will warn you, Israel, if you would only listen to me! 9 There must be no foreign god among you; you must not worship any foreign god. 10 I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. 11 But my people did not listen to my words; Israel did not obey me. 12 So I gave them over to their own stubborn way so that they might do what seemed right to them. 13 Oh, that my people would listen to me; oh, that my people would walk in my paths. 14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their oppressors. 15 May those who hate Yahweh cringe in fear before him! May they be humiliated forever. 16 I would feed Israel with the finest wheat; I would satisfy you with honey out of the rock.” Psalm 82 A psalm of Asaph. 1 A Psalm of Asaph God stands in the divine assembly; in the midst of the gods he renders judgment. 2 How long will you judge unjustly and show favoritism to the wicked? Selah 3 Defend the poor and fatherless; maintain the rights of the afflicted and destitute. 4 Rescue the poor and needy; take them out of the hand of the wicked. 5 They neither know nor understand; they wander around in the darkness; all the foundations of the earth crumble. 6 I said, “You are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High. 7 Nevertheless you will die like men and fall like one of the princes.” 8 Arise, God, judge the earth, for you have an inheritance in all the nations. Psalm 83 A song. A psalm of Asaph. 1 God, do not be silent! Do not ignore us and remain unmoved, God. 2 Look, your enemies are making a commotion, and those who hate you have raised their heads. 3 They conspire against your people and plan together against your protected ones. 4 They have said, “Come, and let us destroy them as a nation. Then the name of Israel will no longer be remembered.” 5 They schemed together with one strategy; they made an alliance against you— 6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagrites, 7 Gebal, Ammon, Amalek; and also Philistia and the inhabitants of Tyre. 8 Assyria also has joined with them; they have become an arm for the descendants of Lot. Selah 9 Do to them as you did to Midian, as you did to Sisera and to Jabin at the Kishon River. 10 They perished at Endor and became like manure for the earth. 11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, and all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna. 12 They said, “Let us take for ourselves the pastures of God.” 13 My God, make them like the whirling dust, like chaff before the wind, 14 like the fire that burns the forest, and like the flame that sets the mountains on fire. 15 Chase them with your strong wind, and terrify them with your windstorm. 16 Fill their faces with shame so that they might seek your name, Yahweh. 17 May they be put to shame and be terrified forever; may they perish in disgrace. 18 Then they will know that you alone, Yahweh, are honored as the Most High over all the earth. Psalm 84 For the chief musician; set to the Gittith style. A psalm of the sons of Korah. 1 How lovely is the place where you live, Yahweh of hosts! 2 I long for the courts of Yahweh, my desire for it has made me exhausted. My heart and all of my being call out to the living God. 3 Even the sparrow has found her a house and the swallow a nest for herself where she may lay her young near your altars, Yahweh of hosts, my King, and my God. 4 Blessed are they who live in your house; they praise you continually. Selah 5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways up to Zion. 6 Passing through the Valley of Tears, they find springs of water to drink. The early rains cover it with blessings. [1] 7 They go from strength to strength; every one of them appears before God in Zion. 8 Yahweh God of hosts, hear my prayer; God of Jacob, listen to what I am saying! Selah 9 God, watch over our shield; show concern for your anointed. 10 For one day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to live within the tents of the wicked. 11 For Yahweh God is our sun and shield; Yahweh will give grace and glory; he does not withhold any good thing from those who walk in integrity. 12 Yahweh of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in you. 84:6 [1] Some versions have with pools of water . Psalm 85 For the chief musician. A psalm of the sons of Korah. 1 Yahweh, you have showed favor to your land; you have restored the well-being of Jacob. 2 You have forgiven the sin of your people; you have covered all their sin. Selah 3 You have withdrawn all your wrath; you have turned back from your hot anger. 4 Restore us, God of our salvation, and let go of your displeasure with us. 5 Will you be angry with us forever? Will you remain angry throughout future generations? 6 Will you not revive us again? Then your people will rejoice in you. 7 Show us your covenant faithfulness, Yahweh, grant us your salvation. 8 I will listen to what Yahweh God says, for he will make peace with his people, his faithful ones. Yet they must not turn again to foolish ways. 9 Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him; then glory will remain in our land. 10 Covenant faithfulness and trustworthiness have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. 11 Trustworthiness springs up from the ground, and righteousness looks down from the sky. 12 Yes, Yahweh will give his good blessings, and our land will yield its crops. 13 Righteousness will go before him and make a way for his footsteps. Psalm 86 A prayer of David. 1 A Prayer of David. Incline your ear and listen, Yahweh, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. 2 Protect me, for I am faithful; my God, save your servant who trusts in you. 3 Be merciful to me, Lord, for I cry out to you all day long. 4 Make your servant glad, for to you, Lord, I lift up my soul. 5 You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and you show great mercy to all those who cry out to you. 6 Yahweh, listen to my prayer; hear the sound of my pleas. 7 In the day of my trouble I call on you, for you will answer me. 8 There is no one who compares to you among the gods, Lord. There are no deeds like your deeds. 9 All the nations that you have made will come and bow before you, Lord. They will honor your name. 10 For you are great and do wonderful things; you only are God. 11 Teach me your ways, Yahweh. Then I will walk in your truth. Unite my heart to reverence you. 12 Lord my God, I will praise you with my whole heart; I will glorify your name forever. 13 For great is your covenant faithfulness toward me; you have rescued my life from the depths of Sheol. 14 God, the arrogant have risen up against me. A gang of violent men seek my life. They have no regard for you. 15 But you, Lord, are a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in covenant faithfulness and trustworthiness. 16 Turn toward me and have mercy on me; give your strength to your servant; save the son of your servant woman. 17 Show me a sign of your favor. Then those who hate me will see it and be put to shame because you, Yahweh, have helped me and comforted me. Psalm 87 A psalm of the sons of Korah; a song. 1 A Psalm of the sons of Korah A Song On the holy mount stands the city he founded; 2 Yahweh loves the gates of Zion more than all the tents of Jacob. 3 Glorious things are said of you, city of God. Selah 4 “I mention Rahab and Babylon to my followers. See, there are Philistia, and Tyre, along with Cush— and will say, ‘This one was born there.’” 5 Of Zion it will be said, “Each of these was born in her; and the Most High himself will establish her.” 6 Yahweh writes in the census book of the nations, “This one was born there.” Selah 7 So also the singers and the dancers say together, “All my fountains are in you.” Psalm 88 A song, a psalm of the sons of Korah; for the chief musician; set to the Mahalath Leannoth style. A maschil of Heman the Ezrahite. 1 Yahweh, God of my salvation, I cry out day and night before you. 2 Let my prayer come before you; pay attention to my cry. 3 For I am filled with troubles, and my life has reached Sheol. 4 People treat me like those who go down into the pit; I am a man with no strength. 5 I am abandoned among the dead; I am like the dead who lie in the grave, about whom you care no more because they are cut off from your power. 6 You place me in the lowest part of the pit, in the dark and deep places. 7 Your wrath lies heavy on me, and all your waves crash over me. Selah 8 Because of you, my acquaintances avoid me. You have made me a shocking sight to them. I am hemmed in and I cannot escape. 9 My eyes grow weary from trouble; All day long I call out to you, Yahweh; I spread out my hands to you. 10 Will you do wonders for the dead? Will those who have died rise and praise you? Selah 11 Will your covenant faithfulness be proclaimed in the grave, your loyalty in the place of the dead? 12 Will your wonderful deeds be known in the darkness, or your righteousness in the place of forgetfulness? 13 But I cry to you, Yahweh; in the morning my prayer comes before you. 14 Yahweh, why do you reject me? Why do you hide your face from me? 15 I have always been afflicted and on the verge of death since my youth. I have suffered from your terrors; I am in despair. 16 Your angry actions have passed over me, and your terrifying deeds have annihilated me. 17 They surround me like water all the day long; they have all encircled me. 18 You have removed every friend and acquaintance from me. My only acquaintance is the darkness. Psalm 89 A maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite. 1 I will sing of Yahweh’s acts of covenant faithfulness forever. I will proclaim your truthfulness to future generations. 2 For I have said, “Covenant faithfulness has been established forever; your truthfulness you have established in the heavens.” 3 “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have made an oath to David my servant. 4 I will establish your descendants forever, and I will establish your throne through all generations.” Selah 5 The heavens praise your wonders, Yahweh; your truthfulness is praised in the assembly of the holy ones. 6 For who in the skies can be compared to Yahweh? Who among the sons of the gods is like Yahweh? 7 He is a God who is greatly honored in the council of the holy ones and is awesome among all who surround him. 8 Yahweh God of hosts, who is strong like you, Yahweh? Your truthfulness surrounds you. 9 You rule the raging sea; when the waves surge, you calm them. 10 You crushed Rahab as one who is killed. You scattered your enemies with your strong arm. 11 The heavens belong to you, and the earth also. You made the world and all it contains. 12 You created the north and the south. Tabor and Hermon rejoice in your name. 13 You have a mighty arm and a strong hand, and your right hand is high. 14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. Covenant faithfulness and trustworthiness come before you. 15 Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! Yahweh, they walk in the light of your face. 16 They rejoice in your name all day long, and in your righteousness they exalt you. 17 You are their majestic strength, and by your favor our strength is made victorious. 18 For our shield belongs to Yahweh; our king belongs to the Holy One of Israel. 19 Long ago you spoke in a vision to your faithful ones; [1] you said, “I have set a crown on a mighty one.” [2] I have raised up one chosen from among the people. 20 I have chosen David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him. 21 My hand will support him. Also my arm will be with him to strengthen him. 22 No enemy will deceive him; no son of wickedness will oppress him. 23 I will crush his enemies before him; I will kill those who hate him. 24 My truth and my covenant faithfulness will be with him; by my name he will win victories. 25 I will place his hand over the sea and his right hand over the rivers. 26 He will call out to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.’ 27 I also will place him as my firstborn son, the most exalted of the kings of the earth. 28 I will extend my covenant faithfulness to him forever; and my covenant with him will be secure. 29 I will make his descendants endure forever and his throne as enduring as the skies above. 30 If his children forsake my law and do not walk in my regulations, 31 if they break my rules and do not keep my commands, 32 then will I punish their rebellion with a rod and their iniquity with blows. 33 But I will not remove my steadfast love from him or be unfaithful to my promise. 34 I will not break my covenant or change the words of my lips. 35 Once and for all I have sworn by my holiness— I will not lie to David: 36 his descendants will continue forever and his throne as long as the sun before me. 37 It will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky.” Selah 38 But you have refused and rejected; you have been angry with your anointed king. 39 You have renounced the covenant of your servant. You have desecrated his crown on the ground. 40 You have broken down all his walls. You have ruined his strongholds. 41 All who pass by have robbed him. He has become an object of disgust to his neighbors. 42 You have raised the right hand of his enemies; you have made all his enemies rejoice. 43 You turn back the edge of his sword and have not made him stand when in battle. 44 You have brought his splendor to an end; you have brought down his throne to the ground. 45 You have shortened the days of his youth. You have covered him with shame. Selah 46 How long, Yahweh? Will you hide yourself, forever? How long will your anger burn like fire? 47 Oh, think about how short my time is, and for what uselessness you have created all the children of mankind! 48 Who can live and not see death, or rescue his own life from the hand of Sheol? Selah 49 Lord, where are your former acts of covenant faithfulness that you swore to David in your truthfulness? 50 Call to mind, Lord, the mocking directed against your servants and how I bear in my heart so many insults from the nations. 51 Your enemies hurl insults, Yahweh; they mock the footsteps of your anointed one. 52 Blessed be Yahweh forever. Amen and Amen. Book Four 89:19 [1] Many manuscripts have the singular faithful one instead of faithful ones . 89:19 [2] The MT has I will place help upon a warrior . Some translate the word for help as crown , and that is how the ULT has translated the word here. Psalm 90 A prayer of Moses the man of God. 1 A Prayer of Moses a man of God Lord, you have been our refuge throughout all generations. 2 Before the mountains were formed, or you formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. 3 You return man to dust, and you say, “Return, you descendants of mankind.” 4 For a thousand years in your sight are as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. 5 You sweep them away as with a flood and they sleep; in the morning they are like the grass that sprouts up. 6 In the morning it blooms and grows up; in the evening it withers and dries up. 7 Truly, we are consumed in your anger, and in your wrath we are terrified. 8 You have set our iniquities before you, our hidden sins in the light of your presence. 9 For our life passes away under your wrath; our years quickly pass like a sigh. 10 Our years are seventy, or even eighty if we are healthy; but even our best years are marked by trouble and sorrow. Yes, they pass quickly, and we fly away. 11 Who knows the intensity of your anger, and your wrath that is equal to the fear of you? 12 So teach us to consider our life so that we might live wisely. 13 Turn back, Yahweh! How long will it be? Have pity on your servants. 14 Satisfy us in the morning with your covenant faithfulness so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. 15 Make us glad in proportion to the days you afflicted us and to the years we have experienced trouble. 16 Let your servants see your work, and let our children see your majesty. 17 May the favor of the Lord our God be ours; prosper the work of our hands; indeed, prosper the work of our hands. Psalm 91 1 He who lives in the shelter of the Most High will stay in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of Yahweh, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” 3 For he will rescue you from the snare of the hunter and from the deadly plague. 4 He will cover you with his wings, and under his wings you will find refuge. His trustworthiness is a shield and protection. 5 You will not be afraid of terror in the night, or of the arrow that flies by day, 6 or of the plague that roams around in the darkness, or of the disease that comes at noontime. 7 A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not reach you. 8 You will only observe and see the punishment of the wicked. 9 For Yahweh is my refuge! Make the Most High your refuge also. 10 No evil will overtake you; no affliction will come near your home. 11 For he will direct his angels to protect you, to guard you in all your ways. 12 They will lift you up with their hand so that you will not hit your foot on a stone. 13 You will crush lions and adders under your feet; you will trample on young lions and serpents. 14 Because he is devoted to me, I will rescue him. I will protect him because he is loyal to me. 15 When he calls to me, I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble; I will give him victory and will honor him. 16 I will satisfy him with the length of his days, and show him my salvation. Psalm 92 A psalm, a song for the Sabbath day. 1 It is a good thing to give thanks to Yahweh and to sing praises to your name, Most High, 2 to proclaim your covenant faithfulness in the morning and your truthfulness every night, 3 with a harp of ten strings and with the melody of the lyre. 4 For you, Yahweh, have made me glad through your deeds. I will sing for joy because of the deeds of your hands. 5 How great are your deeds, Yahweh! Your thoughts are very deep. 6 A brutish person does not know, nor does a fool understand this: 7 When the wicked sprout like the grass, and even when all the evildoers thrive, still they are doomed to eternal destruction. 8 But you, Yahweh, will reign forever. 9 Indeed, look at your enemies, Yahweh! Indeed, look at your enemies. They will perish! All those who do evil will be scattered. 10 You have lifted up my horn like the horn of the wild ox; I am anointed with fresh oil. 11 My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies; my ears have heard of the doom of my evil foes. 12 The righteous will flourish like the palm tree; they will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 13 They are planted in the house of Yahweh; they flourish in the courts of our God. 14 They bear fruit even when they are old; they stay fresh and green, 15 to proclaim that Yahweh is just. He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. Psalm 93 1 Yahweh reigns; he is robed in majesty; Yahweh has clothed and girded himself with strength. The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved. 2 Your throne is established from ancient times; you are from everlasting. 3 The oceans rise, Yahweh; they have lifted up their voice; the oceans’ waves crash and roar. 4 Above the crashing of many waves, the mighty breakers of the sea, Yahweh on high is mighty. 5 Your solemn commands are very trustworthy; holiness adorns your house, Yahweh, for the length of your days. Psalm 94 1 Yahweh, God who avenges, God who avenges, shine over us. 2 Rise up, judge of the earth, give to the proud what they deserve. 3 How long will the wicked, Yahweh, how long will the wicked rejoice? 4 They pour out their arrogant words; all those who do evil boast. 5 They crush your people, Yahweh; they afflict the nation that belongs to you. 6 They kill the widow and foreigner who lives in their country, and they murder the fatherless. 7 They say, “Yahweh will not see, the God of Jacob does not take notice of it.” 8 Understand, you stupid people! You fools, when will you ever learn? 9 He who made the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see? 10 He who disciplines the nations, does he not correct? He is the one who gives knowledge to man. 11 Yahweh knows the thoughts of men, that they are vapor. 12 Blessed is the one whom you instruct, Yahweh, the one whom you teach from your law. 13 You give him rest in times of trouble until a pit is dug for the wicked. 14 For Yahweh will not forsake his people or abandon his inheritance. 15 For judgment will again be righteous; and all the upright in heart will follow it. 16 Who will rise up to defend me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for me against the wicked? 17 Unless Yahweh had been my help, I would soon be lying down in the place of silence. 18 When I said, “My foot is slipping,” Your covenant faithfulness, Yahweh, held me up. 19 When cares within me are many, your consolations make me happy. 20 Can a throne of destruction be allied with you, one who creates injustice by statute? 21 They conspire together to take the life of the righteous and they condemn the innocent to death. 22 But Yahweh has been my high tower, and my God has been the rock of my refuge. 23 He will bring on them their own iniquity and will cut them off in their own wickedness. Yahweh our God will cut them off. Psalm 95 1 Oh come, let us sing to Yahweh; let us sing joyfully to the rock of our salvation. 2 Let us enter his presence with thanksgiving; let us sing to him with psalms of praise. 3 For Yahweh is a great God and a great King superior to all gods. 4 In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his. 5 The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. 6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before Yahweh, our Creator: 7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Today—oh, that you would hear his voice! 8 “Do not harden your heart, as at Meribah, or as on the day of Massah in the wilderness, 9 where your forefathers tested me and tried me, though they had seen my deeds. 10 For forty years I was angry with that generation and said, ‘This is a people whose hearts wander astray; they have not known my ways.’ 11 Therefore I vowed in my anger that they would never enter into my resting place.” Psalm 96 1 Oh, sing to Yahweh a new song; sing to Yahweh, all the earth. 2 Sing to Yahweh, bless his name; announce his salvation day after day. 3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all the nations. 4 For Yahweh is great and is to be praised greatly. He is to be feared above all other gods. 5 For all the gods of the nations are idols, but it is Yahweh who made the heavens. 6 Splendor and majesty are in his presence. Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. 7 Ascribe to Yahweh, you clans of peoples, ascribe praise to Yahweh for his glory and strength. 8 Give to Yahweh the glory that his name deserves. Bring an offering and come into his courts. 9 Bow down to Yahweh in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth. 10 Say among the nations, “Yahweh reigns.” The world also is established; it cannot be shaken. He judges the peoples fairly. 11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar and that which fills it shout with joy. 12 Let the fields rejoice and all that is in them. Then let all the trees in the forest shout for joy 13 before Yahweh, for he is coming. He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with his faithfulness. Psalm 97 1 Yahweh reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad. 2 Clouds and darkness surround him. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. 3 Fire goes before him and consumes his adversaries on every side. 4 His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles. 5 The mountains melt like wax before Yahweh, the Lord of the whole earth. 6 The skies declare his justice, and all the nations see his glory. 7 All those who worship carved figures will be shamed, those who boast in worthless idols— bow down to him, all you gods! 8 Zion heard and was glad, and the towns of Judah rejoiced because of your righteous decrees, Yahweh. 9 For you, Yahweh, are most high above all the earth. You are exalted far above all gods. 10 You who love Yahweh, hate evil! He protects the lives of his faithful ones, and he takes them out of the hand of the wicked. 11 Light is sown for the righteous and gladness for those with honest hearts. 12 Be glad in Yahweh, you righteous; and give thanks when you remember his holiness. Psalm 98 A psalm. 1 Oh, sing to Yahweh a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have given him victory. 2 Yahweh has made known his salvation; he has openly showed his justice to all the nations. 3 He calls to mind his covenant loyalty and faithfulness for the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth will see the victory of our God. 4 Shout for joy to Yahweh, all the earth; burst into song, sing for joy, and sing praises. 5 Sing praises to Yahweh with the harp, with the harp and melodious song. 6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn, make a joyful noise before the King, Yahweh. 7 Let the sea shout and everything in it, the world and those who live in it! 8 Let the rivers clap their hands, and let the mountains shout for joy. 9 Yahweh is coming to judge the earth; he will judge the world with righteousness and the nations with fairness. Psalm 99 1 Yahweh reigns; let the nations tremble. He sits enthroned above the cherubim; the earth quakes. 2 Yahweh is great in Zion; he is exalted above all the nations. 3 Let them praise your great and awesome name; he is holy. 4 The king is strong, and he loves justice. You have established fairness; you have done righteousness and justice in Jacob. 5 Praise Yahweh our God and worship at his footstool. He is holy. 6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests, and Samuel was among those who called on his name. They called to Yahweh, and he answered them. 7 He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud. They kept his solemn commands and the statutes that he gave them. 8 You answered them, Yahweh our God. A forgiving God you were to them, but one who punished their sinful deeds. 9 Praise Yahweh our God, and worship at his holy hill, for Yahweh our God is holy. Psalm 100 A psalm of thanksgiving. 1 Shout joyfully to Yahweh, all the earth. 2 Serve Yahweh with gladness; come before his presence with joyful singing. 3 Know that Yahweh is God; he made us, and we are his. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. 5 For Yahweh is good; his covenant faithfulness endures forever and his truthfulness through all generations. Psalm 101 A psalm of David. 1 A Psalm of David I will sing of covenant faithfulness and justice; to you, Yahweh, I will sing praises. 2 I will walk in the way of integrity. Oh, when will you come to me? I will walk with integrity within my house. 3 I will not put wrongdoing before my eyes; I hate worthless evil; it will not cling to me. 4 Perverse people will leave me; I am not loyal to evil. 5 I will destroy whoever secretly slanders his neighbor. I will not tolerate anyone who has a proud demeanor and an arrogant attitude. 6 I will look to the faithful of the land to sit at my side. Those who walk in the way of integrity may serve me. 7 Deceitful people will not remain within my house; liars will not be welcome before my eyes. 8 Morning by morning I will destroy all the wicked from the land; I will remove all evildoers from the city of Yahweh. Psalm 102 A prayer of the afflicted when he is faint and pours out his lament before Yahweh. 1 Hear my prayer, Yahweh; let my cry come near to you. 2 Do not hide your face from me in my time of trouble. Listen to me. When I call out to you, answer me quickly. 3 For my days pass away like smoke, and my bones burn like fire. 4 My heart is crushed, and I am like grass that has withered. I forget to eat any food. 5 With my continual groaning, I have become very thin. 6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I have become like an owl in the ruins. 7 I lie awake like a solitary bird, alone on the housetop. 8 My enemies taunt me all day long; those who mock me use my name in curses. 9 I eat ashes like bread and mix my drink with tears. 10 Because of your raging anger, you have lifted me up to throw me down. 11 My days are like a shadow that fades, and I have withered like grass. 12 But you, Yahweh, live forever, and your fame is for all generations. 13 You will rise up and have mercy on Zion. Now is the time to have mercy upon her; the appointed time has come. 14 For your servants hold her stones dear and feel compassion for the dust of her ruins. 15 The nations will respect your name, Yahweh, and all the kings of the earth will honor your glory. 16 Yahweh will rebuild Zion and will appear in his glory. 17 At that time, he will respond to the prayer of the destitute; he will not reject their prayer. 18 This will be written for future generations, and a people not yet born will praise Yahweh. 19 For he has looked down from the holy heights; from heaven Yahweh has viewed the earth, 20 to hear the groaning of the prisoners, to release those who were condemned to death. 21 Then men will proclaim the name of Yahweh in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem 22 when the peoples and kingdoms gather together to serve Yahweh. 23 He has taken away my strength in the middle of life. He has shortened my days. 24 I said, “My God, do not take me away in the middle of life; you are here throughout all generations. 25 In ancient times you set the earth in place; the heavens are the work of your hands. 26 They will perish, but you will remain; they will all grow old like a garment; like clothing, you will remove them, and they will disappear. 27 But you are the same, and your years will have no end. 28 The children of your servants will live on, and their descendants will live in your presence.” Psalm 103 A psalm of David. 1 Of David Bless Yahweh, my inner being! and all that is within me, bless his holy name. 2 Bless Yahweh, my soul! and do not forget all of his rewards. 3 He pardons all your sins; he heals all your diseases. 4 He redeems your life from destruction; he crowns you with steadfastness and mercy. 5 He satisfies you with good things; your youth is renewed like the eagle. 6 Yahweh does what is right and what is just for all the oppressed. 7 He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the children of Israel. 8 Yahweh is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. 9 He will not always discipline, and he will not keep his anger forever. 10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, and he does not treat us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the skies are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, this is how far he has removed our transgressions from us. 13 As a father has compassion on his children, so Yahweh has compassion on those who fear him. 14 For he knows our form; remembering that we are dust. 15 As for man, his days are like grass; like the flower of the field he flourishes so. 16 For the wind blows over it, and it is no more, and its place does not acknowledge it again. 17 But the covenant faithfulness of Yahweh is from everlasting to everlasting on those who honor him, and His righteousness is to their children's children. 18 To the ones who keep his covenant, and to the ones who remember his precepts in order to do them. 19 Yahweh has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all. 20 Bless Yahweh, you his angels, you mighty warriors who do his word, obeying the voice of his word. 21 Bless Yahweh, all his hosts, his ministers who do his pleasure. 22 Bless Yahweh, all his works, in all the places where he reigns. Bless Yahweh, my inner being! Psalm 104 1 I give praise to Yahweh with all my life, Yahweh my God, you are very magnificent; you are clothed with splendor and majesty. 2 You cover yourself with light as with a garment; you spread out the heavens like a tent curtain. 3 You lay the beams of your chambers on the clouds; you make the clouds your chariot; you walk on the wings of the wind. 4 He makes the winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants. 5 He laid the foundations of the earth, and it will never be moved. 6 You covered the earth with water like a garment; the water covered the mountains. 7 Your rebuke made the waters recede; at the sound of your thunderous voice they fled. 8 The mountains rose, and the valleys spread out into the places that you had appointed for them. 9 You have set a boundary for them that they will not cross; they will not cover the earth again. 10 He made springs flow into the valleys; the streams flow between the mountains. 11 They supply water for all the animals of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. 12 By the heavens the birds build their nests; they sing among the branches. 13 He waters the mountains from his water chambers in the sky. The earth is filled with the fruit of his labor. 14 He makes the grass grow for the cattle and plants for man to cultivate so that man may produce food from the earth. 15 He makes wine to make man happy, oil to make his face shine, and food to sustain his life. 16 The trees of Yahweh get plenty of rain; the cedars of Lebanon which he planted. 17 There the birds make their nests. The stork makes the cypress tree her home. 18 The wild goats live on the high mountains; the mountain heights are a refuge for the hyraxes. 19 He appointed the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting. 20 You make the darkness of the night when all the beasts of the forest come out. 21 The young lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God. 22 When the sun rises, they retreat and sleep in their dens. 23 Meanwhile, people go out to their work and labor away until the evening. 24 Yahweh, how many and varied are your works! With wisdom you made them all; the earth overflows with your works. 25 Over there is the sea, deep and wide, teeming with innumerable creatures, both small and great. 26 The ships travel there, and Leviathan is also there, which you formed to play in the sea. 27 All these look to you to give them their food on time. 28 When you give to them, they gather; when you open your hand, they are satisfied. 29 When you hide your face, they are troubled; if you take away their breath, they die and return to dust. 30 When you send out your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the countryside. 31 May the glory of Yahweh last forever; may Yahweh enjoy his creation. 32 He looks down on the earth, and it shakes; he touches the mountains, and they smoke. 33 I will sing to Yahweh all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. 34 May my thoughts be sweet to him; I will rejoice in Yahweh. 35 May sinners vanish from the earth, and let the wicked be no more. I give praise to Yahweh with all my life. Praise Yahweh. Psalm 105 1 Give thanks to Yahweh, call on his name; make known his deeds among the nations. 2 Sing to him, sing praises to him; speak of all his marvelous deeds. 3 Boast in his holy name; let the heart of those who seek Yahweh rejoice. 4 Seek Yahweh and his strength; seek his presence continually. 5 Recall the marvelous things he has done, his miracles and the decrees from his mouth, 6 you descendants of Abraham his servant, you people of Jacob, his chosen ones. 7 He is Yahweh, our God. His decrees are on all the earth. 8 He keeps in mind his covenant forever, the word that he commanded for a thousand generations. 9 He calls to mind the covenant that he made with Abraham and his oath to Isaac. 10 This is what he confirmed to Jacob as a statute and to Israel as an everlasting covenant. 11 He said, “I will give you the land of Canaan as your share of your inheritance.” 12 He said this when they were only few in number, so very few, and were strangers in the land. 13 They went from nation to nation and from one kingdom to another. 14 He did not allow anyone to oppress them; he rebuked kings for their sakes. 15 He said, “Do not touch my anointed ones, and do not harm my prophets.” 16 He called for a famine on the land; he cut off the whole supply of bread. 17 He sent a man ahead of them; Joseph was sold as a servant. 18 His feet were bound by shackles; on his neck was put an iron collar, 19 until what he had said came to pass. The word of Yahweh tested him. 20 The king sent servants to release him; the ruler of the people set him free. 21 He put him in charge of his house as ruler of all his possessions 22 to instruct his princes as he wished and to teach his elders wisdom. 23 Then Israel came into Egypt, and Jacob lived for a time in the land of Ham. 24 Yahweh made his people fruitful, and made them stronger greatly than their enemies. 25 He caused their enemies to hate his people, to mistreat his servants. 26 He sent Moses, his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen. 27 They performed his signs among the Egyptians, his wonders in the land of Ham. 28 He sent darkness and made that land dark, but its people did not obey his commands. 29 He turned their water into blood and killed their fish. 30 Their land swarmed with frogs, even in the rooms of their rulers. 31 He spoke, and swarms of flies and gnats came throughout their country. 32 He turned their rain into hail, with fire flaming on their land. 33 He destroyed their vines and fig trees; he broke the trees of their country. 34 He spoke, and the locusts came, young locusts, without number. 35 The locusts ate up all of the vegetation in their land; They ate up all the crops of the ground. 36 He killed every firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their strength. 37 He brought the Israelites out with silver and gold; none of his tribes stumbled on the way. 38 Egypt was glad when they went away, for the fear of them had fallen upon them. 39 He spread a cloud for a covering and made a fire to light up the night. 40 The Israelites asked for food, and he brought quail and satisfied them with bread from heaven. 41 He split the rock, and waters gushed from it; they flowed in the wilderness like a river. 42 For he called to mind his holy promise that he made to Abraham his servant. 43 He led his people out with joy, his chosen with shouts of triumph. 44 He gave them the lands of the nations; they took possession of the wealth of the peoples 45 so that they might keep his statutes and obey his laws. Praise Yahweh. Psalm 106 1 Praise Yahweh. Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever. 2 Who can recount the mighty acts of Yahweh or proclaim in full all his praiseworthy deeds? 3 Blessed are those who do what is right, and whose deeds are always just. 4 Call me to mind, Yahweh, when you show favor to your people; help me when you save them. 5 Then I will see the prosperity of your chosen, rejoice in the gladness of your nation, and glory with your inheritance. 6 We have sinned like our ancestors; we have done wrong, and we have done evil. 7 Our fathers did not appreciate your marvelous deeds in Egypt; they ignored your many acts of covenant faithfulness; they were rebellious at the sea, the Sea of Reeds. 8 Nevertheless, he saved them for his name’s sake so that he might reveal his power. 9 He rebuked the Sea of Reeds, and it dried up. Then he led them through the depths, as through a wilderness. 10 He saved them from the hand of those who hated them, and he rescued them from the hand of the enemy. 11 But the waters covered their adversaries; not one of them survived. 12 Then they believed his words, and they sang his praise. 13 But they quickly forgot what he had done; they did not wait for his instructions. 14 They had insatiable cravings in the wilderness, and they challenged God in the desert. 15 So he gave them what they requested, but he sent a horrible disease upon them. 16 In the camp they became jealous of Moses and Aaron, the holy priest of Yahweh. 17 The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan and covered the followers of Abiram. 18 Fire broke out among them; the fire consumed the wicked. 19 They made a calf at Horeb and worshiped a cast metal figure. 20 They traded the glory of God for the image of a bull that eats grass. 21 They forgot God their Savior, who had done great deeds in Egypt. 22 He had done wonderful things in the land of Ham and mighty acts at the Sea of Reeds. 23 So he said he would destroy them— had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his anger from destroying them. 24 Then they despised the fruitful land; they did not believe his promise, 25 but grumbled in their tents, and did not obey Yahweh. 26 Therefore he raised his hand and swore to them that he would let them die in the desert, 27 scatter their descendants among the nations, and scatter them in foreign lands. 28 They worshiped the Baal of Peor and ate the sacrifices offered to the dead. 29 They provoked him to anger with their actions, and a plague broke out among them. 30 Then Phinehas rose to intervene, and the plague subsided. 31 It was counted to him as a righteous deed to all generations forever. 32 They also angered Yahweh at the waters of Meribah, and Moses suffered because of them. 33 They made Moses bitter, and he spoke rashly. 34 They did not destroy the nations as Yahweh had commanded them, 35 but they mingled with the nations and learned their ways 36 and worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them. 37 They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. 38 They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, desecrating the land with blood. 39 They were defiled by their deeds; in their actions they were like prostitutes. 40 So Yahweh was angry with his people, and he despised his own people. 41 He gave them into the hand of the nations, and those who hated them ruled over them. 42 Their enemies oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection to their authority. 43 Many times he came to help them, but they kept rebelling and were brought low by their own sin. 44 Nevertheless, he paid attention to their distress when he heard their cry for help. 45 He called to mind his covenant with them and relented because of his steadfast love. 46 He caused all their conquerers to have pity on them. 47 Save us, Yahweh, our God. Gather us from among the nations so that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praises. 48 May Yahweh, the God of Israel, be praised from everlasting to everlasting. All the people said, “Amen.” Praise Yahweh. Book Five Psalm 107 1 Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, and his covenant faithfulness endures forever. 2 Let the redeemed of Yahweh speak out, those he has rescued from the hand of the enemy. 3 He has gathered them out of foreign lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. 4 They wandered in the wilderness on a desert road and found no city in which to live. 5 Because they were hungry and thirsty, they fainted from exhaustion. 6 Then they called out to Yahweh in their trouble, and he rescued them out of their distress. 7 He led them by a direct path so that they would go to a city to live in. 8 Oh that people would praise Yahweh for his covenant faithfulness and for the amazing things he has done for humanity! 9 For he satisfies the longings of those who are thirsty, and the desires of those who are hungry he fills up with good things. 10 Some sat in darkness and in gloom, prisoners in affliction and chains. 11 This was because they had rebelled against God’s word and rejected the instruction of the Most High. 12 He humbled their hearts through hardship; they stumbled and there was no one to help them up. 13 Then they called out to Yahweh in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. 14 He brought them out of darkness and gloom and broke their bonds. 15 Oh that people would praise Yahweh for his covenant faithfulness and for the amazing things he has done for humanity! 16 For he has broken the gates of bronze and cut through the bars of iron. 17 They were foolish in their rebellious ways and afflicted because of their sins. 18 They lost their desire to eat any food, and they came close to the gates of death. 19 Then they called out to Yahweh in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. 20 He sent his word and healed them, and he rescued them from their destruction. 21 Oh that people would praise Yahweh for his covenant faithfulness and for the amazing things he has done for humanity! 22 Let them offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving and proclaim his deeds in singing. 23 Some travel on the sea in ships and do business overseas. 24 These saw the deeds of Yahweh and his wonders on the seas. 25 For he commanded and aroused the windstorm that stirs up the seas. 26 They reached up to the sky; they went down to the depths. Their lives melted away in distress. 27 They swayed and staggered like drunkards and were at their wits’ end. 28 Then they called out to Yahweh in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. 29 He calmed the storm, and the waves were stilled. 30 Then they rejoiced because they are quiet, so he brought them to their desired harbor. 31 Oh that people would praise Yahweh for his covenant faithfulness and for the amazing things he has done for humanity! 32 Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people and praise him in the council of the elders. 33 He turns rivers into a wilderness, springs of water into dry land, 34 and a fruitful land into a barren place because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it. 35 He turns the wilderness into a pool of water and dry land into springs of water. 36 He settles the hungry there, and they build a city to live in. 37 They sow fields and plant vineyards, that they may bring in a fruitful harvest. 38 He blesses them so they are very numerous. He does not let their cattle decrease in number. 39 They were diminished and brought low by painful distress and suffering. 40 He pours contempt on the leaders and causes them to wander in the wilderness, where there are no roads. 41 But he protects the needy from affliction and cares for his families like a flock. 42 The upright will see this and rejoice, and all wickedness shuts its mouth. 43 Whoever is wise should take note of these things and meditate on Yahweh’s acts of covenant faithfulness. Psalm 108 A song, a psalm of David. 1 My heart is fixed, God; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises also with my honored heart. 2 Wake up, lute and harp; I will wake up the dawn. 3 I will give thanks to you, Yahweh, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. 4 For your covenant faithfulness is great above the heavens; and your trustworthiness reaches to the skies. 5 Be exalted, God, above the heavens, and may your glory be exalted over all the earth. 6 So that those you love may be rescued, rescue us with your right hand and answer me. 7 God has spoken in his holiness; “I will rejoice; I will divide Shechem and apportion out the Valley of Succoth. 8 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is my helmet; Judah is my scepter. 9 Moab is my washbasin; over Edom I will throw my shoe; I will shout in triumph because of Philistia. 10 Who will bring me into the strong city? Who will lead me to Edom?” 11 God, have you not rejected us? You do not go into battle with our army. 12 Give us help against the enemy, for man’s help is futile. 13 We will triumph with God’s help; he will trample down our enemies. Psalm 109 For the chief musician. A psalm of David. 1 To the chief musician. A Psalm of David. God whom I praise, do not be silent, 2 For the wicked and deceitful attack me; they speak lies against me. 3 They surround me and say hateful things, and they attack me without cause. 4 In return for my love they accuse me, but I pray for them. 5 They repay me evil for good, and they hate my love. 6 Appoint a wicked man over such an enemy as these people; appoint an accuser to stand at his right hand. 7 When he is judged, may he be found guilty; may his prayer be considered sinful. 8 May his days be few; may another take his office. 9 May his children be fatherless, and may his wife be a widow. 10 May his children wander about and beg, asking for handouts as they leave their ruined home. 11 May the creditor take all he owns; may strangers plunder what he earns. 12 May no one extend any kindness to him; may no one have pity on his fatherless children. 13 May his children be cut off; may their name be blotted out in the next generation. 14 May his ancestors’ sins be mentioned to Yahweh; and may the sin of his mother not be forgotten. 15 May their guilt always be before Yahweh; may Yahweh cut off their memory from the earth. 16 May Yahweh do this because this man never bothered to show any covenant faithfulness, but instead harassed the oppressed, the needy, and the disheartened to death. 17 He loved cursing; may it come back upon him. He had no desire for blessing; may no blessing come to him. 18 He clothed himself with cursing as his garment, and his curse came into his inner being like water, like oil into his bones. 19 May his curses be to him like the clothes he wears to cover himself, like the belt he always wears. 20 May this be the reward of my accusers from Yahweh, of those who say evil things about me. 21 Yahweh my Lord, deal kindly with me for your name’s sake. Because your covenant faithfulness is good, save me. 22 For I am oppressed and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. 23 I am fading away like the shadow of the evening; I am shaken off like a locust. 24 My knees are weak from fasting; My flesh is feeble from lack of fatness. 25 I am disdained by my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads. 26 Help me, Yahweh my God; save me by your covenant faithfulness. 27 May they know that this is your hand, that you, Yahweh, have done this. 28 Though they curse me, please bless me; when they attack, may they be put to shame, but may your servant rejoice. 29 May my adversaries be clothed with shame; may they wear their shame like a robe. 30 With my mouth I give great thanks to Yahweh; I will praise him in the midst of a crowd. 31 For he will stand at the right hand of the one who is needy, to save him from those who judge him. Psalm 110 A psalm of David. 1 Of David, a song. The declaration of Yahweh to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” 2 Yahweh will stretch out the scepter of your strength from Zion; rule in the midst of your enemies. 3 Your people voluntarily follow in holy splendor in the day of your strength; from the womb of the dawn your youth will be to you as dew. 4 Yahweh has sworn, and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, after the manner of Melchizedek.” 5 The Lord is at your right hand. He will crush kings on the day of his anger. 6 He will judge the nations; he will fill corpses; he will crush the heads of many lands. 7 He will drink from the stream along the path, Therefore, he will lift up the head. Psalm 111 1 Praise Yahweh. I will give thanks to Yahweh with my whole heart in the assembly of the upright, in their gathering. 2 The works of Yahweh are great, eagerly awaited by all those who desire them. 3 His work is majestic and glorious, and his righteousness endures forever. 4 He does wonderful things that will be remembered; Yahweh is gracious and merciful. 5 He gives food to his faithful followers. He will always call to mind his covenant. 6 He showed his powerful works to his people in giving them the inheritance of the nations. 7 The works of his hands are trustworthy and just; all his instructions are reliable. 8 They are established forever, to be observed faithfully and properly. 9 He has sent redemption to his people; he ordained his covenant forever; holy and awesome is his name. 10 To honor Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom; those who carry out his instructions have good understanding. His praise endures forever. Psalm 112 1 Praise Yahweh. Blessed is the man who fears Yahweh, who greatly delights in his commandments. 2 His descendants will be powerful on earth; the descendants of the godly man will be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches are in his house; his righteousness will endure forever. 4 Light shines in the darkness for the godly person; he is gracious, merciful, and just. 5 It goes well for the man who deals graciously and lends money, who conducts his affairs with honesty. 6 For he will never be moved; the righteous person will be remembered forever. 7 He does not fear bad news; his heart is sure, trusting in Yahweh. 8 His heart is tranquil, without fear, until he looks in triumph over his adversaries. 9 He generously gives to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; he will be exalted with honor. 10 The wicked person will see this and be angry; he will grind his teeth in rage and he will melt away; the desire of the wicked people will perish. Psalm 113 1 Praise Yahweh. Praise him, you servants of Yahweh; praise the name of Yahweh. 2 Blessed be the name of Yahweh, both now and forevermore. 3 From the rising of the sun to its setting, Yahweh’s name should be praised. 4 Yahweh is exalted above all nations, and his glory reaches above the skies. 5 Who is like Yahweh our God, who has his seat on high, 6 who looks down at the sky and at the earth? 7 He raises up the poor out of the dirt and lifts up the needy from the ash heap, 8 so that he may seat him with princes, with the princes of his people. 9 He gives a home to the barren woman of the house, he makes her a joyful mother of children. Praise Yahweh! Psalm 114 1 When Israel left Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people who spoke a foreign language, 2 Judah became his holy place, Israel his kingdom. 3 The sea looked and fled; the Jordan turned back. 4 The mountains skipped like rams, the little hills like lambs. 5 Why did you flee, sea? Jordan, why did you turn back? 6 Mountains, why did you skip like rams? You little hills, why did you skip like lambs? 7 Tremble, earth, before the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob. 8 He turned the rock into a pool of water, the hard rock into a spring of water. Psalm 115 1 Not to us, Yahweh, not to us, but to your name bring honor, for your covenant faithfulness and for your trustworthiness. 2 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” 3 Our God is in heaven; he does whatever he pleases. 4 The nations’ idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. 5 Those idols have mouths, but they do not speak; they have eyes, but they do not see; 6 they have ears, but they do not hear; they have noses, but they do not smell. 7 Those idols have hands, but do not feel; they have feet, but they cannot walk; nor do they speak from their mouths. 8 Those who make them are like them, as is everyone who trusts in them. 9 Israel, trust in Yahweh; he is your help and shield. 10 House of Aaron, trust in Yahweh; he is your help and shield. 11 You who honor Yahweh, trust in him; he is your help and shield. 12 Yahweh takes notice of us and will bless us; he will bless the family of Israel; he will bless the family of Aaron. 13 He will bless those who honor him, both young and old. 14 May Yahweh increase your numbers more and more, yours and your descendants’. 15 May you be blessed by Yahweh, who made heaven and earth. 16 The heavens, even the heavens belong to Yahweh; but the earth he has given to the sons of men. 17 The dead do not praise Yahweh, nor do any who go down into silence; 18 But we will bless Yahweh now and forevermore. Praise Yahweh. Psalm 116 1 I love Yahweh because he hears my voice and my pleas for mercy. 2 Because he listened to me, I will call on him as long as I live. 3 The cords of death surrounded me, and the snares of Sheol confronted me; I felt anguish and sorrow. 4 Then I called on the name of Yahweh: “Please Yahweh, rescue my life.” 5 Yahweh is merciful and fair; our God is compassionate. 6 Yahweh protects the naive; I was brought low, and he saved me. 7 My soul can return to its resting place, for Yahweh has been good to me. 8 For you rescued my life from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from stumbling. 9 I will walk before Yahweh in the land of the living. 10 I believed in him, even when I said, “I am greatly afflicted.” 11 In my confusion I said, “All men are liars.” 12 How can I repay Yahweh for all his kindnesses to me? 13 I will raise the cup of salvation, and call on the name of Yahweh. 14 I will fulfill my vows to Yahweh now in the presence of all his people. 15 Precious in the sight of Yahweh is the death of his faithful ones. 16 Yahweh, indeed, I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your servant woman; you have taken away my bonds. 17 I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call on the name of Yahweh. 18 I will fulfill my vows to Yahweh now in the presence of all his people, 19 in the courts of Yahweh’s house, in your midst, Jerusalem. Praise Yahweh. Psalm 117 1 Praise Yahweh, all you nations; exalt him, all you peoples. 2 For his covenant faithfulness is great toward us, and the trustworthiness of Yahweh endures forever. Praise Yahweh. Psalm 118 1 Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever. 2 Let Israel now say, “His covenant faithfulness endures forever.” 3 Let the house of Aaron now say, “His covenant faithfulness endures forever.” 4 Let the loyal followers of Yahweh say, “His covenant faithfulness endures for ever.” 5 In my distress I called out to Yahweh; Yahweh answered me and set me free. 6 Yahweh is with me; I will not be afraid; what can man do to me? 7 Yahweh is on my side as my helper; I will look in triumph on those who hate me. 8 It is better to take shelter in Yahweh than to put confidence in man. 9 It is better to take refuge in Yahweh than to put one’s trust in a princes. 10 All the nations surrounded me; in Yahweh’s name I cut them off. 11 They surrounded me; yes, they surrounded me; in Yahweh’s name I cut them off. 12 They surrounded me like bees; they disappeared as quickly as fire among thorns; in Yahweh’s name I cut them off. 13 They attacked me to knock me down, but Yahweh helped me. 14 Yahweh is my strength and song, and he is the one who rescues me. 15 The joyful shout of victory is heard in the tents of the righteous; the right hand of Yahweh does valiantly. 16 The right hand of Yahweh is exalted; the right hand of Yahweh does valiantly. 17 I will not die, but live and declare the deeds of Yahweh. 18 Yahweh has punished me harshly; but he has not handed me over to death. 19 Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will enter them and I will give thanks to Yahweh. 20 This is the gate of Yahweh; the righteous enter through it. 21 I will give thanks to you, for you answered me, and you have become my salvation. 22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. 23 This is Yahweh’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day on which Yahweh has acted; we will rejoice and be glad in it. 25 Please, Yahweh, give us victory! Please, Yahweh, send now success! 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of Yahweh; we bless you from the house of Yahweh. 27 Yahweh is God, and he has given us light; bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. 28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will exalt you. 29 Oh, give thanks to Yahweh; for he is good; for his covenant faithfulness endures forever. Psalm 119 ALEPH 1 Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk in the teaching of Yahweh. 2 Blessed are they who keep his testimonies, who seek him with all their heart. 3 Surely they do not practice injustice; they walk in his ways. 4 You have commanded your instructions so that we should carefully observe them. 5 Oh, that my path would be firmly established, keeping your statutes! 6 Then I would not be ashamed when I look to all of your commandments. 7 I will give thanks to you with an upright heart when I learn the judgments of your righteousness. 8 I will keep your statutes; do not utterly leave me. 9 BETH How can a young man keep his path pure? By keeping your word. 10 With my whole heart I seek you; Do not let me stray from your commandments. 11 I have hidden your word in my heart so that I might not sin against you. 12 Blessed you are, Yahweh; teach me your statutes. 13 With my lips I have announced all the judgments of your mouth. 14 I rejoice in the way of your testimonies more than in all riches. 15 I will meditate on your instructions and I will consider your paths. 16 I delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word. 17 GIMEL Deal kindly with your servant so that I may live and keep your word. 18 Uncover my eyes so that I may gaze on the marvelous works from your teaching. 19 I am a foreigner in the land; do not hide your commandments from me. 20 My inner being is crushed with longing for your judgments at all times. 21 You rebuke the proud, who are cursed, who wander from your commandments. 22 Spare me from disgrace and humiliation, for I have kept your testimonies. 23 Even though rulers sit against me and slander, your servant meditates on your statutes. 24 Also, your testimonies are my pleasure. They are my counselors. 25 DALETH My inner being clings to the dust! Give me life according to your word. 26 I recounted my ways, and you answered me. Teach me your statutes. 27 Make me understand the way of your instructions, so that I can meditate on your wondrous works. 28 My inner being melts away from grief Lift me up by your word. 29 Turn from me the path of deceit; graciously give me your teaching. 30 I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have desired your judgments. 31 I cling to your testimonies; Yahweh, do not let me be shamed. 32 I run in the way of your commandments, for you enlarge my heart. 33 Teach me, Yahweh, the way of your statutes, and I will keep it to the end. 34 Give me understanding, and I will keep your teaching; I will observe it with all my heart. 35 Guide me in the way of your commandments, for I delight in it. 36 Incline my heart toward your testimonies and not toward unrighteous gain. 37 Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things; in your ways, revive me. 38 Fulfill for your servant your promises. that he may fear you. 39 Turn away the reproach that I dread, for your judgments are good. 40 Look, I long for your precepts; in your righteousness, revive me. 41 May your steadfast love come, oh Yahweh— your salvation, according to your promise; 42 then I will answer the one who mocks me with a word, for I trust in your word. 43 Do not utterly take the word of truth from my mouth, for I hope in your judgments. 44 I will observe your teaching continually, forever and ever. 45 I will walk in a broad path, for I seek your precepts. 46 I will speak of your testimonies before kings, and I will not be ashamed. 47 I delight in your commandments, which I love. 48 I will lift up my hands to your commandments, which I love; I will meditate on your statutes. 49 Remember your word to your servant because you have given me hope. 50 This is my comfort in my affliction: that your promise keeps me alive. 51 The proud utterly scoff at me, from your teaching I do not turned aside. 52 I remember your judgments from ancient times, Yahweh, and I comfort myself. 53 Hot anger has seized me because of the wicked who reject your teaching. 54 Your statutes are songs for me in the house where I temporarily live. 55 I remember your name during the night, Yahweh, and I observe your teaching. 56 This is for me because I keep your precepts. 57 Yahweh is my portion; I promise to observe your words. 58 I entreat your favor with my whole heart; be merciful to me according to your promises. 59 I examine my ways and turn my feet to your testimonies. 60 I hurry and do not delay to observe your commandments. 61 The cords of the wicked ensnare me; I do not forget your teaching. 62 In the middle of the night I rise to bring praise to you because of the judgments of your righteousness. 63 I am a companion to all who fear you, and observe your precepts. 64 The earth is full of your steadfast love, Yahweh; teach me your statutes. 65 You do good to your servant, Yahweh, according to your word. 66 Teach me good discernment and understanding, for I trust in your commandments. 67 Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I observe your promises. 68 You are good, and you do good. Teach me your statutes. 69 The arrogant smear me with lies, but I myself keep your precepts with my whole heart. 70 Their hearts are unfeeling like fat, but I myself delight in your teaching. 71 It is good for me that I have suffered so that I would learn your statutes. 72 The teaching of your mouth is good to me, more than thousands of pieces of gold and silver. 73 Your hands have made me and fashioned me; give me understanding so that I may learn your commandments. 74 May those who fear you see me and rejoice because I hope in your word. 75 Yahweh, I know that your judgments are just, and in faithfulness you humble me. 76 Let your steadfast love be my comfort, just as your promises to your servant. 77 May your grace come to me so that I may live, for your teaching is my delight. 78 Let the proud be put to shame, for they have accused me falsely; but as for me, I will meditate on your precepts. 79 May those who fear you turn to me, also those who know your testimonies. 80 May my heart be blameless with respect to your statutes, so that I may not be put to shame. 81 My inner being faints with longing for your salvation! I hope for your word. 82 My eyes faint with longing for your promise; saying, "When will you comfort me?" 83 For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke; I do not forget your statutes. 84 How long must your servant endure this; when will you act in pursuit of justice for me? 85 The proud have dug pits for me, which is not according to your teaching. 86 All your commandments are true; they pursue me deceifully; help me. 87 They have almost made an end to me in the land, but as for me, I do not reject your instructions. 88 According to your steadfast love, keep me alive, so that I may observe the testimonies of your mouth. 89 Forever, Yahweh, your word stands in the heavens. 90 Your faithfulness lasts from generation to generation; you have established the earth, and it stands. 91 They stand for your judgments today, for all things are your servants. 92 If your teaching had not been my delight, then I would have perished in my affliction. 93 I will not forget your precepts forever, for through them you have preserved me alive. 94 I am yours; save me, for I seek your precepts. 95 The wicked wait for me in order to destroy me, but I seek to understand your testimonies. 96 I have seen an end for all perfection; your commandments are very broad. 97 Oh how I love your teaching! It is my meditation all day long. 98 Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for it is with me forever. 99 I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. 100 I understand more than the elders; for I have kept your precepts. 101 I have restrained my feet from every path of evil so that I might observe your word. 102 I have not turned aside from your judgments, for you alone have instructed me. 103 How sweet are your promises to my taste, yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! 104 Through your precepts I gain understanding; therefore I hate every path of falsehood. 105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. 106 I have sworn and have confirmed it, that I will observe your righteous judgments. 107 I am very afflicted; keep me alive, Yahweh, according to your word. 108 Yahweh, please accept the freewill offerings of my mouth, and teach me your judgments. 109 My life is in my palm continually, yet I do not forget your teaching. 110 The wicked have set a snare for me, but I have not strayed from your precepts. 111 I claim your testimonies as my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart. 112 I incline my heart to do your statutes forever, to the end! 113 I hate double-minded people, but I love your teaching. 114 You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word. 115 Get away from me, you evil doers, so that I may observe the commandments of my God. 116 Sustain me by your word so that I may live and do not make me ashamed of my expectation. 117 Sustain me, and I will be saved; And, I will gaze on your statutes continually. 118 You reject all those who stray from your statutes, for their deception is in vain. 119 You remove all the wicked of the earth like dross; therefore I love your testimonies. 120 My body trembles in fear of you, and I fear of your judgments. 121 I do justice and righteousness; do not abandon me to my oppressors. 122 Ensure goodness for your servant; do not let the proud oppress me. 123 My eyes faint for your salvation and for the promise of your righteousness. 124 Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love, and teach me your statutes. 125 I am your servant; give me understanding so that I may know your testimonies. 126 It is time for Yahweh to act, they break your teaching. 127 Therefore, I love your commandments more than gold, more than fine gold. 128 Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right in everything. I hate every path of falsehood. 129 Your testimonies are wonderful. Therefore, I obey them. 130 The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the untrained. 131 I open my mouth and pant, for I long for your commandments. 132 Turn to me and be gracious to me according to justice, to those who love your name. 133 Establish my footsteps in your promises; and do not let any iniquity rule over me. 134 Ransom me from the oppression of man so that I may observe your precepts. 135 Let your face shine on your servant, and teach me your statutes. 136 Channels of water run down from my eyes because they do not observe your teaching. 137 You are righteous, Yahweh, and your judgments are upright. 138 You command your testimonies righteously and very faithfully. 139 My jealousy has destroyed me because my adversaries forget your words. 140 Your promise is well refined, and your servant loves it. 141 I am little and despised. I do not forget your instructions. 142 Your righteousness is right forever, and your instruction is true. 143 Distress and anguish have found me. your commandments are my delight. 144 Your testimonies are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live. 145 I cried out with my whole heart, “Answer me, Yahweh, I will keep your statutes. 146 I call to you; save me, so that I may observe your testimonies. 147 I rise before the dawn and cry for help. I hope in your words. 148 My eyes are open during the night watches in order to meditate on your promise. 149 Hear my voice according to your steadfast love; Yahweh, according to your judgment preserve my life. 150 Those pursuing wickedness are coming near. They wander far from your teaching. 151 You are near, Yahweh, and all your commandments are true. 152 Long ago I learned from your testimonies that you had established them forever. 153 Look on my affliction and rescue me, for I do not forget your teaching. 154 Plead my cause and redeem me; preserve me for your promise. 155 Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not pursue your statutes. 156 Your mercies are many, Yahweh; according to your judgments, preserve me. 157 My pursuers and my adversaries are many; from your testimonies I have not turned. 158 I see the treacherous and I despise it because they do not observe your promise. 159 See that I love your precepts; Yahweh, according to your steadfast love, preserve me. 160 The head of your word is truth, and all of your righteous judgments lasts forever. 161 Commanders pursue me without cause, but from your word my heart trembles 162 I rejoice on account of your promise, like one who finds great plunder. 163 I hate falsehood, and I loathe it. I love your instruction. 164 Seven times in a day I praise you on account of your righteous judgments. 165 Great peace is for those who love your instruction; there is no stumbling for them. 166 I wait for your salvation, Yahweh, and I do your commandments. 167 My life keeps your testimonies, and I love them greatly. 168 I keep your precepts and your testimonies, for all my ways are before you. 169 My plea comes near to your face, Yahweh; give me understanding into your word. 170 May my supplication come before your face; according to your promise, rescue me. 171 May my lips pour out praise, for you teach me your statutes. 172 Let my tongue sing about your promise, for all your commandments are right. 173 Let your hand be for my help, for I have chosen your precepts. 174 I long for your salvation, Yahweh, and your teaching is my delight. 175 May I live and praise you, and may your judgments help me. 176 I have wandered off like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commandments.” Psalm 120 A song of ascents. 1 A Song of Ascents In my distress I called out to Yahweh, and he answered me. 2 Rescue my life, Yahweh, from those who lie with their lips and deceive with their tongues. 3 What shall be given to you, and what more will he do to you, you who have a lying tongue? 4 He will punish you with the arrows of a warrior sharpened over burning coals of the broom tree. 5 Woe is me because I temporarily live in Meshech; I lived previously among the tents of Kedar. 6 For too long I have lived with those who hate peace. 7 I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war. Psalm 121 A song of ascents. 1 A Song of Ascents I will lift up my eyes to the mountains. From where will my help come? 2 My help comes from Yahweh, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not allow your foot to slip; he who protects you will not slumber. 4 See, the guardian of Israel never slumbers or sleeps. 5 Yahweh is your guardian; Yahweh is the shade at your right hand. 6 The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 Yahweh will protect you from all harm, and he will protect your life. 8 Yahweh will protect you in your going out and your coming in now and forevermore. Psalm 122 A song of ascents, of David. 1 A Song of Ascents of David I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of Yahweh.” 2 Jerusalem, our feet are standing within your gates! 3 Jerusalem, they have built as a city unitedly together. 4 The tribes go up to Jerusalem—the tribes of Yahweh— as a testimony for Israel, to give thanks to the name of Yahweh. 5 For there thrones of judgment were set, thrones of the house of David. 6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! “May those who love you have peace. 7 May there be peace within the walls that defend you, and may they have peace within your fortresses.” 8 For the sake of my brothers and my friends I will say, “May there be peace within you.” 9 For the sake of the house of Yahweh our God, I will seek good for you. Psalm 123 A song of ascents. 1 A Song of Ascents To you I lift up my eyes, you who are enthroned in the heavens. 2 See, as the eyes of servants look to their master’s hand, as the eyes of a maid look to her mistress’s hand, so our eyes look to Yahweh our God until he has mercy on us. 3 Have mercy on us, Yahweh, have mercy on us, for we are exceedingly filled with humiliation. 4 We are more than full of the scoffing of the insolent and with the contempt of the proud. Psalm 124 A song of ascents; of David. 1 A Song of Ascents of David “If Yahweh had not been on our side,” let Israel say now, 2 “if it had not been Yahweh who was on our side when men rose up against us, 3 then they would have swallowed us up alive when their anger raged against us. 4 Then the water would have swept us away; the torrent would have gone over us. 5 Then the raging waters would have gone over us.” 6 Blessed be Yahweh, who has not allowed us to be torn by their teeth. 7 We have escaped like a bird out of the snare of the fowlers; the snare has been broken, and we have escaped. 8 Our help is in the name of Yahweh, who made heaven and earth. Psalm 125 A song of ascents. 1 A Song of Ascents Those who trust in Yahweh are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken, forever enduring. 2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people now and forever. 3 The scepter of wickedness must not rest on the land alloted to the righteous. Otherwise the righteous might reach out their hands to do what is wrong. 4 Do good, Yahweh, to those who are good and to those who are upright in their hearts. 5 But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways, Yahweh will lead them away with those who do evil. May peace be on Israel. Psalm 126 A song of ascents. 1 A Song of Ascents When Yahweh restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. 2 Then our mouths were filled with laughter and our tongues with singing. Then they said among the nations, “Yahweh has done great things for them.” 3 Yahweh did great things for us; how glad we were! 4 Restore our fortunes, Yahweh, like the streams in the Negev. 5 Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy. 6 He who goes out weeping, carrying seed for sowing, will return again with shouts of joy, bringing his bundles of grain with him. Psalm 127 A song of ascents, of Solomon. 1 A Song of Ascents of Solomon If Yahweh is not the builder of the house, they work uselessly, those who build it. If it is not Yahweh who guards the city, the watchman stands guard uselessly. 2 It is useless for you to rise up early, to come home late, or to eat the bread of hard work, for Yahweh provides for his beloved as they sleep. 3 See, children are a heritage from Yahweh, and the fruit of the womb is a reward. 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. 5 How blessed is the man that has his quiver full of them. He will not be put to shame when he confronts his enemies in the gate. Psalm 128 A song of ascents. 1 A Song of Ascents Blessed is everyone who honors Yahweh, who walks in his ways. 2 When you eat the labor of your hands, you will enjoy; you will be blessed and prosper. 3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine in your house; your children will be like olive plants as they sit around your table. 4 Yes, indeed, the man will be blessed who honors Yahweh. 5 May Yahweh bless you from Zion; may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life. 6 May you live to see your children’s children. May peace be on Israel. Psalm 129 A song of ascents. 1 A Song of Ascents “Often since my youth they have attacked me,” let Israel say. 2 “Often since my youth they have attacked me, yet they have not defeated me. 3 The plowers plowed on my back; they made their furrows long. 4 Yahweh is righteous; he has cut the ropes of the wicked.” 5 May they all be put to shame and turned back, those who hate Zion. 6 May they be like the grass on the housetops that withers before it grows up, 7 that cannot fill the reaper’s hand or the chest of the one who binds bundles of grain together. 8 May those who pass by not say, “May the blessing of Yahweh be on you; we bless you in the name of Yahweh.” Psalm 130 A song of ascents. 1 A Song of Ascents Out of the depths I cry to you, Yahweh. 2 Lord, hear my voice; let your ears be attentive to my pleas for mercy. 3 If you, Yahweh, would mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with you, that you may be revered. 5 I wait for Yahweh, my soul waits, and in his word I hope. 6 My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning. 7 Israel, hope in Yahweh. Yahweh is merciful, for with Yahweh is abundant redemption. 8 It is he who will redeem Israel from all his sins. Psalm 131 A song of ascents; of David. 1 [A Song of the Ascents, of David] Yahweh, my heart does not boast nor do my eyes look too high, nor do I walk in great and marvelous things beyond me. 2 Have I not stilled and quieted my inner being like a weaned child with his mother, my inner being within me is like a weaned child. 3 Israel, hope in Yahweh from now on and forevermore. Psalm 132 A song of ascents. 1 A Song of Ascents Yahweh, for David’s sake, remember all his afflictions. 2 how he swore to Yahweh, how he vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob. 3 Surely I will not enter the tent of my house nor go up to the spread of my bed, 4 Nor will I give sleep to my eyes or rest to my eyelids 5 until I find a place for Yahweh, a tabernacle for the Mighty One of Jacob.” 6 Look, we heard about it in Ephrathah; we found it in the fields of Jaar. 7 We will go into his tabernacle; we will worship at the footstool of his feet. 8 Arise, Yahweh, to your resting place, you and the ark of your strength! 9 May your priests be clothed with righteousness; may your faithful ones shout for joy. 10 For your servant David’s sake, do not turn away from the face of your anointed one. 11 Yahweh swore a sure oath to David, he will not turn from it: “From the fruit of your belly I will set on your throne. 12 If your sons keep my covenant and the laws that I will teach them, their children also will sit on your throne forevermore.” 13 For Yahweh has chosen Zion, he has desired her as a dwelling for him. 14 “This is my resting place forever. I will dwell here, for I desire her. 15 With wild game I will abundantly bless her. I will satisfy her poor with bread. 16 I will clothe her priests with salvation, her faithful ones will shout aloud for joy. 17 There I will make a horn to sprout for David and set up a lamp for my anointed one. 18 I will clothe his enemies with shame, but on him his crown will shine.” Psalm 133 A song of ascents, of David. 1 [A Song of the Ascents, Of David] Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together! 2 It is like fine oil on the head pouring down on the beard— Aaron’s beard, which pours down on the collar of his robes. 3 It is like the dew of Hermon which falls on the mountains of Zion. For there Yahweh commanded the blessing— life forevermore. Psalm 134 A song of ascents. 1 A Song of the Ascents Behold, bless Yahweh, all you servants of Yahweh, you who stand in the night in the house of Yahweh. 2 Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless Yahweh. 3 May Yahweh bless you from Zion, he who made heaven and earth. Psalm 135 1 Praise Yahweh. Praise the name of Yahweh. Praise him, you servants of Yahweh, 2 you who stand in the house of Yahweh, in the courtyards of the house of our God. 3 Praise Yahweh, for Yahweh is good; sing praises to his name, for it is pleasant. 4 For Yahweh has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel as his possession. 5 For I myself know that Yahweh is great, and our Lord is greater than all other gods. 6 All that Yahweh desires, he does in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all the ocean depths. 7 Causing the clouds to rise from the end of the earth, he makes lightning accompany the rain and bringing the wind out of his storehouse. 8 He struck the firstborn of Egypt, from man to beast. 9 He sent signs and wonders into your midst, Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants. 10 He struck many nations and killed mighty kings, 11 Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan and all the kingdoms of Canaan. 12 And he gave their land as an inheritance, an inheritance to Israel his people. 13 Your name, Yahweh, endures forever; your renown, Yahweh, endures from generation to generation. 14 For Yahweh judges his people, and he shows compassion on his servants. 15 The nations’ idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. 16 Those idols have mouths, but they do not speak; they have eyes, but they do not see; 17 they have ears, but they do not hear, nor is there breath in their mouths. 18 Those who make them are like them, as is everyone who trusts in them. 19 House of Israel, bless Yahweh; house of Aaron, bless Yahweh. 20 House of Levi, bless Yahweh; you who fear Yahweh, bless Yahweh. 21 Blessed be Yahweh in Zion, he who lives in Jerusalem. Praise Yahweh. Psalm 136 1 Oh, give thanks to Yahweh; for he is good, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever. 2 Oh, give thanks to the God of gods, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever. 3 Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever. 4 To him who alone does great wonders, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever— 5 to him who by wisdom made the heavens, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever. 6 To him who spread out the earth above the waters, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever— 7 to him who made great lights, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever. 8 the sun to rule by day, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever— 9 the moon and stars to rule by night, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever. 10 to him who struck Egypt in their firstborn, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever— 11 and brought out Israel from among them, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever— 12 with a strong hand and a raised arm, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever. 13 to him who divided the Sea of Reeds into parts, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever— 14 and made Israel to pass through the middle of it, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever— 15 and threw down Pharaoh and his army in the Sea of Reeds, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever. 16 to him who led his people through the wilderness, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever— 17 to him who struck down great kings, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever. 18 to him who killed powerful kings, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever— 19 Sihon king of the Amorites, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever— 20 and Og king of Bashan, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever. 21 to him who gave their land as an inheritance, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever— 22 an inheritance to Israel his servant, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever— 23 who remembered us in our low estate, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever. 24 and he rescued us from our adversaries, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever— 25 giving bread to all flesh, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever. 26 Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever. Psalm 137 1 Beside the rivers of Babylon there we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. 2 On the poplars there we hung our harps. 3 For there our captors demanded that we sing songs, and those who relentlessly mocked us said, “Sing to us from the songs of Zion.” 4 How could we sing a song about Yahweh in a foreign land? 5 If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget 6 Let my tongue cling to my palate if I do not remember you, if I do not lift up Jerusalem over my chief pleasure. 7 Remember, Yahweh, the sons of Edom, on the day of Jerusalem, saying, “Tear it down, tear it down to its foundations.” 8 Daughter of Babylon, who will be destroyed— blessed be the one who repays you for what you have done to us. 9 Blessed be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones against the rocks. Psalm 138 A psalm of David. 1 Of David I will give you thanks with my whole heart; before the gods I will sing praises to you. 2 I will bow down toward the temple of your holiness, and I will give thanks to your name for your covenant faithfulness and for your trustworthiness. For you have exalted above all things your name and your word. 3 On the day that I called and you answered me; you emboldened my life with power. 4 All the kings of the earth will give you thanks, Yahweh, for they will hear the words from your mouth. 5 Indeed, they will sing of the ways of Yahweh, for great is the glory of Yahweh. 6 For though Yahweh is high, yet he sees the lowly, but the proud he knows from far off. 7 Though I walk in the middle of danger, you will preserve my life; you will reach out with your hand against the anger of my enemies, and your right hand will save me. 8 Yahweh is with me to the end; your covenant faithfulness, Yahweh, endures forever. Do not forsake the ones whom your hands have made. Psalm 139 For the chief musician. A psalm of David. 1 For the choir director, a psalm of David. Yahweh, you have examined me, and you know. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you understand my thoughts from far away. 3 You have measured my path and my resting places; and you are familiar with all my ways. 4 For there is not a word on my tongue ..., See, you know it completely, Yahweh. 5 Behind and before you encircle me and you place your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me! it is high; I cannot reach it. 7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the morning or dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand will lead me, your right hand will hold on to me. 11 If I said, “Surely the darkness will cover me, and the light will become night around me,” 12 even the darkness would not be dark to you, and night would shine like the day. The darkness is like the light to you! 13 For You created my inner parts; you wove me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I will praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. My inner being knows this very well. 15 My bones were not hidden from you when I was made in private, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days formed for me were recorded in your book even before the first of them was. 17 How precious are your thoughts to me, God! How vast is their sum! 18 If I counted them, they would be more numberous than the sand. When I awake, I am still with you. 19 If only you would kill the wicked, God; and you men of bloodshed, get away from me. 20 For they speak against you with evil intent; your enemies abuse your character 21 Do I not hate those, Yahweh, who hate you? Do I not despise those who rise up against you? 22 I hate them completely; they have become my enemies. 23 Examine me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. 24 See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the path of forever. Psalm 140 For the chief musician. A psalm of David. 1 Yahweh, rescue me from men of wickedness; preserve me from men of violence. 2 For they plan evil in their hearts; they assemble for battles every day. 3 Their tongues pierce like a serpent; vipers’ poison is on their lips. Selah 4 Keep me from the hands of the wicked, Yahweh; preserve me from men of violence who plan to push down my step. 5 The proud have set a trap for me; and with ropes they have spread a net by hand along the path; they have set snares for me. Selah 6 I said to Yahweh, “You are my God; Yahweh, give ear to my cries for mercy.” 7 Yahweh, my Lord, you are the strength of my salvation; you shield my head in the day of battle. 8 Yahweh, do not grant the desires of the wicked; do not promote their plots, they rise up Selah 9 Those who surround me raise their heads; let the mischief of their own lips cover them. 10 Let burning coals fall on them; throw them into the fire, into bottomless pits, never again will they rise. 11 May men of tongues not be established in the land; may evil hunt down the man of violence speedily. 12 I know that Yahweh will act with favor for the poor, justice to the needy. 13 Surely the righteous will praise your name; the upright will dwell before your face. Psalm 141 A psalm of David. 1 A song of David Yahweh, I called out to you, "Come quickly to me. Give ear to my voice when I call to you." 2 May my prayer rise like incense to your face; may my lifted hands be like the evening sacrifice. 3 Yahweh, place a guard over my mouth; guard the door of my lips. 4 Do not let my heart bend toward any evil thing or participate in sinful activities with men who behave wickedly. May I not eat any of their delicacies. 5 Let a righteous person hit me; it will be a kindness. Let him correct me; it will be like oil on my head. May my head not refuse. For my prayer is always against their wicked deeds. 6 Their judges will stumble into the hands of craggy rocks; they will hear that my own words are pleasant. 7 “As when one plows and breaks up the ground, so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol.” 8 For my eyes are on you, Yahweh, Lord; in you I take refuge; do not abandon my life. 9 Keep me from the hands of the snare that they have laid for me, from the traps of evildoers. 10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets while I escape. Psalm 142 A maschil of David, when he was in the cave; a prayer. 1 With my voice I cry out to Yahweh; with my voice I plead to Yahweh for favor. 2 I pour out my lament before him; I declare my troubles before him. 3 When my spirit is weak within me, you yourself know my path. Along this path I walk they have hidden a trap for me. 4 I look to my right and see that there is no one who cares for me. there is no refuge for me; no one looks after my life. 5 I called out to you, Yahweh; I said, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. 6 Listen to my cries, for I have been brought very low; rescue me from my pursuers, for they are stronger than I. 7 Bring my life out of prison in order to praise your name. The righteous will gather around me because you have been good to me.” Psalm 143 A psalm of David. 1 A song of David Hear my prayer, Yahweh; listen to my pleas. On account of your faithfulness answer me in your righteousness! 2 Do not enter into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you. 3 For the enemy has pursued my being; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me to live in dark places like those dead a long time. 4 My breath is faint in me; my heart despairs within me. 5 I remember days from old; I meditate on all your works; I reflect on the works of your hands. 6 I spread my hands out to you; my soul thirsts for you as in a parched land. Selah 7 Answer me quickly, Yahweh, because my spirit faints. Do not hide your face from me, or I will become like those who go down into the pit. 8 Let me hear your covenant faithfulness in the morning, for I trust in you. Make known to me the way where I should walk, for I lift up my soul to you. 9 Rescue me from my enemies, Yahweh; I hide in you. 10 Teach me to do your good pleasures, for you are my God. May your spirit of goodness lead me in the land of uprightness. 11 Yahweh, for the sake of your name, keep me alive; in your righteousness bring my life out of trouble. 12 In your covenant faithfulness cut off my enemies and destroy all the enemies of my life, for I am your servant. Psalm 144 A psalm of David. 1 Of David. Blessed be Yahweh, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle. 2 You are my steadfast love and my fortress, my high tower and the one who rescues me, my shield and the one in whom I take refuge, the one who subdues nations under me. 3 Yahweh, what is man that you take notice of him, the son of man that you think about him? 4 Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow. 5 Yahweh, cause your sky to spread wide and come down; touch the mountains and make them smoke. 6 Shoot lightning and scatter them; send your bolts and disturb them. 7 Reach out your hand from above, deliver me and rescue me out of many waters, from the hand of sons of foreigners. 8 For their mouths speak lies, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood. 9 I will sing a new song to you, God; on a lute of ten strings I will play for you, 10 who gives salvation to kings, who rescues David your servant from an evil sword. 11 Rescue me and deliver me from the hand of sons of foreigners. For their mouths speak lies, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood. 12 May our sons be like plants who grow large in their youth and our daughters like carved corner pillars, resembling a palace. 13 May our storehouses be full with every kind of produce, and may our sheep produce thousands and ten thousands in our fields. 14 May our oxen have many young. No one will break through, no one will go out, and no one will cry in our streets. 15 Blessed is the people for whom this is so; blessed is the people for whom Yahweh is his God. Psalm 145 A psalm of praise. Of David. 1 A song of David I will extol you, my God, the King; I will bless your name forever and ever. 2 Every day will I bless you; I will praise your name forever and ever. 3 Great is Yahweh and greatly to be praised; and his greatness cannot be measured. 4 Generation to generation will rejoice because of your deeds and they will proclaim your mighty actions. 5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty and on your marvelous deeds, I will meditate. 6 They will speak of the power of your awesome works, and I will declare your greatness. 7 They will celebrate the fame of your abounding goodness, and they will sing about your righteousness. 8 Yahweh is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and great in steadfast love. 9 Yahweh is good to all; and his abundant mercies are over all his works. 10 All you have made will give thanks to you, Yahweh; your faithful ones will bless you. 11 They will speak of the glory of your kingdom, and they will tell of your power. 12 Making known to the children of mankind his mighty deeds and the glorious splendor of his kingdom. 13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. 14 Yahweh supports all who are falling and raises up all who are bent over. 15 The eyes of all wait for you; you give them their food in its time. 16 You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. 17 Yahweh is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does. 18 Yahweh is near to all who call to him, to all who call to him in truth. 19 He does the desire of those who fear him, and he hears their cry and saves them. 20 Yahweh keeps all those who love him, but he will destroy all the wicked. 21 My mouth speaks the praise of Yahweh; let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever. Psalm 146 1 Praise Yahweh. Praise Yahweh, my soul. 2 I will praise Yahweh with my life; I will sing praises to my God as long as I live. 3 Do not trust in nobles Nor in men, in whom there is no salvation. 4 When his breath ceases, he returns to the ground; on that day his plans perish. 5 Blessed is the one who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in Yahweh his God. 6 The one who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; The one who keeps faithfulness forever. 7 The one who executes justice for the oppressed The one who gives bread to the hungry. Yahweh liberates the prisoners; 8 Yahweh opens the eyes of the blind; Yahweh raises up those who are bowed down; Yahweh loves those who are righteous. 9 Yahweh guards the refugees; he sustains the orphan and the widow, but he subverts the way of the wicked. 10 Yahweh reigns forever, your God, Zion, reigns from generation to generation. Praise Yahweh. Psalm 147 1 Praise Yahweh! How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and suitable is a song of praise. 2 Yahweh builds up Jerusalem, he gathers the scattered people of Israel. 3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. 4 He counts the number of the stars; he gives names to all of them. 5 Great is our Lord and abounding in power, his understanding is without measure. 6 Yahweh lifts up the oppressed, he brings the wicked down to the ground. 7 Sing to Yahweh with thanksgiving, sing praises to our God with a harp. 8 He is the one who covers the heavens with clouds; he is the one who prepares rain for the earth; he is the one who causes the mountains to sprout with grass. 9 He gives food to the animals and to the children of the ravens when they call. 10 He does not delight in the strength of a horse, he does not enjoy the strong legs of a man. 11 Yahweh enjoys those who fear him, those who hope for his steadfast love. 12 Extol Yahweh, Jerusalem, praise your God, Zion. 13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates, he blesses your children in your midst. 14 He sets your borders with peace, he satisfies you with the finest of wheat. 15 He sends out his word to the land, his command runs with swiftness. 16 He makes the snow like wool, he scatters the frost like ashes. 17 He sends out his hail like crumbs, who can stand before his cold? 18 He sends out his command and melts them; he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow. 19 He proclaimed his word to Jacob, his statutes and his righteous decrees to Israel. 20 He has not done so with any other nation, and as for his judgments, they do not know them. Praise Yahweh. Psalm 148 1 Praise Yahweh. Praise Yahweh from the heavens; praise him in the heights. 2 Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts. 3 Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars. 4 Praise him, highest heavens and the waters that are above the heavens. 5 Let them praise the name of Yahweh, for he commanded, and they were created. 6 He has established them forever and ever; he given a decree and it will not pass away. 7 Praise Yahweh from the earth, sea monsters and all ocean depths, 8 fire and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds doing his word. 9 The mountains and all the hills, The fruit trees and all the cedars, 10 animals and all the beasts, reptiles and winged birds. 11 kings of the earth and all the peoples, princes and all judges of the earth, 12 Young men and also young women, the elderly along with the children. 13 let them all praise the name of Yahweh, for his name alone is exalted; his glory extends over the earth and the heavens. 14 He has raised up the horn of his people praise from all his faithful ones, from the children of Israel, the people near to him. Praise Yahweh. Psalm 149 1 Praise Yahweh. Sing to Yahweh a new song – his praise in the assembly of the faithful ones. 2 Let Israel rejoice in the one who made them; let the children of Zion rejoice in their king. 3 Let them praise his name with dancing; let them play for him with tambourine and harp. 4 For Yahweh takes pleasure in his people; he glorifies the humble with salvation. 5 Let the faithful ones rejoice in this honor; let them shout for joy on their beds. 6 May the exaltation of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands 7 to do vengeance on the nations – acts of punishment on the peoples. 8 to bind their kings with chains and their honored ones with iron shackles. 9 to do the judgment against them that is written. This will be an honor for all his faithful ones. Praise Yahweh. Psalm 150 1 Praise Yahweh. Praise God in his holy place; praise him in the mighty heavens. 2 Praise him for his mighty acts; praise him for his surpassing greatness. 3 Praise him with the blast of the horn; praise him with lute and harp. 4 Praise him with tambourines and dancing; praise him with stringed instruments and wind instruments. 5 Praise him with loud cymbals; praise him with high sounding cymbals. 6 Let everything that has breath praise Yahweh. Praise Yahweh. Proverbs Chapter 1 1 The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, the king of Israel: 2 To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of understanding; 3 to receive instruction of insight, righteousness and justice and equity; 4 to give to naive ones prudence, to a young man knowledge and discretion 5 (a wise one will hear and increase learning, and one who discerns will get directions), 6 to understand a proverb and a satire, the words of the wise and their riddles. 7 The fear of Yahweh {is} the beginning of knowledge, fools despise wisdom and instruction. 8 Hear, my son, the instruction of your father and do not forsake the teaching of your mother. 9 For, they {are} a wreath of favor for your head and necklace chains for your neck. 10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. 11 If they say, “Come with us! Let us lie in wait for blood. Let us lie hidden for the innocent without cause. 12 Let us swallow them, the living ones, like Sheol, and the whole ones like those going down to a pit. 13 We will find every precious wealth. We will fill our houses {with} spoil. 14 Cause your lot to fall in our midst; one purse will be for all of us.” 15 My son, do not walk in the way with them; restrain your foot from their path. 16 For their feet run to evil, and they hurry to pour out blood. 17 Surely in vain {is} the net spread out in the eyes of any owner of wing, 18 but they lie in wait for their blood, lie hidden for their lives. 19 So {are} the ways of all who unjustly gain unjust gain; it takes the life of its owner. 20 Wisdom cries out in the street, she gives her voice in the plazas. 21 At the head of the tumultuous streets she calls out; at the opening of the gates in the city she says her words, 22 “Until when will the naive ones love naivety and mockers delight in mockery for themselves and fools hate knowledge? 23 Turn to my rebuke. Behold, I shall pour out my spirit to you, I shall cause you to know my words. 24 Because I have called and you have refused, I have stretched forth my hand and there was no heeding, 25 and you have let go of all my counsel, and you did not consent to my rebuke, 26 I too will laugh in your disaster, I will mock when your terror comes, 27 when your terror comes like a storm and your disaster comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. 28 Then they will call out to me but I will not answer, they will diligently seek me but they will not find me, 29 for the reason that they hate knowledge and did not choose the fear of Yahweh, 30 they did not consent to my counsel, and they despised my every rebuke. 31 And they will eat from the fruit of their ways, and from their schemes they will have their fill. 32 For the turning away of the naive will slay them and ease will cause fools to perish. 33 But the one who listens to me will dwell securely and will be at ease from the terror of evil.” Chapter 2 1 My son, if you receive my words and store up my commandments with you— 2 by causing your ear to be attentive to wisdom, you incline your heart to understanding— 3 indeed, if you call out for discernment, you lift up your voice for understanding, 4 if you seek it like silver and search for it like hidden treasures, 5 then you will understand the fear of Yahweh and you will find the knowledge of God. 6 For Yahweh gives wisdom, knowledge and understanding {are} from his mouth. 7 And he stores up prudence for the upright ones— a shield for those walking with integrity, 8 to guard the paths of justice, and he will keep the way of his faithful ones. 9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity— every good track. 10 For wisdom will enter into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your spirit. 11 Discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you, 12 to rescue you from the way of evil, from a man who speaks perverse things, 13 the ones who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, 14 the ones who are joyful to do evil, they rejoice in perverse things of evil, 15 whose paths {are} crooked and who are devious in their tracks; 16 to rescue you from a strange woman, from a foreign woman who makes her words smooth, 17 the one who forsakes the companion of her youth and has forgotten the covenant of her God. 18 For her house sinks down to death and her tracks to the spirits of the dead. 19 All who enter her will not return and they will not reach the paths of life. 20 So you shall walk in the way of the good ones and you shall keep the paths of the righteous ones. 21 For the upright ones will dwell {in} the land, and the blameless ones will remain in it, 22 but wicked ones will be cut off from the land, and those who act treacherously will be torn away from it. Chapter 3 1 My son, do not forget my law, and let your heart keep my commandments. 2 For they will add to you length of days and years of life and peace. 3 Do not let covenant faithfulness and trustworthiness leave you, tie them on your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart, 4 and you will find favor and good insight in the eyes of God and mankind. 5 Trust in Yahweh with all your heart and do not lean on your understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him and he will straighten your paths. 7 Do not be wise in your eyes, fear Yahweh and turn from evil. 8 It will be healing for your navel and refreshment for your bones. 9 Honor Yahweh from your wealth and from the firstfruits of all your produce, 10 and your storehouses will be full with plenty and your presses will burst open with new wine. 11 The instruction of Yahweh, my son, do not reject, and do not abhor his rebuke. 12 For Yahweh rebukes whom he loves, and like a father he is pleased with a son. 13 Blessed {is} a man who finds wisdom and a man who obtains understanding. 14 For better {is} its gain than the gain of silver, and its produce than gold. 15 She is more precious than corals, and all your desired things do not compare with her. 16 Length of days {is} in her right hand, in her left hand {are} riches and honor. 17 Her ways {are} ways of pleasantness and all her paths {are} peace. 18 She {is} a tree of life to the ones who take hold of her, and those who grasp her {are} blessed. 19 Yahweh founded the earth by wisdom, established the heavens by understanding. 20 By his knowledge the depths broke open and the clouds dripped dew. 21 My son, do not let them depart from your eyes, guard prudence and discretion. 22 And they will be life for your spirit and favor for your neck. 23 Then you will walk your way to security and your foot will not stumble. 24 When you lie down, you will not be in dread, and you will lie down and your sleep will be pleasant. 25 Do not be afraid of sudden dread and of the devastation of the wicked ones when it comes. 26 For Yahweh will be at your loins, and he will keep your foot from capture. 27 Do not withhold good from its owner, when it is in the power of your hand to act. 28 Do not say to your neighbor, “Go and return, and tomorrow I will give {it},” and it is with you. 29 Do not plot evil against your neighbor, and he who is dwelling safely with you. 30 Do not contend with a man without cause, if he has not done evil to you. 31 Do not be envious of a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways. 32 For the devious one {is} an abomination to Yahweh, but his counsel {is} the upright. 33 The curse of Yahweh {is} in the house of the wicked one, but he blesses the abode of the righteous ones. 34 Though to the mockers he mocks, yet to the humble he gives favor. 35 The wise ones will inherit honor, but fools lift up dishonor. Chapter 4 1 Hear, sons, the instruction of a father, and listen attentively in order to know understanding. 2 For I give good instruction to you; do not forsake my law. 3 When I was a son of my father, the tender and only one before the face of my mother, 4 then he taught me and said to me, “Let your heart grasp my words; keep my commandments and live. 5 Acquire wisdom, aquire understanding; do not forget and do not turn from the words of my mouth. 6 Do not abandon her and she will keep you; love her and she will guard you. 7 The beginning of wisdom: acquire wisdom! And in all your acquisition acquire understanding. 8 Exalt her and she will raise you up; she will honor you when you embrace her. 9 She will give a wreath of favor to your head; she will bestow to you a crown of splendor.” 10 Listen, my son, and receive my words, and they will multiply for you the years of life. 11 I taught you in the way of wisdom; I caused you to tread in the tracks of uprightness. 12 When you walk, your step will not be restricted; and if you run, you will not stumble. 13 Take hold of instruction, do not let go; guard it, for it {is} your life. 14 Do not enter in the path of wicked ones and do not advance in the way of evil ones. 15 Avoid it, do not pass through it; turn aside from it and pass on. 16 For they do not sleep if they do not do evil and their sleep is robbed if they do not cause stumbling. 17 For they eat the bread of wickedness and they drink the wine of violent acts. 18 But the path of the righteous ones {is} like a light of brightness, going and shining until the day {is} established. 19 The way of the wicked {is} like the darkness; they do not know on what they stumble. 20 My son, listen attentively to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. 21 Do not let them turn aside from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart. 22 For they {are} life to those who find them and healing to all of his flesh. 23 Guard your heart more than all keeping, for from it {are} the sources of life. 24 Remove the crookedness of mouth from you, and put far away from you the deviousness of lips. 25 Cause your eyes to look to the front, and cause your eyelids to be straight in front of you. 26 Make level the track of your foot and all your ways will be firm. 27 Do not turn aside right or left; cause your foot to turn away from evil. Chapter 5 1 My son, listen attentively to my wisdom, incline your ear to my understanding, 2 in order to keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge. 3 For the lips of a strange woman drip fresh honey and her palate {is} smoother than oil, 4 but her end {is} bitter like wormwood, sharp like a two-edge sword. 5 Her feet are going down to death; her steps take hold of Sheol. 6 Lest she make level the path of life, she does not know her ways {are} unstable. 7 And now, sons, listen to me; and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. 8 Keep your way far from her and do not come near to the opening of her house. 9 Lest you give your splendor to others and your years to a cruel one. 10 Lest strangers be satisfied with your strength and your toil {be} in the house of a foreigner, 11 and you groan at your end when your flesh and your body cease. 12 And you will say, “How I hated instruction and my heart despised rebuke! 13 And I did not listen to the voice of my teachers and I did not incline my ear to those who taught me. 14 I was almost in all evil, in the midst of the assembly and the congregation.” 15 Drink water from your cistern and flowing water from the midst of your well. 16 Should your springs flow outside, streams of water in the plazas? 17 Let them be for you, for you alone, and not for strangers with you. 18 May your fountain be blessed, and get joy from the wife of your youth. 19 A doe of loves and a mountain goat of grace, may her breasts drench you at every time; may you continually stagger in her love. 20 And why would you stagger with a strange woman, my son, and embrace the bosom of a foreign woman? 21 For the ways of a man {are} in front of the eyes of Yahweh, and are making level all of his paths. 22 His iniquities seize him, the wicked one; and he is grasped by the cords of his sin. 23 He will die because there is no instruction; and he staggers in the abundance of his foolishness. Chapter 6 1 My son, if you pledge to your neighbor, you clapped your palm for a stranger, 2 you are ensnared by the words of your mouth, you are caught by the words of your mouth, 3 then do this, my son, and rescue yourself. Since you have come into the palm of your neighbor, go, humble yourself and importune your neighbor. 4 Do not give sleep to your eyes and slumber to your eyelids. 5 Rescue yourself like a gazelle from a hand, and like a bird from the hand of the trapper. 6 Go to the ant, lazy one! See its ways and be wise, 7 that without a commander, officer, or ruler for it, 8 it prepares its bread in the summer, it gathers its food in the harvest. 9 Until when, lazy one, will you lie down? When will you rise from your sleep? 10 “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to lie down”— 11 and your poverty will come like one who walks and your need like a man of shield. 12 A man of worthlessness, a man of iniquity, {is} one who walks {with} crookedness of mouth, 13 one who winks with his eyes, one who rubs with his foot, one who points with his fingers. 14 Perverse things {are} in his heart; plotting evil at every time, he sends forth quarrels. 15 Therefore his disaster will come suddenly, in a moment he will be broken and without healing. 16 Six {things} {are} they, Yahweh hates, and seven {things are} abominations of his spirit: 17 uplifted eyes, a tongue of falsehood, and hands pouring out innocent blood, 18 a heart devising plans of iniquity, feet hurrying to run to evil, 19 a witness of falsehood who breathes out lies and one who sends forth quarrels between brothers. 20 Guard, my son, the command of your father and do not forsake the teaching of your mother. 21 Bind them on your heart continually; tie them around your neck. 22 When you go about, it will guide you; when you lie down, it will watch over you; and you will wake up, it will talk with you. 23 For the commandment {is} a lamp and the law {is} a light, and the rebukes of instruction {are} the way of life, 24 to keep you from a woman of evil, from the smoothness of the tongue of a foreign woman. 25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart and do not let her take you with her eyelashes. 26 For the price of a prostitute woman {is} as much as a loaf of bread, but the wife of a man hunts a precious life. 27 Will a man snatch up a fire in his chest and his clothes not be burned? 28 If a man walks on coals then will his feet not be burned? 29 So is the one who enters into the wife of his neighbor: every one who touches her will not be free of guilt. 30 They do not despise the thief if he steals to satisfy his life when he is hungry. 31 But if he is found, he will restore sevenfold; he will give all the wealth of his house. 32 One who commits adultery with a woman lacks heart; destroying his life, he does it. 33 He will find a wound and dishonor and his shame will not be wiped out. 34 For jealousy is the heat of a man, and he will not spare in the day of vengeance. 35 He will not lift up the face of any ransom, and he will not be willing if you increase the bribe. Chapter 7 1 My son, keep my words and store up my commandments with you. 2 Keep my commandments and live and my law as the pupil of your eyes. 3 Tie them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 Say to wisdom, “You {are} my sister,” and call to understanding, “Kinsman,” 5 in order to keep you from the strange woman, from the foreign woman who makes her words smooth. 6 For in the window of my house, through the window lattice I looked down. 7 And I saw among the naive, I discerned among the sons a young man lacking sense. 8 Passing through the street beside her corner, and he strode in the way of her house, 9 in the twilight, in the evening of the day, in the pupil of the night and darkness. 10 And behold, a woman to meet him, {with} the garment of a prostitute and guarded of heart. 11 (She {is} a loud and rebellious one; her feet do not stay in her house. 12 At {one} time in the street, at {another} time in the plazas, and beside every corner she lies in ambush.) 13 And she grabbed him and kissed him, she strengthened her face and said to him, 14 “The sacrifices of fellowship offerings {were} on me; today I have completed my vows. 15 Therefore, I came out to meet you, to diligently seek your face and I found you. 16 I have spread my bed {with} coverings, colored linen of Egypt. 17 I have sprinkled my bed {with} myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. 18 Come, let us be saturated with loves until the morning; let us delight ourselves with loves. 19 For the man is not in his house; he went on a road far away. 20 He took the bag of the silver in his hand; he will enter his house to the day of the full moon.” 21 She turned him with much of her teaching; with the smoothness of her lips she compelled him. 22 Following after her suddenly, like an ox he came to slaughter, and like an anklet to the instruction of a fool, 23 until an arrow split his liver, like a bird rushing into a trap, and he did not know that it {was} for his life. 24 And now, sons, listen to me; and listen attentively to the words of my mouth. 25 Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways; do not wander into her paths. 26 For she has caused many pierced ones to fall, and numerous are all her slain ones. 27 Her house {is} the ways of Sheol, descending to the rooms of death. Chapter 8 1 Does not wisdom call out and understanding give her voice? 2 At the heads of the heights, on the road, the house of travelers, she stations herself. 3 To the hand of the gates, to the mouth of the city, the entrance of the openings, she cries out. 4 “To you, men, I call; and my voice {is} to the sons of mankind. 5 Understand prudence, naive ones, and fools, understand heart. 6 Listen, for I will speak noble things, and the opening of my lips {will be} upright things. 7 For my palate will utter truth, and wickedness {is} an abomination to my lips. 8 All the words of my mouth {are} in righteousness; there is nothing twisted or perverse in them. 9 All of them {are} straightforward for the one who is discerning and upright for those who find knowledge. 10 Receive my instruction and not silver, and knowledge more than choice gold. 11 For wisdom is better than corals and all desired things do not compare with her. 12 I, Wisdom, I dwell with prudence, I find knowledge and discretion. 13 The fear of Yahweh {is} hating evil. I hate pride and arrogance and the evil way and the mouth of perverse things. 14 Counsel and prudence are mine; I {am} understanding; strength is mine. 15 By me kings reign and weighty ones decree righteousness. 16 By me rulers rule, and nobles, all judges of righteousness. 17 I love those who love me, and those who diligently seek me will find me. 18 Riches and honor {are} with me, lasting wealth and righteousness. 19 My fruit {is} better than gold, and than refined gold, and my produce than choice silver. 20 I walk in the path of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of justice, 21 to cause those who love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasuries. 22 Yahweh possessed me {at} the beginning of his way, before his works from then. 23 From eternity I was installed, from the head, from the earliest times of the earth. 24 When there were no depths, I was brought forth, when there were no springs made heavy with water. 25 Before the mountains were settled, before the face of the hills, I was brought forth, 26 before he made the earth or the outside places or the head of the dust of the world. 27 When he established the heavens, I {was} there, when he inscribed a circle over the face of the deep. 28 When he established the clouds above, when the springs of the deep became strong, 29 when he set for the sea its limit, so waters do not pass over its mouth, when he inscribed the foundations of the earth, 30 then I was beside him faithfully, and I was a delight day {by} day, frolicking before his face at every time. 31 Frolicking in the world of his earth, and my delight {was} the sons of man. 32 And now, sons, listen to me, and blessed {are} they who keep my ways. 33 Hear instruction, and be wise, and do not let go of it. 34 Blessed {is} the man who listens to me, watching over my doors day {by} day, keeping the doorposts of my entrance. 35 For those who find me {are} those who find life, and he obtains favor from Yahweh. 36 But a sinner does violence to his life; all who hate me love death.” Chapter 9 1 Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out her seven pillars. 2 She has slaughtered her slaughter, she has mixed her wine, also she has set her table. 3 She has sent out her female servants, she calls out on the tops of the heights of the city. 4 “Whoever {is} naive, let him turn aside here,” she says to him lacking of heart. 5 “Come, eat my bread, and drink the wine I have mixed. 6 Forsake naive things and live; and go straight in the way of understanding. 7 One who instructs a mocker receives shame for himself, and one who rebukes a wicked one, his injury. 8 Do not rebuke a mocker, lest he hate you; rebuke a wise one and he will love you. 9 Give to a wise one and he will become more wise; cause the righteous one to know and he will increase learning. 10 The beginning of wisdom {is} the fear of Yahweh and knowledge of the holy one {is} understanding. 11 For by me your days will become many, and years of life will be added to you. 12 If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, and if you mock, you alone will bear it.” 13 The woman of foolishness {is} loud, naive, and she does not know anything. 14 And she sits at the opening of her house, on a seat, the heights of the city, 15 to call to those who pass over the way, the ones going straight on their paths. 16 “Whoever {is} naive, let him turn aside here!” And she says to him, the lacking of heart, 17 “Stolen waters are sweet, and bread of secrecies is pleasant.” 18 And he does not know that the spirits of the dead {are} there; her called ones are in the depths of Sheol. Chapter 10 1 The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son causes a father to rejoice but a foolish son {is} the grief of his mother. 2 Treasures of wickedness do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death. 3 Yahweh does not let the life of the righteous one hunger but he thrusts away the desire of the wicked ones. 4 A palm of slackness makes poverty, but the hand of diligent ones makes rich. 5 One who gathers in the summer {is} a son who acts prudently, but one who sleeps in the harvest {is} a son who causes shame. 6 Blessings {are} for the head of the righteous one, but the mouth of the wicked ones covers violence. 7 The memory of the righteous one {is} for a blessing, but the name of the wicked ones will rot. 8 The wise of heart receive commands but the foolish of lips will be thrust down. 9 One who walks in integrity will walk securely, but one who causes his ways to be crooked will be known. 10 One who winks an eye gives pains, and the foolish of lips will be thrust down. 11 The mouth of the righteous one {is} a spring of life, but the mouth of the wicked ones covers violence. 12 Hatred stirs up quarrels, but love covers all transgressions. 13 Wisdom is found on the lips of one who is discerning, but a rod {is} for the back of the lacking of heart. 14 Wise men store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool {is} near ruin. 15 The wealth of the rich one {is} the city of his strength; the ruin of lowly ones is their poverty. 16 The wage of the righteous one {is} to life; the income of the wicked one {is} to sin. 17 One who keeps instruction {is on} a path to life but one who rejects rebuke goes astray. 18 One who covers hate {with} lips of falsehood and causes an evil report to go forth, he {is} a fool. 19 With a multitude of words transgression does not cease, but one who restrains his lips {is} prudent. 20 The tongue of the righteous one {is} choice silver; the heart of the wicked ones {is} like little. 21 The lips of the righteous one shepherd many, but fools die for lacking heart. 22 The blessing of Yahweh, it causes to become rich, and he does not add pain with it. 23 Doing a wicked plan {is} like laughter for a fool, but wisdom {is} for a man of understanding. 24 The terror of the wicked one, it will come to him, but the desire of the righteous ones will be given. 25 Like the passing over of a whirlwind, there is no wicked one, but a righteous one {is} a foundation of eternity. 26 Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so {is} the lazy one to one who sends him. 27 The fear of Yahweh will increase days, but the years of the wicked ones will be short. 28 The hope of the righteous ones {is} joy, but the expectation of the wicked ones will perish. 29 The way of Yahweh {is} a stronghold for the one with integrity, but ruin {is} for those who do iniquity. 30 A righteous one will not be shaken to eternity, but wicked ones will not dwell in the land. 31 The mouth of the righteous one bears the fruit of wisdom, but the tongue of the perverse ones will be cut off. 32 The lips of the righteous one know favor, but the mouth of the wicked ones, perverse things. Chapter 11 1 Scales of deceit {are} an abomination of Yahweh but a full stone {is} his delight. 2 When pride comes then disgrace comes, but {with} modest ones {is} wisdom. 3 The integrity of the upright ones will guide them but the crookedness of the treacherous ones will destroy them. 4 Wealth will not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness will deliver from death. 5 The righteousness of a blameless one will make his way straight, but a wicked one will fall by his wickedness. 6 The righteousness of the upright ones will deliver them, but treacherous ones will be captured by desire. 7 In the death of a wicked man hope will perish, and the expectation of strong ones perishes. 8 A righteous one will be drawn away from distress, but a wicked one will enter instead of him. 9 With a mouth a godless one will destroy his neighbor, but with knowledge righteous ones will be delivered. 10 In the good of the righteous ones a city will rejoice; and when wicked ones perish, a shout of joy. 11 With the blessing of the upright ones a city will be exalted, but with the mouth of the wicked ones it will be thrown down. 12 One who despises his neighbor {is} lacking of heart, but a man of understanding will keep quiet. 13 One who goes about {in} slander is one who uncovers a secret, but one who is faithful of spirit {is} one who covers a matter. 14 When there are no directions a people will fall, but salvation is in an abundance of counsel. 15 He will certainly be hurt if he pledges for a stranger, but one who hates hand claps {is} secure. 16 A woman of grace will grasp honor, but ruthless ones will grasp riches. 17 A man of kindness {is} one who rewards his self, but a cruel one {is} one who troubles his flesh. 18 A wicked one makes a wage of falsehood, but one who sows righteousness, a wage of truth. 19 Thus, righteousness {is} to life, but one who pursues evil {is} to his death. 20 The abomination of Yahweh {is} those perverse of heart, but his delight {is} those blameless of way. 21 Hand to hand wicked ones will not be free of guilt, but the seed of the righteous ones will slip away. 22 A ring of gold in the nose of a pig {is} a beautiful woman that turns away from discretion. 23 The desire of the righteous ones {is} only good; the hope of the wicked ones {is} fury. 24 There is one who scatters and increases more, but one who withholds more than {what is} right {is} only for poverty. 25 A life of blessing will be fattened, and the one who drenches, also he will be drenched. 26 People will curse one who withholds grain, but a blessing {is} for the head of one who sells. 27 One who diligently seeks good seeks favor, but one who seeks evil, it will come to him. 28 One who trusts in his riches, he will fall, but like a leaf righteous ones will flourish. 29 One who troubles his house will inherit wind, and a fool {will be} a servant to the wise of heart. 30 The fruit of the righteous one {is} a tree of life, and a wise one gains lives. 31 Behold, a righteous one in the land will be repaid, how much more a wicked one and one who sins! Chapter 12 1 One who loves instruction loves knowledge, but one who hates rebuke {is} stupid. 2 A good one obtains favor from Yahweh, but a man of schemes he will condemn. 3 A man will not be established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous ones will not be shaken. 4 A wife of strength {is} the crown of her husband, but she who causes shame {is} like rottenness in his bones. 5 The thoughts of the righteous ones {are} justice; the directions of the wicked ones {are} deceit. 6 The words of the wicked ones {are} an ambush of blood, but the mouth of the upright ones will deliver them. 7 Wicked ones are overthrown and they are not, but the house of the righteous ones will stand. 8 A man will be praised for the mouth of his insight, but one who is twisted of heart will be to contempt. 9 Better to be lightly esteemed and his servant than to honor oneself and {be} lacking of bread. 10 A righteous one {is} one who knows the life of his animal, but the compassion of the wicked ones {is} cruel. 11 Bread will satisfy one who works his ground, but one who pursues empty things {is} lacking of heart. 12 A wicked one desires the snare of evil ones, but the root of the righteous ones will give. 13 In the transgression of lips {is} the snare of the evil one, but a righteous one will go out from distress. 14 From the fruit of the mouth of a man will he be satisfied with good, and the work of the hands of a man will return to him. 15 The way of a fool {is} right in his eyes, but a wise one listens to counsel. 16 A fool, his anger is known on the day, but a prudent one covers dishonor. 17 Who breathes out faithfulness reports {what is} right, but a witness of falsehoods {is} deceitful. 18 There is one who speaks thoughtlessly like the thrusts of a sword, but the tongue of the wise ones is healing. 19 A lip of truth will be established to perpetuity, but a tongue of falsehood until I blink. 20 Deceit {is} in the heart of those who devise evil, but joy {is} for those who advise peace. 21 Any iniquity will not be allowed to happen to the righteous one, but wicked ones are full of evil. 22 Lips of falsehood {are} an abomination of Yahweh, but those who do faithfulness {are} his delight. 23 A prudent man covers knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims folly. 24 The hand of the diligent ones will rule but a slack one will become a forced laborer. 25 Anxiety in the heart of a man weighs it down, but a good word causes it to rejoice. 26 A righteous one searches out from his neighbor, but the way of wicked ones will lead them astray. 27 A negligent one will not roast his game, but the wealth of a man {is} precious for a diligent one. 28 In the path of righteousness {is} life, and the way of the path {is} no death. Chapter 13 1 A wise son, the instruction of a father, but a mocker does not listen to rebuke. 2 From the fruit of the mouth of a man he eats good, but the appetite of the treacherous ones {is} violence. 3 One who guards his mouth {is} one who keeps his life; one who opens his lips {is} ruin for himself. 4 A lazy one, his appetite is craving and there is nothing, but the appetite of the diligent ones will be fattened. 5 A righteous one hates a word of falsehood, but a wicked one causes a stink and causes shame. 6 Righteousness guards the blameless of way, but wickedness overthrows a sinful one. 7 There is one who pretends to be rich but there is nothing at all; one who pretends to be poor but {has} great wealth. 8 The ransom of the life of a man {is} his riches, but one who is poor does not hear a rebuke. 9 The light of the righteous ones will rejoice, but the lamp of the wicked ones will be extinguished. 10 Only with pride gives strife, but {with} those who are counseled, wisdom. 11 Wealth from vanity will dwindle, but one who gathers by hand will increase. 12 Hope delayed makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled {is} a tree of life. 13 One who despises a word will be pledged to it, but he who fears a command, he will be rewarded. 14 The teaching of the wise {is} a fountain of life, to turn away from the snares of death. 15 Good insight gives favor, but the way of those who act treacherously {is} permanent. 16 Every prudent one acts with knowledge, but a fool displays folly. 17 A wicked messenger falls into evil, but an envoy of faithfulness {is} healing. 18 One who lets go of instruction, poverty and shame, but one who keeps a rebuke will be honored. 19 A desire that occurs will be pleasing to the self, but the abomination of fools is turning away from evil. 20 One who walks {with} wise ones will be wise, but one who associates with fools will be hurt. 21 Evil will pursue sinners, but goodness will reward the righteous. 22 A good one will cause sons of sons to inherit, but the strength of the one who sins is being stored up for the righteous one. 23 Much food {is} the unplowed field of those who are poor, but there is a being swept away without justice. 24 One who withholds his rod hates his son, but one who loves him seeks him diligently with discipline. 25 A righteous one eats to the satisfaction of his spirit, but the stomach of the wicked ones will be empty. Chapter 14 1 The wise ones of women, she builds her house, but a foolish woman tears it down with her hands. 2 One who walks in his uprightness fears Yahweh but one who is crooked in his ways despises him. 3 In the mouth of a fool {is} a rod of pride, but the lips of the wise ones will preserve them. 4 Where there are no cattle {is} a trough of grain, but an abundance of crops {is} by the strength of an ox. 5 A witness of faithfulness will not lie, but a witness of falsehood breathes out lies. 6 A mocker seeks wisdom and there is none, but knowledge is easy for one who discerns. 7 Go from before a man of foolishness, for you will not know lips of knowledge. 8 The wisdom of a prudent one informs his way, but the foolishness of fools {is} deceit. 9 Fools mock the guilt offering, but between upright ones {is} favor. 10 The heart knows the bitterness of itself, and in its joy a stranger will not share. 11 The house of the wicked ones will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright ones will flourish. 12 There is a right way before the face of a man, but its end {is} the ways of death. 13 A heart may be in pain even in laughter, and the end of joy may be grief. 14 The turning away of heart will be satisfied from his ways, but a good man from on him. 15 The naive one believes every thing, but the prudent one discerns his step. 16 A wise one {is} one who fears and turns away from evil, but the fool {is} one who makes himself furious and {is} being confident. 17 One short of nostrils does foolishness, and a man of schemes is hated. 18 Naive ones inherit foolishness, but prudent ones will wear a crown of knowledge. 19 Evil ones will bow down before the face of good ones, and wicked ones at the gates of the righteous one. 20 One who is poor is hated even by his neighbor, but those who love the rich {are} many. 21 One who sins despises his neighbor, but one who favors afflicted ones {is} blessed. 22 Do not those who plan evil go astray? But covenant faithfulness and trustworthiness {are to} those who plan good. 23 With all toil is profit, but the word of lips {is} only for poverty. 24 The crown of the wise ones {is} their riches; the foolishness of fools {is} foolishness. 25 A witness of truth rescues lives, but one who breathes out lies {is} deceitful. 26 In the fear of Yahweh {is} the confidence of the strong, and he will be a refuge for his sons. 27 The fear of Yahweh {is} a fountain of life, to turn away from the snares of death. 28 The splendor of a king {is} in the abundance of the people, but with the end of the populace the potentate {is} ruined. 29 One long of nose {is} abundant {in} understanding, but one short of spirit is one who exalts foolishness. 30 A heart of healing {is} the life of the body, but envy {is} the decay of bones. 31 One who oppresses a lowly one taunts his maker, but one showing favor {to} a needy one honors him. 32 The wicked one will be thrust down by his evil, but the righteous one seeks refuge in his death. 33 Wisdom will rest in the heart of one who is discerning, but she will become known in the midst of fools. 34 Righteousness raises a nation, but sin {is} shame for peoples. 35 The delight of a king {is} for the servant who acts prudently but his fury will be {for} one who acts shamefully. Chapter 15 1 A gentle answer turns back heat, but a word of pain lifts up a nose. 2 The tongue of the wise ones makes knowledge good, but the mouth of fools pours out foolishness. 3 The eyes of Yahweh {are} in every place, keeping watch {on} evil ones and good ones. 4 A healing tongue {is} a tree of life, but deceit in it {is} a crushing in the spirit. 5 A fool spurns the instruction of his father, but one who keeps rebuke is prudent. 6 The house of the righteous one {is} much wealth, but the produce of the wicked one is being troubled. 7 The lips of the wise ones scatter knowledge, but the heart of fools {is} not so. 8 The sacrifice of the wicked ones {is} an abomination of Yahweh, but the prayer of the upright ones {is} his delight. 9 An abomination of Yahweh {is} the way of the wicked one, but he loves one who pursues righteousness. 10 Painful discipline {is} for one who forsakes the path; one who hates rebuke will die. 11 Sheol and Abaddon {are} before Yahweh; how much more the hearts of the sons of mankind? 12 A mocker does not love rebuking of him; he will not go to the wise ones. 13 A joyful heart makes a face glad, but by the pain of the heart a spirit {is} stricken. 14 The heart of one who is discerning seeks knowledge, but the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness. 15 All the days of the afflicted one {are} evil, but the good of heart {has} a feast continually. 16 Better {is} a little with the fear of Yahweh than much treasure and with it dismay. 17 Better {is} a meal of vegetables and love {is} there than a fattened ox and with it hatred. 18 A man of heat stirs up a quarrel, but the long of nostrils will quiet a dispute. 19 The path of the lazy one {is} like a hedge of thorn bushes, but the path of the upright ones {is} a built-up one. 20 A wise son causes a father to rejoice, but a foolish man despises his mother. 21 Foolishness {is} a joy to the lacking of sense, but the man of understanding makes going straight. 22 Plans are broken with no counsel, but with a multitude of counselors it will stand. 23 Joy {is} for the man with the answer of his mouth, and how good {is} a word in its time. 24 The path of life {is} upward for one who is prudent, in order to turn away from Sheol below. 25 Yahweh will tear down the house of the proud ones, but he will set up the boundary of the widow. 26 Thoughts of evil {are} an abomination of Yahweh, but words of pleasantness {are} pure ones. 27 One who unjustly gains unjust gain {is} one who troubles his house, but one who hates bribes will live. 28 The heart of the righteous one considers how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked ones pours out evil. 29 Yahweh {is} far from wicked ones, but he hears the prayer of the righteous ones. 30 The luminary of the eyes causes the heart to rejoice; good news fattens the bone. 31 An ear that hears the rebuke of life will lodge among the wise. 32 One who lets go of instruction {is} one who despises his life, but one who hears rebuke {is} one who acquires heart. 33 The fear of Yahweh {is} instruction of wisdom, and humility {is} before the face of honor. Chapter 16 1 The plans of the heart {are} for a man, but the answer of the tongue {is} from Yahweh. 2 All the ways of a man {are} pure in his eyes, but Yahweh weighs the spirits. 3 Roll your works to Yahweh and your plans will be established. 4 Yahweh has made all for its answer and even the wicked one for the day of evil. 5 Every high one of heart {is} an abomination of Yahweh, hand to hand he will not be free of guilt. 6 By covenant faithfulness and trustworthiness is iniquity covered, and by the fear of Yahweh is turning away from evil. 7 When Yahweh is pleased with the ways of a man, he causes even his enemies to make peace with him. 8 Better {is} a little with righteousness than much produce with no justice. 9 The heart of man plans his way, but Yahweh establishes his step. 10 Divination {is} on the lips of a king, in judgment his mouth will not act unfaithfully. 11 A scale and balances of justice {are} for Yahweh; all the stones of the bag {are} his work. 12 Doing wickedness {is} an abomination of kings, for by righteousness is a throne established. 13 The delight of kings {are} lips of righteousness, and he loves one who speaks uprightly. 14 The heat of a king {is} messengers of death, but a wise man will appease it. 15 In the light of the face of the king {is} life, and his favor {is} like a spring rain cloud. 16 How better to acquire wisdom than gold, and to acquire understanding is more choice than silver. 17 The highway of the upright ones turns from evil; one who guards his life {is} one who protects his way. 18 Pride {is} before the face of breaking, and a height of spirit {is} before the face of a stumbling. 19 Better to be lowly of spirit {with} afflicted ones than to divide spoil {with} proud ones. 20 One who acts prudently concerning a matter will find good, and ones who trusts in Yahweh, blessed is he. 21 One who is discerning will be called wise of heart, and the sweetness of lips increases learning. 22 The prudence of its owner {is} a fountain of life, but the instruction of fools {is} foolishness. 23 The heart of the wise makes his mouth prudent, and on his lips it increases learning. 24 Words of pleasantness {are} a comb of honey, sweet to the self and healing to the bone. 25 There is a right way before the face of a man and its end {is} the ways of death. 26 The appetite of the laborer labors for him, for his mouth presses on him. 27 A man of worthlessness digs up evil and on his lips {it is} like a scorching fire. 28 A man of perverse things lets loose strife, and one who whispers {is} one who separates close friends. 29 A man of violence persuades his neighbor, and he leads him in a way {that is} not good. 30 One who winks his eyes plans perverse things; one who compresses his lips brings evil to completion. 31 Gray hair {is} a crown of splendor; it is found in the way of righteousness. 32 Better {is} one long of nostrils than a mighty one, and one who rules his spirit than one who captures a city. 33 A lot is thrown down into the lap, but all its judgment {is} from Yahweh. Chapter 17 1 Better {is} a dry morsel and quietness with it than a house full of sacrifices of strife. 2 A servant who acts prudently will rule over a son who acts shamefully and in the midst of brothers he will share an inheritance. 3 The melting-pot {is} for silver and the furnace {is} for gold, and Yahweh tests hearts. 4 One who does evil listens attentively to the lips of iniquity; a liar listens to a tongue of destruction. 5 One who mocks one who is poor taunts his maker; one rejoicing at calamity will not be free of guilt. 6 The crown of old ones {is} sons of sons, and the splendor of sons {is} their fathers. 7 A lip of excess {is} not suitable for a fool; how much less a lip of falsehood for a noble. 8 A stone of favor {is} a bribe in the eyes of its owner; he succeeds to all that he turns. 9 One who covers transgression {is} one who seeks love, but one who repeats a matter {is} one who separates close friends. 10 A rebuke goes down into one who is discerning more than a hundred blows to a fool. 11 An evil one seeks only rebellion, but a cruel messenger will be sent against him. 12 Meet a female bear robbed of offspring by a man and not a fool in his foolishness! 13 One who returns evil for good, evil will not depart from his house. 14 The beginning of a quarrel {is} the releasing of water, so leave before the dispute breaks out. 15 One who declares the wicked one righteous and one who declares the righteous one wicked, even the two of them {are} an abomination of Yahweh. 16 Why {is} this: a price {is} in the hand of a fool to acquire wisdom but there is no heart? 17 At every time the friend {is} one who loves, and a brother is born for distress. 18 A man lacking of heart {is} one who claps a palm, plegding a pledge before the face of his neighbor. 19 One who loves transgression {is} one who loves strife; one who makes his doorway high {is} one who seeks brokenness. 20 One perverse of heart will not find goodness, and one who is turned away in his tongue will fall into evil. 21 One who begets a fool, {it is} to grief for him, and the father of a fool will not rejoice. 22 A joyful heart will make healing good, but a broken spirit dries up bone. 23 A wicked one takes a bribe from the bosom to turn the paths of justice. 24 Wisdom {is with} the face of one who is discerning, but the eyes of a fool {are} at the ends of the earth. 25 A son of a fool {is} a grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him. 26 Even to fine the righteous {is} not good, to strike nobles {is} against uprightness. 27 One who knows knowledge {is} one who restrains his words, and a man of understanding {is} cool of spirit. 28 Even a fool who keeps silent will be considered wise; one who shuts his lips is being discerning. Chapter 18 1 One who separates himself seeks for desire; he bursts out against all prudence. 2 A fool does not delight in understanding but rather in his heart revealing itself. 3 When wickedness comes contempt also comes, and reproach with shame. 4 The words of the mouth of a man {are} deep waters; a spring of wisdom {is} a bubbling stream. 5 {It is} not good to lift the face of the wicked one, to turn aside the righteous one in the judgment. 6 The lips of a fool enter into strife, and his mouth calls for blows. 7 The mouth of a fool {is} ruin for him, and his lips {are} a snare of his life. 8 The words of one who whispers {are} like things swallowed greedily, and they go down into the inner rooms of the belly. 9 Also, one who is slack in his work, he {is} a brother to an owner of destruction. 10 The name of Yahweh {is} a tower of strength; the righteous one runs into it and is set on high. 11 The wealth of the rich {is} a city of his strength and like a wall set on high in his imagination. 12 Before the face of breaking the heart of a man is exalted, but before the face of honor {is} humility. 13 One who returns a word before he listens, it {is} folly to him and shame. 14 The spirit of a man will endure his illness, but a broken spirit, who can lift it? 15 The heart of one who is discerning acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise ones seeks knowledge. 16 The gift of a man will make room for him, and it will lead him before the face of great ones. 17 The first one with his case {is} right, then his neighbor comes and examines him. 18 The lot causes quarrels to cease, and it makes a separation between mighty ones. 19 A brother who has been offended {is worse} than a city of strength, and quarrels {are} like the gate bar of a fortress. 20 From the fruit of the mouth of a man his belly is satisfied; with the produce of his lips he is satisfied. 21 Death and life {are} in the hand of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. 22 He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from Yahweh. 23 One who is poor speaks pleas, but a rich one answers harshly. 24 A man of companions {is} to be broken, but there is one who loves, clinging more than a brother. Chapter 19 1 Better {is} one who is poor who walks in his integrity than one who is perverse in his lips and he {is} a fool. 2 Also, a life with no knowledge {is} not good, and the one who hurries with feet {is} one who misses. 3 The foolishness of a man will pervert his way, and his heart will rage against Yahweh. 4 Wealth adds many companions, but a lowly one is separated from his companions. 5 A witness of falsehoods will not be free of guilt, and he who breathes out lies will not slip away. 6 Many will appease the face of a noble one, and everyone {is} a friend of a man of gift. 7 All the brothers of one who is poor hate him; how much more do his friends keep away from him! Pursuing with words, they are not. 8 One who acquires heart {is} one who loves his life; one who keeps understanding {is} to find good. 9 A witness of falsehoods will not be free of guilt, and one who breathes out lies will perish. 10 Luxury {is} not suitable for a fool; how much less for a slave to rule over officials. 11 The insight of a man makes his nose long, and his splendor {is} to pass over a transgression. 12 The rage of a king {is} a growling like the young lion, but his favor {is} like dew on vegetation. 13 A son of a fool {is} destruction to his father, and the quarrels of a wife {are} a continuous dripping. 14 A house and wealth {are} the inheritance of fathers, but a wife who acts prudently {is} from Yahweh. 15 Laziness causes deep sleep to fall, and the appetite of slackness is hungry. 16 One who keeps a command {is} one who keeps his life; one who despises his ways will die. 17 One who shows favor to the lowly {is} one who lends to Yahweh, and he will repay to him his recompense. 18 Discipline your son when there is hope, and do not set your life to putting him to death. 19 One great of heat {is} one who lifts up a fine; for if you rescue, then you will have to do so again. 20 Listen to counsel and accept instruction, so that you will become wise in your end. 21 Many are the plans in the heart of a man, but the counsel of Yahweh, it will stand. 22 The desire of a man {is} covenant faithfulness, and better {is} one who is poor than a man of lying. 23 The fear of Yahweh {is} to life and the satisfied one will stay overnight; he will not be visited by evil. 24 A lazy one hides his hand in the dish; he will not even return it to his mouth. 25 Strike a mocker and a naive one will become prudent, and rebuking {is} for one who is discerning, he will discern knowledge. 26 One who does violence {to} a father, who causes a mother to flee, {is} a son who causes shame and causes disgrace. 27 My son, cease to hear instruction, stray from the words of knowledge. 28 A witness of worthlessness mocks justice and the mouth of the wicked ones swallows iniquity. 29 Judgments are prepared for the mockers, and blows for the back of fools. Chapter 20 1 Wine {is} a mocker, intoxicating drink {is} one who is loud, and everyone who goes astray by it is not wise. 2 The terror of a king {is} a growling like the young lion; one who infuriates him {is} one who forfeits his life. 3 Cessation from strife {is} honor for a man, but every fool breaks out. 4 A lazy one will not plow in winter, and he begs in the harvest but there is nothing. 5 Counsel in the heart of a man {is} deep waters, and a man of understanding will draw it out. 6 Many a man proclaims, each man, his loyalty, but who can find a man of faithfulness? 7 A righteous one {is} one who walks about in his integrity; blessed {are} his sons after him. 8 A king who sits on the throne of judgment {is} one who scatters every evil with his eyes. 9 Who can say, “I have made my heart pure, I am clean from my sin”? 10 Stone and stone, ephah and ephah, even the two of them {are} an abomination of Yahweh. 11 Even a young man will cause himself to be recognized by his deeds, if pure and if upright {is} his work. 12 An ear that hears and an eye that sees, Yahweh made even the two of them. 13 Do not love sleep lest you become impoverished; open your eyes, be satisfied with bread. 14 “Bad! Bad!” says the one who buys, but when he leaves him, then he boasts. 15 There is gold and an abundance of corals, but lips of knowledge {are} a vessel of preciousness. 16 Take his garment when he has pledged for a stranger, and hold it in pledge for a foreign woman. 17 Bread of falsehood {is} sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel. 18 Plans are established by counsel, and by deliberation make war. 19 One who walks in slander {is} one who uncovers a secret, and do not associate yourself with one who opens his lips. 20 One who curses his father and his mother, his lamp will be extinguished in the pupil of darkness. 21 An inheritance gained quickly in the beginning, its end will not be blessed. 22 Do not say, “I will repay evil.” Wait for Yahweh and he will save you. 23 Stone and stone {are} an abomination of Yahweh, and scales of deceit {are} not good. 24 The steps of a man {are} from Yahweh, and how can a man understand his way? 25 A snare of a man: he says rashly, “{It is} holy,” and after vows considers. 26 A wise king {is} one who scatters the wicked, and he brings back a wheel over them. 27 The spirit of a man {is} the lamp of Yahweh, searching all the inner rooms of the belly. 28 A king guards covenant faithfulness and trustworthiness, and his throne is sustained by covenant faithfulness. 29 The splendor of young men {is} their strength and the adornment of old ones {is} gray hair. 30 Strikes of a wound cleanse away evil and blows of the inner rooms of the belly. Chapter 21 1 The heart of a king {is} channels of water in the hand of Yahweh; he turns it in accordance with all that he desires. 2 Every way of a man {is} right in his eyes, but Yahweh weighs hearts. 3 To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to Yahweh than a sacrifice. 4 Height of eyes and broadness of heart, the lamp of wicked ones, {are} sin. 5 The plans of the diligent one {are} surely to abundance, but everyone who acts hastily {is} surely to poverty. 6 Work of treasures by a tongue of falsehood {is} a fleeting vapor, those that seek death. 7 The violence of wicked ones will sweep them away, for they refuse to do justice. 8 The way of a guilty man {is} crooked, but the pure one, his work {is} upright. 9 Better to dwell on the corner of a roof than with a woman of quarrels and a house of companionship. 10 The spirit of the wicked one craves evil; his neighbor is not shown favor in his eyes. 11 When fining a mocker a naive one becomes wise, and when instructing a wise one he acquires knowledge. 12 A righteous one considers the house of the wicked one; overturning wicked ones to calamity. 13 One who shuts his ears from the outcry of a lowly one, he also will cry out but will not be answered. 14 A gift in secrecy subdues nose, and a bribe in the bosom, strong heat. 15 Doing justice {is} a joy for the righteous one, but a terror to those who do iniquity. 16 A man wandering from the way of insight will rest in the assembly of the spirits of the dead. 17 A man of poverty {is} one who loves joy; one who loves wine and oil will not become rich. 18 A wicked one {is} a ransom for the righteous, and one who acts treacherously instead of upright ones. 19 Better to dwell in a land of wilderness than {with} a wife of quarrels and vexation. 20 Desirable treasure and oil {are} in the abode of a wise one, but a foolish man swallows it up. 21 One who pursues righteousness and covenant faithfulness will find life, righteousness, and honor. 22 A wise one ascends a city of mighty ones and he brings down the strength of its confidence. 23 One who keeps his mouth and his tongue {is} one who keeps his life from distress. 24 An insolent, proud one, mocker {is} his name, acting in the overflow of insolence. 25 The desire of the lazy one causes him to die, for his hands refuse to work. 26 All the day he desires desire for himself, but a righteous one gives and does not withhold. 27 The sacrifice of the wicked ones {is} an abomination; how much more when he brings it with a scheme. 28 A witness of falsehoods will perish, but the man who listens will speak to perpetuity. 29 A man of wickedness makes firm with his face, but an upright one, he discerns his ways. [1] 30 There is no wisdom and there is no understanding and there is no counsel in opposition to Yahweh. 31 A horse is prepared for the day of battle, but the salvation belongs to Yahweh. 21:29 [1] he discerns his ways or perhaps he establishes his ways (Hebrew Ketiv). Chapter 22 1 A name {is} to be chosen more than much riches; favor {is} better than silver and than gold. 2 A rich one and one who is poor meet together; Yahweh {is} the maker of all of them. 3 A prudent one sees evil and hides himself, but naive ones pass on and they are fined. 4 The reward of humility, the fear of Yahweh, {is} riches and honor and life. 5 Thorns, snares {are} in the way of the perverse one; one who guards his life will stay far from them. 6 Train up the boy in accordance with the mouth of his way; even when he is old, he will not turn aside from it. 7 A rich one rules over those who are poor, and one who borrows {is} a slave to a man who lends. 8 One who sows injustice will reap trouble, and the rod of his fury will come to an end. 9 The good of eye, he will be blessed, for he gives from his bread to the lowly. 10 Drive out a mocker and strife will go out, and judgment and dishonor will cease. 11 One who loves a pure heart, his lips {are} gracious, the king {is} his friend. 12 The eyes of Yahweh guard knowledge, and he overturns the words of one who is treacherous. 13 A lazy one says, “A lion {is} outside! I will be killed in the midst of the plazas!” 14 The mouth of a strange woman {is} a deep pit; one who is cursed of Yahweh will fall there. 15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a boy; the rod of discipline will cause it to be far from him. 16 One who oppresses a lowly one to increase for himself, one who gives to a rich one, will surely be to poverty. 17 Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise ones, and set your heart to my knowledge. 18 For {it will be} pleasant if you keep them in your belly, they are ready together on your lips. 19 Your trust {is} to be in Yahweh; I have caused you to know today, even you. 20 Have I not written for you thirty things with counsels and knowledge, 21 to cause you to know the truth of the words of trustworthiness, to return trustworthy words to one who sent you? 22 Do not rob a lowly one because he {is} lowly, and do not crush an afflicted one at the gate. 23 For Yahweh will plead their dispute, and he will rob those who rob them of life. 24 Do not befriend a man of nose, and do not go {with} a man of heat, 25 lest you learn his paths and you take a trap for your life. 26 Do not be among those who clap a palm, among those who pledge for loans. 27 If there is nothing for you to pay, why should he take away your bed from under you? 28 Do not remove the ancient boundary that your fathers made. 29 See a skilled man in his work; he will station himself before the face of kings; he will not station himself before the face of low ones. Chapter 23 1 When you sit to eat {with} a ruler, consider carefully what {is} before your face, 2 and put a knife at your throat if you {are} an owner of an appetite. 3 Do not desire his delicious morsels; for it {is} bread of falsehoods. 4 Do not toil to gain riches; cease from your understanding. 5 Will you cause your eyes to fly upon it, but it is not? For it will surely make wings for itself like an eagle; it will fly into the heavens. 6 Do not eat the bread of one evil of eye, and do not desire his delicious morsels. 7 For like one who calculates in his spirit, so he {is}. “Eat and drink!” he will say to you, but his heart {is} not with you. 8 You will vomit up your morsel you ate, and you will ruin your delightful words. 9 Do not speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the insight of your words. 10 Do not move an ancient boundary, and do not enter into the fields of orphans, 11 for one who redeems them {is} strong; he will plead their dispute against you. 12 Bring your heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge. 13 Do not withhold discipline from a boy; if you strike him with the rod, he will not die. 14 You shall strike him with the rod and you will rescue his life from Sheol. 15 My son, if your heart {is} wise, my heart, even myself, will be glad, 16 and my kidneys will exult, when your lips speak upright things. 17 Do not let your heart envy sinners, but rather the fear of Yahweh all the day. 18 Surely there is an end and your hope will not be cut off. 19 Listen, you my son, and be wise, and lead your heart in the way. 20 Do not be among those who drink much wine, among those who squander meat for themselves. 21 For one who drinks much and one who squanders will become poor, and slumber will clothe with rags. 22 Listen to your father, this {one} begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old. 23 Buy truth and do not sell, wisdom and instruction and understanding. 24 The father of a righteous one will rejoice greatly, and one who begets a wise one, he will be glad in him. 25 May your father and your mother be glad, and may she who bore you rejoice. 26 My son, give your heart to me, and may your eyes watch my ways. 27 For a prostitute {is} a deep pit, and a foreign woman {is} a narrow well. 28 Also, she lies in ambush like a robber, and she increases those who act treacherously among man. 29 For whom {is} woe? For whom {is} sorrow? For whom {are} quarrels? For whom {is} a lament? For whom {is} wounds without reason? For whom {is} dullness of eyes? 30 For those who linger over wine, for those coming to search out mixed wine. 31 Do not look at wine when it turns red, when its eye gives in the bag, it goes down with evenness. 32 Its end bites like a snake, and it stings like a viper. 33 Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart will speak perverse things. 34 And you will be like one who lies down in the heart of the sea and like one who lies down at the head of a mast. 35 “They hit me. I was not hurt. They beat me. I did not know. When I awake, I will do again, I will seek it again.” Chapter 24 1 Do not envy men of evil, and do not desire to be with them. 2 For their heart murmurs violence, and their lips speak trouble. 3 A house is built by wisdom and by understanding it is established. 4 And by knowledge the rooms are filled, all precious and pleasant wealth. 5 A man of wisdom {is} with strength and a man of knowledge {is} one who strengthens power. 6 For with guidance you make war for yourself and salvation {is} with an abundance of counsel. 7 Wise things {are} too high for a fool; in the gate he will not open his mouth. 8 One who plans to do evil, they will call him a master of schemes. 9 A plan of foolishness {is} sin, and a mocker {is} an abomination of mankind. 10 {If} you make yourself slack in the day of distress, your strength {is} narrow. 11 Rescue those who are taken for death, but do not hold back those who are staggering to the slaughter. 12 If you say, “Behold, we did not know this.” The one who weighs hearts, does he not understand, and the one who guards your life, does he know? And he will return to a man according to his work. 13 My son, eat honey because {it is} good and the fresh honey {is} sweet on your palate. 14 So know wisdom for your self; if you find it, then there will be a future and your hope will not be cut off. 15 Do not lie in ambush like a wicked one for the abode of the righteous one; do not assault his resting-place. 16 For a righteous one falls seven times and rises up, but wicked ones stumble in calamity. 17 When your enemy falls, do not be glad, and when he stumbles do not let your heart rejoice, 18 lest Yahweh see, and {it is} evil in his eyes, and he turn back his nose from on him. 19 Do not cause yourself to be hot at evildoers; do not envy wicked ones. 20 For a future is not for an evil one, the lamp of the wicked ones will be extinguished. 21 My son, fear Yahweh and the king; do not associate with ones who change. 22 For suddenly their disaster will arise, and who {is} one who knows the destruction of the two of them? 23 These also {are} of the wise ones: Recognizing faces in judgment {is} not good. 24 One who says to the wicked one, “You {are} righteous,” peoples will curse him, nations will denounce him. 25 But for those who rebuke it will be delightful, and a blessing of goodness will come over them. 26 He kisses lips who returns honest words. 27 Prepare your work outside, and make it ready for yourself in the field; and after you will build your house. 28 Do not be a witness without cause against your neighbor. And would you deceive with your lips? 29 Do not say, “Just as it was done to me, so I will do to him; I will return to the man according to his deed.” 30 I passed over the field of a lazy man and over the vineyard of the man lacking of heart. 31 And behold, all of it went up with thorns, its face was covered with nettles, and the wall of his stones was broken down. 32 And I myself looked, I set my heart, I saw, I received instruction. 33 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of hands to lie down, 34 and your poverty will come walking around, and your needs like a man of shield. Chapter 25 1 These also {are} proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah the king of Judah copied. 2 {It is} the glory of God to hide a matter, but the glory of kings to search out a matter. 3 Heavens for height and earth for depth, and the heart of kings is not searchable. 4 Remove dross from silver and a vessel goes out for the one who refines. 5 Remove a wicked one before the face of the king, and his throne will be established by the righteous one. 6 Do not honor yourself before the face of the king, and do not stand in the place of the great ones. 7 For, better to say to you, “Come up here,” than to humiliate you before the face of a noble, whom your eyes have seen. 8 Do not go out hastily to dispute, or else what will you do in its end when your neighbor humiliates you? 9 Dispute your dispute {with} your neighbor and do not uncover another secret, 10 lest one who hears reproaches you, and your evil report not turn back. 11 Apples of gold in sculptures of silver {is} a word that is spoken in accordance with its circumstance. 12 A ring of gold and jewelry of fine gold {is} a wise rebuke on an ear that listens. 13 Like the coolness of snow on the day of harvest {is} a faithful messenger for those who sent him and he brings back the life of his masters. 14 Clouds and wind but without rain {is} the man who boasts of a gift of falsehood. 15 With length of nostrils a ruler is persuaded, and a soft tongue breaks bone. 16 If you find honey, eat {what is} sufficient for you, lest you become satiated with it and you vomit it up. 17 Make rare your foot from the house of your neighbor, lest he become satiated with you and hate you. 18 A hammer and a sword and a sharp arrow {is} a man who answers a testimony of falsehood against his neighbor. 19 A broken tooth and a shaky foot {is} confidence in one who acts treacherously in the day of distress. 20 One who removes a garment on a cold day, vinegar on natron, so {is} one who sings with songs over a heart of misery. 21 If one who hates you {is} hungry, cause him to eat bread, and if thirsty, cause him to drink water; 22 for you are heaping coals on his head, and Yahweh will reward you. 23 The wind of the north brings forth rain, and faces {that} are angry, a tongue of secrecy. 24 Better to dwell on the corner of a roof than {with} a wife of quarrels and a house of companionship. 25 Cool water over a weary spirit, so {is} good news from a distant land. 26 A spring {that is} muddied by trampling and a fountain {that is} spoiled {is} a righteous one who shakes before the face of a wicked one. 27 To eat much honey {is} not good, and the searching out of their honor upon honor. 28 A breached city without a wall {is} a man who has no restraint for his spirit. Chapter 26 1 Like the snow in the summer and like the rain in the harvest, so honor {is} not suitable for a fool. 2 As the bird with respect to fluttering, as the swallow with respect to flying, so an undeserved curse does not come. 3 A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the back of fools. 4 Do not answer a fool according to his foolishness, lest you become like him, also you. 5 Answer a fool according to his foolishness, lest he become wise in his eyes. 6 One who cuts off feet, one who drinks violence, {is} one who sends words by the hand of a fool. 7 Legs dangle from a lame man, so {is} a proverb in the mouth of fools. 8 Like tying a stone in a sling, so {is} one who gives honor to a fool. 9 A thorn goes up into the hand of a drunkard, so {is} a proverb in the mouth of fools. 10 An archer who pierces everyone, so {is} one who hires a fool and hires those passing by. 11 Like a dog returning over its vomit {is} a fool who repeats his foolishness. 12 See a man wise in his eyes, {there is} more hope for a fool than him. 13 A lazy one says, “A young lion {is} in the road, a lion {is} between the plazas!” 14 The door turns on its hinges, and a lazy one on his bed. 15 A lazy one hides his hand in the dish; he is weary to return it to his mouth. 16 A lazy one {is} wiser in his eyes than seven who return discretion. 17 One who grabs the ears of a dog passing by {is} one who infuriates himself over a dispute not for him. 18 Like a madman who shoots burning arrows and death, 19 so {is} the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “Was I not joking?” 20 At the lack of wood a fire goes out, and when there is no one who whispers a quarrel is silenced. 21 As charcoal {is} to burning coals and wood {is} to fire, so a man of quarrels {is} to kindling of a dispute. 22 The words of one who whispers {are} like delicious morsels, and they go down into the inner rooms of the belly. 23 Silver of dross covering over a clay pot {are} burning lips and a heart of evil. 24 One who hates disguises himself with his lips and he sets deceit in his inward part. 25 When he makes his voice gracious, do not trust in him, for seven abominations {are} in his heart. 26 Hatred is covered by deception; his evil will be uncovered in the assembly. 27 One who digs a pit will fall into it and one who rolls a stone, it will come back to him. 28 A tongue of falsehood hates its oppressed ones, and a smooth mouth makes ruin. Chapter 27 1 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day will bring forth. 2 Let a stranger praise you and not your mouth, a foreigner and not your lips. 3 The heaviness of a stone and the weight of sand, yet the vexation of a fool {is} heavier than the two of them. 4 Fierceness of heat and a flood of nose, but who will stand before the face of jealousy? 5 Better {is} open rebuke than hidden love. 6 Faithful {are} the wounds of one who loves, but abundant {are} the kisses of one who hates. 7 A satiated appetite tramples fresh honey, but for the appetite of a hungry one everything bitter {is} sweet. 8 Like a bird wandering from its nest, so a man who wanders from his place. 9 Oil and incense make the heart glad and the sweetness of his friend {is} from counsel of self. 10 Do not forsake your friend and the friend of your father, and do not enter the house of your brother on the day of your disaster. Better {is} a nearby inhabitant than a distant brother. 11 Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad and I shall return a word to one who taunts me. 12 A prudent one sees evil, he hides; naive ones pass on, they are fined. 13 Take his garment when he pledges for a stranger, and hold it in pledge on behalf of a foreign woman. 14 One who blesses his neighbor with a great voice in the rising morning, it will be considered a curse to him! 15 Dripping continuing on a day of steady rain and a woman of quarrels {are} the same; 16 restraining her {is} restraining the wind and oil meets his right hand. 17 Iron sharpens against iron, and a man sharpens the face of his neighbor. 18 One who watches a fig tree will eat its fruit and one who guards his master will be honored. 19 As the water {is} the face to the face, so {is} the heart of the man to the man. 20 Sheol and Abaddon are not satisfied, and the eyes of man are not satisfied. 21 A melting-pot {is} for silver and a furnace {is} for gold, so {is} a man for the mouth of one who praises him. 22 If you pound a fool in a mortar with a pestle, in the midst of grains, his foolishness will not turn aside from on him. 23 Know well the face of your flock, set your heart to the livestock. 24 For wealth {is} not to eternity, and a crown {is} not for generation and generation. 25 The grass is uncovered and fresh grass is seen, so the herbs of the mountains are gathered. 26 Like lambs {are} for your clothing, so male goats {are} the price of a field. 27 And {there will be} enough milk of female goats for your food, for the food of your house, and life for your female servants. Chapter 28 1 The wicked flee and there is not one who pursues, but the righteous ones are confident like a young lion. 2 By the transgression of a land many {are} its rulers, but with a man who is discerning, who is knowledgeable, so it will endure. 3 A man who is poor and who oppresses the lowly ones {is} a rain that washes away and there is no bread. 4 Those who forsake instruction praise a wicked one, but those who keep instruction strive against them. 5 Men of evil do not understand justice but those who seek Yahweh understand everything. 6 One who is poor who walks in his integrity {is} better than one perverse of ways and he {is} rich. 7 One who keeps instruction {is} a son who is discerning, but one who associates with those who squander shames his father. 8 One who makes his wealth abundant by interest and usury gathers it for one who shows favor to lowly ones. 9 One who turns his ear away from hearing instruction, even his prayer {is} an abomination. 10 One who leads upright ones astray in the way of evil he will fall into his pits but blameless ones will inherit good. 11 A rich man {is} wise in his eyes, but a lowly one who understands will search him out. 12 {There is} great splendor when righteous ones rejoice, but a man is searched for when wicked ones arise. 13 One who covers his transgressions will not prosper, but one who confesses and forsakes will be shown mercy. 14 Blessed {is} a man who trembles continually, but one who hardens his heart will fall into evil. 15 A lion growling and a bear charging {is} a wicked ruler over a lowly people. 16 A leader lacking understanding {is} with great oppressions; one who hates unjust gain will lengthen days. 17 A man who oppresses by the blood of life will flee as far as a pit; they will not support him. 18 One who walks blamelessly will be saved, but one who is crooked in ways will fall into one. 19 One who works his land will be satisfied {with} bread, but one who pursues empty things will be satisfied {with} poverty. 20 A man of faithfulness {has} an abundance of blessings, but one who hurries to become rich will not be free of guilt. 21 Recognizing faces {is} not good, but on account of a bit of bread a man will rebel. 22 A man of an evil eye {is} one who hurries to the wealth, but he does not know that poverty will come to him. 23 One who rebukes a man afterward will find favor more than one who makes the tongue smooth. 24 One who robs his father and his mother and says, “There is no transgression,” he {is} the companion of a man of destruction. 25 One wide of spirit stirs up strife, but one who trusts in Yahweh will be made fat. 26 One who trusts in his heart, he {is} a fool, but one who walks in wisdom, he will slip away. 27 One who gives to the one who is poor has no need, but one who hides his eyes has an abundance of curses. 28 When wicked ones arise a man will hide himself, but when they perish righteous ones will increase. Chapter 29 1 A man of rebukes who stiffens the neck will suddenly be broken and there will be no healing. 2 When the righteous ones increase, the people rejoice, but when a wicked man rules, the people groan. 3 A man who loves wisdom makes his father rejoice, but one who associates with prostitutes destroys wealth. 4 The king by justice causes the land to stand, but a man of contributions tears it down. 5 A man who makes smooth for his neighbor {is} one who spreads a net for his feet. 6 A snare {is} in the transgression of an evil man, but the righteous one sings and rejoices. 7 A righteous one {is} one who knows the cause of lowly ones; a wicked one does not understand knowledge. 8 Men of mockery inflame a city, but wise ones turn away nose. 9 A wise man judges a foolish man, but he trembles and laughs and there is no rest. 10 Men of bloodshed hate a blameless one, but upright ones seek his life. 11 A fool brings forth all his spirit, but a wise one soothes it backwards. 12 One who rules who listens attentively to a word of falsehood, all his servants {are} wicked. 13 One who is poor and the man of oppression meet together; he who enlightens the eyes of them both {is} Yahweh. 14 A king who judges lowly ones by truth, his throne will be established to perpetuity. 15 A rod and rebukes give wisdom but a boy who is sent away {is} one who causes his mother shame. 16 When wicked ones increase, transgression increases, but righteous ones will look at their overthrow. 17 Discipline your son and he will cause you to rest and he will give delights to your spirit. 18 When there is no prophetic vision, the people are let loose, but one who keeps instruction, blessed is he. 19 A servant will not be corrected with words, for he understands but there is no answer. 20 Do you see a man who hastens his words; {there is} more hope for a fool than him. 21 {If} one pampers his servant from youth, then his end will be insolence. 22 A man of nose stirs up strife and an owner of heat, much transgression. 23 The pride of a man will make him low, but one lowly of spirit will grasp honor. 24 One who shares with a thief {is} one who hates his life; he will hear an oath but will not tell. 25 The anxiety of a man gives a snare, but the one who trusts in Yahweh will be set on high. 26 Many {are} those who seek the face of a ruler, but justice of a man {is} from Yahweh. 27 A man of injustice {is} an abomination of righteous ones, but the upright of way {is} an abomination of a wicked one. Chapter 30 1 The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the burden: The declaration of the man to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal: 2 Surely, I {am} more stupid than a man, and the understanding of mankind {is} not mine. 3 And I have not learned wisdom, nor do I know the knowledge of the holy one. 4 Who has ascended {to} heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in the hollow of his hands? Who has bound up waters in a cloak? Who has raised up all the ends of the earth? What {is} his name and what {is} the name of his son? Surely you know! 5 Every word of God is tested; he {is} a shield for those who take refuge in him. 6 Do not add upon his words, lest he rebuke you and you be shown a liar. 7 Two things I ask from with you, do not withhold from me before I die: 8 Put emptiness and the word of a lie far away from me. Do not give to me poverty or riches, cause me to tear the bread of my portion. 9 Lest I be satiated and I deny and say, “Who {is} Yahweh?” And lest I become dispossessed and I steal and I seize the name of my God. 10 Do not slander a slave to his master, lest he curse you and you be guilty. 11 {There is} a generation, it curses its father and does not bless its mother. 12 {There is} a generation pure in its eyes, but it is not washed from its filth. 13 {There is} a generation, how its eyes are raised up, and its eyelids are lifted up! 14 {There is} a generation, its teeth {are} swords and its jaws {are} knives for devouring afflicted ones from the earth and poor ones from mankind. 15 Two daughters {are} for the leech, “Give! Give!” There are three, they are not satisfied; four, they do not say, “Enough”: 16 Sheol, and the barrenness of the womb, a land not satisfied with water, and a fire does not say, “Enough!” 17 An eye mocks a father and despises the obedience of a mother, the ravens of the valley will peck it out and the sons of the vulture will eat it. 18 Three things, they {are} too marvelous for me, and four, I do not understand them: 19 the way of the eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship in the heart of the sea; and the way of a man with a young woman. 20 Thus {is} the way of a woman who commits adultery: she devours and wipes her mouth and says, “I have not done iniquity.” 21 Under three things the earth trembles, and under four it is not able to bear: 22 under a slave when he becomes king, and a fool when he is satisfied with bread, 23 under a hated woman when she is married, and a female servant when she disposseses her mistress. 24 Four things, they {are} small things of the earth but they {are} wise things being made wise: 25 The ants {are} not a strong nation, but they prepare their food in the summer. 26 Rock badgers {are} not a mighty nation, but they set their house in the rock. 27 There is no king for the locust, but all of them go out divided {into groups}. 28 You can catch a lizard with hands, yet it {is} in the palaces of the king. 29 Three things, they are doing well of step, and four are doing well of walking: 30 a lion {is} mighty among the animals and it will not turn away from the face of anything, 31 one girded of loins, or a male goat, and a king against whom one does not rise up. 32 If you have been foolish by lifting up yourself, or if you have devised evil, a hand be to mouth! 33 For the squeezing of milk brings forth butter and the squeezing of the nose brings forth blood, and the squeezing of nostrils brings forth strife. Chapter 31 1 The words of Lemuel the king, a burden that his mother had instructed him: 2 Why, my son? And why, son of my womb? And why, son of my vows? 3 Do not give your strength to women or your ways to wipe out kings. 4 {It is} not for kings, Lemuel, {it is} not for kings to drink wine or for rulers, or intoxicating drink. 5 Lest, he drink and forget {what} has been decreed and pervert the cause of all the sons of the afflicted one. 6 Give intoxicating drink to one who is perishing and wine to those bitter of spirit. 7 He will drink and will forget his poverty and he will not remember his trouble again. 8 Open your mouth for the mute, for the cause of all the sons of the passing away one. 9 Open your mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the afflicted one and poor one. 10 A woman of strength, who can find? And her worth {is} far more than corals. 11 The heart of her husband trusts in her and he will not lack spoil. 12 She does him good and not evil all the days of her life. 13 She selects wool and linens and works with the delight of her palms. 14 She is like the ships of one who travels about; she brings her food from far away. 15 And she rises while still night and gives food to her house and a portion to her female servants. 16 She considers a field and gets it; from the fruit of her palms she plants a vineyard. 17 She girds her loins with strength and she makes her arms firm. 18 She perceives that her gain {is} good; her lamp does not go out in the night. 19 She stretches out her hands at the distaff and her palms grasp the spindle. 20 She spreads out her palms to the afflicted one, and she stretches out her hands to the poor one. 21 She does not fear for her house because of the snow, for all her house is clothed {with} scarlet. 22 She makes for herself coverings, fine linen and purple for her garment. 23 Her husband {is} one who is known at the gates, when he sits with the elders of the land. 24 She makes a linen garment and sells, and she gives a sash to the Canaanite. 25 Strength and splendor {are} her clothing, and she laughs at a day to come. 26 Her mouth opens with wisdom, and the instruction of covenant faithfulness {is} on her tongue. 27 Watching closely the goings on of her house, and she does not eat the bread of idleness. 28 Her sons rise up and call her blessed; her husband also praises her. 29 “Many daughters have done valiantly, but you have ascended over all of them.” 30 Charm {is} falsehood and beauty {is} vain; a woman fearful of Yahweh, she will be praised. 31 Give to her from the fruit of her hands and let her works praise her in the gates. Ecclesiastes Chapter 1 1 The words of Qoheleth, the son of David, king in Jerusalem: 2 “Vapor of vapors!” says Qoheleth. “Vapor of vapors! Everything {is} vapor!” 3 What profit {belongs} to humanity in exchange for all his toil that he will toil under the sun? 4 A generation is going and a generation is coming, but the earth is standing in perpetuity. 5 And the sun rises and the sun comes and, panting to its place, it is rising there. 6 Going southward and turning northward, turning, turning, the wind is going and on its circuits the wind is returning. 7 All the rivers are going to the sea, but the sea—it is not full. To a place that the rivers are going, there they are going again. 8 All things {are} wearisome; a person is not able to speak. An eye is not satisfied of seeing, and an ear is not filled from hearing. 9 Whatever that was, it will be, and whatever that has been done, it will be done. And there is not anything new under the sun. 10 {Is} there a thing about which one says, “See this—it {is} new?” It already existed in ages that were from before our faces. 11 There is not a remembrance of the former things, and even of the latter things which will be, there will not be remembrance of them with those who will be afterwards. 12 I, Qoheleth, I was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I gave my heart to seek out and to explore with wisdom concerning everything that is done under the sun. It {is} an unpleasant business God has given to the sons of humanity to be busy with it. 14 I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun and—look—everything {is} vapor and striving {after} wind. 15 What is bent is not able to be straightened, and what is missing is not able to be counted. 16 I spoke, I with my heart, saying, “Look at me—I have become great, and I have added wisdom over all who were to my face over Jerusalem. And my heart saw much wisdom and knowledge.” 17 And I gave my heart to know wisdom and knowledge, madness and folly. I knew that this also, it {is} striving {after} wind. 18 For with an abundance of wisdom {is} much vexation and one who is adding knowledge is adding pain. Chapter 2 1 I said, I in my heart, “Come, let me test you in joy and examine good.” But look, it also {was} vapor. 2 To laughter, I said, “{It is} madness,” and to joy, “What is this doing?” 3 I explored in my heart {how} to drag my flesh with wine—but my heart was guiding {me} in wisdom—and {how} to grasp folly until I could see whether this {is} good for the sons of humanity that they might do under the heavens {during} the number of the days of their lives. 4 I enlarged my deeds. I built for myself houses. I planted for myself vineyards. 5 I made for myself gardens and royal parks and I planted in them a tree of each fruit. 6 I made for myself pools of waters to cause to drink from them a forest of growing trees. 7 I acquired {male} servants and female servants and sons of the house belonged to me. Also much property of cattle and sheep belonged to me, more than all who were to my face in Jerusalem. 8 I also amassed for myself silver and gold and treasure of kings and the provinces. I appointed for myself {male} singers and female singers and the pleasures of the sons of humanity: breast and breasts. 9 And I was great, and I added more than all who were to my face in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom stood by me. 10 And all that my eyes asked, I did not refuse from them. I did not restrain my heart from any joy, because my heart {was} joyful from all my toil and this was my portion from all my toil. 11 And I turned, I, to all my works that my hands had done and to {the} toil that I toiled to do and look, everything {was} vapor and striving {after} wind, and there was no profit under the sun. 12 And I turned, I, to see wisdom and madness and folly, because what {is} the person {to do} who will come after the king? That which {is} already, they have done it. 13 And I saw, I, that there is a profit for wisdom more than folly, as {there is} a profit of the light over the darkness. 14 The wise, his eyes {are} in his head, but the fool in the darkness is walking, and I know, even I, that one happening will happen to both of them. 15 And I said, I in my heart, “As {the} happening of the fool, also {to} me, it will happen to me. And why was I myself wise back then, abundantly?” And I said in my heart that also this {is} vapor. 16 For there is no remembrance of the wise {person} with the fool in perpetuity, because already {in} the days {that} have come both {are} forgotten—and how will the wise die with the fool? 17 And I hated life because of {the} misfortune around me—the work that was done under the sun—because everything {was} vapor and striving {after} wind. 18 And I hated, I, all my toil that I had toiled under the sun that I will leave it to the person who will be after me. 19 And who knows: will he be wise or a fool? And he will have authority over all my toil that I have toiled and {for} which I have acted wisely under the sun. Also this {is} vapor. 20 And I turned, I, to cause my heart to despair concerning all the toil which I toiled under the sun. 21 For there is a person whose toil {is} in wisdom and in knowledge and in skill, but to a person who has not toiled in it, he will give it {as} his portion. This also {is} vapor and a great misfortune. 22 For what endures for the person in exchange for all his toil and in the striving of his heart {in} which he {is} a toiler under the sun? 23 Because all his days {are} pains, and anger {is} his business, even in the night, his heart does not rest. Also this—it {is} vapor. 24 There is no good for humanity {except} that he will eat and drink and cause his spirit to see good in his toil. Also this I saw, I, that it {is} from the hand of the God. 25 For who will eat and who will enjoy apart from him? 26 For to a person who is good to his face, he gives wisdom and knowledge and joy. But to the sinner he gives {the} business to gather and to collect to give to {the} one who is good to the face of God. This also {is} vapor and striving {after} wind. Chapter 3 1 For everything {there is} a season and a time for every matter under the heavens: 2 a time to give birth and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to tear out what was planted, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to throw stones and a time to gather stones, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 6 a time to seek and a time to lose, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time of war and a time of peace. 9 What {is the} profit of the one who does in exchange for that which he toils? 10 I saw the business that God gives to the sons of humanity to be busied with it. 11 He makes everything fitting in his time. Also, he gives the sense of duration in their heart, yet humanity cannot find the work that God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is no good for them except to rejoice and to do good during his life 13 and every person who will eat and drink and see good in all of his toil—it {is} a gift of God. 14 I know that everything that God does, it will be enduring. To it there is nothing to add, and from it there is nothing to take, and God has acted so that they might fear from before his face. 15 Whatever that is, already it {was} and that which is to be, already it is. And God will seek what is pursued. 16 And again I saw under the sun {at} the place of judgment, there {was} wickedness, and {at} the place of righteousness, there {was} wickedness. 17 I said, I in my heart, “The righteous and the wicked God will judge, because a time {exists} for every matter and on account of every deed there.” 18 I said, I in my heart, “Concerning the sons of humanity, God {is} to test them that {they} might see that {they are} animal{s}, they themselves.” 19 Because the happening of the sons of humanity and the happening of the animal—{there is} one happening for them. As the death of this one, so the death of this one. And {there is} one spirit for them both, but an advantage of humanity over the animal, there is none, for everything {is} vapor. 20 Both are going to one place. Both are from the dust, and both return to the dust. 21 Who knows {that} the spirit of the sons of humanity, it {is} the one going up, upwards, and the spirit of the animal, it {is} the one going down, downwards to the earth? 22 And I saw that there is nothing better than that humanity will rejoice in his works, for it {is} his portion. For who will bring him to look at what that will be after him? Chapter 4 1 And I turned, I, and I saw all the oppressions that were being done under the sun. And, look, the tears of the oppressed and there was no comforter for them. And from the hand of the ones oppressing them {was} strength and there was no comforter for them. 2 So I praised, I, those who were dead, who have already died, more than the living, who they are still alive. 3 But better than {the} two of them {is} the one who has not yet lived, who has not seen the evil-doing that is being done under the sun. 4 And I saw, I, every toil and every success of the deed, that it {was} the envy of a person from his friend. This also {is} vapor and striving {after} wind. 5 The fool is folding his hands and is eating his flesh. 6 Better {is} a full palm of quiet than the full hollow of both hands with toil and striving {after} wind. 7 And I turned, I, and I saw a vaporous thing under the sun: 8 There is one {person} and there is not a second {person}—even a son or brother, there is not for him—and there is no end to all his toil. Also his eye is not satisfied {with} wealth. And why {am} I toiling and causing my soul to lack from good things? Also this {is} vapor and it {is} an unpleasant business. 9 Better are the two {people} than the one {person}, that there is for them a good wage in exchange for their toil. 10 For if they fall, the one {person} will lift up his companion, but woe to him, the one {person} that will fall, but there is no second {person} to lift him up. 11 Also, if two {people} lie down, then there is warmth for them, but for {the} one {person}—how will there be warmth? 12 And if he will overpower him, the one {person}, the two {people} will stand against him, and the three-fold rope will not be torn in two quickly. 13 Better is a poor but wise child than an old but foolish king who does not yet know {how} to be warned. 14 For from the house of those who are imprisoned he came forth to become king, yet even in his kingdom he was born poor. 15 I saw all the living, those walking around under the sun, with {that} second child who will stand under him. 16 There {was} no end to all the people, to all who were to their faces. Even the ones {who will be} afterward will not rejoice in him, because even this {is} vapor and striving {after} wind. Chapter 5 1 Keep your feet when you go to the house of God. And to draw near to listen {is better} than fools giving a sacrifice, for they are not knowing {that they} do evil. 2 Do not be in haste concerning your mouth, and do not let your heart hurry to bring forth a word to the face of God. For God {is} in heaven, but you {are} on the earth; therefore, let your words be few. 3 For the dream comes with much business and the voice of a fool {comes} with many words. 4 When you vow a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it, for there is no delight in the fools. What you vow, fulfill. 5 {It is} better that you not vow than that you vow but do not fulfill. 6 Do not give your mouth to cause your flesh to sin, and do not say to the face of the messenger that it {was} an unintentional sin. Why should God be angry concerning your voice and destroy the deed of your hands? 7 For in many dreams and vaporous things and many words—just fear God. 8 If {the} extortion of {the} poor and {the} robbery of justice and righteousness you see in the province, do not be amazed concerning the matter, for a high one over a high one is watching, and high ones {are watching} over them. 9 And a profit of a land in everything, it {is} a king for a worked field. 10 A person who loves silver will not be satisfied {with} silver and whoever loves increase {will} not {be satisfied with} income. Also this {is} vapor. 11 When the good {thing} increases, the people eating it increase. And what advantage {belongs} to its master except the sight of his eyes? 12 Sweet is the sleep of the worker, whether a little or whether much he will eat, but the satisfaction of a rich person—it is not permitting for him to sleep. 13 There is a sickening misfortune I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its master to his harm. 14 And that wealth perished in an unfortunate business, and he had fathered a son, but there was not anything in his hand. 15 As he went out from the womb of his mother, naked he will go again, as he came. And he will not take anything in exchange for his toil that he will bring in his hand. 16 And also this is a sickening misfortune: just as he came, thus he will go, and what profit {belongs} to him who will toil for the wind? 17 Also, all his days in darkness he will eat, and {in} great vexation and his sickness and anger. 18 Look, what I myself have seen {is} good: that {it is} fitting to eat and to drink and to see good in all his toil that he will toil under the sun {during} the number of the days of his life that God has given to him, for it {is} his portion. 19 Also, each person who God has given to him wealth and possessions and has empowered him to eat from it and to accept his portion and to rejoice in his toiling—this, it {is} a gift of God. 20 For not much does he remember the days of his life, because God occupies {him} with the joys of his heart. Chapter 6 1 There is a misfortune that I have seen under the sun and it {is} great on humanity: 2 a person who God gives to him wealth and possessions and honor, and he has no lack for his soul from all that he desires, but God does not enable him to eat from it; instead, a foreign person will eat it—this {is} vapor and it {is} a sickening misfortune. 3 If a person should father a hundred {children} and he should live many years and {however} many that the days of his years may be, but his soul is not satisfied from the good {thing} (and also a burial place is not for him), I said, “Better than him {is} the stillborn child.” 4 For in vapor it came and in the darkness it will go and in the darkness its name will be covered. 5 Even {the} sun it did not see, nor did it know. {More} rest {belongs} to this one than this one. 6 And if he lived a thousand years twice over, but a good {thing} he did not see—are not both going to one place? 7 All the toil of humanity {is} for his mouth, and yet the soul is not filled. 8 For what advantage {exists} for the wise over the fool? What {advantage} {exists} for the poor person that knows {how} to walk before the living? 9 Better {is} a sight of {the} eyes than the walking of {the} soul. Also this {is} vapor and striving {after} wind. 10 Whoever that was, already his name has been called, and it is known that he {is} a human being. But he is not able to strive with who is more powerful than he. 11 For there are many words {that} are increasingly vaporous—what {is the} advantage for humanity? 12 For who is knowing what {is} good for humanity in life {during} the number of the days of his vaporous life? And he makes them like the shadow. For who will declare to humanity what will be after him under the sun? Chapter 7 1 Better is a {good} name than fine oil and the day of death {is better} than the day of his birth. 2 Better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of a banquet, because it {is} the end of all humanity and the living will give {it} to his heart. 3 Better grief than laughter, for with a bad face a heart is made good. 4 {The} heart of wise people {is} in a house of mourning, but {the} heart of fools {is} in house of joy. 5 Better to listen to a rebuke of a wise person than {to be} a person listening to a song of fools, 6 for like the sound of the thorns under the cooking-pot, so {is} the laughter of the fool. And this also {is} vapor. 7 For oppression drives a wise person insane, and a bribe destroys a heart. 8 Better is an end of a thing than its beginning. Better is a long spirit than a high spirit. 9 Do not hasten in your spirit to become angry, for anger rests in {the} lap of fools. 10 Do not say, “What was {it} that the former days were better than these?” For you do not ask about this out of wisdom. 11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance and an advantage to those who see the sun. 12 For {as} in the shadow of wisdom, {so} in the shadow of silver. And {this is} an advantage of knowledge: wisdom preserves her owners. 13 See the work of God, for who is able to straighten that which he has made it crooked? 14 In the good day, be in good, but in a day of misfortune, see— indeed, God has done this as well as this, so that humanity cannot find anything after him. 15 I have seen everything in the days of my vapor: There is a righteous person perishing in his righteousness, and there is a wicked person lengthening {his days} in his evil. 16 Do not be very righteous and do not be exceedingly wise—why should you be shocked? 17 Do not be very wicked and do not be a fool—why should you die when {it is} not your time? 18 {It is} good that you should take hold of this and also from this do not let your hand rest, for the one who fears God will go forth with both of them. 19 Wisdom is strong for the wise, more than ten rulers who are in the city. 20 For a person—there is not a righteous {person} on the earth who does good and does not sin. 21 Also, to all of the words that they say, do not give your heart, so that you will not hear your servant belittling you. 22 For also many times your heart knows that even you have belittled others. 23 All of this I tested with wisdom. I said, “Let me be wise,” but it {was} far from me. 24 Far away is that which was, and deep, deep. Who will find it? 25 I turned, I and my heart, to know and to explore, {to} seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know {the} wickedness {that is} folly and the foolishness {that is} madness. 26 And I found more bitter than death {is} the woman who, snares she {is}, and her heart, nets; her hands, chains. The one who is good to the face of God will flee from her, but a sinner will be captured by her. 27 “See, this I have found,” says Qoheleth, “one to one to find the scheme of things. 28 That which continually my soul sought, but I have not found: one man from a thousand {men} I found. But a woman from all of these {people}, I did not find. 29 Only see—this I have found: that God made humanity upright, but they, they have sought out many schemes.” Chapter 8 1 Who {is} like the wise person and who knows {the} interpretation of a matter? {The} wisdom of a person gives light {to} his face and the strength of his face is changed. 2 {As for} me—listen {to} the mouth of a king, that is, on account of the oath of God. 3 Do not be horrified from his face—go! Do not stand in an evil matter, for everything that he pleases, he will do, 4 because {the} word of a king {is} authoritative, and who will say to him, “What are you doing?” 5 One who listens to a command will not know an evil matter, and a wise heart will know a time and judgment, 6 because for every matter, there is a time and judgment, because the misfortune of humanity is severe upon him, 7 because he is not knowing whatever that will be, for when it will be, who will declare {it} to him? 8 No person {is} a ruler over the spirit to restrain the spirit, nor is there authority over the day of death, nor is there discharge in war, nor will wickedness deliver its masters. 9 All this I saw, giving my heart to every deed that was done under the sun: a time that the person has dominion over {another} person to his harm. 10 And then, I saw wicked people buried, and they went out, and from a holy place they walked. And they will be forgotten in the city where thus they had done. This also {is} vapor: 11 that a decree concerning the evil deed is not made quickly, therefore, the heart of the sons of humanity is full in them to do evil; 12 that a sinner is doing evil a hundred times and lengthening {days} for himself—yet also I know that it will be good for those who fear God, who fear from before his face. 13 But it will not be good for the wicked, nor will he lengthen {his} days like the shadow, because he is not fearing before the face of God. 14 There is vapor that is done on the earth: that there are righteous people who {it} befalls to them like the deeds of the wicked people, and there are wicked people who {it} befalls to them like the deeds of the righteous people. I say that also this {is} vapor. 15 And I praised, I, joy, that there is nothing good for humanity under the sun except to eat and to drink and to rejoice, and it will accompany him in his toil {during} the days of his life that God has given to him under the sun. 16 When I gave my heart to know wisdom and to see the business that is done on the earth—for even in the day and in the night sleep in his eyes he is not seeing— 17 and I saw every deed of God, that humanity is not able to find the deed that is done under the sun, in that to which humanity will toil to seek, yet he will not find {it}. Also, even if the wise person says to know, he is not able to find {it}. Chapter 9 1 Indeed, all of this I gave to my heart {in order} to examine all of this: that the righteous and the wise and their work {are} in the hand of God. Either love or hate, humanity is not knowing; both {are} to their faces. 2 Everything {is} as for all: one happening for the righteous person and for the wicked person, for the good person, and for the pure person and for the unclean person, and for the person who sacrifices and for the person who does not sacrifice. As the good person, so the sinner; the person who swears {an oath is} just as the person who fears an oath. 3 This {is} a misfortune in everything that is done under the sun: that one happening {is} for everyone. And also, the heart of the sons of humanity {is} full of evil and madness {is} in their heart during their lives and after him {they go} to the dead. 4 For whoever that is joined to all the living, there is confidence {for him}—because for a living dog, it {is} better than the dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead, they are not knowing anything, and there is no longer for them a reward, because their memory is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their jealousy have already perished.And there is not for them a portion any longer in perpetuity in all that is done under the sun. 7 Go—eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a good heart, because God has already accepted your deeds. 8 At every time, let your clothes be white and do not let oil be lacking on your head. 9 See life with a wife whom you love all the days of your vaporous life, which he has given to you under the sun, {that is} all the days of your vapor, for it {is} your portion in life and in your toil that you {are} toiling under the sun. 10 Everything that your hand finds to do, do {it} with your strength, because there is no deed or scheme of things or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, where you are going to there. 11 I again saw under the sun that not to the swift {is} the race and not to the mighty {is} the war and even not to the wise {is} bread and even not to discerning people {is} wealth and even not to understanding people {is} favor, for time and occurrence will happen to all of them. 12 For even humanity does not know his time. Like the fish that are caught in a troublesome net and like the birds that are caught in the snare— like them, the sons of humanity are snared at a time of misfortune when it falls upon them suddenly. 13 Also, this I saw: wisdom under the sun, and great it {was} to me. 14 {There was} a small city and a few men in it, and a great king came against it, and he besieged it, and he built great siegeworks against it. 15 And he found in it a poor, wise man, and he delivered the city with his wisdom. And a person did not remember that poor man. 16 And I said, I, “Better {is} wisdom than might, but the wisdom of the poor person {is} despised, and his words—they are not heard.” 17 {The} words of wise people in quietness are heeded more than the cry of a ruler among the fools. 18 Better {is} wisdom than weapons of battle, but one sinner will destroy much good. Chapter 10 1 Dead flies make a perfumer's oil stink; heavier than wisdom or honor {is} a little foolishness. 2 {The} heart of a wise person {is} to his right and a heart of a fool {is} to his left. 3 And even when the fool is going on the road, his heart {is} lacking, and he says to everyone {that} he {is} a fool. 4 If the spirit of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place, for calmness will lay great sins to rest. 5 There is a misfortune I saw under the sun, like an unintentional sin that goes out from before the face of the authority. 6 Folly is given into many high places and rich people sit in the lowly place. 7 I saw slaves on horses and princes walking like slaves on the ground. 8 A person who digs a pit will fall into it, and a person who breaks through a wall, a snake will bite him. 9 A person who pulls up stones will be hurt by them; a person who splits wood will be endangered by them. 10 If {a person} has blunted the iron and he does not make the faces light, he must exert strength, but a profit to being successful {is} wisdom. 11 If the snake bites without a charm, there is no profit for the master of the tongue. 12 {The} words of {the} mouth of a wise person {are} favor, but {the} lips of a fool will swallow him. 13 The beginning of the words of his mouth {is} foolishness and {the} end of his mouth {is} evil insanity. 14 But the fool will multiply words. Humanity does not know what will happen or what will be after him— who will declare {it} to him? 15 The toil of foolish people will weary him so that he does not know {how} to go to a city. 16 Woe to you, land, that your king {is} a youth and your princes will eat in the morning. 17 Blessed are you, land, that your king {is} a son of nobles and {that} your princes will eat at the time with might and not with drunkenness. 18 With laziness, the beams of the roof sink and in idleness of hands, the house will leak. 19 {They} are making bread for laughter and wine gladdens life, but silver will answer everything. 20 Even in your thought, do not belittle a king, and in the room of your bed, do not belittle a rich person, for a bird of the heavens will carry the voice, and a master of wings will declare {the} word. Chapter 11 1 Send out your bread on the face of the waters, for in many days you will find it. 2 Give a portion to seven and even to eight, for you do not know what will be a misfortune on the earth. 3 If the clouds are filled with rain, they will pour out on the earth. And whether a tree will fall in the south or in the north, {the} place where the tree will fall, there it will be. 4 A person who listens to {the} wind will not sow and a person who sees {the} clouds will not harvest. 5 Just as you are not knowing what {is} the way of the wind, as the bones {come} into the womb of the full woman, so thus you do not know the work of God who works everything. 6 In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening, do not let your hand rest, for you are not knowing whether this one will prosper—this one or this one?—or whether the two of them as one {will be} good. 7 And light {is} sweet, and {it is} good for the eyes to see the sun. 8 For if humanity will live many years, in all of them let him rejoice. But let him remember the days of darkness, that they will be many. Everything that is coming {is} vapor. 9 Rejoice, young man, in your early manhood and let your heart make you glad in the days of your youth. And walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes, but know that on account of all these things, God will bring you into judgment. 10 And remove anger from your heart and take misfortune away from your flesh, for youth and dark hair {are} vapor. Chapter 12 1 And remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of misfortune have come and the years arrive of which you will say, “There is not for me pleasure in them;” 2 before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are dark and the clouds return after the rain, 3 on the day when the guards of the house will tremble, and the men of valor will be bent over, and the women grinders cease because they are few, and those who look at the window will grow dark, 4 and {the} doors will be shut in the street; when the sound of the grinding {is} low, and when a person rises at the sound of the bird, and all the daughters of the song are humbled; 5 (also they are afraid of the high place, and terrors {are} in the way, and the almond tree blossoms, and the locusts moves along, and the caper-fruit fails, for humanity is going to his eternal home, and the mourners surround the street) 6 before the cord of silver is removed, and the bowl of gold is broken, and the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, and the wheel is crushed at the cistern, 7 and the dust returns to the earth as that it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. 8 “Vapor of vapors!” says the Qoheleth. “Everything {is} vapor!” 9 Besides {the fact} that Qoheleth was wise, he still taught the people knowledge, and he weighed, and he searched. He ordered many proverbs. 10 Qoheleth sought to discover words of pleasure, and words of truth were written rightly. 11 {The} words of wise people are like goads, and like nails implanted are masters of collections. They are given by one Shepherd. 12 Beyond them, my son, be warned: to the making of many scrolls, there is no end and much study {is} weariness {to the} flesh. 13 The end of the matter; everything has been heard: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole of humanity. 14 For every deed God will bring into judgment, concerning everything hidden, whether good or whether evil. Song of Songs Chapter 1 1 The song of songs which {is} of Solomon. 2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for better {is} your love than wine. 3 As for the smell of your oils—{they are} good; oil poured out {is} your name. Therefore, marriageable women love you. 4 Draw me after you; let us run. The king has brought me {to} his bedroom. Let us be glad and rejoice in you. Let us profess your love more than wine; rightly do they love you. 5 I {am} black and lovely, daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon. 6 Do not look at me, that I {am} black, that the sun burned me. The sons of my mother were angry with me; they appointed me {as} guard of the vineyards— my vineyard that {is} mine, I have not kept. 7 Declare to me, {you} whom my soul loves: where do you graze? Where do you make {your flocks} lie down at noontime? For why should I be like a woman who covers herself beside the flocks of your companions? 8 If you do not know, most beautiful among women, go out in the footprints of the flock, and pasture your young goats beside the tents of the shepherds. 9 To a mare among the chariots of Pharaoh I liken you, my darling. 10 Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings; your neck {is beautiful} with necklaces. 11 Earrings of gold we will make for you, with beads of silver. 12 While the king {was} in his enclosure, my nard gave off its smell. 13 A bundle of myrrh {is} my beloved to me; between my breasts it stays. 14 A cluster of henna blossoms {is} my beloved to me, in the vineyards of Engedi. 15 Look at you—{you are} beautiful, my darling. Look at you—{you are} beautiful; your eyes {are} doves. 16 Look at you—{you are} handsome, my beloved, truly pleasant. Indeed, our couch is leafy. 17 The beams of our house {are} cedars; our rafters {are} pine. Chapter 2 1 I {am} a flower of Sharon, a lily of the valleys. 2 Like a lily among thorns, so {is} my darling among the daughters. 3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so {is} my beloved among the sons. In his shadow, I passionately desired and I will sit, and his fruit {is} sweet to my palate. 4 He brought me to the house of wine and his banner over me {is} love. 5 Sustain me with raisin cakes; refresh me with apples, for sick with love {am} I. 6 His left hand {is} under my head, and his right hand embraces me. 7 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the female gazelles or the does of the fields— do not awaken nor stir love until it desires. 8 The voice of my beloved! Look, this one is coming, leaping over the mountains, jumping over the hills. 9 My beloved is resembling a gazelle or a young stag. Look, this one is standing behind our wall, gazing through the windows, looking through the lattice. 10 My beloved answered and said to me, “Get up, my darling, my beauty, and walk, 11 for, look, the winter has gone; the rain has passed; it went away. 12 The blossoms have appeared in the land; the time of pruning has struck and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. 13 The fig tree ripens its figs and the vines {are in} blossom; they give off a smell. Get up, go, my darling, my beauty, and go. 14 My dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places of the cliff, show me your appearance, make me hear your voice, for your voice {is} sweet, and your appearance {is} lovely. 15 Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that destroy the vineyards, and our vineyards {are in} blossom.” 16 My beloved {belongs} to me and I {belong} to him, the man grazing among the lilies. 17 Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, turn; resemble, my beloved, a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of Bether. Chapter 3 1 On my bed in the night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but I did not find him. 2 Let me get up, please, and go about in the city, in the streets and in the squares; I will seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but I did not find him. 3 The guards going about in the city found me: “{Have} you seen him whom my soul loves?” 4 Almost had I passed by them when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him and I would not leave him until I had brought him to the house of my mother and to the room of the woman who had conceived me. 5 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the female gazelles or the does of the fields, do not awaken nor stir love until it desires. 6 Who {is} that arising from the wilderness like a column of smoke, incensed {with} myrrh and frankincense from all the powders of the merchant? 7 Look—his litter, which {belongs} to Solomon; sixty warriors surround it from the warriors of Israel. 8 All of them are grasping a sword, studied {in} war. Each one {has} his sword at his side against the terrors in the nights. 9 He made for himself a palanquin, King Solomon, from the trees of Lebanon. 10 He made its posts {out of} silver; its back, gold; its seat, purple cloth. Its interior was fitted {with} love from the daughters of Jerusalem. 11 Go out and look, daughters of Zion, at King Solomon, at the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, on the day of the joy of his heart. Chapter 4 1 Look at you! {You are} beautiful, my darling. Look at you! {You are} beautiful. Your eyes {are} doves from behind your veil. Your hair {is} like a flock of goats that jump down from {the} slopes of Gilead. 2 Your teeth {are} like a flock of shorn {sheep} that have come up from the washing, all of which bear twins, and there is not among them one which is bereaved. 3 Like a thread of scarlet {are} your lips and your mouth {is} lovely. Like a slice of pomegranate {is} your temple from behind your veil. 4 Like the tower of David {is} your neck, built of layers— a thousand shields hanging on it, all the quivers of the warriors. 5 Your two breasts {are} like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, the ones pasturing among the lilies. 6 Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, I myself will go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense. 7 All of you {is} beautiful, my darling, and there is no blemish in you. 8 {Come} with me from Lebanon, {my} bride; come with me from Lebanon. Bend down from the top of Amana, from the top of Senir and Hermon, from the hiding places of lions, from the mountains of leopards. 9 You have enchanted my heart, my sister, {my} bride; you have enchanted my heart with one {look} from your eyes, with one jewel from your necklace. 10 How your love is beautiful, my sister, {my} bride! How your love {is} better than wine and the smell of your oils {is better} than all spices. 11 Your lips drip {with} nectar, {my} bride; honey and milk {are} under your tongue and the smell of your garments {is} like the smell of Lebanon. 12 A locked garden {is} my sister, {my} bride, a locked spring, a sealed fountain. 13 Your shoots {are} an orchard of pomegranate trees with delicious fruits; henna with nard, 14 nard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes with all the best spices; 15 a fountain of gardens, a well of living water and flowing streams from Lebanon. 16 Awake, north wind, and come, south wind; blow on my garden and let its spices flow. Let my beloved come to his garden and eat its delicious fruit. Chapter 5 1 I have come to my garden, my sister, {my} bride; I have plucked my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, friends; drink and be drunk {with} love. 2 I {am} asleep, but my heart {is} awake. A sound—my beloved is knocking: “Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my perfect one, because my head {is} full of dew, my hair {is full of} the drops of the night.” 3 “I have taken off my robe; how will I put it on? I have washed my feet; how could I get them dirty?” 4 My beloved stretched out his hand through the hole and my belly roared concerning him. 5 I got myself up to open to my beloved and my hands dripped {with} myrrh and my fingers {dripped with} flowing myrrh on the hands of the bolt. 6 I myself opened to my beloved, but my beloved had turned and gone. My soul went out when he spoke. I searched for him, but I did not find him; I called him, but he did not answer me. 7 The guards going about in the city found me. They beat me and wounded me; they lifted my veil from me, the guards of the walls. 8 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved— what will you declare to him— that sick {with} love {am} I? 9 What {is} your beloved more than {another} beloved, most beautiful woman among women? What {is} your beloved than {another} beloved, that thus you adjure us? 10 My beloved {is} shimmering and red, able to be distinguished from ten thousand {other} people. 11 His head {is} refined gold; his hairs {are} wavy, black like the raven. 12 His eyes {are} like doves beside rivers of water, bathed in milk, sitting by the pools. 13 His cheeks {are} like planters of spices, towers of herbal spices. His lips {are} lilies, dripping {with} flowing myrrh. 14 His arms {are} rods of gold mounted with topaz; his belly {is} a plate of ivory covered {with} sapphires. 15 His thighs {are} pillars of alabaster set on bases of gold; his appearance {is} like Lebanon, {as} choice as the cedars. 16 His mouth {is} most sweet, and all of him {is} most desirable. This {is} my beloved, and this {is} my friend, daughters of Jerusalem. Chapter 6 1 Where did he go, your beloved, most beautiful woman among women? Where did he turn, your beloved, and let us seek him with you? 2 My beloved went down to his garden, to the planters of spices, in order to graze in the gardens and in order to glean lilies. 3 I {belong} to my beloved, and my beloved {belongs} to me; he grazes among the lilies. 4 You {are} beautiful, my darling, like Tirzah, lovely like Jerusalem, terrifying like bannered armies. 5 Turn your eyes away from me, because they excite me. Your hair {is} like the flock of goats that jump down from Gilead. 6 Your teeth {are} like a flock of ewes that come up from the washing, all of which bear twins, and there is not among them one which is bereaved. 7 Like a slice of a pomegranate {are} your temples from behind your veil. 8 Sixty {are} they, queens, and eighty concubines and marriageable women without number. 9 One {is} she, my dove; my perfect one—one {is} she to her mother; pure {is} she to the woman who bore her. The daughters saw her and called her blessed; the queens and the concubines—they praised her: 10 “Who {is} that, the woman who looks down like {the} dawn, beautiful like the moon, pure like the sun, terrifying like the bannered army?” 11 To the garden of {the} nut tree I went down, to look at the green shoots of the valley, to see—had the vines blossomed? Had the pomegranates bloomed? 12 I did not know—my soul put me {among} the chariots of my people, a noble. 13 Return, return, Shulammite, return, return and let us look at you. Why do you look at the Shulammite like the dance of two armies? Chapter 7 1 How your feet are beautiful in sandals, daughter of a noble. The curves of your thighs {are} like ornaments, the work of the hands of a craftsman. 2 Your navel {is} the rounded bowl— let it never lack spiced wine. Your belly {is} a heap of wheat fenced with the lilies. 3 Your two breasts {are} like two fawns, twins of a gazelle. 4 Your neck {is} like a tower of ivory. Your eyes {are} pools in Heshbon by the gate of Bath Rabbim. Your nose {is} like the tower of Lebanon, looking {to the} face of Damascus. 5 Your head on you {is} like Carmel, and the loose hair of your head {is} like purple; a king is held captive in the tresses. 6 How you are beautiful and how you are lovely— love with delights! 7 This is your height—it resembles a palm tree, and your breasts {resemble} bunches of grapes. 8 I said, “I will go up {the} palm tree; I will grab hold of its fruit stalks.” And, please, let your breasts be like the bunches of the vine, and {let the} smell of your nose {be} like apples, 9 and {let} your mouth {be} like the best wine, going down to my beloved smoothly, gliding over the lips of those who sleep. 10 I {belong} to my beloved and his longing {is} for me. 11 Come, my beloved, let us go out {to} the fields; let us spend the night in the villages. 12 Let us go early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine has budded, {if} the blossoms have opened, {if} the pomegranates are blooming. There I will give my love to you. 13 The mandrakes give off a smell and beside our doors {are} every choice thing— new things, even old things. My beloved, I have stored {these} up for you. Chapter 8 1 Who will give you like a brother to me, who nursed at the breasts of my mother? I will find you outside. I will kiss you. Also they will not despise me. 2 I will lead you; I will bring you to the house of my mother. She will teach me. I will make you drink from the wine of spice, from the juice of my pomegranate. 3 His left hand {is} under my head and his right hand embraces me. 4 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem: do not stir up and do not awaken love before it pleases. 5 Who {is} that coming up from the wilderness, leaning against her beloved? Under the apple tree I awakened you; there your mother was in labor {with} you; there she was in labor; she gave birth {to} you. 6 Place me like the seal on your heart, like the seal on your arm, because strong like death {is} love; hard as Sheol {is} jealousy. Its flashes {are} flashes of fire, the flame of Yahweh. 7 Many waters are not able to quench {this} love and rivers will not drown it. If a man will give all {the} wealth of his house in exchange for love, they will utterly despise him. 8 A sister {belongs} to us—a little one— and breasts there are not for her. What will we do with our sister on the day when it is spoken for her? 9 If she {is} a wall, we will build on her a battlement of silver. And if she {is} a door, we will lay siege against her with boards of cedar. 10 I {was} a wall and my breasts {were} like towers; then I was in his eyes like a person who finds peace. 11 {There} was a vineyard for Solomon in Baal Hamon. He gave the vineyard to keepers. Each person brought in exchange for its fruit a thousand {pieces of} silver. 12 My vineyard that {belongs} to me {is} to my face. The thousand {belong} to you, Solomon, and the two hundred {belong} to the people who kept its fruit. 13 {You} who reside in the gardens; companions are listening intently for your voice— let me hear it. 14 Flee away, my beloved, and resemble a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of the balsam tree. Isaiah Chapter 1 1 The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, {and} Hezekiah, kings of Judah. 2 Hear, heavens, and give ear, earth, for Yahweh has spoken: “Sons I have raised and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. 3 The ox knows his owner, and the donkey the feeding trough of his master, {but} Israel does not know; my people does not understand.” 4 Woe, sinful nation, people heavy of iniquity, seed of evildoers, sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned Yahweh, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they have estranged themselves from him. 5 Why should you still be beaten, should you continue {in} rebellion? The whole head {is} sick, and the whole heart weak. 6 From the sole of the foot and to the head there is no health in it; bruises and sores and fresh wounds; they have not been pressed out, and they have not been bandaged, and they have not been softened with oil. 7 Your land {is} a desolation, your cities burned {with} fire; your field—in front of you strangers are devouring it— and {it is} a desolation as the overthrowing of strangers. 8 And the Daughter of Zion is left like a hut in a vineyard, like a shed in a cucumber field, like a besieged city. 9 Had not Yahweh of hosts left for us a few survivors, we would have been like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah. 10 Hear the word of Yahweh, rulers of Sodom; give ear to the law of our God, people of Gomorrah: 11 “What {is} the multitude of your sacrifices to me?” says Yahweh. “I have had enough of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fatted beasts, and in the blood of bulls or lambs or goats I do not delight. 12 When you come to appear {before} my face, who has required this from your hand, to trample my courts? 13 Do not continue to bring an offering of worthlessness;! It is incense of abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath, calling of assemblies— I am not able {to bear} iniquity and festive assembly. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my spirit hates; they have become a burden to me. I am weary of carrying. 15 So when you spread out your hands, I hide my eyes from you; even though you multiply prayer, I do not listen; your hands are full of blood. 16 Wash, cleanse yourselves; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; stop doing evil; 17 learn to do good; seek justice; correct the oppressor; carry out justice {for} the fatherless; contend {for} the widow.” 18 “Come, now, and let us come to terms,” says Yahweh. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white like snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool. 19 If you agree and obey, you will eat the good of the land, 20 but if you refuse and rebel, {by} the sword you will be eaten,” for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken. 21 How the faithful city has become a prostitute! She who was full of justice— righteousness lodged in her, but now, murderers. 22 Your silver has become dross, your wine mixed with water. 23 Your princes {are} rebels and companions of thieves; everyone loves bribes and pursues payoffs. They do not defend the fatherless, and the cause of the widow does not come to them. 24 Thus {is} the declaration of the Lord Yahweh of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: “Woe! I shall gratify myself before my adversaries, and avenge myself before my enemies; 25 and turn my hand against you, and refine your dross as {with} lye, and take away all your impurity. 26 And I shall restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning; afterwards you will be called The City of Righteousness, a faithful town.” 27 Zion will be redeemed by justice, and her repentant ones by righteousness, 28 but rebels and sinners {will be} crushed together, and those who abandon Yahweh will come to an end, 29 For they will be ashamed of the sacred oak trees which you desired, and you will be embarrassed by the gardens that you have chosen. 30 For you will be like an oak whose leaf fades, and like a garden that has no water. 31 And the strong man will be like tinder, and his work like a spark, and both of them will burn together, and none will quench {them}. Chapter 2 1 The word that Isaiah son of Amoz perceived, concerning Judah and Jerusalem: 2 And it will be in the last days, the mountain of the house of Yahweh will be established as the head of the mountains, and it will be raised up above the hills, and all the nations will flow to it, 3 and many peoples will come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the house of the God of Jacob, so he may teach us from his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” For from Zion will go the law, and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem. 4 And he will judge between the nations, and will render decisions for many peoples, and they will hammer their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation will not lift up sword against nation, and they will not learn war again. 5 House of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of Yahweh. 6 For you have abandoned your people, O house of Jacob, For they are filled with eastern things and they practice divination like the Philistines, and they shake hands with sons of foreigners. 7 And its land is full of silver and gold, and there is no limit to its wealth; its land also is full of horses, and there is no limit to its chariots, 8 And its land is full of idols; they worship the craftsmanship of its hands, what its fingers have made. 9 And a person will be bowed down, and a man will fall down, but do not raise them up! 10 Go into the rock and hide in the ground from the face of the terror of Yahweh and from the glory of his majesty. 11 The lofty eyes of man will be brought low, and the pride of men brought down, and Yahweh alone will be exalted on that day. 12 For the day of Yahweh of hosts {is} against everyone who is proud and raised up and against every arrogant one—and he will be {brought} down— 13 and against all the cedars of Lebanon, high and lifted up, and against all the oaks of Bashan 14 and against all the high mountains and against all the elevated hills 15 and against every high tower and against every fortified wall 16 and against all the ships of Tarshish and against all beautiful sailing vessels. 17 And the pride of man will be brought low, and the haughtiness of men will fall, and Yahweh alone will be exalted on that day. 18 And the idols will completely pass away. 19 And {men} will go into the caves of the rocks and the holes of the ground, from the face of the terror of Yahweh, and from the glory of his majesty, when he rises to awe the earth. 20 On that day, man will throw away his idols of silver and his idols of gold which they made for himself to worship, to diggers of holes and bats, 21 going into the crevices of the rocks and into the clefts of the ragged rocks, from the face of the terror of Yahweh and from the glory of his majesty, when he rises to awe the earth. 22 Stop yourselves from {regarding} man, whose breath {is} in his nose, for what is he regarded as? Chapter 3 1 For behold the Lord Yahweh of hosts will take away from Jerusalem and from Judah supply and support: all the supply of bread and all the supply of water, 2 the mighty one and the man of war, the judge and the prophet and the diviner and the elder, 3 the captain of fifty and the exalted of face and the counselor and the expert craftsman and the skillful enchanter. 4 “And I shall place youths {as} their leaders, and infants will rule over them. 5 And the people will be oppressed, a man by a man, and a man by his neighbor; the lad will insult the elderly, and the dishonorable against the honorable. 6 For a man will seize his brother in the house of his father: ‘You have a coat; be our ruler, and this ruin {will be} under your hand.’ 7 On that day he will lift up, saying, ‘I shall not be a healer, and in my house there is no bread and there is no clothing. You shall not appoint me ruler of the people.’” 8 For Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen, because their tongue and their deeds {are} against Yahweh, defying the eyes of his glory. 9 The appearance of their faces witnesses against them, and they tell of their sin like Sodom; they do not hide {it}. Woe to their life! For they have completed for themselves affliction. 10 Tell the righteous that {it will be} well, for they will eat the fruit of their deeds. 11 Woe to the wicked! {It will be} calamity, for the recompense of his hands will be done to him. 12 My people—children {are} their oppressors, and women rule over it. My people, those who guide you lead astray and consume the direction of your path. 13 Yahweh is positioned to contend and is standing to judge the peoples. 14 Yahweh will come with judgment with the elders of his people and their leaders: “And you, you have consumed the vineyard; the plunder of the poor {is} in your houses. 15 Why do you crush my people and grind the faces of the poor?” —the declaration of the Lord Yahweh of hosts. 16 And Yahweh said: “Because the daughters of Zion are proud, and they walk extending the neck, and {with} flirting eyes, walking and mincing their steps, and tinkling their feet. 17 Then the Lord shall scrape the heads of the daughters of Zion, and Yahweh shall make their private parts naked.” 18 On that day the Lord will remove the finery of the anklets and the headbands and the crescent ornaments, 19 the earrings and the bracelets and the veils, 20 the headdresses and the anklets and the sashes and the boxes of perfume and the amulets, 21 the rings and the rings of the nose, 22 the festive garments and the mantles and the cloaks and the purses, 23 and the fine garments and the undergarments, and the turbans and the shawls. 24 “And it will happen, instead of fragrance will be stench; and instead of a sash, a rope; and instead of styled hair, baldness; and instead of a fine robe, a robe of sackcloth; branding instead of beauty. 25 Your men will fall by the sword, and your strong men in war. 26 And her gates will lament and mourn, and she will be alone, sitting on the ground. Chapter 4 1 And seven women will take hold of one man on that day, saying, ‘Our food we shall eat and our clothing we shall wear. Only, call us your name; remove our shame.’ 2 On that day the branch of Yahweh will be beauty and glory, and the fruit of the land excellent and delightful for the remnant of Israel.” 3 And the remainder in Zion and the leftover in Jerusalem⁠— "Holy" will be said of him, everyone who is written for life in Jerusalem. 4 Surely the Lord will wash away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and cleanse the blood stains of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of fire. 5 Then over all the sanctuary of Mount Zion and over her assembly Yahweh will create cloud by day and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night for a canopy over all the glory, 6 and it will be a shelter for shade by day from the heat and a refuge and a cover from the storm and rain. Chapter 5 1 Let me sing, please, to my beloved a song of my beloved for his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a hill of richness. 2 And he dug it and cleared it and planted it {with} choice vines, and he built a tower in the middle of it and also hewed a winepress in it. And he waited for {it} to produce grapes, but it produced wild grapes. 3 And now, dweller of Jerusalem and man of Judah, judge, please, between me and between my vineyard. 4 What more could have been done for my vineyard, that I have not done for it? I waited for {it} to produce grapes⁠, but why did it produce wild grapes? 5 And now, please, I shall tell you what I shall do to my vineyard: I shall remove its hedge, and it will be consumed. I shall break down its wall, and it will be trampled down. 6 And I shall make it a desolation. It will not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns will spring up. And I shall command the clouds against raining rain on it. 7 For the vineyard of Yahweh of hosts {is} the house of Israel, and the man of Judah his pleasant plant. And he waited for justice, but behold, slaughter; for righteousness, but behold, screaming. 8 Woe, those who join house to house, field to field they approach until {there is} no room, and you are made to remain alone in the midst of the land! 9 In my ears, Yahweh of hosts: ‘Surely many houses will be empty— great and good ones without an inhabitant. 10 For a ten-yoke vineyard will yield one bath, and a homer {of} seed will yield an ephah.’ 11 Woe, those who rise up early in the morning to obtain strong drink, those who loiter into the night {as} wine inflames them, 12 and whose feasts are harp and lyre, tambourine and flute and wine, but they do not regard the work of Yahweh, and they have not discerned the doings of his hands. 13 Therefore, my people are exiled for lack of understanding, and its honorable people are hungry, and its parched multitude is thirsty. 14 Therefore, Sheol has enlarged its appetite and has opened its mouth without limit, and its elite and its crowd will descend, and its revelers and its happy. 15 And man will be humbled, and mankind will be brought down, and the eyes of the lofty will be brought down. 16 And Yahweh of hosts will be exalted in justice, and the Holy God will be holy by his righteousness. 17 And the sheep will feed as in their pasture, and goats will eat the ruins of the fatted. [1] 18 Woe, those who pull in iniquity with cords of falsehood and like {with} cart ropes, sin; 19 who say, ‘Let him hurry, let him hasten his work so that we may see, and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and let it come and let us know.’ 20 Woe, those who call evil good and good evil, who set darkness as light, and light as darkness, who set bitter as sweet, and sweet as bitter! 21 Woe to those wise in their {own} eyes and before their {own} faces, discerning. 22 Woe, mighty men of wine-drinking, and men of strength of liquor-mixing; 23 who declare righteous the wicked for a bribe and take away from the righteous his rights! 24 Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours stubble and the dry grass goes down in flame, so their root will rot, and their blossom will rise like dust. For they have rejected the law of Yahweh of hosts, and they have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. 25 Therefore, the nose of Yahweh burns against his people, and he has reached out his hand against them and has struck them, and the mountains tremble, and their corpses become like garbage in the streets. In all these things, his nose does not turn away, and still his hand is stretched out. 26 And he will lift up a signal for faraway nations and will whistle for him from the end of the earth. And behold, quick, swift it will come. 27 None tires and none stumbles among it; he does not slumber and does not sleep. And the belts of their loins are not loose, and the thongs of their sandals are not broken. 28 For its arrows {are} sharp and all its bows bent; the hooves of its horses seem like flint, and its chariot wheels like storms. 29 Its roaring like a lion, and it will roar like young lions. And it will growl and seize the prey and drag {it} away, and there will be no rescuer. 30 And it will roar against it on that day as the roar of the sea. And {one} looks over the land, and behold, darkness, suffering! And the light will be darkened by the clouds. 5:17 [1] Some modern versions have and in the ruins, lambs will graze as foreigners . Chapter 6 1 In the year of the death of King Uzziah, then I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and his hem filled the temple. 2 The seraphim stood above him: six wings—six wings for each; with two covering its face and with two covering its feet, and with two it flew. 3 And each {one} called to another and said, “Holy, holy, holy, {is} Yahweh of hosts! The whole earth {is} full of his glory.” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of the one who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said, “Woe to me! For I am doomed because I {am} a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, because my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of hosts!” 6 And one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand {was} a hot coal he had taken with the tongs from off the altar. 7 And he caused {it} to touch on my mouth and said, “Behold, this has touched on your lips, and your guilt has been taken away and your sin atoned for.” 8 And I heard the voice of the Lord say, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here I {am}, send me.” 9 And he said, “Go and tell this people, ‘Listen closely, but do not understand, and see clearly, but do not perceive.’ 10 Fatten the heart of this people, and dull its ears and dim its eyes. Otherwise it might see with its eyes and hear with its ears and understand with its heart, and turn and be healed.” 11 And I said, “Until when, Lord?” And he said, “Until cities are desolate, without inhabitants, and the houses {are} without people, and the land is a desolate waste, 12 and Yahweh has driven the people far away, and the desertion in the midst of the land is great. 13 If a tenth {are} still in it, then it will turn back and be consumed. As an elm or as an oak which, in being cut down, {has} a stump for it, the holy seed {is} its stump.” Chapter 7 1 And it happened, in the days of Ahaz son of Jotham son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Aram, and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up {to} Jerusalem to war against it, but they could not prevail against it. 2 And it was reported to the house of David, saying, “Aram stands by with Ephraim,” and his heart trembled, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest shake before the face of the wind. 3 And Yahweh said to Isaiah, “Go out, please, to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-Jashub, at the end of the channel of the upper pool, to the road of the field of the fuller. 4 And say to him, ‘Be careful and calm, you shall not be afraid, and your heart shall not be soft from these two tails of smoldering firebrands, by the burning nose of Rezin and Aram, and the son of Remaliah. 5 Because Aram, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have planned evil against you, saying, 6 “Let us go up against Judah and terrify her, and let us break into her and crown a king in her midst, the son of Tabeel.”’ 7 Thus the Lord Yahweh says, It will not succeed, and it will not be, 8 because the head of Aram {is} Damascus, and the head of Damascus {is} Rezin. And within 65 years, Ephraim will be broken from {being} a people. 9 And the head of Ephraim {is} Samaria, and the head of Samaria {is} the son of Remaliah. If you do not believe, then you will not be secure.” 10 And Yahweh continued to speak to Ahaz, saying, 11 “Ask a sign for yourself from Yahweh your God; make the request deep, or make {it} high above.” 12 And Ahaz said, “I shall not ask, and I shall not test Yahweh.” 13 And he said, “Listen, please, house of David. Is it too little for you to tire out the people, that you also tire out my God? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: Behold, the young woman will conceive and bear a son and will call his name Immanuel. [1] 15 He will eat curds and honey when he knows to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For before the child knows to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land will be desolate, though you fear the faces of its two kings. 17 Yahweh will bring the king of Assyria on you and on your people, and on the house of your father days that have not come since the day Ephraim turned away from Judah.” 18 And it will happen on that day, Yahweh will whistle for a fly that {is} in the distant streams of Egypt, and for a bee that {is} in the land of Assyria. 19 And they will come and settle down, all of them, in the valleys of desolation and in the clefts of the rocks, and in all the thornbushes, and in all the pastures. 20 At that time the Lord will shave with a razor the laborer beyond the river— the king of Assyria— the head and the hair of the legs, and he will also scrape away the beard. 21 And it will happen on that day, a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep. 22 And it will happen, because of the abundance of milk produced, he will eat curds, for everyone left in the land will eat curds and honey. 23 And it will happen on that day, {there} will be, {in} every place where there were 1000 vines {worth} 1000 silvers, it will be briers and thorns. 24 One will go there with arrows and with bows, because all the land will be briers and thorns. 25 And all the hills that were cultivated with the hoe, you will not go there {for} fear of the briers and thorns, and it will be for sending out of cattle and for grazing of sheep. 7:14 [1] Instead of the young woman some ancient manuscripts have a young woman. Chapter 8 1 And Yahweh said to me, “Take for yourself a large tablet, and write on it with a chisel, ‘Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.’ 2 And I shall cause faithful witnesses to attest for me, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah.” 3 And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. And Yahweh said to me, “Call his name Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. 4 For before the child knows to cry, ‘My father,’ and, ‘My mother,’ one will lift away the riches of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria before the face of the king of Assyria.” 5 And Yahweh continued to speak to me again, saying, 6 “Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah—those going gently—and rejoices {in} Rezin and the son of Remaliah, 7 so therefore, behold: the Lord is bringing up on them the waters of the river, mighty and many—the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it will come up over all its channels and go over all its banks. 8 And it will sweep into Judah, flooding and passing on, until it touches your neck. And its outstretched wings will fill the breadth of your land, Immanuel.” 9 Raise the war cry, peoples, and be terrified. And give ear, all you distant of the land: gird yourselves for war and be terrified gird yourselves for war and be terrified. 10 Be advised {with} advice, but it will be made useless; speak a speech, but it will not stand, for God {is} with us. 11 For thus Yahweh spoke to me, with a strong hand, and turned me away from walking in the way of this people, saying, 12 Do not call a lie anything that this people calls a lie, and its fear you will not fear, and do not be terrified. 13 You shall sanctify Yahweh of hosts alone, and he {is} your fear, and he {is} your terror. 14 And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of striking and a rock of stumbling for both the houses of Israel, a trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many will stumble over them and fall and be broken and be ensnared and captured. 16 Bind up the testimony; seal the law for my disciples. 17 And I shall wait for Yahweh, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I shall hope in him. 18 Behold, I and the children whom Yahweh has given to me {are} for signs and for wonders in Israel from Yahweh of hosts, who lives on Mount Zion. 19 And when they say to you, “Consult with mediums and with soothsayers, the ones who chirp and mutter,” how can a people not consult with their God, but with the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not say as this thing, {it is} because they have no dawn, 21 and will pass through it distressed and hungry. And it will happen when they are hungry, then they will become angry and curse their king and their God and turn upward. 22 And they will look at the earth and behold: trouble and darkness, dimness, distress and gloom is scattered. Chapter 9 1 For it will not cover over she who is distressed. In an earlier time he humiliated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but later, he will glorify it, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. 2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who have lived in the land of darkness, the light has shone on them. 3 You have multiplied the nation itself; you have increased its joy. They rejoice before your face like the joy at harvest time, as they rejoice when dividing the plunder. 4 For the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as the day of Midian. 5 For every boot treading loudly and the garment rolled in blood will be burned, fuel of fire. 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the rule will be on his shoulder; and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of {his} government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David, and over his kingdom, to establish it and sustain it with justice and with righteousness from now and to eternity. The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this. 8 The Lord sent a word against Jacob, and it fell on Israel. 9 And the people will know, all of it, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, in pride and with an arrogant heart, saying, 10 “The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild {with} chiseled {stone}; the sycamores are felled, but we will replace {them with} cedars.” 11 And Yahweh will raise up against him Rezin, the adversary, and will stir up his enemies, 12 the Arameans on the east, and the Philistines on the west, and they will devour Israel with a whole mouth. In all these things, his nose does not draw back, and his hand is still stretched out. 13 And the people will not turn to him who struck it, and they will not seek Yahweh of hosts. 14 And Yahweh will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm branch and reed {in} one day. 15 The elder and the noble of face are the head, and the prophet teaching lies is the tail. 16 And the guides of this people have misled, and its guided are swallowed up. 17 Therefore, the Lord will not rejoice over their young men and on their fatherless and widows he will not have compassion , since everyone is godless and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks foolish things. In all these things, his nose does not draw back, and his hand is still stretched out. 18 For wickedness burns like a fire; it devours the briers and thorns, and it kindles the thickets of the forest, and they mount up {in} a rising of smoke. 19 Through the wrath of Yahweh of hosts the land is scorched, and it will happen: the people as fuel of fire; a man does not spare his brother. 20 And they will devour on the right but be hungry, and they will eat on the left but not be satisfied. {Every} man will eat the flesh of his arm. 21 Manasseh {to} Ephraim, and Ephraim, Manasseh together they {will be} against Judah. In all these things, his nose does not draw back, and his hand is still stretched out. Chapter 10 1 Woe, lawmakers of useless laws and writers writing perverseness. 2 suppressing the rights of the needy, and robbing the justice of the poor of my people, {making} widows become plunder, and preying {on} the fatherless! 3 And what will you do for the day of judgment, and for the destruction coming from far away? To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth? 4 Only, they will crouch among the prisoners, or fall among the killed. In all these things, his nose does not turn back, and his hand is still stretched out. 5 Woe, Assyria, the club of my nose, and a rod is in their hand {for} my fury! 6 I send him against an arrogant nation and against the people of my wrath. I order him to plunder the plunder and to prey on the prey, and to trample them, trodden like mud of the streets. 7 And he does not think so, and his heart does not consider thus, for, to destroy {is} in his heart, and to eliminate not a few nations. 8 For he says, “{Are} not all my princes kings? 9 {Is} not Kalno like Carchemish? Surely Hamath {is} not like Arpad? Surely Samaria {is} not like Damascus? 10 As my hand has reached idolatrous kingdoms, and their carved figures {were} greater than Jerusalem and greater than Samaria, 11 just as I did to Samaria and her vanities, shall I not do so to Jerusalem and to her idols?” 12 And it will happen, when the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and against Jerusalem, “I shall reckon with the fruit of the magnitude of the heart of the king of Assyria and the pride of the haughtiness of his eyes.” 13 For he says: “‘By my strength and by my hand I acted, and {it is} in my wisdom, for I was discerning. But I have removed the boundaries of the peoples, and I have stolen their treasures, and like a bull I have brought down the inhabitants. 14 And my hand has seized, as {from} a nest the wealth of the nations, and as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth, and none was fluttering a wing or opening a mouth or chirping.’” 15 Will the ax glorify itself against the one who swings it? Will the saw praise itself over him who wields it? As a rod could wield those who raise it! As a club could lift up {what is} not wood! 16 Therefore, the Lord Yahweh of hosts will send thinness among his fattened ones and instead of his glory, a burning will rage, like the burning of fire. 17 And the light of Israel will become a fire, and his Holy One a flame, and it will burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day. 18 And the glory of his forest and his fruitful land, he will consume from spirit and to flesh, and it will be like the wasting away of the frail. 19 And the remnant of the trees of his forest will be a number that a child could count. 20 And it will happen on that day, the remnant of Israel and the refugees of the house of Jacob will not continue anymore to rely on its afflicter, but will indeed rely on Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel. 21 A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. 22 For though your people, Israel, are like the sand of the seashore, a remnant of it will return. Decreed destruction flows down, righteousness. 23 For {it is} finished and decreed: the Lord Yahweh of hosts is about to carry {it} out throughout all the land. 24 Therefore, thus says the Lord Yahweh of hosts, “My people who live {in} Zion, do not fear the Assyrian. He will strike you with the rod and raise his staff against you in the way of Egypt 25 for just a very little {time}; then the fury and my nose will end on account of their destruction.” 26 And Yahweh of hosts will wield a whip against it, as the smiting of Midian at the rock of Oreb. And his rod {will be} over the sea, and he will lift it up in the way of Egypt. 27 And it will happen on that day, his burden {will be} lifted from your shoulder and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed from the face of fatness. [1] 28 He has come to Aiath, passed through Migron; at Michmash he stores his provisions. 29 They have crossed over the pass; Geba {is} his lodging. Ramah trembles, Gibeah of Saul flees. 30 Lift up your voice, daughter of Gallim! Give attention, Laishah, poor of Anathoth! 31 Madmenah flees, the inhabitants of Gebim take refuge. 32 Yet, today he will stand at Nob wave his hand {against} the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. 33 Behold, the Lord Yahweh of hosts will cut off the foliage with a crash, and the tallest of the tall {will be} cut down, and the lofty will be brought low. 34 And he will chop down the thickets of the forest with an ax, and Lebanon will fall with force. 10:27 [1] The last line of this verse is difficult because it does not seem to fit the context. Some modern versions leave out from the face of fatness . Chapter 11 1 And a shoot will come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. 2 And the Spirit of Yahweh will rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of instruction and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of Yahweh, 3 and his breathing {will be} in fear of the Lord. And not by what his eyes see will he judge; and he will not decide by what his ears hear, 4 but he will judge the lowly righteously and decide for the poor of the earth fairly. And he will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked, 5 and righteousness will be the belt for his waist, and faithfulness the strap for his hips. 6 And the wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the young lion and the fattened calf, altogether, and a little child will lead them. 7 And the cow and the bear will graze together; their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 And an infant will play over the hole of the snake, and the weaned child will stretch his hand over the den of the serpent. 9 They will not hurt and they will not destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of knowledge of Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea. 10 And it will happen on that day, the root of Jesse that is standing, {will be} as a banner for the peoples. The nations will seek him out, and his resting place will be glorious. 11 And it will happen on that day, the Lord will again extend his hand, to recover the remnant of his people who will remain, from Assyria and from Egypt, and from Pathros and from Cush and from Elam and from Shinar and from Hamath and from the islands of the sea. 12 And he will raise a banner for the nations and will gather the outcasts of Israel and the dispersed of Judah he will assemble from the four corners of the earth. 13 And he will turn aside the envy of Ephraim, and the hostilities of Judah will be cut off. Ephraim will not envy Judah, and Judah will not oppress Ephraim, 14 but they will swoop down on the shoulders of the Philistines westward. Together they will plunder the sons of the east. Edom and Moab, the sending out of their hand, and the sons of Ammon their audience. 15 And Yahweh will completely destroy the gulf of the Sea of Egypt. And he will wave his hand over the river with his scorching wind and will divide it into seven streams, and it may be walked on in sandals. 16 And {there} will be a highway for the remnant of his people who will return from Assyria, as {there} was for Israel in the day of their coming up from the land of Egypt. Chapter 12 1 And you will say on that day, “I shall revere you, Yahweh, though you were angry with me. Your nose has turned away, and you have comforted me. 2 Behold, God {is} my salvation; I shall trust and not fear, for my strength and song {is} Yah, Yahweh, and he has become my salvation.” 3 And you will draw water joyfully from the wells of salvation. 4 And you will say on that day: “Give thanks to Yahweh, call on his name; declare his deeds among the peoples; proclaim that his name is exalted. 5 Sing {to} Yahweh. For he has done glorious things; let this be known throughout the earth. 6 Cry out and shout for joy, inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst {is} the Holy One of Israel.” Chapter 13 1 An oracle for Babylon, which Isaiah son of Amoz perceived: 2 On the bare mountain raise a banner. Lift up a voice to them. Wave a hand, and they will go into the gates of the nobles. 3 I have commanded my holy ones; I even called my warriors for my nose, my proudly exulting ones. 4 The sound of a multitude in the mountains, like a numerous people! The sound of a tumult of the kingdoms, nations are gathered! Yahweh of hosts is mustering the army for the battle. 5 They are coming from a far country, from the end of the heavens, Yahweh, and the instruments of his judgment, to destroy the whole land. 6 Howl, for the day of Yahweh {is} near; it comes with destruction from the Almighty. 7 Therefore, all hands hang limp, and every heart of man melts. 8 And they will be terrified; pain and agony will seize {them}; like a woman in labor, they are pained. A man to his friend will stare in astonishment; their faces {are} faces aflame. 9 Behold, the day of Yahweh comes ruthlessly, with wrath and burning nose, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it. 10 For the stars of the heavens and the constellations will not shine their light. The sun will be darkened in its coming out, and the moon will not emit its light. 11 And I shall charge the world {its} evil and the wicked their iniquity. And I shall put an end to the arrogance of the proud and bring down the arrogance of the ruthless. 12 I shall cause a mortal to be more rare than fine gold and a man, the pure gold of Ophir. 13 Therefore I shall make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place by the fury of Yahweh of hosts and on the day of his burning nose. 14 And it will happen, like a hunted gazelle or like a sheep with no shepherd, {every} man will turn toward his people and {every} man will flee to his land. 15 All who are found will be killed, and all who are caught will die by the sword, 16 and their infants will be dashed in pieces before their eyes, their houses will be plundered, and their wives, raped. 17 Behold, I am stirring up the Medes against them, who will not be concerned about silver, and they will not delight in gold. 18 And the bows will strike down the young men, and they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb, their eyes will not have pity on sons. 19 And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans, will be like God destroying Sodom and Gomorrah. 20 It will not be inhabited to eternity, or lived in from generation to generation. And the Arab will not pitch his tent there, and the shepherds will not make {flocks} rest there. 21 But desert beasts will lie there, and their houses will be full of owls, and daughters of ostriches will live there, and wild goats will skip about there, 22 and hyenas will cry in their fortresses, and jackals in palaces of luxury. And her time is coming near, and her days will not be delayed. Chapter 14 1 For Yahweh will have compassion on Jacob, and he will again choose Israel and restore them into their land. And foreigners will join with them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob. 2 And the nations will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will take them in the land of Yahweh as male and female servants, and they will be taking captive their captors, and they will rule over their oppressors. 3 And it will happen on the day {when} Yahweh gives you rest from your suffering and anguish and from the hard slavery under which you were enslaved, 4 and you shall lift up this theme against the king of Babylon, and you will say, “How the oppressor has ceased, the fury ceased! 5 Yahweh has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers, 6 striking the peoples in wrath, blows without end! Ruling the nations in nose, an attack without restraint! 7 The whole earth is resting, quiet; they break out singing. 8 Even the cypress trees rejoice over you {with} the cedars of Lebanon: ‘Since you are laid low, no {one} comes up to cut us down.’ 9 Sheol below trembles for you, to meet your coming, It arouses the dead for you, all the kings of the earth, raising {them} from their thrones, all the kings of the nations. 10 They all will speak and say to you, ‘You, also, have become as weak as us. You have become like us. 11 It has been brought down {to} Sheol— your arrogance, the sound of your lyres. Maggots are spread under you, and worms cover you.’ 12 How you are fallen from heaven, daystar, son of the morning! You are cut down to the ground, conqueror over nations! 13 And you had said in your heart, ‘I shall ascend into heaven, I shall exalt my throne above the stars of God, and I shall sit on the mount of assembly, in the far reaches of the north. 14 I shall ascend over the tops of the clouds; I shall match the Most High.’ 15 Yet you are brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the pit. 16 Those who see you will gaze at you, they will stare to you. ‘{Is} this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, 17 who made the world like a wilderness, and overthrew its cities, did not release his prisoners homewards?’ 18 All the kings of the nations, all of them lie down in honor, a man in his home, 19 but you are cast out from your grave like a hated branch, clothed with the slain pierced by the sword, who go down to the stones of the pit like a trampled corpse. 20 You will not join them in burial, because you have destroyed your land, you have killed your people. May none ever mention the offspring of evildoers. 21 Prepare slaughter for his sons, for the iniquity of their fathers, lest they rise up and possess the earth and fill the face of the earth with cities. 22 “And I shall rise up against them” —the declaration of Yahweh of hosts. “And I shall cut off from Babylon name and remnant, and offspring and grandchildren,”—the declaration of Yahweh. 23 “And I shall make her into a possession of owls, and pools of water, and I shall sweep her with the broom of destruction,” —the declaration of Yahweh of hosts. 24 Yahweh of hosts has sworn, saying, “Surely, as I have intended, so it shall be, and as I have purposed, it shall come about: 25 To break Assyria in my land, and on my mountains trample him. And his yoke will be lifted from them and his burden lifted from their shoulder. 26 This {is} the plan intended for the whole earth, and this {is} the hand raised over all the nations. 27 For Yahweh of hosts has planned, and who will stop {him}? And his hand {is} raised, and who will turn it back? 28 In the year of the death of king Ahaz, there was this oracle: 29 Do not rejoice, all you Philistines, that the rod that struck you is broken, for out of the root of the serpent will grow out an adder, and its fruit a fiery flying serpent. 30 And the poor will graze in my pastures, and the needy will lie down in safety. And I shall kill your root with famine, and it will slay your survivors. 31 Howl, gate; cry, city; all of you will melt away, Philistia, for from the north comes smoke, and none {is} alone in his ranks. 32 And what will he answer to the messengers of a nation? that Yahweh has founded Zion, and in her the afflicted of his people will find refuge.” Chapter 15 1 An oracle for Moab: So, in a night Ar of Moab is laid waste, destroyed; so, in a night Kir of Moab is laid waste, destroyed. 2 They have gone up to the temple, and Dibon {to} the heights to weep. Over Nebo and over Medeba, Moab laments. All their heads {are} bald, all beards {are} cut off. 3 In their streets they wear sackcloth; on their housetops and in the square everyone wails, coming down in tears. 4 And Heshbon and Elealeh cry out; their voice is heard as far as Jahaz; So the soldiers of Moab call out; his spirit trembles in him. 5 My heart cries out for Moab; those who flee to Zoar, the heifer of the third {year}, for by the ascent of Luhith in weeping they go up; for on the road of Horonaim they lift up the cry of affliction. 6 For the waters of Nimrim are a desolation; For the grass {is} dried up; the vegetation is finished; the greenery is not. 7 Therefore, the abundance they have made and their stores they carry away over the brook of the poplars. 8 For the cry has surrounded the region of Moab as far as Eglaim, her wail, and Beer Elim, her wail. 9 For the waters of Dimon are full of blood, but I shall bring more on Dimon. For survivors of Moab, a lion, and for the remnant of the land. Chapter 16 1 Send a ram {to} the ruler of the land from Selah in the wilderness, to the mount of the daughter of Zion. 2 And it will happen, as a bird wanders {from} a scattered nest, {so} the women of Moab are {at} the fords of the Arnon. 3 “Take counsel, execute justice; provide your shade like night in the middle of the day. Hide the fugitives; do not expose the refugees. 4 Let them live among you, the refugees of Moab; be a hiding place for them from the face of the destroyer.” For the oppression will stop, destruction will cease, oppressors will disappear from the land. 5 And a throne will be established in covenant faithfulness; and on it will sit in truth {one} from the tent of David. He will judge and seek justice, and rush {to} righteousness. 6 We have heard of the pride of Moab, great pride, his pride and his boasting and his anger, his boasts {are} not true. 7 So Moab wails for Moab, they all wail! For the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth they mourn. Surely {they are} afflicted, 8 for the fields of Heshbon have dried up, {and} the vines of Sibmah. The rulers of the nations have trampled its choice vines, as far as Jazer they reached, spread into the desert. Its shoots stretched out; they passed on {to} the sea. 9 Indeed I shall weep in the weeping of Jazer, the vine of Sibmah, I shall water you {with} my tears, Heshbon and Elealeh. For on your summer fruits and on your harvest acclamations have ceased. 10 And gladness and joy are taken away from the orchard, and in the vineyards, no rejoicing, no cheers. The treader does not tread wine in the presses; I have suppressed the shouts of joy. 11 So my heart sighs like a harp for Moab, and my inward being for Kir Hareseth. 12 And it will happen, for it will be seen that Moab is fruitless on the high place, and he will come to his temple to pray, and it will not happen. 13 This {is} the word that Yahweh spoke to Moab previously. 14 And now, Yahweh speaks, saying, “Within three years, like the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab will disappear; of all the great multitude, the remnant {will be} very few, no significance.” Chapter 17 1 An oracle for Damascus: Behold, Damascus, will cease from {being} a city, And it will be a heap of ruins. 2 The cities of Aroer {will be} abandoned. They will be for flocks, and they will lie down {there}, and no one will frighten {them}. 3 And forts will disappear from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Aram, they will be like the glory of the sons of Israel— the declaration of Yahweh of hosts. 4 And it will happen on that day, the glory of Jacob will become thin, and the fatness of his flesh will become lean. 5 And it will be as a harvester gathers the standing grain, and his arm reaps the heads of grain. And it will be as one gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim. 6 And gleanings will be left in it, as {when} the olive tree is shaken: two {or} three berries in the top of the bough, four {or} five in the fruitful branches —the declaration of Yahweh, the God of Israel. 7 On that day man will gaze at his Maker, and his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel. 8 And he will not look to the altars, the work of his hands and which his fingers have made. He will not look to the Asherah poles or the sun images. 9 On that day his strong cities will be like the abandoned forests and summits which were forsaken because of the faces of the sons of Israel. And it will be a desolation. 10 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and the rock of your strength you did not remember. So you plant plants of a foreign god, and sow vines of a stranger; 11 on the day you plant, it will increase, and in the morning your seed will grow, {but} the harvest {will become} a heap on the afflicted day, and {there will be} grievous pain. 12 Woe! The uproar of many peoples— like the roaring of the seas they roar. And the rumble of nations— like the rumbling of mighty waters they rumble! 13 The nations like the rumbling of many waters will rumble, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away, and they will be chased before the face of the wind like chaff on the mountains, and like weeds whirling before the face of the whirlwind. 14 For the time of evening, behold, terror! Before the morning they will be gone! This {is} the portion of those who loot us, and the lot of those who rob us. Chapter 18 1 Woe, land of the rustling of wings, which {is} across the rivers of Cush; 2 who send ambassadors by the sea and in vessels of papyrus on the face of the waters. Go, you swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people feared from afar, a nation very strong and trampling down, whose land the rivers divide. 3 All inhabitants of the world and dwellers of the earth, when a signal is lifted up {on} the mountains, look, and when the trumpet is blown, listen. 4 For thus Yahweh said to me, “I shall be still and observe in my dwelling, like the dazzling heat in light, like a cloud of mist in the heat of harvest." 5 For before the face of the harvest, when the blossoming is over, and the flower is ripening into a grape, then he will cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and cut down, take away the spreading branches. 6 They will be left together for the birds of the mountains and for the animals of the earth. and the birds will summer on them, and all the animals of the earth will winter on them.” 7 At that time tribute will be brought to Yahweh of hosts {from} a people tall and smooth, and a people feared from afar, a nation very strong and trampling down, whose land the rivers divide, to the place of the name of Yahweh of hosts, Mount Zion. Chapter 19 1 An oracle for Egypt. Behold, Yahweh rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt, and the idols of Egypt shall quake before his face, and the heart of Egypt melt in its midst. 2 And I shall stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, and a man will fight against his brother, and a man against his neighbor; city against city, kingdom against kingdom. 3 And the spirit of Egypt will be weakened from within, and I shall confound his counsel, and they will seek idols and spirits, and mediums and spiritualists. 4 And I shall give the Egyptians into the hand of a harsh master, and a strong king will rule over them —the declaration of the Lord Yahweh of hosts. 5 And the waters from the sea will dry up, and the river will become desolate and dry up. 6 And the rivers will become foul; the streams of Egypt will dwindle and dry up; the reeds and papyrus will wither away. 7 The reeds on the Nile, at the mouth of the Nile, and every sown field of the Nile will become parched, blown away and be no more. 8 And the fishermen will wail and mourn. All who cast a hook into the Nile and those who spread nets on the face of the water will grieve. 9 and the workers of fine flax will be ashamed, and the weavers of white cloth. 10 And its foundations will be crushed, all who work for hire downcast {in} spirit. 11 Indeed, the princes of Zoan {are} foolish. Of the wisest of the counselors of Pharaoh, counsel has become foolish. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I {am} the son of wise men, a son of ancient kings?” 12 Where then {are} your wise men? And let them explain to you, please and announce what Yahweh of hosts plans concerning Egypt. 13 The princes of Zoan have become fools, the princes of Memphis are deceived; the cornerstones of her tribes have led Egypt astray. 14 Yahweh has mixed a spirit of perversion into her midst, and they have led Egypt astray in all she does, like a drunk staggering in his vomit. 15 And {there} is no action that one could do for Egypt, head or tail, palm branch or reed. 16 On that day, Egypt will be like women. And it will tremble and fear from the face of the upraised hand of Yahweh of hosts that he raises over it. 17 And the land of Judah will become a terror to Egypt. All who remind it of her, it will be afraid from the face of the plan of Yahweh of hosts, which he is planning against it. 18 On that day will be five cities in the land of Egypt speaking the language of Canaan and swearing to Yahweh of hosts. One will be called The City of the Sun. 19 On that day will be an altar to Yahweh in the middle of the land of Egypt, and a stone pillar at the place of its border to Yahweh. 20 And it will be for a sign and for a witness to Yahweh of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to Yahweh from the face of oppressors, then he will send to them a savior and a defender, and he will deliver them. 21 And Yahweh will become known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know Yahweh on that day. And they will worship {with} sacrifices and offerings and will vow vows to Yahweh and fulfill them. 22 And Yahweh will afflict Egypt, afflicting and healing. And they will return to Yahweh, and he will be implored by them, and will heal {them}. 23 On that day will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come to Egypt, and the Egyptian to Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship {with} the Assyrians. 24 On that day, Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 when Yahweh of hosts will bless them saying, “Blessed {be} Egypt, my people, and Assyria, the work of my hands, and Israel, my inheritance.” Chapter 20 1 In the year of the coming of Tartan to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him, then he fought against Ashdod and captured it. 2 At that time Yahweh spoke by the hand of Isaiah son of Amoz, saying, “Go and remove the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet.” And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. 3 And Yahweh said, “Just as my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years, {it is} a sign and an omen concerning Egypt and concerning Cush, 4 thus the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old, naked and barefoot, with uncovered buttocks—the shame of Egypt. 5 And they will be dismayed and ashamed, because of Cush, their hope, and of Egypt, their glory. 6 And the inhabitants of these coasts will say on that day, ‘Behold, this {was} our hope, where we fled for help to be rescued from the face of the king of Assyria, but how can we escape?’” Chapter 21 1 An oracle for the wilderness of the sea. Like whirlwinds sweeping through the Negev it comes from the wilderness, from a terrible land. 2 A difficult vision has been given to me: The deceitful deceive and the destroyer destroys. Go up, Elam; besiege, Media; I shall stop all her groaning. 3 Therefore my loins are filled with pain; pains like giving birth have taken hold of me; I am bowed down from hearing; I am disturbed from seeing. 4 My heart pounds; I shake {with} fear. I desired twilight; it brought me terror. 5 Preparing the table, spreading the rugs, to eat, to drink; arise, princes, anoint your shields. 6 For thus the Lord said to me, “Go, post a watchman. What he sees he shall report. 7 When he sees a chariot, a team of horses, riders of donkeys, riders of camels, then he must pay close attention, very close attention.” 8 And the watchman cries out, “Lord, on the watchtower I stand always by day, and at my post I stand all night. 9 And behold, it {is} coming: a chariot, a man, a team of horses. And he bears witness and says, ‘Babylon has fallen, fallen, and all the carved figures of its gods are broken to the ground.’” 10 My down-trodden ones and the son of my threshing floor! What I have heard from Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, I have declared to you. 11 An oracle for Dumah. One calls to me from Seir, “Watchman, what is {left} of the night? Watchman, what is {left} of the night?” 12 The watchman said, “The morning comes and also the night. If you will ask, ask; come back again.” 13 An oracle for Arabia. In the forest of Arabia you spend the night, you caravans of Dedanites. 14 To meet the thirsty, bring water; inhabitants of the land of Tema, approach the fugitive with its bread. 15 For they have fled from the face of swords, from the face of a sword stretched out, and from the face of the strung bow, and from the face of the weight of war. 16 For thus the Lord said to me, “Within a year, as the year of a hired man, then all the glory of Kedar will end. 17 And the remnant of the number of archers, the warriors of the sons of Kedar, will be few, for Yahweh, the God of Israel, has spoken.” Chapter 22 1 An oracle for the Valley of Vision: What {is it} to you, now, that you go up, all of you, to the housetops? 2 The clamoring town {is} full of noises, the city reveling. Your slain {were} not slain {by} sword, and not dead {in} battle. 3 All your rulers fled away together; without a bow they were captured. All your remainder captured together, though they had fled far away. 4 Therefore, I said, “Look {away} from me! I shall weep bitterly; do not rush to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.” 5 For {it is} a day of tumult and trampling and confusion for the Lord Yahweh of hosts in the Valley of Vision, a breaking down of the walls, and a crying out to the mountains. 6 And Elam bore the quiver, with chariots of men of horses, and Kir uncovered the shield. 7 And your choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen took position at the gate, 8 and he took away the protection of Judah. And you looked on that day to the weapons of the House of the Forest. 9 And the breaches of the city of David, you saw that they increased, and you collected the water of the lower pool. 10 And you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you tore down the houses to fortify the wall. 11 And you made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool, but you did not look to its maker, and its designer from long ago you did not see. 12 And the Lord Yahweh of hosts called on that day for weeping and for mourning and for shaved heads and for the wearing of sackcloth. 13 But, behold: celebration and gladness, killing cattle and slaughtering sheep, eating meat and drinking wine: "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die." 14 And it was revealed in my ears {by} Yahweh of hosts: “Surely this iniquity will not be forgiven you, even when you die,” says the Lord Yahweh of hosts. 15 Thus says the Lord Yahweh of hosts, “You, go to this administrator to Shebna, who {is} over the house, 16 ‘Why {are} you here and who let you here that you are digging for yourself here a tomb, digging his grave {on the} heights, carving out a resting place for himself in the rock?’” 17 Behold, Yahweh is about to throw you {mighty} man, about to throw you down; and he will grasp you tightly. 18 He will surely wind you round and round, toss like a ball into a country broad {on} both sides. There you will die, and there the chariots of your glory {will be} the shame of the house of your master. 19 And I shall thrust you from your office and from your station you will be pulled down. 20 And it will happen on that day that I shall call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah. 21 And I shall clothe him {with} your tunic and fasten him {with} your sash and give your authority into his hand. And he will be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 22 And I shall place the key {to} the house of David on his shoulder, and he will open, and none will shut, and he will shut, and none will open, 23 and I shall fasten him, a peg in a secure place, and he will become a seat of glory for the house of his father. 24 And they will hang on him all the glory of the house of his father, the offspring and descendants, every small vessel from the vessels of the cups and to all the vessels of the jugs. 25 On that day—the declaration of Yahweh of hosts—the peg driven in a firm place will give way and break off and fall, and the weight that {was} on it will be cut off—for Yahweh has spoken. Chapter 23 1 An oracle for Tyre: Howl, you ships of Tarshish, for it is destroyed, without home, without harbor. From the land of Cyprus it has been revealed to them. 2 Be silent, you inhabitants of the coast; the merchant of Sidon, who travels over the sea, has filled you. 3 And on the great waters {was} the grain of Shihor; the harvest of the Nile {was} her produce, and it became the commerce of the nations. 4 Be ashamed, Sidon; for the sea has spoken, the mighty one of the sea, saying, “I have not labored and I have not given birth, and I have not raised young men {nor} brought up young women.” 5 When the report {comes} to Egypt, they will be grieved concerning the report of Tyre. 6 Cross over to Tarshish; wail, you inhabitants of the coast. 7 Is this your joyful one, whose origin {is} from ancient times, whose feet carried her far away to settle? 8 Who has planned this against Tyre, the giver of crowns, whose merchants {are} princes, whose traders {are} the honored ones of the earth? 9 Yahweh of hosts has planned it to dishonor the pride of all the glory, to shame all the honored ones of the earth. 10 Cross over your land like the Nile, you daughter of Tarshish. {There is} no restraint anymore. 11 He has reached out his hand over the sea; he has shaken the kingdoms. Yahweh has commanded to Canaan to destroy its strongholds. 12 And he said, “You will not continue to rejoice again, you oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon; arise, pass over {to} Cyprus; there also you will not have rest.” 13 Behold, the land of the Chaldeans. This people is naught. The Assyrians have established it for wild animals. They erected their siege towers; they demolished its palaces; they made it ruins. 14 Howl, you ships of Tarshish; for your refuge has been destroyed. 15 And it will happen on that day that Tyre will be forgotten 70 years, like the days of one king. After the end of 70 years it will happen in Tyre like {in} the song of the prostitute: 16 Take a harp, go about the city, you forgotten prostitute; play well, multiply song, so that you may be remembered. 17 And it will happen, from the end of 70 years, Yahweh will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and to her prostitution of all the kingdoms of the earth on the face of the ground. 18 And her profits and earnings will be set apart to Yahweh. They will not be stored up or kept in the treasury, for her profits will be given to those who live in Yahweh’s presence and will be used to supply them with abundant food and so they can have the best quality clothing. Chapter 24 1 Behold, Yahweh is about to empty the earth and devastate it and desecrate its face and scatter its inhabitants. 2 And it will happen, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the lender of it. 3 The earth will be completely devastated and completely stripped, for Yahweh has spoken this word. 4 The earth dries up, is withered, the world shrivels up, is withered, the heights of the people of earth waste away. 5 And the earth is polluted under its inhabitants because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants are found guilty. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth burn up, and few people {are} left. 7 The new wine dries up, the vine withers, all the merry-hearted groan. 8 The joy of the tambourines stops, the revelry of celebrators ceases, the joy of the lyre stops. 9 Not with song do they drink wine; strong drink is bitter to its drinkers. 10 The city of chaos has been broken down; every house is closed up from entering. 11 {There is} a crying in the streets because of the wine; all joy is darkened; the gladness of the land has disappeared. 12 In the city is left a desolation, and the gate is broken into a ruin. 13 For thus {it} will be in the midst of the earth among the nations, as when an olive tree is beaten, as the gleanings when the grape harvest is done. 14 They will lift up their voices, sing for joy, in the majesty of Yahweh joyfully shout from the sea. 15 Therefore, in the east glorify Yahweh, in the isles of the sea, the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel. 16 From the edge of the earth we have heard songs: “Glory to the righteous one!” And I said, “I waste away, I waste away, woe to me! The treacherous have dealt treacherously; with treachery the treacherous have dealt treacherously.” 17 Terror and the pit and the snare {are} upon you, inhabitants of the earth. 18 And he who flees from the sound of terror will fall into the pit, and he who comes up from the middle of the pit will be caught in the snare. For the windows of the heavens will be opened, and the foundations of the earth will shake. 19 The earth will be utterly shattered, the earth will be completely broken; the earth will be violently shaken. 20 The earth will violently stagger like a drunkard, and it will sway back and forth like a hut. And its sin will be heavy on it and it will fall and never rise again. 21 And it will happen on that day, Yahweh will punish the host of the heaven on high, and the kings of the earth on the earth. 22 And they will be gathered together, prisoners in a pit, and they will be shut up in a prison, and after many days they will be punished. 23 Then the white one will be ashamed, and the hot one disgraced, for Yahweh of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before his elders {is his} glory. Chapter 25 1 Yahweh, you {are} my God, I shall exalt you; I shall praise your name; for you have done wonders planned long ago {in} perfect faithfulness. 2 For you have made a town into a heap, a fortified city into a ruin, a fortress of strangers from a town, it will not be built forever. 3 Therefore a strong people will glorify you; a city of ruthless nations will fear you. 4 For you have been a fortress for the poor, a fortress for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm, a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless {is} like a storm {against} a wall, 5 like heat in a dry land. You subdued the noise of foreigners, {as} the heat by the shade of a cloud. the song of the ruthless is answered. 6 And Yahweh of hosts will make for all peoples on this mountain a feast of fat things, a feast of choice wines, fat things {full} of marrow, strained wine. 7 And he will consume on this mountain the face of the veil covering over all peoples and the web woven over all the nations; 8 he will swallow up death forever. And the Lord Yahweh will wipe away tears from off all faces. And the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for Yahweh has spoken. 9 And it will be said on that day, “Behold, this {is} our God; we have hoped in him, and he saved us. This {is} Yahweh; we have hoped in him, we shall be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” 10 For on this mountain the hand of Yahweh will rest; and Moab will be trampled down in his place, as straw is trampled down in a dunghill. 11 And it will spread its hands in the midst of it, as the swimmer spreads {his hands} to swim. But he will bring down its pride with the skill of its hands. 12 And your high fortress walls he will bring down, bring low, cast to the ground, to the dust. Chapter 26 1 On that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city, he has made salvation {its} walls and ramparts. 2 Open the gates, that the righteous nation, keeper of faith, may enter in. 3 The mind supported, you guard {in} peace—peace!— for he trusts in you. 4 Trust in Yahweh forever; for in Yah, Yahweh, {is} an everlasting rock. 5 For he will bring down the inhabitants on high, the fortified city. He will it lay low, he will lay it low to the ground, he will level it to the dust. 6 It will be trampled down {by} foot, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy. 7 The way for the righteous {is} level, Righteous One; the path of the righteous you flatten. 8 Yes, {in} the path of your judgments, Yahweh, we wait {for} you; your name and your reputation {are} the delight of the spirit. 9 With my soul, I have longed for you in the night; Indeed, my spirit within me seeks you earnestly. For when your judgments {are} on the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. 10 Let the wicked be favored; he will not learn righteousness: In the land of uprightness he acts wickedly and does not see the majesty of Yahweh. 11 Yahweh, {when} your hand is lifted up, they do not perceive. Let them see and be ashamed by the zeal for the people, by the fire consuming your adversaries. 12 Yahweh, you will establish peace for us, for you have indeed accomplished all our works for us. 13 Yahweh our God, lords besides you have ruled us; only by you we recognize your name. 14 {They are} dead, they will not live; {they are} deceased, they will not arise. Indeed, you visited and destroyed them, and eradicated every memory of them. 15 You have increased the nation, Yahweh, you have increased the nation; you are honored; you have extended all the borders of the land. 16 Yahweh, in distress they visited you {with} uttered prayers, your discipline {was} on them. 17 As a pregnant {woman} nearing birth writhes {and} cries out in labor pains, so we have been before your face, Yahweh. 18 We have been pregnant, we have been in labor, as if we have birthed wind. We have not brought salvation to the earth, and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen. 19 Your dead will live; their corpses will arise. Awake and sing for joy, dwellers of the dust, for your dew {is} the dew of light, and the earth will release the dead. 20 Go, my people, enter into your rooms, and shut your doors behind you; hide a little while, until the fury has passed by. 21 For behold, Yahweh is about to come out of his place to charge the iniquity of the inhabitants of the earth against it, and the earth will uncover her bloodshed, and will no longer cover over her slain. Chapter 27 1 On that day Yahweh, with his hard and great and fierce sword, will punish Leviathan the slithering serpent, Leviathan the squirming serpent, and he will kill the monster that {is} in the sea. 2 On that day, a delightful vineyard, sing of it! 3 “I, Yahweh, guard it. I water it every moment. lest {anyone} hurts it, night and day I guard it. 4 I do not have anger. Oh, if they would give me briers {and} thorns, in battle I would march against them; I would burn them all together. 5 If he takes hold of my protection, he makes peace with me; he makes peace with me. 6 In the coming {day}, Jacob will take root, Israel will blossom and bud, and they will fill the face of the earth with fruit.” 7 As the attacking of his attacker, has he attacked? Or, like the slaying of his slain, was he slayed? 8 In a measure, in sending her out, you have contended with her. He released his fierce breath on an east-wind day. 9 So in this the iniquity of Jacob will be covered, for this {will be} all the fruit of the removal of his sin: when he will make all the altar stones as chalk stones, crushed to pieces. No Asherah poles or incense altars will stand. 10 For the fortified city is desolate, the habitation is deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness. There a calf feeds, and there he lies down and consumes its branches. 11 When its boughs are dry, they will be broken. Women will come, make fires with them, for it is not a people of understanding. Therefore, its Maker will not have compassion on them, and its creator will not be merciful to them. 12 And it will happen on that day: Yahweh will thresh from the Euphrates River to the Wadi of Egypt, and you will be gathered, one {by} one, sons of Israel. 13 And it will happen on that day: a great trumpet will be blown, and the perishing in the land of Assyria will come, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and they will bow down to Yahweh on the holy mountain in Jerusalem. Chapter 28 1 Woe, proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim, and the fading flower of its glorious splendor, which {is} on the head of the lush valley of those overcome {with} wine! 2 Behold, one mighty and strong for my Lord. Like a storm of hail, a destructive windstorm, like a storm of mighty overflowing waters; he brings down to the ground with his hand. 3 The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim will be trodden by feet. 4 And the fading flower of his glorious splendor which {is} on the head of the lush valley, will be as the firstfruits before the summer, that when an onlooker sees it, while it is yet in his palm, he swallows it. 5 On that day Yahweh of hosts will become a crown of splendor and a diadem of beauty for the remainder of his people, 6 and a spirit of justice for him who sits in judgment, and for strength of those who turn back war at the gates. 7 But even these reel with wine and stagger with strong drink. The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, and they are swallowed up by wine. They stagger with strong drink, staggering in vision, reeling in decision. 8 For, all tables are covered with vomit of excrement, without a {clean} place. 9 To whom will he teach knowledge, and to whom will he explain the message? Those weaned from milk, those taken from the breasts? 10 For {it is} precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little. 11 Indeed, with mocking lips and a strange tongue he will speak to this people, 12 to which he said, “This {is} the rest—leave it for the weary.” And “this {is} the refreshing”— but they were not willing to listen. 13 So the word of Yahweh will be to them precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little. so that they may go and fall backward, and be broken and ensnared and captured. 14 Therefore, hear the word of Yahweh, men of mocking, rulers of this people, who {are} in Jerusalem. 15 For you have said, “We have cut a covenant {with} death, and with Sheol we have made an agreement. The cascading whip, when it passes through, it will not come to us. For we have made falsehood our refuge, and in lies we shelter.” 16 Therefore, thus says the Lord Yahweh: See, I shall lay in Zion a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He who believes will not be ashamed. 17 And I shall make justice the measuring stick, and righteousness the plumbline. And hail will sweep away the refuge of falsehood, and the waters will drown the hiding place. 18 And your covenant {with} death will be dissolved, and your agreement {with} Sheol will not stand. The cascading whip that passes through, you will be overwhelmed by it. 19 When it passes through, it will take you, for it will pass through morning by morning, by day and night, and to understand the message will be only terror. 20 For the bed {is} too short to stretch out {on}, and the blanket {too} narrow to wrap oneself. 21 Yahweh will rise up as {on} Mount Perazim; he will rouse himself as in the Valley of Gibeon to do his work, his strange work, and to perform his deed, his strange deed. 22 And now, do not mock, lest your bonds be tightened. For I have heard: destruction is decreed from the Lord Yahweh of hosts over all the earth. 23 Give ear and hear my voice; listen closely and hear my words. 24 Does a farmer plows all day to sow? Does he break up and harrow the ground? 25 Does he not level its face, and scatter fennel, and sow the cumin, and put the wheat {in} rows, and the barley in plots, and the spelt at its border? 26 And His God instructs him; he teaches him wisely. 27 For fennel is not threshed with a threshing board, nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin; but fennel is beaten with a stick, and cumin with a rod. 28 For bread it must be ground, so the thresher does not thresh it forever, and he runs {it} over {with} the wheels of his cart but his horses do not crush it. 29 This too comes from Yahweh of hosts, wonderful {in} counsel, his wisdom great. Chapter 29 1 Woe, Ariel, Ariel, the city {where} David encamped! Add year to year; let the festivals come round. 2 And I shall cause distress to Ariel, and she will be mourning and lamenting; and she will be to me like Ariel. 3 And I shall encamp against you in a circle and lay siege against you {with} siege-works, and raise against you fortresses. 4 And you will be brought down and will speak from the ground; your speech will be low from the dust, and your voice will be like {that of} a spirit from the ground, and out of the dust your speech will whisper. 5 And the horde of your strangers will be like fine dust, and the horde of the oppressors as chaff passing through. And it will happen suddenly, in an instant. 6 She will be visited by Yahweh of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and a great noise, a storm and a tempest and the flames of a devouring fire. 7 And it will be like a dream, a vision of the night: A horde of all the nations will come out against Ariel and all her assembly and her stronghold, and they will press upon her. 8 And it will be like a hungry dreamer; and behold: he is eating, but he awakes, and his stomach {is} empty. Or, like a thirsty dreamer; and behold: he is drinking, but he awakes, and behold: {he is} fainting and his thirst active. So will be the throng of all the nations coming out against Mount Zion. 9 Astonish yourselves and be astonished; blind yourselves and be blind! Be drunk, but not {with} wine; stagger, but not {with} strong drink. 10 For Yahweh has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep and has closed your eyes, the prophets, and has covered your heads, the seers. 11 And all revelation has become to you as the words of a sealed book, that which {one} might give to one who is book-learned, saying, “Please read this.” And he says, “I am not able, for it {is} sealed,” 12 or {if} the book is given to {one} who {is} not book-learned, saying, “Please read this,” and he says, “I am not book-learned.” 13 And the Lord said, “Because this people comes close with its mouths and honors me with its lips, but its heart {is} far from me, and their fear for me is a commandment of men {that} has been taught! 14 Therefore, behold, I shall continue to do wonders {with} this people, making wonders and wonders. And the wisdom of its wise will perish, and the understanding of its discerning will hide itself.” 15 Woe, those burying deeply to hide a plan from Yahweh, and in darkness are their deeds, and they say, “Who sees us, and who knows us?” 16 You reverse {things}! Should the potter be considered like clay, so the made should say of its maker, “He did not make me,” or the created say of its creator, “He does not understand”? 17 Is {it} not {in} just a very little {time} that Lebanon will be turned into a field, and the field will be considered a forest? 18 And on that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and from the deep and from the darkness, the eyes of the blind will see. 19 And the poor will again be glad in Yahweh, and the needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. 20 For the ruthless will cease, and the scoffer will vanish, and all those lying in wait for evil will be cut down, 21 who make a man guilty with a word and lay a trap for the judge at the gate and turn away the righteous with emptiness. 22 Therefore, thus says Yahweh—who redeemed Abraham—to the house of Jacob: “Now Jacob will not be ashamed, and now his face will not be pale. 23 But when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in his midst, they will sanctify my name, and they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and the God of Israel they will fear. 24 And those erring {in} spirit will know understanding, and complainers will learn knowledge.” Chapter 30 1 “Woe, rebellious children” —the declaration of Yahweh “Making plans, but not mine, and pouring out libations, but not {by} my Spirit, so adding sin upon sin. 2 Those going down {into} Egypt, —but my mouth have not asked— to have strength in the fortress of Pharaoh and to refuge in the shadow of Egypt. 3 But the fortress of Pharaoh will be for you shame, and the refuge in the shade of Egypt, for humiliation. 4 Though its princes are at Zoan, and their messengers have reached Hanes, 5 all will be ashamed because of a people not benefiting them: not help and not aid, but a shame, and even a disgrace.” 6 An oracle for the beasts of the Negev: Through the land of trouble and danger —from {it} are the lioness and the lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent— they carry their riches on the shoulders of donkeys and their treasures on the humps of camels to a people not benefiting {them}, 7 for Egypt helps {in} emptiness and uselessness. Therefore, I have called her: Rahab the Do-Nothing. 8 Now go, write it on a tablet before them and on a scroll inscribe it, that it may be for the time to come as a testimony until forever. 9 For it {is} a rebellious people, false sons, sons not willing to hear the law of Yahweh, 10 who say to the seers, “Do not see,” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy the truth to us! Speak flattery to us; prophesy illusions. 11 Turn aside from the way, stray from the path; cease {speaking of} before our faces the Holy One of Israel.” 12 Therefore, thus says the Holy One of Israel: “Because you reject this word and trust in oppression and corruption and lean on it, 13 so this sin will be to you like a crack falling, a bulge in a high wall whose breach comes suddenly, in an instant. 14 And whose breaking {is} like the breaking of the vessel of a potter, shattered {with} no pity, so no shard is found among its fragments to scrape fire from the hearth, or to draw water out of the cistern.” 15 For thus says the Lord Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and resting you will be saved; in quietness and in confidence will be your strength. But you were not willing. 16 And you said, ‘No, for on horses we shall flee,’ so you will flee; and, ‘We shall ride upon swift {horses},’ so those who pursue you will be swift. 17 One thousand from the face of the threat of one; from the face of the threat of five you will flee until you are left like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain, or like a flag on a hill.” 18 And yet Yahweh is waiting to be gracious to you, and therefore, he rises to show you mercy. For a God of justice {is} Yahweh; blessed {are} all who wait for him. 19 For people in Zion, dweller in Jerusalem, you will surely not weep. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. When he hears it, he will answer you. 20 Though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, even so, your teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes will see your teacher, 21 and your ears will hear a word behind you saying, “This {is} the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. 22 And you will desecrate your silver-overlaid idols and your gold-plated figures. You will throw them away like a menstrual rag. You will say to them, “Get out!” 23 And he will give rain for your seed when you sow the ground, and bread of the produce of the ground, and {it} will be rich and fat. In that day your cattle will graze {in} broad pastures. 24 And the oxen and the donkeys, plowers of the ground, will eat seasoned feed that has been winnowed with a shovel and a fork. 25 And on every high mountain and on every tall hill will be streams, rivers of waters, in the day of the great slaughter when the towers fall. 26 And the light of the white one will be like the light of the hot one, and the light of the hot one will be seven {times}, like the light of seven days in a day. Yahweh will bind up the breakdown of his people and heal the bruises of his wounding. 27 Behold, the name of Yahweh comes from afar, his nose burning and in dense smoke. His lips {are} full of fury, and his tongue like a devouring fire. 28 And his breath is like a torrent rising to the middle of the neck to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction, and a bridle in the jaws of the peoples leading {them} astray. 29 You will have a song as in the night of a holy feast, and gladness of heart, as when one walks with a flute to go to the mountain of Yahweh, to the Rock of Israel. 30 And Yahweh will make the splendor of his voice heard and show the descent of his arm in raging nose and flames of a consuming fire, storm and tempest and stones of hail. 31 For at the voice of Yahweh, Assyria will be dismayed; he will strike {them} with a staff. 32 And every stroke of the appointed rod which Yahweh will lay on them will be with tambourines and harps as he fights against them in battle, waving {his arm}. 33 For a place of cremation {was} arranged long ago. Indeed, it is prepared for the king. He has deepened, widened {it}, the pile of fire and much wood. The breath of Yahweh, like a stream of brimstone, will enflame it. Chapter 31 1 Woe, who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, and trust in chariots that {are} many and in horsemen that {are} very countless, but they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, and Yahweh they do not seek! 2 But he, too, {is} wise, and he will bring harm and will not retract his words. And he will arise against the evil house and against the helpers of sin-doers. 3 And Egypt {is} a man and not God, and their horses flesh and not spirit. And Yahweh will reach out his hand, and the helper will stumble, and the helped will fall, and together all of them will perish. 4 For thus says Yahweh to me, “As a lion growls, or a young lion over its prey, when a group of shepherds is called out against it, it is not afraid at their voice, and does not cower at their clamor— thus Yahweh of hosts will descend to muster on Mount Zion and on its hill. 5 Like birds flying, so Yahweh of hosts will guard over Jerusalem; protecting and rescuing, sparing and preserving.” 6 Return to whom you have deeply turned away {from}, sons of Israel. 7 For on that day a man will reject his idols of silver and his idols of gold which your hands have made for yourselves {as} sin. 8 “And Assyria will fall by a sword not of man, and a sword not of mankind will consume him. And he will flee from the face of the sword and his young men will be for forced labor. 9 And his rock will pass away at the terror, and his princes will be afraid at the banner” —the declaration of Yahweh, who has fire in Zion, and has a furnace in Jerusalem. Chapter 32 1 Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule in justice. 2 And each will be like a shelter {from} the wind and a refuge {from} the storm, like streams of water in the desert, like the shade of a great rock in a weary land. 3 Then the eyes of onlookers will not be dim, and the ears of hearers will listen closely. 4 And the heart of the hasty will understand knowledge, and the tongue of stutterers will hasten to speak clearly. 5 The fool will no longer be called honorable, and will not be said of the deceiver “noble.” 6 For the fool speaks folly, and his heart does sin. Doing wickedness, and speaking error against Yahweh. He makes the hungry appetite empty, and the thirsty he causes to lack drink. 7 And the deceiver, his methods {are} evil. He plans wickedness to ruin the poor with sayings of falsehood, even when the poor speak justice. 8 But the honorable plans noble deeds; and he, because of noble deeds, will stand. 9 Haughty women, rise up, listen to my voice; carefree daughters, give ear to my words. 10 {In just} days upon a year, confidence will falter, for the grape harvest is ended; the harvest will not come. 11 Tremble, haughty {women}; quake, confident ones; strip and bare yourselves; and gird {sackcloth} on {your} waists. 12 Beat on {your} breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vines. 13 On the land of my people are overgrown thorns {and} briers, even in all the joyful houses of the city of revelry. 14 For the palace will be forsaken, the crowded city will be deserted; the hill and the watchtower will one after another become caves to eternity, a delight of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks; 15 until the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the wilderness becomes an orchard, and the orchard is considered as a forest. 16 Then justice will reside in the wilderness; and righteousness will live in the orchard. 17 And the work of righteousness will be peace; and the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence to eternity. 18 And my people will live in a peaceful habitation and in secure homes, and in quiet resting places. 19 And it will hail when the forest comes down, and the city will be completely annihilated. 20 You {will be} blessed, who sow beside every stream, who send out freely the ox and the donkey. Chapter 33 1 Woe, destroyer, and you have not been destroyed! And betrayer, and they have not betrayed him! When you finish destroying, you will be destroyed. When you stop betraying, they will betray you. 2 Yahweh, be gracious to us; for you we wait. Be their arm in the mornings, our salvation also in the time of trouble. 3 At the sound of the throng, the peoples flee; when you arise, the nations are scattered. 4 And your spoil is gathered {as} the locust gathers; as locusts leap, he leaps on it. 5 Yahweh is exalted, for he dwells on high. He will fill Zion with justice and righteousness. 6 And he will be the stability of your times, an abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of Yahweh is his treasure. 7 Behold, their warriors cry outside; the messengers of peace weep bitterly. 8 The highways are deserted; travelers of the road are gone. He has broken covenants, despised the witnesses; he has not regarded man. 9 The land mourns, is barren; Lebanon is ashamed, withered; Sharon {is} like the Arabah; and Bashan and Carmel shake off {their leaves}. 10 “Now I shall arise,” says Yahweh. “Now I will be lifted up; now I will be elevated. 11 You will conceive chaff, give birth to stubble your breath {is} a fire; it will consume you. 12 And the peoples will be burned {to} lime— thorns cut-down, burned in fire.” 13 Listen, far away ones, to what I have done, and near ones, acknowledge my might. 14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless. “Who among us can dwell {with} a consuming fire? Who among us can dwell {with} burnings of eternity?” 15 He who walks righteously and speaks honestly; who despises the gain of oppression, who shakes his hand {away} from accepting a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing {about} bloodshed, and who shuts his eyes from looking on evil— 16 {it is} he who will dwell on the heights; a fort of cliffs {is} his refuge. His bread will be given; his water, secure. 17 Your eyes will see the king in his beauty; they will see a faraway land. 18 Your heart will recall the terror: “Where {is} he who counts? Where is he who weighs? Where {is} he who counted the towers?” 19 You will not see the defiant people, a people of a too strange language to understand; the tongue is stammering; there is no interpreting. 20 Look at Zion, the city of our festivals; your eyes will see Jerusalem, an undisturbed habitation, a tent not removed, whose stakes will not ever be pulled up, and all its cords will not be broken. 21 Instead, there the Mighty One, Yahweh {will be} with us, a place of broad rivers, wide streams. No warship {with} oars will travel it, and no mighty ships will pass by it. 22 For Yahweh {is} our judge, Yahweh {is} our lawgiver, Yahweh {is} our king; {it is} he who will save us. 23 Your riggings {are} slack; they cannot hold the pole of its mast; they cannot spread the sail. Then the great spoil is divided; even the lame will plunder the spoil. 24 And the inhabitants will not say, “I am sick”; the people who live in it will be lifted of iniquity. Chapter 34 1 Come near, nations, to listen, and the peoples, pay attention! The earth and its multitude must listen, the world and all its offspring. 2 For Yahweh has fury against all the nations and wrath against all their armies. He will completely destroy them; he will hand them over to the slaughter. 3 And their slain will be thrown out, and their corpses will emit a stench, and the mountains will soak up their blood. 4 And all the host of the heavens will melt, and the sky will be rolled up like a scroll; and all their hosts will fade away, as the leaf fades from the vine, and as the withered fruit from the fig tree. 5 For my sword will have drunk its fill in heaven; behold, on Edom it descends and on the people set apart for judgment. 6 The sword of Yahweh is full of blood dripping from fat, from the blood of lambs and goats, from the fat of the kidneys of rams. For Yahweh has a sacrifice in Bozrah and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. 7 And wild oxen will fall with them, and young bulls with strong ones. And their land will drink its fill of blood, and their dust fattened by fat. 8 For Yahweh has a day of vengeance, a year of retribution for the cause of Zion. 9 And her streams will be turned into pitch, and her dust into sulfur, and her land will become burning pitch. 10 Night and day it will not be extinguished; its smoke will rise forever. From generation to generation it will be a wasteland; forever and ever no one will pass through it. 11 But the pelican and the hedgehog will occupy it. and the owl and the raven will dwell in it. And he will stretch over it the measuring line of formlessness and the plumbline of void. 12 {For} her nobles, there is nothing to call a kingdom, and all her princes {will be} nobody. 13 And thorns will rise over her palaces, nettles and thistles in her fortresses. And it will be a habitation of jackals, a place for ostriches. 14 And the wild animals will meet hyenas, and the wild goats will call upon his companion. Indeed, there night creatures will settle and find for themselves a place of rest. 15 There the owl will nest and lay and hatch and brood in her shade. Indeed, there hawks will gather, each {with} its mate. 16 Search through the scroll of Yahweh and read: not one of these will be missing; not one will lack its mate. For his mouth has commanded it, and his spirit has gathered it. 17 And he has cast lots for them, and his hand measured for them by a cord. To eternity they will possess {it}; from generation to generation they will live in it. Chapter 35 1 The wilderness and the desert will be glad; and the Arabah will rejoice and blossom. Like the rose, 2 it will blossom abundantly and rejoice, even {with} joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of Yahweh, the splendor of our God. 3 Strengthen the weak hands, and the shaky knees, steady. 4 Say to those fearful of heart, “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come {with} vengeance, {with} the recompense of God. He himself will come and save you.” 5 Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be opened. 6 Then the lame one will leap like a deer, and the mute tongue will sing, for water breaks out in the wilderness, and streams in the Arabah. 7 And the parched ground will become a pool, and the thirsty place springs of water; in the habitation of jackals, its resting place⁠, grass with reeds and rushes. 8 And there a highway and way will be, and it will be called ‘the way of holiness.’ The unclean will not travel it. But it {will be} for him, the wayfarer of the road, and no fool will wander {it}. 9 No lion will be there, and no ferocious beast will go up on it; they will not be found there. But the redeemed will walk it, 10 and the ransomed of Yahweh will return and come with singing to Zion, with everlasting joy on their heads; gladness and joy will overtake {them}, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. Chapter 36 1 And it happened in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib, king of Assyria went up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 2 Then the king of Assyria sent the chief commander from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway of the Field of the Fuller. 3 And Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who {was} over the court, and Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went out to him. 4 And the chief commander said to them, “Please say to Hezekiah, ‘thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, What {is} this confidence in which you trust? 5 You said mere words of lips {are} counsel and strength for war. Now in whom are you trusting that you rebel against me? 6 Behold, you are trusting in the staff of this splintered reed, in Egypt, which, when a man leans on it, then it will go into his palm and pierce it. Thus {is} Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 7 But if you say to me, “We are trusting in Yahweh our God,” {is} it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has taken away and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You must worship before the face of this altar”? 8 So now, wager, please, {with} my lord the king of Assyria. And I will give to you 2000 horses, if you are able to set for yourselves riders on them. 9 And how could you drive back the face of one captain of the humblest servants of my lord? But you yourself have trusted in Egypt for chariots and horsemen! 10 And now, have I come up without Yahweh to this land to destroy it? Yahweh said to me, “Go up to this land and destroy it.”’” 11 Then Eliakim and Shebnah and Joah said to the chief commander, “Please speak Aramaic to your servants, for we understand {it}. And do not speak with us Judean in the ears of the people who {are} on the wall.” 12 But the chief commander said, “Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words? Is it not to the men who sit on the wall, eating their dung and drinking their urine with you?” 13 Then the chief commander stood and called out in a loud voice {in} Judean and said, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. 14 Thus says the king, ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to rescue you. 15 And do not let Hezekiah make you trust in Yahweh, saying, “Yahweh will surely rescue us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”’ 16 Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make terms with me and come out to me. Then {every} man will eat of his vine and {every} man his fig tree, and {every} man will drink the water of his cistern 17 until I come and take you away to a land like your land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.’ 18 Lest Hezekiah mislead you, saying, ‘Yahweh will rescue us.’ Did the gods of the peoples rescue {every} man of his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where {are} the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where {are} the gods of Sepharvaim? And have they rescued Samaria from my hand? 20 Who among all the gods of these lands, who has rescued his land from my hand, as if Yahweh could save Jerusalem from my hand?” 21 But they were silent and did not respond {to} him a word, for the command of the king was, saying, “Do not answer him.” 22 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who {was} over the court, and Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph the recorder came to Hezekiah {with} clothes torn and reported to him the words of the chief commander. Chapter 37 1 And it happened when King Hezekiah heard, then he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of Yahweh. 2 And he sent Eliakim, who {was} over the court, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet. 3 And they said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day {is} a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as sons coming to the opening of the womb, but there is no strength to give birth. 4 Perhaps Yahweh your God will hear the words of the chief commander, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to defy the living God and will rebuke the words which Yahweh your God has heard. So, lift up a prayer for the remaining remnant.’” 5 And the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6 and Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master: ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Do not be afraid from the face of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have insulted me. 7 Behold, I shall put a spirit in him, and he will hear a report and go back to his land. And I shall cause him to fall by the sword in his land.”’” 8 Then the chief commander returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that he had gone away from Lachish. 9 And he heard about Tirhakah king of Cush, saying “He has gone out to fight against you,” and he heard {it}, so he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Thus you shall say to Hezekiah, king of Judah, saying, ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 11 Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them completely. And will you be rescued? 12 Have the gods of the nations rescued them whom my fathers destroyed: Gozan and Haran and Rezeph, and the sons of Eden who {were} in Tel Assar? 13 Where {is} the king of Hamath and the king of Arpad and the king of the cities of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’” 14 And Hezekiah received the writings from the hand of the messengers and read it. Then he went up {to} the house of Yahweh. And Hezekiah spread it out before the face of Yahweh. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to Yahweh, saying, 16 “Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, sitting {by} the cherubim, you {are} he: you alone {are} God over all the kingdoms of the earth. {It is} you {who} made the heavens and the earth. 17 Turn your ear, Yahweh, and listen. Open your eyes, Yahweh, and see, and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 18 Indeed, Yahweh, the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the nations and their land. 19 And they have put their gods into the fire, for they {were} not gods but the work of the hands of man, wood and stone. And they have destroyed them. 20 And now, Yahweh our God, save us from his hand; then all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you {are} Yahweh, you alone.” 21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this {is} the word that Yahweh has spoken about him: “The virgin daughter of Zion despises you, scorns you; the daughter of Jerusalem shakes {her} head at you. 23 Whom have you defied and insulted? And against whom have you exalted {your} voice and lifted upward your eyes? Against the Holy One of Israel. 24 By the hand of your servants you have defied the Lord and you have said, ‘With the multitude of my chariots I have gone up to the heights of the mountains, the reaches of Lebanon. And I shall cut down its tall cedars, its choice cypresses, and I shall enter into its farthest high places, its most fruitful forest. 25 {It is} I who has dug and drunk water; [1] And I dried up all the rivers of Egypt with the soles of my feet.’ 26 Have you not heard? Long ago I determined it, and made it from days of old. Now I am bringing it to pass, that you should devastate the fortressed cities {to} heaps of ruins. 27 And their inhabitants, those short of hand, are dismayed and ashamed. They are plants of the field and green grass, grass of the roof or the field, before the face of the east wind. 28 “But your sitting down and your going out and your coming in, I know and your raging against me. 29 Because of your raging against me, and your arrogance coming up to my ears, so I shall put my hook in your nose, and my bit in your mouth, and I shall turn you back to the way by which you came.” 30 And this {will be} the sign for you: “This year you will eat wild plants, and in the second year the after-growth. But in the third year you must sow and harvest and plant vineyards and eat the fruit. 31 And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root below and produce fruit above. 32 For from Jerusalem a remnant will come out, and survivors from Mount Zion. The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this.’” 33 Therefore, thus says Yahweh about the king of Assyria: “He will not come into this city and he will not shoot an arrow here. And he will not bring near it a shield and he will not build up against it siegeworks. 34 The way by which he came, he will return {in}, and he will not enter to this city” —the declaration of Yahweh— 35 “and I shall protect over this city, rescuing it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.” 36 Then the angel of Yahweh went out and struck 185,000 of the camp of Assyria. And they rose early in the morning, and behold, all of them {were} dead bodies. 37 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and traveled and went back. And he stayed in Nineveh. 38 And it happened, he was worshiping {in} the house of Nisrok his god, and his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer struck him with the sword. And they escaped {into} the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place. 37:25 [1] Some ancient manuscripts have I have dug wells and drunk water in foreign lands. Chapter 38 1 In those days Hezekiah was sick to {the point of} death. So Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet, came to him and said to him, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Set your house in order, for you will die and not live.’” 2 And Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to Yahweh. 3 And he said, “O Yahweh, please remember how I have faithfully walked before your face with my whole heart and done good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept great tears. 4 And the word of Yahweh was to Isaiah, saying, 5 “Go and say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I shall add on your days 15 years. 6 And I shall rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria and defend this city. 7 And this {will be} the sign to you from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do this word that he said. 8 Behold, I shall cause the shadow on the stairs which has gone down with the sun on the stairs of Ahaz to return back ten steps.’” So the sun went back ten steps on the stairs which it had gone down. 9 A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick and recovered from his sickness: 10 I said, “In the middle of my days I will go through the gates of Sheol; I am summoned {there} the rest of my years.” 11 I said, “I will not see Yah, Yah in the land of the living; I will no longer look on mankind or the inhabitants of the world. [1] 12 My dwelling is removed and carried away from me like the tent of a shepherd; I have rolled up my life like a weaver; he is cutting me off from the loom; from day to night you are finishing me. 13 I cried out [2] until the morning; like a lion, thus he breaks all my bones. From day to night you are finishing me. 14 Like a swallow, thus I chirp; I coo like a dove; my eyes grow tired {with looking} upward. Lord, I am oppressed; lend me support.” 15 What shall I say? And he has said to me, and he has done {it}; I will walk softly all my years because of the bitterness of my spirit. 16 Lord, on them {men} live, and in all of them {is} the life of my spirit. And you have restored me and given me life. 17 Behold, for {my} wellbeing bitter bitterness {was} for me. But you have held back my life from the pit of nothingness, for you have thrown all my sins behind your back. 18 For Sheol does not thank you, {or} death praise you; those who go down {into} the pit do not wait for your trustworthiness. 19 The living, the living! {It is} he who gives you thanks, as I {do} today; a father makes known to sons about your trustworthiness. 20 Yahweh {is about} to save me, and we will play songs with instruments all the days of our lives in the house of Yahweh.” 21 Now Isaiah had said, “They shall take a lump of figs and plaster {it} on the boil, and he will live.” 22 And Hezekiah had said, “What {will be} the sign that I should go up to the house of Yahweh?” 38:11 [1] the inhabitants of the world : Most modern versions have this meaning. Some ancient manuscripts have the inhabitants of the place of non-existence (that is, brief existence). 38:13 [2] The Hebrew could be read: I cried out or I lie down. Chapter 39 1 At that time Marduk-Baladan, son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard that he had been sick and had recovered. 2 And Hezekiah was pleased by them, and he showed them the storehouse of his valuables—the silver and the gold and the spices and the precious oil, and the whole storehouse of his weapons, and all that was found in his treasures. There was not a thing in his house or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them. 3 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say to you, and where did they come from?” And Hezekiah said, “They came to me from a distant land, from Babylon.” 4 And Isaiah said, “What have they seen in your house?” And Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything that {is} in my house. There is not a thing that I have not shown them in my treasures.” 5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Listen to the word of Yahweh of hosts: 6 ‘Behold, the days are coming when everything that {is} in your house and that your fathers stored away until this day will be carried {to} Babylon. Not a thing will be left, says Yahweh. 7 And from the sons whom you have brought forth from yourself, whom you have fathered, they will take away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’” 8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of Yahweh that you have spoken {is} good.” And he said, “For there will be peace and stability in my days.” Chapter 40 1 “Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. 2 “Speak to the heart of Jerusalem; and proclaim to her that her term of service is fulfilled, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the hand of Yahweh double for all her sins.” 3 A voice cries out in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of Yahweh; make straight in the Arabah a highway for our God. 4 Every valley will be lifted up, and every mountain and hill leveled; and the rugged land will be as a plateau, and the rough places a plain; 5 and the glory of Yahweh will be revealed, and all flesh will see {it} together; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken.” 6 A voice says, “Call out.” And {I} said, “What should I call out?” “All flesh {is} grass, and all their covenant faithfulness {is} like the flower of the field. 7 The grass withers, the flower wilts for the breath of Yahweh blows on it; surely mankind {is} grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower wilts, but the word of our God will stand forever.” 9 Go up yourself on a high mountain, herald of Zion. Lift high your voice mightily, herald of Jerusalem raise {it}, do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold: your God!” 10 Behold, the Lord Yahweh comes powerfully, and his arm rules for him. Behold, his reward {is} with him, and his wages {are} before his face. 11 Like a shepherd he will tend his flock, in his arm he will gather the lambs, and in his bosom carry them; the nursing ewes he will lead. 12 Who has measured the waters in his palm, and has gauged the sky with a handspan, and comprehended the measure of the dust of the earth, and weighed the mountains in scales, or the hills in a balance? 13 Who has comprehended the spirit of Yahweh, or has a man instructed him {as} his counselor? 14 With whom did he counsel? And informed him? And taught him the way of justice? and taught him knowledge, or the path of understanding informed him? 15 Behold, the nations {are} like a drop in a bucket, and are regarded like the dust on the scales; behold, he weighs the isles as a speck. 16 And Lebanon {is} not enough to kindle, and its wild animals not enough {for} a burnt offering. 17 All the nations {are} as naught before him; as nothing and void they are regarded by him. 18 And to whom will you liken God? And what likeness will you compare to him? 19 An idol? A craftsman casts {it}, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold and forges silver chains. 20 He who sets up a contribution chooses wood {that} does not rot, he seeks a skillful artisan for himself to erect an idol {that} will not fall over. 21 Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told to you from the beginning? Have you not understood {from} the foundations of the earth? 22 He is sitting above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants {are} like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to live in. 23 He brings princes to nothingness; he makes the rulers of the earth as naught. 24 Indeed, they are hardly planted, yes, hardly sown. Indeed, their stem has hardly taken root in the earth, but he also blows upon them and they wither, and the wind carries them away like straw. 25 “And to whom will you compare me, that I be equal {with}?” says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high and see! Who has created these? He musters their host by number, calls all of them by name, By the greatness of might and the strength of power, not one is missing. 27 Why do you say, Jacob, and speak, Israel, “My way is hidden from Yahweh, and my God passes over my judgment”? 28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, Yahweh, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not grow tired and does not become weary; there is no limit to his understanding. 29 He gives energy to the weary; and to the frail of strength, increased might. 30 Even youths become tired and weary, and young lads stumble clumsily: 31 but those who wait {for} Yahweh will renew {their} strength; they will ascend {with} wings like eagles; they will run and not be weary; they will walk and not faint. Chapter 41 1 “Be silent before me, coastlands, and let the nations renew {their} strength; let them approach, then let them speak; together let us draw near to trial. 2 “Who has stirred up righteousness from the east, calling it to his feet? He gives nations before his face and tramples kings. He makes {them} like dust {with} his sword, like scattered straw with his bow. 3 He pursues them, passes by {in} peace, no path does he touch with his feet. 4 Who has worked and accomplished, has summoned the generations from the beginning? I, Yahweh, the first and the last, I {am} he.” 5 The isles have seen and are afraid; the ends of the earth tremble; they approach and come. 6 {Every} man helps his neighbor, and says to his brother, “Be strong.” 7 And the artisan strengthens the goldsmith, who smooths {with} a hammer, who strikes the anvil, saying of the welding, “It {is} good.” And they fasten it with nails; it will not topple over. 8 “But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend, 9 you whom I am seizing from the ends of the earth, and from its extremities I called you and said to you, ‘You {are} my servant;’ I have chosen you and not rejected you. 10 Do not fear, for I {am} with you. Do not be anxious, for I {am} your God. I will strengthen you, indeed, I will help you, yes, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. 11 “Behold, they will be ashamed and disgraced, all who have been angry with you; they will be as nothing and will perish, men who contend with you. 12 You will seek them and will not find the men who quarreled with you; they will be as void and as nothing, the men who fought you. 13 For I, Yahweh your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Do not fear; I am helping you.’ 14 Do not fear, worm of Jacob, men of Israel. I will help you”—the declaration of Yahweh, and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. 15 “Behold, I am making you into a threshing sledge, a new threshing board, having two-edges; you will thresh the mountains and crush {them}, and you will make the hills like chaff. 16 You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away; and the whirlwind will scatter them. And you, you will rejoice in Yahweh, in the Holy One of Israel you will boast. 17 “The oppressed and needy look for water, but {there is} none, their tongues are parched for thirst; I, Yahweh, shall respond to them; I, the God of Israel, shall not forsake them. 18 I shall open streams upon the slopes, and in the middle of the valleys, fountains. I shall make the wilderness into a pool of water, and the dry land into springs of water. 19 In the wilderness I shall set the cedar, the acacia, and the myrtle, and the olive tree. I shall place in the desert plain the cypress, the elm and the box tree together 20 so that they may see and know and take {to heart} and have insight together, that the hand of Yahweh has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it. 21 “Present your case,” says Yahweh, “bring forth your arguments,” says the King of Jacob. 22 “Let them bring forth and tell us what will happen. The first {things}, what {are} they? Let them tell, and put {before} our hearts, and we will know the last {things}, and they will inform us {of} the coming {things}. 23 Tell the signs of the future, that we may know if you {are} gods. Yes, do good or evil, that we may look and see altogether. 24 Behold, you are nothing, and your deeds are naught; an abomination, he who chooses you. 25 “I have raised up one from the north, and he comes; from the rising of the sun he calls on my name, and he will trample rulers like mud, and like a potter treading clay. 26 Who has told from the beginning that we might know? And from before the face, that we may say, ‘{He is} right’? Indeed, none told, truly, none announced, yes, none heard your sayings. 27 First, to Zion: ‘Behold, here they are!’ And to Jerusalem a herald I sent. 28 And I looked, but there was no man, and from them, none who counseled, or, when I asked, returned a word. 29 Behold, all of them {are} nothing, naught {are} their deeds; wind and void {are} their images. Chapter 42 1 “Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen one, my spirit is pleased. I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring justice to the nations. 2 He will not cry out and he will not lift up {his voice}, and he will not make his voice heard outside. 3 A crushed reed he will not break, and a feeble wick he will not quench. He will faithfully bring forth justice; 4 he will not grow faint and not be broken, until he has established justice on the earth, and the coastlands wait for his law.” 5 Thus says God, Yahweh, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who forged the earth and all its produce, who gives breath to the people on it and air to those who live on it: 6 “I, Yahweh, have called you in righteousness and held your hand, and I will keep you and set you as a covenant of the people, as a light of the nations, 7 to open the eyes of the blind, to release the prisoners from the dungeon, from the house of confinement, dwellers of darkness. 8 “I {am} Yahweh, that {is} my name, and my glory I shall not give to another or my praise to carved idols. 9 Behold, the previous {things} came to pass; and I shall declare new {things}. Before they sprout I shall announce them.” 10 Sing to Yahweh a new song, his praise from the end of the earth; those who descend {into} the sea and its fullness, the coastlands and their dwellers. 11 Let the wilderness and its cities lift up {their voice}, the villages {where} Kedar lives. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing; from the tops of mountains let them shout. 12 Let them give glory to Yahweh and his praise in the coastlands let them declare. 13 Yahweh will go out as a warrior; as a man of war he will stir up {his} zeal. He will shout, yes, he will raise a battle cry; over his enemies he prevails. 14 “I have kept quiet from ancient times; I have been still; I have restrained myself; like a woman giving birth I shall cry out; I shall gasp and pant at once. 15 I shall destroy mountains and hills and all their vegetation dry up; and I shall turn the rivers into islands and the marshes dry up. 16 And I shall bring the blind by a way they do not know; in paths they do not know I shall lead them. I shall turn the darkness into light before their faces, and the crooked places straighten. These things I shall do, and I shall not abandon them. 17 They will be turned back, be completely ashamed, who trust in carved figures, who say to cast figures, ‘You {are} our gods.’ 18 “Deaf ones, listen, and blind ones, look, in order to see. 19 Who {is} blind except my servant? Or deaf like my messenger I send? Who {is} blind like Meshullam, or blind like the servant of Yahweh? 20 You see much but do not observe; ears {are} open, but do not hear. 21 Yahweh is pleased on account of his righteousness, he gives praise {to} the law and makes {it} glorious. 22 But it {is} a people robbed and plundered, all of them trapped in pits and in houses of prisoners held captive. They have become a plunder with no rescue, despoiled, and no one says, ‘Give back!’ 23 Who among you will give ear {to} this, give heed and hear in the future? 24 Who gave Jacob to the robber, and Israel to the looters? Was {it} not Yahweh, against whom we have sinned, and were not willing to walk in his ways, and did not obey his law? 25 And he poured out on him the heat of his nose and the violence of war, and its flames encircled, yet he did not know, and {it} consumed him, but he did not take {it} to heart. Chapter 43 1 But now thus says Yahweh, your creator, Jacob, and your fashioner, Israel: “Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you; I have called {you} by your name; you {are} mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I {am} with you; and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire you will not be burned, and the flames will not destroy you. 3 For I {am} Yahweh your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I have given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. 4 Since you are precious in my eyes, you are honored and I, I love you, and I shall give men in exchange for you and nations in exchange for your life. 5 Do not be afraid, for I {am} with you; I shall bring your seed from the east, and from the west I shall gather you. 6 I shall say to the north, ‘Give,’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold back.’ Bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth, 7 all who are called by my name and whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, yes, I made him.” 8 Bring out a blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears. 9 All the nations gather together, and the peoples assemble. Who among them could have declared this and announced to us the first {things}? Let them bring their witnesses that they may be verified, and let them listen that they may say, “{It is} true.” 10 “You {are} my witnesses,”—the declaration of Yahweh— “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe in me, and understand that I {am} he. Before my face no god was formed, and after me will be none. 11 I, I {am} Yahweh, and there is no savior but me. 12 I have declared and saved and proclaimed, and there is no other among you. And you {are} my witnesses,”—the declaration of Yahweh— “And I {am} God. 13 Yes, from today I {am} he, and no one can rescue from my hand. I act, and who can turn it back?” 14 Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I send to Babylon and lead all of them down {as} fugitives and the Chaldeans in the ships of their rejoicing. 15 I {am} Yahweh, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.” 16 Thus says Yahweh, who gave a way through the sea and in the mighty waters a path, 17 who led out the chariot and horse, the army and the troops. They fell down together; they will not rise; they are extinguished like a quenched wick. 18 “Do not remember the first {things}, and the previous {things} do not consider. 19 Behold, I shall do a new thing; now it sprouts; do you not perceive it? Indeed, I shall make a road in the desert, in the wilderness, streams. 20 The wild animals of the field will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, {for} my chosen people to drink, 21 this people I formed for myself; my praises they will recount. 22 “But you have not called on me, Jacob; for you have become tired of me, Israel. 23 You have not brought me sheep {as} your burnt offerings, and {with} your sacrifices you have not honored me. I have not burdened you with grain offerings, and I have not wearied you with incense. 24 You have bought me no aromatic cane with money, and the fat of your sacrifices you have not poured out to me, but you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities. 25 “I, I, {am} he who blots out your offenses for my sake, and your sins I shall not remember. 26 Remind me, let us debate together; you, recount {it}, that you may be vindicated. 27 Your first father sinned, and your spokesmen have transgressed against me. 28 So I shall defile the holy officials, and I shall hand Jacob over to destruction and Israel to reviling.” Chapter 44 1 “And now, listen, Jacob my servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen. 2 Thus says Yahweh, your maker and your fashioner in the womb, your helper: Do not fear, Jacob my servant; and Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. 3 For I shall pour water on the thirsty {ground}, and streams on the dry ground; I shall pour my Spirit on your seed, and my blessing on your offspring. 4 And they will sprout among the grass, like willows by the streams of water. 5 One will say, ‘I {am} of Yahweh,’ and one will call out the name of Jacob, and one will write {on} his hand ‘Of Yahweh,’ and by the name of Israel address {himself}. 6 “Thus says Yahweh, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, Yahweh of hosts: I {am} the first, and I {am} the last; and besides me there is no God. 7 And who {is} like me? Let him announce {it}, and let him declare it and arrange it before me. Who has made known from of old the signs, [1] and what is coming, declared it? 8 Do not fear and do not be afraid. Have I not declared to you long ago and announced {it}? And you {are} my witnesses: Is there a God besides me? For there is no {other} Rock; I know of none.” 9 All who fashion idols {are} nothing, and their delights cannot benefit, and their witnesses, they cannot see and cannot know, so they are ashamed. 10 Who would form a god or cast an idol to no avail? 11 Behold, all his associates will be put to shame, and craftsmen, they {are} but men. Let them gather, all of them; let them take their stand; together they will fear, be ashamed. 12 The craftsman of iron {with} a tool works over coals, and with hammers he shapes it and works it with his strong arm. Yet, should he hunger, then there is no strength; should he drink no water, then he becomes faint. 13 The craftsman of wood stretches out a measure, outlines with a stylus, makes it with a chisel and with a compass outlines it, and makes it like the figure of a man, like the splendor of man to dwell {in} a house. 14 Cutting down cedars for it, and taking a cypress or an oak, and lets the trees of the forest grow strong for it; plants a fir tree and the rain makes {it} grow. 15 And it becomes kindling for man, and he takes from them and warms himself. Yes, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. He also makes a god and bows down to it; he makes an idol and kneels before it. 16 Half of it he burns for the fire, on half of it he eats meat; he roasts a roast and is satisfied. He also warms {himself} and says, “Ah, I am warm, I have seen the fire.” 17 And the rest of it he makes a god, his carved image; he kneels before it and worships it, and prays to it and says, “Rescue me, for you {are} my god.” 18 They do not know, and they do not understand, for their eyes {are} plastered over from seeing, their hearts from perceiving. 19 And none takes {it} to his heart, with no knowledge and no understanding, saying, “Half of it I burned in fire, and I have also baked bread upon its coals. I have roasted meat and eaten. And its remainder I shall make into an abomination, a block of wood I shall worship.” 20 He grazes {on} ashes; a deceived heart misleads him, and he will not rescue his life, and he does not say, “{Is this} not a falsehood in my right hand?” 21 “Recall these, Jacob, and Israel, for you {are} my servant: I have formed you; you {are} my servant: Israel, you will not be forgotten by me. 22 I have blotted out like fog your rebellions, and like a cloud, your sins; return to me, for I have redeemed you.” 23 Sing, heavens, for Yahweh has done {this}; shout, depths of the earth. Break out into singing, mountains, forest and every tree in it; for Yahweh has redeemed Jacob, and will show his glory in Israel. 24 Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer and your maker from the womb: “I {am} Yahweh, who made everything, who alone stretched out the heavens, fashioned the earth—who {was} with me?— 25 overturning the omens of liars, and disgracing soothsayers, making the wise turn back and making their knowledge a mockery, 26 confirming the words of his servant and the counsel of his messengers fulfilling, who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited,’ and of the towns of Judah, ‘They will be built up, and her ruins I shall raise up’; 27 who says to the deep sea, ‘Be parched, and your currents I shall dry up,’ 28 saying of Cyrus, ‘My shepherd, and he will fulfill my every wish,’ and saying of Jerusalem, ‘She will be rebuilt,’ and the temple, ‘Your foundations will be laid.” 44:7 [1] Instead of Who has made known from of old the signs, some ancient manuscripts have From my appointing of the people of old and the signs. Chapter 45 1 Thus says Yahweh to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I hold to subdue nations before his face and the loins of kings I shall loosen, to open the doors before his face, and the gates will not be closed: 2 “I shall go before your face and level the mountains; the doors of bronze I shall break and bars of iron cut 3 and I shall give to you the treasures of darkness and the riches of secret places so that you may know that {it is} I, Yahweh, who call you by your name, the God of Israel. 4 For the sake of my servant Jacob and Israel my chosen, I have called you by your name, I gave you a name of honor, though you have not known me. 5 I {am} Yahweh, and there is no other; except me there is no God. I shall gird you, though you have not known me, 6 so that they may know from the rising of the sun and from the west that {there is} nothing besides me. I {am} Yahweh, and there is no other. 7 Forming light and creating darkness, making peace and creating disaster; I {am} Yahweh, doing all these. 8 Rain down, heavens, from above! And let the skies trickle down righteousness. Let the earth open, and salvation sprout up, and righteousness spring up together. I, Yahweh, have created it. 9 Woe, who argue {against} his creator, a pottery shard {from} the shards of the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ or ‘Your work has no hands’? 10 Woe, who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’ or to a woman, ‘What are you in labor {for}?’ 11 Thus says Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel and its Maker: “Do the signs ask me about my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command me? 12 I made the earth and created man on it. I, my hands stretched out the heavens, and all their hosts I commanded. 13 I stirred him up in righteousness, and I shall level all his paths. {It is} he {who} will build my city, and he will send out my exiles, not for price and not for bribe,” says Yahweh of hosts. 14 Thus says Yahweh, “The earnings of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush and the Sabeans, men of tall stature, will pass over to you and be yours. They will walk after you; they will pass by in chains. And they will bow down to you and plead with you: ‘Surely God {is} with you, and {there is} no other, only God.’” 15 Truly you {are} a God who hides yourself, God of Israel, Savior. 16 They will be ashamed and also disgraced, all of them together, they will walk in humiliation, crafters of idols. 17 Israel will be saved by Yahweh, a salvation of eternity; you will not be ashamed and you will not be humiliated to eternity evermore. 18 For thus says Yahweh, who created the heavens, he {is} God, creator of the earth and its maker; he established it; he created it, not {as} a void, to dwell {there} he formed it: “I {am} Yahweh, and there is no other. 19 I have not spoken in private, in a dark place of the earth; I did not say to the seed of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain!’ I {am} Yahweh, speaking righteousness, declaring uprightness. 20 “Assemble yourselves and come! Gather together, refugees of the nations! They do not know, those who carry their wooden idols and pray to a god not saving. 21 Declare and approach, even consult together! Who has announced this from previous times? From then, declared it? {Was it} not I, Yahweh? For there is no other God except me, a just God and a Savior; there is none besides me. 22 “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I {am} God, and there is no other. 23 By myself I swear; righteousness goes out from my mouth, a word and it does not turn back: ‘For to me every knee will bend, every tongue will swear. 24 But in Yahweh’—they will say of me— ‘salvation and strength!’” To him they will come and be ashamed, all who raged against him. 25 In Yahweh they will be justified, and they will take pride in him, all the seed of Israel. Chapter 46 1 Bel bows down, Nebo stoops; their images you carried become for animals and for beasts a heavy burden to exhaustion. 2 Together they bend low, kneel down; they are not able to rescue the load, and their souls have gone into captivity. 3 “Listen to me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, heavy-laden from birth, burdened from the womb. 4 And until old age I {am} he, and until gray hair I carry {you}. I made you and I shall bear {you}, and I shall carry {you} and I shall rescue you. 5 “To whom will you liken me, that I am equal with, and compare me, that I resemble? 6 They pour out gold from the bag and silver on the scale weigh, hire a goldsmith that he make it a god; they worship it, even bow down. 7 They lift it on a shoulder and carry it, and they set it {in} its place, and it stands in its spot, does not depart. One may even cry out to it, but it does not answer from his trouble it does not save him. 8 “Recall these and be firm; rebels, take {it} to heart! 9 Recall the former things from ancient times, for I {am} God, and there is no other; God, and none {is} like me, 10 announcing from the beginning, the end, and beforehand what has not happened, saying, ‘My plan will happen, and all my desire I shall do.’ 11 Calling a hawk from the east, from a distant land, the man of my counsel. Yes, I have spoken; indeed, I shall accomplish it. I have purposed; I shall also do it. 12 Listen to me, bull-hearted, far from righteousness. 13 I am bringing my righteousness near; {it is} not far away, and my salvation does not loiter; and I shall give salvation to Zion to Israel my splendor. Chapter 47 1 “Come down and sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of the Chaldeans, for no longer will they call you dainty and delicate. 2 Take the millstone and grind flour; remove your veil, strip off {your} train. Uncover {your} legs, cross the streams. 3 Your nakedness will be uncovered; yes, your shame will be seen: I shall take vengeance and not spare a man.” 4 Our Redeemer, Yahweh of hosts {is} his name, the Holy One of Israel. 5 “Sit silently and go into darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans; for you will no longer be called mistress of kingdoms. 6 I was angry with my people; I defiled my inheritance and gave them into your hand. You showed them no mercy; on the old you weighed down your great yoke. 7 And you said, “I shall forever be mistress.” Yet you did not take these to your heart, did not remember its end. 8 “And now, hear this, overindulged, who dwell in confidence, who say in your heart, ‘{It is} I, and none else; I will not sit as a widow, and I will not know bereavement.’ 9 But these two {things} will come to you {in a} moment, in one day: bereavement and widowhood. As their fullness they will come on you despite the abundance of your sorceries, despite the great power of your spells. 10 But you trusted in your wickedness; you said, ‘No one sees me;’ your wisdom and your knowledge, this led you astray, but you say in your heart, ‘{It is} I and none else.’ 11 And disaster will come on you; you will not know its dawn. And ruin will fall on you; you will not be able to avert it. And desolation will come on you suddenly, you not knowing. 12 “Stay, please, with your spells and with the abundance of your sorceries for which you have striven from your youth, perhaps you will be successful, perhaps you will terrify. 13 You are tired out with the abundance of your counsel; please, let them stand up and save you, those charters of the heavens, those seers of the stars, declaring by month what {is} to come on you. 14 Behold, they will become like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They will not rescue their souls from the hand of the flame. There are no coals to warm them {or} light to sit by! 15 Thus they have become for you, with whom you labored, your merchants from your youth, {each} man wandering in his direction; there is no rescuer.” Chapter 48 1 “Hear this, house of Jacob, who are called by the name Israel, and have come from the sperm of Judah; who swear by the name of Yahweh and profess the God of Israel, {but} not sincerely and not righteously. 2 For from the holy city they have been called, and in the God of Israel they have leaned. Yahweh of hosts {is} his name. 3 The first things of old I have declared; and from my mouth they came out, and I made them known; instantly I did {them}, and they came to pass. 4 Because I knew that you {were} hard and your neck muscles iron and your forehead bronze, 5 so I declared to you beforehand; before they happened I informed you lest you say, ‘My idol has done them,’ or ‘My carved figure and my cast figure have ordained them.’ 6 You have heard! Look {at} its whole; and you, will you not declare? “I announced {to} you new {things} from now, and hidden things that you did not know. 7 Now they were created, and not of old and before the face of today, and you have not heard, lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew!’ 8 You have not even heard, you did not even know; from ancient days your ear was not even open, For I knew you have been very deceitful, and you were called a rebel from the womb. 9 For the sake of my name I shall lengthen my nose and {for} my praise I shall hold back for you, to not cut you off. 10 Behold, I refined you, but not as silver; I have purified you in the furnace of affliction. 11 For my sake, for my sake I shall act; for how could {I} be profaned? And my glory I shall not give to another. 12 “Listen to me, Jacob, and Israel, whom I called: I {am} he, the first, I also {am} the last. 13 Yes, my hand founded the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; I call to them; they stand up together.” 14 Assemble, all of you, and listen! Who among them has announced these {things}? Yahweh loves him, he will accomplish his desire against Babylon and his arm {against} the Chaldeans. 15 “I, I have spoken, yes, I have summoned him, I have brought him, and his way will succeed.” 16 Draw near to me, hear this: “From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time of its happening, there I {am}.” And now the Lord Yahweh has sent me and his Spirit. 17 Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, “I {am} Yahweh your God, who teaches you to succeed, leads you by the way you should go. 18 If only you had listened closely to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your salvation like the waves of the sea. 19 And your seed would have been as the sand, and the offspring of your womb as its grains; their name would not have been cut off and would not have been blotted out from before my face.” 20 Go out from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! With the sound of glad song announce it! Make this known, bring it to the end of the earth! Say, “Yahweh has redeemed his servant Jacob.” 21 And they did not thirst {when} he led them through the desolate places; he made the water flow out of the rock for them; and he split open the rock, and the waters gushed out. 22 “{There is} no peace for the wicked,”—says Yahweh. Chapter 49 1 Listen to me, coastlands, and listen closely, distant peoples. Yahweh has called me from the womb, from the belly of my mother he invoked my name. 2 And he has made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me, and he has made me into a polished arrow; in his quiver he has concealed me. 3 And he said to me, “You {are} my servant, Israel, in whom I glory.” 4 And I said, “I have labored in vain, for emptiness and for {mere} breath I have spent my energy, yet my justice {is} with Yahweh, and my wages with my God.” 5 And now Yahweh has spoken, who formed me from the womb as his servant, to restore Jacob to himself and gather Israel to him, and I am honored in the eyes of Yahweh, and my God has become my strength. 6 And he says, “Too insignificant a thing for you to be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to bring back the protected of Israel. And I will make you a light of the nations, to be my salvation to the ends of the earth.” 7 Thus says Yahweh, the Redeemer of Israel, its Holy One, to the one whose life is despised, hated {by} the nations, a slave of rulers, “Kings will see and arise, princes, and bow down, for the sake of Yahweh who {is} faithful, the Holy One of Israel, for he has chosen you.” 8 Thus says Yahweh, “At the time of favor I shall answer you, and in a day of salvation I shall help you and protect you and give you as a covenant of the people, to rebuild the land, to apportion the desolate inheritance, 9 saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out!’ to those in darkness, ‘Show yourselves!’ “Along the roads they will graze, and on all the bare slopes {will be} their pasture. 10 They will not be hungry and they will not be thirsty; and the heat or sun will not beat on them, for he who has mercy on them will lead them and to springs of water he will guide them. 11 Then I will make all my mountains into a road, and make my highways level. 12 Behold, these will come from far away, and behold, some from the north and the west; and some from the land of Sinim.” 13 Shout for joy, heavens, and be joyful, earth, and break {into} singing, mountains! For Yahweh comforts his people, and he will have compassion on his afflicted. 14 But Zion said, “Yahweh has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me.” 15 “Can a woman forget her baby {or} have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even she may forget these, but I will not forget you. 16 Behold, I have inscribed you on my palms; your walls {are} before me always. 17 Your children are hurrying, those who destroyed you and ravaged you are going away from you. 18 Lift up your eyes around and see, they are all gathering, coming to you. {As} I live”—the declaration of Yahweh— “for all of them like jewelry you will wear, and you will put them on like a bride. 19 “For your ruins and desolate places, and your lands of devastation, surely now you will be too cramped for the inhabitants, and your devourers will be far away. 20 Yet they will say in your ears, the sons of your bereavement, ‘The place {is too} cramped for us, make room for us, so we may live {here}.’ 21 And you will say in your heart, ‘Who has borne these for me? When I was bereaved and barren, exiled and cast aside. And who has raised these? Behold, I was left alone; where did these come from?’” 22 Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I shall raise my hand to the nations and to the peoples lift up my banner. And they will bring your sons in {their} laps, and they will carry your daughters on {their} shoulders. 23 And kings will be your foster fathers and their queens your nursemaids; face {to} the earth they will bow down to you and the dust of your feet they will lick; and you will know that I {am} Yahweh; those who wait for me will not be put to shame.” 24 Can the spoils be taken from the warrior, or can captives be rescued {from} the fierce? [1] 25 For thus says Yahweh, “Even the captives of a warrior will be taken, and spoils of a tyrant will be rescued, and I shall contend with your contender, and your sons I shall save. 26 And I shall feed your oppressors their flesh; and as wine, on their blood they will get drunk. Then all flesh will know that I, Yahweh, {am} your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.” 49:24 [1] Instead of from the fierce, some ancient manuscripts have from the righteous, but most modern versions correct it to from the fierce. Chapter 50 1 Thus says Yahweh, “Where is the divorce certificate of your mother, whom I have sent away? And, to {which} of my creditors did I sell you? Behold, you were sold because of your sins, and because of your rebellion, your mother was sent away. 2 Why did I come when there was no one, call, when no one answered? Was my hand too short to ransom? And was no power in me to rescue? Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea; I make the rivers a wilderness; their fish stink where there is no water and die on thirsty ground. 3 I clothe the sky {with} darkness, and I lay sackcloth as its cover.” 4 The Lord Yahweh has given me a learned tongue, knowing to give a word to the weary; he wakes {me} morning by morning; he awakens my ear to hear like the disciples. 5 The Lord Yahweh has opened my ear, and I {was} not rebellious; I did not turn away backward. 6 I gave my back to assaulters, and my cheeks to those who pluck my face; I did not hide myself from disgrace and spitting. 7 But the Lord Yahweh will help me; therefore I am not disgraced; therefore I set my face like flint, for I know that I will not be ashamed. 8 My justifier is close. Who will contend with me? Let us stand {against} one another! Who {is} the adversary of my case? Let him come near to me! 9 Behold, the Lord Yahweh will help me. Who {is} he who condemns me? Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will devour them. 10 Who among you fears Yahweh, obeying the voice of his servant, who has walked in darkness and there is no light for him? Let him trust in the name of Yahweh and lean on his God. 11 Behold, all of you kindlers of fire, who gird on torches: walk in the light of your fire and in the flames of your kindling. This is from my hand for you: in anguish you will lie down. Chapter 51 1 “Listen to me, pursuers of righteousness, seekers of Yahweh: Look to the rock {from which} you were chiseled and to the mouth of the cistern {from which} you were quarried. 2 Look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who bore you; for I called him {as} one, and I blessed him and made him many. 3 For, Yahweh will comfort Zion; he will comfort all her desolate places and her wilderness make like Eden, and her desert plains like the garden of Yahweh; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving, and the sound of song. 4 “Listen closely to me, my people; and my nation, to me give ear! For from me law will go out, and my justice as a light of the nations I shall make in an instant. 5 My righteousness is near; my salvation will go out, and my arm will judge the nations; for me the coastlands will wait, and my arm they will anticipate. 6 Lift up your eyes to the sky, and look to the earth beneath, for the heavens will vanish like smoke, and the earth will wear out like a garment, and its inhabitants will die like flies. But my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will not be dismayed. 7 “Listen to me, those who know righteousness, people {with} my law in their heart: Do not fear the insults of men, and by their abuse do not be dismayed, 8 for the moth will devour them like a garment, and the worm will devour them like wool; but my righteousness will be forever, and my salvation to generation {after} generation.” 9 Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of Yahweh. Awake as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. {Is} it not you who crushed Rahab, who pierced the sea monster? 10 {Was} it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made the depths of the sea {into} a way {for} the redeemed to pass through? 11 And the ransomed of Yahweh will return and come to Zion with cries of joy and with gladness forever on their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake {them}; sorrow and mourning will flee. 12 “I, I, {am} he who comforts you. Who {are} you that you are afraid of men—he will die— and of the sons of mankind, who are given up {as} grass? 13 And you forget Yahweh your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth. And you constantly fear, the whole day from the face of the wrath of the oppressor as he intends to destroy. But where {is} the wrath of the oppressor? 14 He who crouches will hurry to be freed, and he will not die to the pit, and he will not lack his bread. 15 And I {am} Yahweh your God, who stirs the sea and its waves roar, Yahweh of hosts {is} his name. 16 And I have placed my words in your mouth, and in the shadow of my hand I have covered you, stretching out the heavens and founding the earth and saying to Zion, ‘You {are} my people.’” 17 Awake, awake! Rise up, Jerusalem, who drank from the hand of Yahweh the cup of his wrath; you drank the goblet of staggering, you drained {it} 18 There is no guide for her among all the sons she bore; and there is none to hold her hand among all the sons she raised. 19 These two happened to you—who will grieve for you?— desolation and destruction, and the famine and the sword. {Who} will comfort you? [1] 20 Your sons have fainted; they lie at the head of all the streets, like an antelope in a net, filled with the anger of Yahweh, the rebuke of your God. 21 But now hear this, oppressed one and drunken one, but not with wine: 22 Thus says your Lord Yahweh, and your God, contending {for} his people, “Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering, the goblet of my wrath. You will not continue to drink it again. 23 And I will put it into the hand of your tormentors, who said to you, ‘Lie down, that we may walk over {you},’ and you made your back like the ground and like the street for walking over.” 51:19 [1] Some ancient manuscripts have How will I comfort you? Most modern versions correct this passage to Who will comfort you? Chapter 52 1 Awake, awake, put on your strength, Zion! Put on your beautiful garments, Jerusalem, holy city; for no more will the uncircumcised or the unclean enter you again. 2 Shake yourself from the dust; arise, sit, Jerusalem; Loose the chains {on} your neck, captive daughter of Zion. 3 For thus says Yahweh, “You were sold for nothing, and you will be redeemed without money.” 4 For thus says the Lord Yahweh, “In the beginning my people went down {to} Egypt to live there, and Assyria has oppressed him for no {cause}. 5 “And now, what {do} I have here”—the declaration of Yahweh— “for my people are taken for nothing? His rulers mock him” —the declaration of Yahweh— and my name {is} blasphemed continually all day. [1] 6 Therefore, my people will know my name, therefore, on that day for I {am} he, the one who speaks, ‘Here {am} I!’” 7 How beautiful on the mountains the feet of the bearer of good news, announcing peace, heralding good things, announcing salvation, saying to Zion, “Your God reigns!” 8 Listen, your watchmen raise {their} voices, together they shout for joy, for eye after eye will see the return of Yahweh {to} Zion. 9 Break out {into} joyful singing together, ruins of Jerusalem, for Yahweh has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 Yahweh has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God. 11 Turn aside, turn aside, go out from there! Do not touch the unclean! Go out from her midst; keep clean, bearers of the vessels of Yahweh. 12 For you will not go out in a rush, and in flight you will not go, for Yahweh will go before your faces, and your rearguard {will be} the God of Israel. 13 Behold, my servant will act wisely; he will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted. 14 As many were horrified at you— so disfigured beyond {any} man {was} his appearance, and his form beyond {any} sons of man, 15 so, he will sprinkle many nations. Kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they had not been told, they will see, and what they had not heard, they will understand. 52:5 [1] Instead of mock, some versions identify a different Hebrew word meaning wail. Chapter 53 1 Who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed? 2 For he arose like a shoot before his face, and like a root from parched earth; he had no features and no splendor; and we saw in him nothing of appearance to attract us. 3 He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted {with} illness, and like one from whom men hide their faces, despised, and we considered him nothing. 4 But he has borne our sicknesses and carried our sorrows; yet we considered him afflicted, stricken of God and humiliated. 5 But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins, The punishment {for} our peace {was} on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each turned to his own way, and Yahweh has placed on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was tormented, and he did not open his mouth; like a lamb led to the slaughter, and like a sheep silent before the faces of its shearers, so he did not open his mouth. 8 By coercion and by judgment he was taken away, and who of his generation was concerned? But he was cut off from the land of the living for the offenses of my people, an affliction for them. 9 And they placed his grave {with} the criminals, and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and deceit {was} not in his mouth. 10 But Yahweh was pleased to bruise him, put {him} to grief. If he makes his life an offering for sin, he will see {his} seed, prolong {his} days, and the purpose of Yahweh will succeed in his hand, 11 From the trouble of his life, he will see {light}, [1] be satisfied by his knowledge. My righteous servant will justify many, [2] and he will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore, I shall give him a portion among the multitude, and {with} the many he will divide the spoils, because he exposed his life to death and {with} the transgressors was numbered. For he bore the sin of many and for the transgressors made intercession. 53:11 [1] Some ancient manuscripts supply light. 53:11 [2] Some versions have By his knowledge, my righteous servant will justify many. Chapter 54 1 “Sing for joy, barren woman who has not given birth; break {into} joyful song and rejoice, who has not been in labor. For the children of the desolate one {are} more than the children of the married woman,” says Yahweh. 2 “Broaden the place for your tent and spread out the tent-curtains of your dwelling, without restraint; lengthen your ropes, and strengthen your stakes. 3 For you will spread out to the right hand and to the left, and your seed will conquer nations and settle desolate cities. 4 Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed, and you will not be discouraged, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth and the disgrace of your abandonment you will remember no more. 5 For your Maker {is} your husband; Yahweh of hosts {is} his name. And the Holy One of Israel {is} your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. 6 For as a wife abandoned and grieved {in} spirit Yahweh has called you back, and a wife of youth that is rejected,” says your God. 7 “For a short time I abandoned you, but with great compassion I shall gather you. 8 In a flood of anger I hid my face from you momentarily; but with everlasting covenant faithfulness I will have mercy on you— says your Redeemer, Yahweh. 9 “For this {is like} the waters of Noah to me: as I swore {to keep} the waters of Noah from passing over the earth again, so have I sworn from being angry with you or rebuking you. 10 Though the mountains may fall and the hills be shaken, yet my covenant faithfulness will not turn away from you, and my covenant of peace will not be shaken,”— says Yahweh, who has mercy on you. 11 “Afflicted one, storm-driven, without comfort: behold, I will set your pavement in turquoise, and lay your foundations with sapphires. 12 And I will make your ramparts rubies and your gates from stones of beryl, and all your walls from precious stones. 13 And all your sons {will be} disciples of Yahweh, and great the peace of your sons. 14 In righteousness you will be established, keep far from oppression that you will not fear; and from terror that it will not come near to you. 15 Behold, no attacker will attack besides from me; he who attacks you will fall before you. 16 “Behold, I have created the craftsman, who blows the burning coals and produces weapons as his work, and {it is} I who created the destroyer to destroy. 17 All the weapons formed against you will not succeed, and all the tongues rising against you for judgment, you will prove guilty. This {is} the inheritance of the servants of Yahweh, and their vindication from me”—the declaration of Yahweh. Chapter 55 1 “Oh, all who are thirsty, come to the water, and who have no money, come, buy, and eat! And come, buy without money and without cost, wine and milk. 2 Why do you weigh out silver for {what is} not bread, and your labor for {what} does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat {what is} good, and delight your spirits in fatness. 3 Turn your ears and come to me! Listen, that your spirit may live! And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the faithful covenant loyalty {shown to} David. 4 Behold, I have placed him {as} a witness to the nations, a leader and commander to the peoples. 5 Behold, you will call a nation you did not know; and a nation {that} did not know you will run to you because of Yahweh your God, and the Holy One of Israel, for he made you glorious.” 6 Seek Yahweh while he may be found; call on him while he is near. 7 Let the wicked leave his path, and the man of sin his thoughts. And let him return to Yahweh, and he will show compassion to him, and to our God, who will abundantly forgive. 8 “For my thoughts {are} not your thoughts, and your ways {are} not my ways”— the declaration of Yahweh. 9 “For {as} the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return there but saturate the earth and make it produce and sprout and give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 so my word will be that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but it will do what I desire, and it will achieve that for which I have sent. 12 For joyfully you will go out and peacefully be led; the mountains and the hills will break out {in} joyful shouts before your faces, and all the trees of the fields will clap {their} hands. 13 Instead of the thornbushes, the cypress will grow; and instead of the brier, the myrtle tree will grow, and it will be for Yahweh, for his name, as an everlasting sign {that} will not be cut off.” Chapter 56 1 Thus says Yahweh, “Keep justice and do righteousness; for my salvation {is} soon to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. 2 Blessed {is} the man who does this, and the son of man who grasps it, keeping the Sabbath, not defiling it, and keeping his hand from doing any evil.” 3 And let no son of a foreigner say, who joins with Yahweh, saying, “Yahweh will certainly exclude me from his people.” and let not the eunuch say, “Behold, I {am} a dry tree.” 4 For thus says Yahweh: “To the eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths and choose what pleases me, and hold fast my covenant, 5 and to them I will set up in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; an everlasting name I shall give him that will never be cut off. 6 And sons of foreigners who join with Yahweh to serve him, and who love the name of Yahweh, to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath, not defiling it, and who hold fast my covenant— 7 even them I shall bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices {will be} welcome on my altar. For my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations” 8 —the declaration of the Lord Yahweh, who gathers the outcasts of Israel— “I shall still gather {others} for him besides the gathered.” 9 All wild beasts of the field, come to devour, all beasts in the forest! 10 His watchmen {are} blind, all of them they do not understand. All of them {are} silent dogs, not able to bark. They dream lying down, lovers of sleep. 11 And the dogs {are} fierce {in} appetite; they do not know satiation; and they {are} shepherds not knowing discernment; all of them turned to their way, each for his gain, without exception. 12 “Come, let us take wine and imbibe strong drink. And tomorrow will be like this day, exceedingly much greater.” Chapter 57 1 The righteous perish, but no one takes {it} to heart, and the men of covenant faithfulness are gathered away, but no one understands that the righteous is gathered away from the face of evil. 2 He comes in peace; they rest in their beds who walks {in} his uprightness. 3 “But, you, come here, sons of the sorcerer, seed of the adulterer and prostitute. 4 Whom are you mocking? Against whom are you opening wide the mouth {and} sticking out the tongue? {Are} you not children of rebellion, seed of deceit 5 who go into heat among the oaks, under every green tree, slaughterers of children in valleys, under overhangs of rocks? 6 Among the smooth {things} of the valley {are} your portion, {It is} they which are your destiny. Even to them you pour out your drink offering raise up a grain offering. In these shall I relent? 7 On a high and lofty mountain you set your bed. Even there you went up to offer sacrifice. 8 And behind the door and the doorposts you set your symbols. For away from me you bared yourselves and went up, widened your bed. And you cut for yourself {a covenant} with them; you loved their beds; you saw a hand. 9 And you turned to Molech with oil, and you multiplied your perfumes. [1] And you sent your ambassadors far away; and went down to Sheol. 10 You were tired from your long journey, {but} you did not say, ‘{It is} hopeless.’ You found the life of your hand, therefore you did not weaken. 11 “And of whom do you worry and fear, that you lie and do not remember me, do not take {it} to heart? {Was} I not silent and for so long, that you do not fear me? 12 I shall proclaim your righteousness, and your deeds, but they will not help you. 13 When you cry out, let your collection rescue you, but the wind will carry all of them away; a breath will take {them} away. Yet he who takes refuge in me will inherit the land and will take possession of my holy mountain.” 14 And he will say, “Pile up, pile up! Clear a way! Remove the stumbling block from the path of my people!” 15 For thus says the One High and Lifted Up, who lives eternally, and holy {is} his name, “On high and holy I dwell and {with} the oppressed and humble of spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the oppressed. 16 For not forever will I contend, and not eternally will I be angry, for the spirit before my face would faint, and the breath I myself have made. 17 Because of the sin of his gain, I was angry, and I struck him; I hid and was angry, but he went backward in the way of his heart. 18 I have seen his ways and I shall heal him and lead him and give comfort to him and to his mourners. 19 Creator of the fruit of the lips, “Peace, peace, to the far off and to the near,” says Yahweh, “and I shall heal them.” 20 But the wicked {are} like the tossing sea, which is not able to rest, and its waters churn up mire and mud. 21 “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” 57:9 [1] Instead of to Molech , some ancient manuscripts have to the king . Chapter 58 1 “Cry out from the throat; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet, and confront my people {with} their rebellion, and the house of Jacob {with} their sins. 2 Yet they seek me day {by} day and delight in the knowledge of my ways, like a nation that practiced righteousness and the ordinances of its God did not abandon. They ask me for judgments of righteousness; they take pleasure in the approach of God. 3 ‘Why have we fasted, and you do not see? We humbled ourselves, and you do not notice?’ “Behold, on the day of your fast you find pleasure and oppress all your laborers. 4 Behold, you fast to quarrel and fight, and to hit with a fist of wickedness; you do not fast today to make your voice heard above. 5 Will {one} like this be the fast I choose? A day a man inflicts his soul, to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes? Do you call this a fast, and a day of Yahweh's pleasure? 6 {Is} not this the fast I choose: to loosen wicked bonds, to undo the ropes of the yoke, and to set the crushed ones free, and to break every yoke? 7 {Is it} not to distribute your bread to the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house?” When you see one naked, then clothe him, and your flesh do not ignore. 8 Then your light will break like the dawn and your healing quickly sprout up and your righteousness will go before your face. The glory of Yahweh will be your rearguard. 9 Then you will call, and Yahweh will answer; cry out, and he will say, ‘Here I {am}.’ “If you take away from among you the yoke, the pointing finger, and the speech of wickedness, 10 and provide for the hungry your life and satisfy the appetite of the afflicted, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your darkness {will be} like the noonday. 11 Then Yahweh will lead you continually and satisfy your appetite in the desert, and your bones he will strengthen, and will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. 12 And {some} of you will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will raise up the foundations of generation upon generation, and you will be called The Repairer of the Wall, The Restorer of Streets to Live On. 13 “If you turn back your feet on the Sabbath, {from} doing your pleasure on my holy {day}, and call the Sabbath a delight, holy of Yahweh, honored, and honor it, {keeping} from doing your ways, finding your pleasure, and speaking speech, 14 “then you will delight in Yahweh, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; and I will feed you the inheritance of Jacob your father,” for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken. Chapter 59 1 Behold, the hand of Yahweh {is} not too short to save, and not his ear too dull to hear. 2 Your transgressions, however, have caused separation between you {and} between your God, and your sins have made him hide {his} face from you {so} he does not hear. 3 For your hands are stained with blood and your fingers with sin. Your lips speak falsehood; your tongue murmurs evil. 4 None calls in righteousness, and none pleads his case in truth, trusting in emptiness and speaking vanity, conceiving trouble and birthing sin. 5 The eggs of a poisonous snake they hatch, and the web of a spider they weave. Whoever eats of their eggs dies, and {when} one is crushed, an adder is hatched. 6 Their webs are not for garments, and they do not cover themselves with their works. Their works {are} works of sin, and deeds of violence {are} in their hands. 7 Their feet run to evil, and they hasten to spill innocent blood. Their thoughts {are} thoughts of sin; violence and destruction {are} their roads. 8 The way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their tracks. They distorted their paths; all who travel it do not know peace. 9 Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We wait for light, but behold, darkness; for brightness, {but} we walk in gloom. 10 We grope the wall as the blind, and as though without eyes we grope. We stumble at noonday as in the twilight; among the strong as the dead. 11 We growl like bears, all of us, and like doves, mourn sadly; we wait for justice, but {there is} none; for rescue, {but} it is far from us. 12 For our many transgressions {are} before you, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions {are} with us, and our iniquities we know: 13 rebelling, and denying Yahweh and turning away from after our God, speaking extortion and turning aside, conceiving and complaining from the heart words of falsehood. 14 And justice is driven back, and righteousness stands far off; for truth stumbles in the plaza, and straightforwardness is not able to come. 15 And it happens {that} truth is missing, and he who turns away from evil makes himself plunder. And Yahweh saw, and it was evil in his eyes that there was no justice. 16 And he saw that there was no man, and was amazed that there was no intercessor. So his arm brought salvation for him, and his righteousness was his support. 17 And he put on righteousness as a breastplate and a helmet of salvation upon his head, and he clothed himself with garments of vengeance {for} clothing and wore zeal as a mantle. 18 As all the deeds {will be} as all he repays, anger to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies, to the islands he will pay the reward. 19 And they will fear the name of Yahweh from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come as a rushing stream, driven by the breath of Yahweh. 20 “And a redeemer will come to Zion and to those who turn {from} their rebellious deeds in Jacob” —the declaration of Yahweh. 21 “And {as for} me, this {is} my covenant with them,” says Yahweh. “My Spirit who {is} upon you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, will not leave your mouth, or the mouths of your seed, or the mouths of the seed of your seed,“ says Yahweh, “from now and to eternity.” Chapter 60 1 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of Yahweh has risen on you. 2 For, behold, darkness will cover the earth, and gloom, the nations; yet Yahweh will arise over you, and his glory will be seen on you. 3 And nations will come to your light, and kings to your rising brightness. 4 “Lift up your eyes around and see. They all gather to come to you: your sons will come from far, and your daughters supported on the side. 5 Then you will look and be radiant, and your heart will be in awe and broaden, because the abundance of the sea will fall upon you, the wealth of the nations will come to you. 6 Caravans of camels will cover you, young camels of Midian and Ephah. All of them will come from Sheba; they will bring gold and frankincense, and will sing the praises of Yahweh. 7 All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaioth will serve you; they will ascend my altar with acceptance and I shall glorify my glorious house. 8 “Who {are} these who fly like a cloud, and like doves to their coops? 9 For the coastlands wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your sons from afar, their silver and their gold with them, for the name of Yahweh your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because he has given you glory. 10 “And sons of foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Though in my wrath I struck you, yet in my favor I shall have compassion on you. 11 And your gates will be open always; they will not be shut day or night, so the wealth of the nations may be brought to you, and their kings being led. 12 For the nations and kingdoms that will not serve you will perish, and the nations will be completely destroyed. 13 “The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the cypress, the fir, and the cedar altogether, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and the place of my feet I shall glorify . 14 And they will come to you to bow down, the sons of those who humbled you, and they will bow down at the soles of your feet, all who despised you, and they will call you The City of Yahweh, Zion of the Holy One of Israel. 15 “Instead of you being abandoned and hated, with no one passing through, I will make you a thing of pride forever, a joy from generation to generation. 16 And you will suckle the milk of the nations, and at the breast of kings you will nurse, and you will know that I, Yahweh, {am} your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. 17 Instead of bronze I shall bring gold, and instead of iron I shall bring silver, and instead of wood, bronze, and instead of stones, iron. And I shall appoint peace as your governors, and justice your rulers. 18 Violence will no longer be heard in your land, devastation or shattering within your borders; but you will call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise. 19 The sun will no longer be your light by day, and the brightness of the moon will not shine on you; but Yahweh will be your everlasting light, and your God your glory. 20 Your sun will no longer set, and your moon will not wane; for Yahweh will be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning will be ended. 21 And your people, all of them {will be} righteous; for eternity they will possess the land, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, to show my glory. 22 The little one will become a thousand, and the small one a strong nation; I, Yahweh, shall hasten it in its time.” Chapter 61 1 The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh {is} on me, because Yahweh has anointed me {to} proclaim good news to the afflicted. He has sent me to bind up the broken of heart, to call out freedom to the captives, and to the bound, liberation, 2 to proclaim the year of Yahweh's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God, and to comfort all who mourn, 3 to grant mourners of Zion, giving them a headdress instead of ashes, oil of joy instead of mourning, a mantle of praise in place of a spirit of dullness, and to call them oaks of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh, to show his glory. 4 And they will build up the ancient ruins; they will restore the former desolations. and they will rebuild the cities of desolation, the ruins of generation upon generation. 5 And foreigners will stand and feed your flocks, and sons of foreigners {will be} your farmers and your vinedressers. 6 And you will be called the priests of Yahweh; it will be said of you, ‘servants of our God.’ The wealth of the nations you will eat, and in their riches you will boast. 7 Instead of your shame, double; and dishonor, they will rejoice over their share. So of their land they will possess double, everlasting joy will be theirs. 8 For I {am} Yahweh, loving justice, hating unjust robbery, and I shall give their recompense in truth, and I shall cut an everlasting covenant with them. 9 And their seed will be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge them, that they {are} the seed {whom} Yahweh has blessed. 10 I shall greatly rejoice in Yahweh; My spirit will be glad in my God. For he has dressed me with the garments of salvation; with the robe of righteousness he has clothed me, as a bridegroom embellishes himself with a turban, and as a bride adorns herself with her ornaments. 11 For as the earth produces its sprouts, and as the garden makes its sowing sprout, so the Lord Yahweh will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up in front of all the nations. Chapter 62 1 For the sake of Zion I shall not be silent, and for the sake of Jerusalem I shall not be quiet, until her righteousness proceeds as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. 2 And the nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory, and you will be called a new name that the mouth of Yahweh will choose. 3 And you will be a crown of beauty in the hand of Yahweh, and a turban of kingship in the palm of your God. 4 {It} will no more be said of you, “Abandoned”; and of your land {it} will no more be said, “Desolate,” for you will be called, “My delight {is} in her,” and your land “Married,” for Yahweh delights in you, and your land will be married. 5 As a young man marries a young woman, your sons will marry you, and {as} a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, your God will rejoice over you. 6 I have put watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem; all day and all night they are continually not silent. You who are reminding Yahweh, do not pause. 7 And do not allow him rest until he reestablishes {it}, and until he makes Jerusalem a praise on earth. 8 Yahweh has sworn by his right hand and by the arm of his strength, “Surely I shall no longer give your grain {as} food for your enemies, and surely sons of foreigners will not drink your new wine, for which you have worked. 9 For its gatherers will eat it and praise Yahweh, and its collectors will drink in the courts of my holy {place}.” 10 Pass through, pass through the gates! Clear the way for the people! Build, build the highway! Clear the stones! Raise up a banner for the nations! 11 Behold, Yahweh announces to the ends of the earth, “Say to the daughter of Zion: Behold, your salvation is coming! Behold, his wages {is} with him, and his reward before his face.” 12 And they will call you, “The holy people; the redeemed of Yahweh,” and you will be called “Sought after; a city not abandoned.” Chapter 63 1 Who {is} this coming from Edom, clothed in crimson from Bozrah? This one, honored in his garments, marching in the greatness of his strength? {It is} I, speaking righteously, mighty to save. 2 Why {are} your clothes red, and your clothes like one treading in a winepress? 3 I have trodden {in} the winepress alone, and from the nations no man {was} with me, and I trod them in my nose and trampled them in my fury, and their blood is spattered on my clothes and all my garments I stained. 4 For the day of vengeance {was} in my heart, and the year of my redemption had come. 5 And I looked, and there was no one to help, and I wondered that there was no one to support, but my arm assisted me, and my anger was my support. 6 And I trampled the peoples in my nose and made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their blood on the earth. 7 The covenant faithfulness of Yahweh I shall recount, the praiseworthy deeds of Yahweh, according to all that Yahweh has shown us, and {his} great goodness to the house of Israel, which he has shown us according to his mercy, and according to the greatness of his covenant faithfulness. 8 And he said, “Indeed they {are} my people, sons not unfaithful.” And he became their Savior. 9 Through all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his face saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them, and he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. 10 But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. And he became their enemy, he fought against them. 11 And his people recalled the days of old of Moses, “Where {is} the one who brought them up from the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where {is} the one who put his Holy Spirit among them, 12 who sent his glorious arm to the right hand of Moses, who divided the water before their faces, to make for himself an everlasting name, 13 who led them through the depths? Like a horse on flat land, they did not stumble. 14 As cattle going down into the valley, the Spirit of Yahweh gave them rest. So you led your people, to make yourself a name of majesty. 15 Look from heaven and see from your holy and glorious habitation. Where {are} your zeal and your mighty acts? The agitation of your inner parts and your compassion are restrained from me. 16 For you {are} our father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not recognize us, you, Yahweh, {are} our father. Our Redeemer from everlasting {is} your name. 17 Yahweh, why do you make us wander from your ways, you harden our hearts so we do not fear you? Return for your servants’ sake, the tribes of your inheritance. 18 For a short time your holy people possessed your holy place; our enemies trampled {it}. 19 We have become {like} those over whom you did not ever rule, {like} those who were not called by your name.” Chapter 64 1 “Oh, if you had split open the heavens and come down! The mountains would have shaken at your presence, 2 as fire kindles the brushwood, {or} fire boils water to make your name known by your adversaries, before your face nations tremble. 3 When you did fearful things we had not hoped {for}, you came down; before your face the mountains trembled. 4 And from ancient times they have not heard; they have not given ear; no eye has seen a god besides you, who works for him who waits for him. 5 You meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness, who recalls your ways. Behold, you were angry for we had sinned; through them of old we would be saved. 6 And all of us have become like an unclean one, and all our righteous deeds {are} like a menstrual rag. And we have withered like leaves, all of us, and our iniquities, like the wind, carry us away. 7 And there are none who calls on your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of you. For you have hidden your face from us and made us waste away in the hand of our iniquities. 8 And yet, Yahweh, our father you {are}. We {are} the clay, and you {are} our potter; and we all {are} the work of your hand. 9 Do not be angry beyond measure, Yahweh, and do not forever remember iniquity. Behold, look, please, all of us {are} your people. 10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness; Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. 11 Our holy and beautiful temple, where our fathers praised you, has been burned {in} fire, and all our beloved things are in ruins. 12 At these, will you restrain yourself, Yahweh? Will you remain silent and humiliate us beyond measure?” Chapter 65 1 “I let myself be sought out by {those who} did not ask; I let myself be found by {those who} did not seek. I said, ‘Here I {am}! Here I {am}!’ to a nation not calling on my name. 2 I have spread out my hands all day to a stubborn people, who walk a not-good way, after their thoughts. 3 A people who continually provoke me to my face, offering sacrifices in gardens, and burning incense on bricks, 4 who sit among the graves and spend the night in lookouts; who eat the meat of the pig and the broth of unclean meat {in} their dishes, 5 who say, ‘Keep to yourself, do not come near to me, for I am holier than you.’ These things {are} smoke in my nose, a fire burning all day long. 6 Behold, {it is} written before my face: I shall not keep quiet, but I shall repay, and I shall repay into their laps, 7 their sins and the sins of their fathers together,” says Yahweh. “Because they have burned incense on the mountains and on the hills mocked me. And I shall measure out their past deeds into their laps.” 8 Thus says Yahweh, “As when juice is found in a cluster of grapes, and {one} says, ‘Do not ruin it, for {there is} good in it,’ therefore I shall work for the sake of my servant: I shall not ruin all. 9 And I shall bring seed from Jacob, and from Judah a possessor of my mountains, and my chosen ones will possess it, and my servants will live there. 10 And Sharon will become a pasture for the flocks, and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds, for my people who seek me. 11 But you who abandon Yahweh, who forget my holy mountain, who prepare for Fortune a table, and fill for Destiny mixed wine, 12 then I shall appoint you for the sword, and you will all bow down to the slaughter, because I called and you did not answer; I spoke, and you did not listen. But you did evil in my eyes and what was not pleasing to me you chose.” 13 Therefore, thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Behold, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry; behold, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty; behold, my servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame. 14 Behold, my servants will shout with joy from gladness of heart, but you will cry from pain of the heart, and from the crushing of the spirit you will wail. 15 And you will leave your name as a curse to my chosen ones; and the Lord Yahweh will put you to death, and he will call his servants {by} another name. 16 Whoever blesses himself on the earth will bless himself by the God of truth, and who vows on the earth will vow by the God of truth, for the former troubles will be forgotten, for they will be hidden from my eyes. 17 For behold, I am about to create a new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered, and they will not be brought to mind. 18 But you will be glad and rejoice forever in what I am about to create. For behold, I am about to create Jerusalem {as} a joy, and her people {as} a delight. 19 And I will rejoice over Jerusalem and be glad over my people; and it will no longer be heard in her the sound of weeping and the sound of screaming. 20 No more will an infant be there {a few} days, or an elder who does not complete his days. For, one who dies {at} 100 years old {will be} a young lad, and one who falls short of 100 years old {will be considered} cursed. 21 And they will build houses and dwell, and they will plant vineyards and eat fruit. 22 They will not build for another to dwell; they will not plant for another to eat; for as the days of trees {will be} the days of my people, and the work of their hands my chosen ones will outlive. 23 They will not labor in vain, and they will not give birth to dismay. For the seed of the blessed of Yahweh they {are}, and their offspring with them. 24 And it will happen, before they call, then I shall answer; {while} they are still speaking, then I shall hear. 25 The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion like the ox will eat straw; but the serpent—dust {is} its food. They will not do evil and they will not destroy on all my holy mountain,” says Yahweh. Chapter 66 1 Thus says Yahweh, “Heaven {is} my throne, and the earth {is} the stool for my feet. Where {is} the house that you will build for me? And where {is} the place {where} I may rest? 2 And all these my hand has made; thus all these came to be —the declaration of Yahweh. And to this one I look, to the broken and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at my word. 3 He who slaughters an ox strikes down a man; he who sacrifices a lamb breaks the neck of a dog; he who brings up a grain offering {offers} the blood of a pig, he who offers a memorial of incense blesses wickedness. They, too, have chosen their ways, and in their abominations their spirit delights. 4 Even so, I shall choose their punishment, and their fears I shall bring on them, because I called, and no one answered; I spoke, and no one listened. And they did evil before my eyes, and what I did not desire, they chose.” 5 Hear the word of Yahweh, who tremble at his word, Your brothers who hate you have said, who exclude you for the sake of my name: ‘May Yahweh be glorified, then we will see your joy,’ but they will be put to shame. 6 The sound of uproar from the city, a sound from the temple, the sound of Yahweh repaying completely his enemies. 7 Before she goes into labor, she gives birth; before pain comes upon her, then she delivers a male. 8 Who has heard of such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be delivered through labor in one day? Can a nation be born {in} one moment? For Zion went into labor, she yet gave birth to her children. 9 Do I break open the womb and not cause birth?—said Yahweh. Or do I cause birth and block {it}?—said your God.” 10 Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her all who love her, rejoice with her {in} gladness, all who mourned over her! 11 For you will suckle and be satisfied from her comforting breasts; for you will drink deep and be refreshed from her glorious teat. 12 For thus says Yahweh: Behold, I am about to spread well-being over her like a river, and like an overflowing stream the splendor of the nations, and you will suckle; at {her} side you will be carried and on her knees rocked to and fro. 13 As a man whose mother comforts him, so I will comfort you, and in Jerusalem you will be comforted. 14 And you will see, and your heart will rejoice, and your bones will sprout like the grass, and the hand of Yahweh will be made known to his servants, but he will rage {against} his enemies. 15 For behold, Yahweh is coming with fire, and like the windstorm, his chariots to bring the heat of his nose and his rebuke with flames of fire. 16 For Yahweh judges with fire, and with his sword against all flesh. and those slain by Yahweh will be many. 17 Those who consecrate and purify themselves to {enter} the gardens, following one in the center, eating the flesh of pig and abominations and mice. They altogether will come to an end—the declaration of Yahweh. 18 For I {know} their deeds and their thoughts. {The time} is coming when I will gather all nations and tongues, and they will come and see my glory. 19 And I will set a sign among them and send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Pul and Lud, who draw the bow, Tubal and Javan, the distant coastlands where they have not heard news of me and have not seen my glory. And they will proclaim my glory among the nations. 20 And they will bring all your brothers from all the nations {as} an offering to Yahweh on horses and in chariots and in wagons and on mules and on camels to my holy mountain Jerusalem—says Yahweh, as the sons of Israel bring a grain offering in a clean vessel {into} the house of Yahweh. 21 And from them I shall even take priests {and} Levites—says Yahweh. 22 For just as the new heavens and the new earth that I am making stand before my face—the declaration of Yahweh— so will stand your seed and your name. 23 And it will be, from month to month, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh will come to bow down before my face—says Yahweh. 24 And they will go out and see the corpses of the men who have rebelled against me, for their maggots will not die, and their fire will not be quenched; and they will be an abhorrence to all flesh.” Jeremiah Chapter 1 1 These are the words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. 2 The word of Yahweh came to him in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, in the 13th year of his reign. 3 It also came in the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the fifth month of the 11th year of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem were taken away as prisoners. 4 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 5 “Before I formed you in the womb, I chose you; before you came out from the womb I set you apart; I made you a prophet to the nations.” 6 “Ah, Lord Yahweh!” I said, “Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a young boy.” 7 But Yahweh said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a young boy.’ You must go everywhere I send you, and you must say whatever I command you! 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to rescue you—this is Yahweh’s declaration.” 9 Then Yahweh reached out with his hand, touched my mouth, and said to me, “Now, I have placed my word in your mouth. 10 Look, I am appointing you today over nations and over kingdoms, to uproot and break down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and plant.” 11 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “I see an almond branch.” 12 Yahweh said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to carry it out.” 13 The word of Yahweh came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” I said, “I see a heated pot, whose surface is churning, tipping away from the north.” 14 Yahweh said to me, “Disaster will be released out of the north on all who live in this land. 15 For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the northern kingdoms, declares Yahweh. They will come, and everyone will set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all the walls that surround it, and against all the cities of Judah. 16 I will pronounce sentence against them for all their evil in forsaking me, in burning incense to other gods, and in worshiping what they made with their own hands. 17 Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be shattered before them, or I will shatter you before them! 18 Behold! Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. 19 They will fight against you, but they will not defeat you, for I will be with you to rescue you—this is Yahweh’s declaration.” Chapter 2 1 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem. Say, ‘Yahweh says this: I have called to mind on your behalf the covenant faithfulness in your youthfulness, your love at the time when we were engaged, when you went after me in the wilderness, the land that was not sown. 3 Israel was set apart to Yahweh, the firstfruits of his harvest! All who ate from the firstfruits were held guilty; disaster came upon them—this is Yahweh’s declaration.’” 4 Hear the word of Yahweh, house of Jacob, all you clans of the house of Israel. 5 Yahweh says this, “What did your fathers find wrong with me, that they went far from following me? That they went after useless idols and became useless themselves? 6 They did not say, ‘Where is Yahweh, who brought us up from the land of Egypt? Where is Yahweh, who led us to the wilderness, into the land of the Arabah and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, a land through which no one passes and where no one lives?’ 7 But I brought you to the land of Carmel, to eat its fruit and other good things! Yet when you came, you defiled my land, you made my inheritance an abomination! 8 The priests did not say, ‘Where is Yahweh?’ and the experts in the law did not know me! The shepherds transgressed against me. The prophets prophesied for Baal and walked after unprofitable things. 9 So I will still accuse you—this is Yahweh’s declaration—and I will accuse your sons’ sons. 10 For cross over to the coasts of Kittim and look. Send messengers out to Kedar and find out and see if there has ever before been anything like this. 11 Has a nation exchanged gods, even though they were not gods? But my people have exchanged their glory for what cannot help them. [1] 12 Shudder, heavens, because of this! Be shocked and horrified—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 13 For my people have committed two evils against me: They have abandoned the springs of living waters, and they have dug out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that cannot hold water. 14 Is Israel a slave? Was he born in his master’s home? So why has he become plunder? 15 Young lions roared against him. They made a lot of noise and made his land a horror. His cities are destroyed without any inhabitants. 16 Also, the people of Memphis and Tahpanhes will shave your skull. 17 Did you not do this to yourselves when you abandoned Yahweh your God, while he was leading you along the way? 18 So now, why take the road to Egypt and drink the waters of Shihor? Why take the road to Assyria and drink the waters of the Euphrates River? 19 Your wickedness rebukes you, and your faithlessness punishes you. So think about it and understand that it is wicked and bitter when you forsake Yahweh your God, and have no fear of me—this is the declaration of Lord Yahweh of hosts. 20 For I broke your yoke that you had in ancient days; I tore your fetters off you. Still you said, ‘I will not serve!’ since you bowed down on every high hill and beneath every leafy tree, you adulterer. 21 I planted you as a choice vine, completely from pure seed. How then have you changed yourself into a corrupt, worthless vine? 22 For even if you clean yourself with lye or wash with strong soap, your iniquity is a stain before me—this is the declaration of the Lord Yahweh. 23 How can you say, ‘I am not defiled! I have not walked after the Baals’? Look at what you did in the valleys! Consider what you have done—you are a swift female camel running here and there, 24 a wild donkey accustomed to the wilderness, in her heat sniffing the wind! Who can restrain her lust? None of the males need wear themselves out pursuing her; at mating time they will find her. 25 You must restrain your feet from becoming bare and your throat from being thirsty! But you have said, ‘It is hopeless! No, I love strangers and go after them!’ 26 Like the shame of a thief when he is found, so the house of Israel will be ashamed— they, their kings, their princes, and their priests and prophets! 27 These are the ones who say to the tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to the stone, ‘You gave birth to me.’ For their back faces me and not their faces. Nevertheless, they say in the time of troubles, ‘Arise and save us!’ 28 Yet where are the gods that you made for yourselves? Let them arise if they wish to save you in your time of troubles, for your idols equal your cities in number, Judah! 29 So why do you accuse me of doing wrong? All of you have sinned against me—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 30 I have punished your people in vain. They would not accept discipline. Your sword has devoured your prophets like a destructive lion! 31 You who belong to this generation! Pay attention to the word of Yahweh! Have I been a wilderness to Israel? Or a land of deep darkness? Why would my people say, ‘Let us wander around, we will not go to you anymore’? 32 Will a virgin forget her jewelry, a bride her veils? Yet my people have forgotten me for days without number! 33 How well you make your way to look for love. You have even taught your ways to wicked women. 34 The blood that was the life of innocent, poor people has been found on your clothes. These people were not discovered in acts of burglary. 35 Yet you say, ‘I am innocent; surely his anger has turned away from me.’ But look! I will bring down judgment on you because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’ 36 Why do you treat so very lightly this change in your ways? You will also be disappointed by Egypt, just as you were by Assyria. 37 You will also go out from there dejected, with your hands on your head, for Yahweh has rejected the ones whom you trusted, so you will not be helped by them.” 2:11 [1] Instead of their glory , some ancient copies have my glory . Chapter 3 1 “If a man divorces his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man’s wife, will he return to her again? Would that land not be greatly polluted? You have lived as a prostitute who has many lovers; and would you return to me?—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 2 Lift up your eyes to the barren heights and look! Is there any place where you have not had illicit sex? By the roadsides you sat waiting for your lovers, as an Arab in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your prostitution and wickedness. 3 So the showers have been withheld and the spring rains have not come; yet you have the forehead of a prostitute; you refuse to be ashamed. 4 Have you not just now called to me: ‘My father! My closest friend even from my youth! 5 Will he always be angry? Will he always keep his wrath to the end?’ Behold! This is what you have said, but you do all the evil you can!” 6 Then Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Do you see what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up every high hill and under every leafy tree, and there she has acted like a prostitute. 7 I said, ‘After she does all these things, she will return to me,’ but she did not return. Then her faithless sister Judah saw these things. 8 So I saw that, in the same way that faithless Israel had committed adultery and I had sent her away and had given a bill of divorce against her, her faithless sister Judah did not fear; she also went out and acted like a prostitute. 9 Her prostitution was nothing to her; she defiled the land, and she committed adultery with stones and trees. 10 Then after all of this, her faithless sister Judah returned to me, not with all her heart, but with a lie—this is Yahweh’s declaration.” 11 Then Yahweh said to me, “Faithless Israel has been more righteous than faithless Judah! 12 Go and proclaim these words to the north. Say, ‘Return, faithless Israel!—this is Yahweh’s declaration—I will not always be angry with you. Since I am faithful—this is Yahweh’s declaration—I will not stay angry forever. 13 Acknowledge your iniquity, for you have transgressed against Yahweh your God; you have shared your ways with strangers under every leafy tree! For you have not listened to my voice!—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 14 Return, faithless people!—this is Yahweh’s declaration—I am your husband! I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion! 15 I will give you shepherds after my heart, and they will shepherd you with knowledge and insight. 16 Then it will happen that you will increase and bear fruit in the land in those days—this is Yahweh’s declaration—they will no longer say, “The Box of the Covenant of Yahweh!” This matter will no longer come up in their hearts or be remembered; it will not be missed, and another one will not be made.’ 17 In that time they will proclaim about Jerusalem, ‘This is Yahweh’s throne,’ and all the other nations will gather at Jerusalem in Yahweh’s name. They will no longer walk in the stubbornness of their wicked hearts. 18 In those days, the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel. They will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave your ancestors as an inheritance. 19 As for me, I said, ‘How I want to treat you as my son and give you a pleasant land, an inheritance more beautiful than what is in any other nation!’ I would have said, ‘You will call me “my father”.’ I would have said that you would not turn from following me. 20 But like a woman faithless to her husband, you have betrayed me, house of Israel—this is Yahweh’s declaration.” 21 A voice is heard on the plains, the weeping and pleading of the people of Israel! For they have changed their ways; they have forgotten Yahweh their God. 22 “Return, faithless people! I will heal you of treachery!” “Behold! We will come to you, for you are Yahweh our God! 23 Surely lies come from the hills, a confusing noise from the mountains; surely Yahweh our God is the salvation of Israel. 24 Yet from the time of our youthfulness shameful idols have consumed what our ancestors have worked for— their flocks and cattle, their sons and daughters! 25 Let us lie down in shame. May our shame cover us, for we have sinned against Yahweh our God! We ourselves and our ancestors, from the time of our youthfulness to this present day, have not listened to the voice of Yahweh our God!” Chapter 4 1 “If you return, Israel—this is Yahweh’s declaration—then it should be to me that you return. If you remove your detestable things from before me and do not wander from me again, 2 You must be truthful, just, and righteous when you swear, ‘As Yahweh lives.’ Then the nations will bless themselves in him, and in him they will glory.” 3 For Yahweh says this to each person in Judah and Jerusalem: ‘Plow your own ground, and do not sow among thorns. 4 Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh, and remove the foreskins of your heart, men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or else my fury will break out like fire, and burn with no one to quench it, because of the wickedness of your deeds. 5 Report in Judah and let it be heard in Jerusalem. Say, “Blow the trumpet in the land.” Proclaim, “Gather together. Let us go to the fortified cities.” 6 Lift up the signal flag and point it toward Zion, and run for safety! Do not stay, for I am bringing disaster from the north and a great collapse. 7 A lion is coming out from his thicket and someone who will destroy nations is setting out. He is leaving his place to bring horror to your land, to turn your cities into ruins, where no one will live. 8 Because of this, wrap yourself in sackcloth, lament and wail. For the force of Yahweh’s anger has not turned away from us. 9 Then it will happen in that day—this is Yahweh’s declaration—that the hearts of the king and his officials will die. The priests will be appalled, and the prophets will be horrified.’” 10 So I said, “Ah! Lord Yahweh. Surely you have completely deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying, ‘There will be peace for you.’ Yet the sword is striking against their life.” 11 In that time it will be said of this people and Jerusalem, “A burning wind from the plains of the desert will make its way to the daughter of my people. It will not winnow or cleanse them. 12 A wind far stronger than that will come at my command, and I will now pass sentence against them. 13 See, he is attacking like clouds, and his chariots are like a storm. His horses are faster than eagles. Woe to us, for we will be devastated! 14 Cleanse your heart from wickedness, Jerusalem, so that you might be saved. How long will your deepest thoughts be about how to sin? 15 For a voice is bringing news from Dan, and the coming disaster is heard from the mountains of Ephraim. 16 Make the nations think about this: See, announce to Jerusalem that besiegers are coming from a distant land to shout in battle against the cities of Judah. 17 They will be like the watchmen of a cultivated field against her all around, since she has been rebellious against me—this is Yahweh’s declaration— 18 and your conduct and your deeds have done these things to you. This will be your punishment. How terrible it will be! It will strike your very heart. 19 My heart! My heart! I am in anguish in my heart. My heart is turbulent within me. I cannot keep quiet for I hear the sound of the horn, an alarm for battle. 20 Disaster follows after disaster; for all the land lies in ruins. Suddenly my tents are destroyed, my curtains in a moment. 21 How long will I see the standard? Will I hear the sound of the horn? 22 For the foolishness of my people—they do not know me. They are idiotic people and they have no understanding. They have skill at evil, but do not know to do good. 23 I saw the land. Behold! It was formless and empty. For there was no light for the heavens. 24 I looked at the mountains. Behold, they were trembling, and all the hills were shaking about. 25 I looked. Behold, there was no one, and all the birds of the heavens had fled. 26 I looked. Behold, the orchards were a wilderness and all the cities had been pulled down before Yahweh, before the fury of his wrath.” 27 This is what Yahweh says, “All the land will become a devastation, but I will not completely destroy it. 28 For this reason, the land will mourn, and the heavens above will darken. For I have declared my intentions; I will not hold back; I will not turn from carrying them out. 29 Every city will flee from the noise of the cavalry and the archers with a bow; they will run into the forests. Every city will climb up into the rocky places. The cities will be abandoned, for there will be no one to inhabit them. 30 Now that you have been devastated, what will you do? For though you dress in scarlet, adorn yourself with gold jewelry, and make your eyes look bigger with paint, you are making yourself lovely in vain. The men who lusted for you now reject you. Instead, they are trying to take away your life. 31 So I hear the sound of anguish, distress as in the birth of a firstborn child, the sound of the daughter of Zion. She is gasping for breath. She spreads out her hands, ‘Woe to me! I am fainting because of these murderers.’” Chapter 5 1 “Rush about through the streets of Jerusalem; search in her city squares, too. Then look and think about this: If you can find a man or anyone who is acting justly and trying to act faithfully, then I will forgive Jerusalem. 2 Although they say, ‘As Yahweh lives,’ yet they are swearing falsely.” 3 Yahweh, do your eyes not look for faithfulness? You struck the people, but they do not feel pain. You have completely defeated them, but they still refuse to receive discipline. They make their faces harder than rock, for they refuse to return. 4 So I said, “Surely these are only poor people. They are foolish, for they do not know Yahweh’s ways, nor their God’s decrees. 5 I will go to the important people and declare God’s messages to them, for they at least know Yahweh’s ways, the decrees of their God.” But they all broke their yoke together; they all tore apart the chains. 6 So a lion from a thicket will attack them. A wolf from the Arabah will ruin them. A lurking panther will come against their cities. Anyone who goes outside his city will be torn apart. For their transgressions increase. Their acts of faithlessness are unlimited. 7 Why should I pardon you? Your sons have abandoned me and have made oaths by what are not gods. I fed them fully, but they committed adultery and walked in great numbers to the houses of prostitutes. 8 They were horses in heat. They roamed about wanting to mate. Each man neighed to his neighbor’s wife. 9 So should I not punish them—this is Yahweh’s declaration— and should I not avenge myself on a nation that is like this? 10 Go up onto her vineyards’ terraces and destroy. But do not bring complete destruction to them. Trim their vines, since those vines do not come from Yahweh. 11 For the houses of Israel and Judah have completely betrayed me—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 12 They have spoken falsely about Yahweh and they said, “He will do nothing; no harm will come upon us, and we will not see sword or famine. 13 The prophets will become wind, the word is not in them, so let what they say be done to them.” 14 So Yahweh, the God of hosts says this, “Because you have said this, see, I am about to place my word in your mouth. It will be like a fire, and this people will be like wood! For it will consume them. 15 Behold! I am about to bring a nation against you from far away, house of Israel—this is Yahweh’s declaration— it is a lasting nation, an ancient nation! It is a nation whose language you do not know, nor will you understand what they say. 16 Its quiver is like an open tomb. They are all soldiers. 17 So your harvest will be consumed, your sons and daughters also, and your food. They will eat your flocks and cattle; they will eat the fruit from your vines and fig trees. They will beat down with a sword your fortified cities that you trusted in. 18 But even in those days—this is Yahweh’s declaration—I do not intend to destroy you completely. 19 When you, Israel and Judah, say, ‘Why has Yahweh our God done all these things to us?’ then you, Jeremiah, will say to them, ‘Just as you abandoned Yahweh and served foreign gods in your land, so you must also serve strangers in a land that is not your own.’ 20 Report this to the house of Jacob and let it be heard in Judah. Say, 21 ‘Hear this, you foolish people who have no understanding; who have eyes but you cannot see, and you have ears but you cannot hear. 22 Do you not fear me—this is Yahweh’s declaration—or tremble before my face? I have placed a border of sand against the sea, an ongoing decree that it does not violate— even though the sea rises and falls, still it does not violate it. Even though its waves roar, they do not cross it. 23 But this people has a stubborn heart. It turns away in rebellion and goes away. 24 For they do not say in their hearts, “Let us fear Yahweh our God, the one who brings the rain— the early rain and the late rains—in their right time, keeping the fixed weeks of the harvest for us.” 25 Your iniquities kept these things from happening. Your sins have stopped good from coming to you. 26 For wicked men are found with my people. They watch like someone who crouches to capture birds; they set a trap and catch people. 27 Like a cage full of birds, their houses are full of deceit. So they grow large and become rich. 28 They have become fat; they shine with well-being. They crossed over all bounds of wickedness. They do not plead the cause of the people, or the cause of the orphan. They prosper even though they have not given justice to the needy. 29 Should I not punish them for these things—this is Yahweh’s declaration— and will I not take vengeance for myself on a nation like this? 30 Atrocities and horrors have occurred in the land. 31 The prophets prophesy with deceit, and the priests rule with their own power. My people love it this way, but what will happen in the end?’” Chapter 6 1 Find safety, people of Benjamin, by leaving Jerusalem. Blow a trumpet in Tekoa. Raise up over Beth Hakkerem a signal, since wickedness is appearing from the north; a great crushing is coming. 2 The daughter of Zion, the beautiful and delicate woman, will be destroyed. 3 The shepherds and their flocks will go to them; they will set up tents against her all around; each man will shepherd with his own hand. 4 “Dedicate yourselves to the gods for the battle. Arise, let us attack at noon. Woe to us for the daylight is fading away, for the evening shadows are falling. 5 But let us attack at night and destroy her fortresses.” 6 For Yahweh of hosts says this: Cut her trees, and heap up siegeworks against Jerusalem. This is the right city to attack, because it is filled with oppression. 7 As a well pours out fresh water, so this city keeps producing wickedness. Violence and disorder are heard within her; sickness and wounds are continually before my face. 8 Accept discipline, Jerusalem, or I will turn away from you and make you into a ruin, an uninhabited land.’” 9 Yahweh of hosts says this, “They will certainly glean those who are left in Israel like a vineyard. Reach out again with your hand to pick grapes from the vines. 10 To whom should I declare and warn so they will listen? Look! Their ears are uncircumcised; they are not able to pay attention! Look! The word of Yahweh has come to them to correct them, but they do not want it.” 11 But I am filled with Yahweh’s fury. I am tired of holding it in. He said, to me, “Pour it out on the children in the streets and on the groups of young men. For every man will be taken away with his wife; and every old person heavy with years. 12 Their houses will be turned over to others, both their fields and their wives together. For I will attack the inhabitants of the land with my hand—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 13 Yahweh declares that from the least to the greatest, all of them are greedy for dishonest gain. From the prophet to the priest, all of them practice deceit. 14 They have healed the wounds of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, Peace,’ when there is no peace. 15 Were they ashamed when they practiced abominations? They were not ashamed; they did not even know how to blush! So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when they are punished, says Yahweh. 16 Yahweh says this, “Stand at the road crossing and look; ask for the ancient pathways. ‘Where is this good way?’ Then go on it and find a resting place for yourselves. But the people say, ‘We will not go.’ 17 I appointed for you watchmen to listen for the sound of the trumpet. But they said, ‘We will not listen.’ 18 Therefore, nations, listen! See, you witnesses, what will happen to them. 19 Hear, earth! See, I am about to bring disaster to this people—the fruit of their thoughts. They paid no attention to my word or law, but instead they rejected it.” 20 “What does this frankincense going up from Sheba mean to me? Or these sweet smells from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable to me, nor are your sacrifices. 21 So Yahweh says this, ‘See, I am about to place a stumbling block against this people. They will stumble over it—fathers and sons together. Inhabitants and their neighbors will also perish.’ 22 Yahweh says this, ‘See, a people is coming from the land of the north, a great nation is being stirred up from the farthest parts of the earth. 23 They will pick up bows and spears. They are cruel and have no compassion. Their sound is like the sea roar, and they are riding on horses, set out in order as men for battle, against you, daughter of Zion.’” 24 We have heard the reports about them and our hands fall limp in distress. Anguish seizes us as a woman giving birth. 25 Do not go out to the fields, and do not walk on the roads, for the swords of the enemy and terror are all around. 26 Daughter of my people, put on sackcloth and roll in ashes; mourn with painful sobs as for an only son, for the destroyer will suddenly come upon us. 27 “I have made you, Jeremiah, one who tests my people like one would test metal, so you will inspect and test their ways. 28 They are all the most stubborn of people, who go about slandering others. All of them are bronze and iron, acting corruptly. 29 The bellows are scorched by the fire that is burning them; the lead is consumed in the flames. The refining continues among them, but it is useless, because the evil is not removed. 30 They will be called rejected silver, for Yahweh has rejected them.” Chapter 7 1 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, 2 “Stand at the gate of Yahweh’s house and proclaim there this word! Say, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, all you of Judah, you who enter these gates to worship Yahweh. 3 Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this: Make your ways and practices good, and I will let you continue to live in this place. 4 Do not entrust yourself to deceitful words and say, “Temple of Yahweh! Temple of Yahweh! Temple of Yahweh!” 5 For if you actually make your ways and practices good; if you completely execute justice between a man and his neighbor— 6 if you do not exploit the one staying in the land, the orphan, or the widow and do not pour out innocent blood in this place, and do not walk after other gods to your own harm— 7 then I will let you stay in this place, in the land that I gave to your ancestors from ancient times and forever. 8 Behold! You are trusting in deceitful words that do not help you. 9 Do you steal, kill, and commit adultery? Do you swear deceitfully and offer incense to Baal and walk after other gods whom you have not known? 10 Then do you come and stand before me in this house that is called by my name and say, “We are saved,” so you can do all of these abominations? 11 Is this house, which carries my name, a den of bandits in your eyes? But behold, I have seen it—this is Yahweh’s declaration.’ 12 ‘So go to my place that was in Shiloh, where I allowed my name to stay there in the beginning, and look at what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. 13 So now, on account of your doing all of these practices—this is Yahweh’s declaration—I spoke to you time and time again, but you did not listen. I summoned you, but you did not answer. 14 Therefore, what I did to Shiloh, I will also do to this house that is called by my name, the house in which you have trusted, this place that I gave to you and your ancestors. 15 For I will send you out from before me just as I had sent out all your brothers, all the descendants of Ephraim.’ 16 As for you, Jeremiah, do not pray for this people, and do not lift up a lamenting wail or say a prayer on their behalf, and do not petition me, for I will not listen to you. 17 Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children are gathering wood and the fathers kindling the fire! The women are kneading dough to make cakes for the queen of the heavens and pour out drink offerings for other gods so that they will provoke me. 19 Are they truly provoking me?—this is Yahweh’s declaration—is it not themselves whom they are provoking, so that shame is on them? 20 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this, ‘See, my anger and wrath will gush out onto this place, on both man and beast, on the tree in the fields and the fruit on the ground. It will burn and never be extinguished.’ 21 Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel says this, ‘Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat the meat from them. 22 For I did not speak with your ancestors and I gave them no command about matters of burnt offerings and sacrifices, when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. 23 I only gave them this command, “Listen to my voice, and I will be your God and you will be my people. So walk in all the ways that I am commanding you, so that it may go well with you.” 24 But they did not listen or pay attention. They lived by their own stubborn plans of their wicked hearts, so they went backwards, not forward. 25 Ever since the day when your ancestors went out from the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent every one of my servants, my prophets, to you. I persisted in sending them. 26 But they did not listen to me. They paid no attention. Instead, they hardened their necks. They were more wicked than their ancestors.’ 27 So proclaim all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. Proclaim these things to them, but they will not answer you. 28 Say to them: This is a nation that does not listen to the voice of Yahweh its God and does not receive discipline. Truth is destroyed and cut off from their mouths. 29 Cut off your hair and shave yourself, and throw away your hair. Sing a funeral song over the open places. For Yahweh has rejected and abandoned this generation in his rage. 30 For the sons of Judah have done evil in my sight—this is Yahweh’s declaration—they have set their detestable things in the house that is called by my name, in order to defile it. 31 Then they built the high place of Topheth that is in the Valley of Ben Hinnom. They did this to burn their sons and daughters in fire—something that I did not command, nor did it enter my mind. 32 So see, days are coming—this is Yahweh’s declaration—when it will no longer be called Topheth or Valley of Ben Hinnom. It will be the Valley of Slaughter; they will bury bodies in Topheth until there is no room left. 33 The corpses of this people will be food for the birds of the skies and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away. 34 I will put an end to, from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem, the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride. For the land will become a desolation.” Chapter 8 1 “At that time—this is Yahweh’s declaration—they will bring out from the graves the bones of the kings of Judah and its officials, the bones of the priests and the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 2 Then they will spread them out in the sun and moon and all the stars of the skies; these things in the sky that they have followed and served, that they have walked after and sought, and that they have worshiped. The bones will not be gathered or buried again. They will be like dung on the surface of the earth. 3 In every remaining place where I have driven them, they will choose death instead of life for themselves, all who are still left over from this evil nation—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts. 4 So say to them, ‘Yahweh says this: Does anyone fall and not get up? Does anyone get lost and not try to return? 5 Why has this people, Jerusalem, turned away in permanent faithlessness? They hold on to treachery and refuse to repent. 6 I paid attention and listened, but they did not speak right; no one was sorry for his wickedness, no one who says, “What have I done?” All of them go where they wish, like a stallion rushing toward battle. 7 Even the stork in heaven knows the right times; and the doves, swifts, and cranes. They go on their migrations at the right time, but my people do not know Yahweh’s decrees. 8 How can you say, “We are wise, for the law of Yahweh is with us”? Indeed, see! The deceitful pen of the scribes has created deceit. 9 The wise men will be ashamed. They are dismayed and trapped. Behold! They reject Yahweh’s word, so what use is their wisdom? 10 So I will give their wives to others, and their fields to those who will possess them, because from the least to the greatest, all of them are greedy for dishonest gain! From the prophet to the priest, all of them practice deceit. 11 They healed the wounds of the daughter of my people lightly, saying, “Peace, Peace,” when there was no peace. 12 Were they ashamed when they practiced abominations? They were not ashamed; they did not know how to blush! So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when they are punished, says Yahweh. 13 I will remove them completely—this is Yahweh’s declaration—there will be no grapes on the vine, nor will there be figs on the fig trees. For the leaf will wither, and what I have given to them will pass away. 14 Why are we sitting here? Come together; let us go to the fortified cities, and we will become silent there in death. For Yahweh our God will silence us. He will make us drink poison, since we have sinned against him. 15 We are hoping for peace, but there will be nothing good. We are hoping for a time of healing, but see, there will be terror. 16 The snorting of his stallions is heard from Dan. The whole earth shakes at the sound of the neighing of his strong horses. For they will come and consume the land and its wealth, the city and the ones living in it. 17 For see, I am sending out snakes among you, vipers that you cannot charm. They will bite you—this is Yahweh’s declaration.’” 18 My sorrow has no end, and my heart is sick. 19 Behold! The screaming voice of the daughter of my people from a land far away! Is Yahweh not in Zion? Is her king no longer there? Why then do they provoke me to anger with their carved figures and their worthless foreign idols? 20 The harvest has passed on, summer is over. But we have not been saved. 21 I am hurt because of the hurt of the daughter of my people. I mourn at the horrible things that have happened to her; I am dismayed. 22 Is there no medicine in Gilead? Is there no healer there? Why will the healing of the daughter of my people not happen? Chapter 9 1 If only my head could produce water, and my eyes be a fountain of tears! For I wish to weep day and night for those among the daughter of my people who have been killed. 2 If only someone would give me a place for travelers in the wilderness to stay, where I could go to abandon my people. If only I could leave them, since all of them are adulterers, a band of traitors! 3 Yahweh declares, “They tread on their bows of lies with their tongues, but it is not because of any faithfulness of theirs that they grow strong on the earth. They go from one wicked act to another. They do not know me.” 4 Each of you, be on guard against your neighbor and do not trust in any brother. For every brother is certainly a deceiver, and every neighbor walks in slander. 5 Each man mocks his neighbor and does not speak the truth. Their tongues teach deceitful things. They are exhausted from committing iniquity. 6 Your dwelling is in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me—this is Yahweh’s declaration.” 7 Therefore, Yahweh of hosts says this, “See, I am about to refine them and test them, for what else can I do, because of what my people have done? 8 Their tongues are sharpened arrows; they speak unfaithful things. With their mouths they proclaim peace with their neighbors, but with their hearts they lie in wait for them. 9 Should I not punish them because of these things—this is Yahweh’s declaration— and should I not avenge myself on a nation that is like this? 10 I will sing a song of mourning and wailing for the mountains, and a funeral song will be sung for the oases in the wilderness. For they are burned so no one can pass through them. They will not hear the sound of any cattle. The birds of the skies and the animals have all fled away. 11 So I will turn Jerusalem into piles of ruins, a hideout for jackals. I will make Judah’s cities ruined places without inhabitants.” 12 What man is wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of Yahweh spoken, and he will declare it? Why has the land perished and been destroyed like the wilderness that no one can pass through? 13 Yahweh says, “It is because they have abandoned my law that I set before them, because they do not listen to my voice or walk by it. 14 It is because they have walked by their stubborn hearts and have followed the Baals as their fathers taught them to do. 15 Therefore Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, says this, ‘See, I am about to make this people eat wormwood and drink poisonous water. 16 Then I will scatter them among the nations that they have not known, neither they nor their ancestors. I will send out a sword after them until I have completely destroyed them.’” 17 Yahweh of hosts says this, “Think about this: Summon funeral singers; let them come. Send out for women skilled at lamenting; let them come. 18 Let them hurry and sing a mournful song over us, so our eyes may run with tears and our eyelids flow with water. 19 For the sound of wailing is heard in Zion, ‘How we are devastated. We are greatly ashamed, for we have abandoned the land since they tore down our houses.’ 20 So you women, hear Yahweh’s word; pay attention to the messages that come from his mouth. Then teach your daughters a mourning song, and each neighbor woman a funeral song. 21 For death has come through our windows; it goes into our palaces. It destroys children from outside, and young men in the city squares. 22 Declare this, ‘This is Yahweh’s declaration—the corpses of men will fall like dung in the fields, and like grain stalks after the reapers, and there will be no one to gather them.’” 23 Yahweh says this, “Do not let the wise man take pride in his wisdom, or the warrior in his might. Do not let the wealthy man take pride in his riches. 24 For if a man takes pride in anything, let it be in this, that he has insight and knows me. For I am Yahweh, who acts with covenant faithfulness, justice and righteousness on earth. For it is in these that I take pleasure— this is Yahweh’s declaration.” 25 “See, days are coming—this is Yahweh’s declaration—when I will punish all the circumcised who are such only in their body. 26 I will punish Egypt and Judah, Edom, the people of Ammon, Moab, all the people who cut the hair on their heads very short, and those dwelling in the desert. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel has an uncircumcised heart.” Chapter 10 1 “Hear the word that Yahweh is announcing to you, house of Israel. 2 Yahweh says this, ‘Do not learn the ways of the nations, and do not be dismayed by the signs in the heavens, for the nations are dismayed by these. 3 For the religious customs of these people are worthless. They cut down a tree in the forest, and the craftsman carves the wood. 4 Then they decorate it with silver and gold. They strengthen it with hammer and nails so it will not fall over. 5 What they make with their hands is like scarecrows in a cucumber field, because they, too, can say nothing, and they have to be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them, for they cannot bring about evil, nor are they able to do anything good.’” 6 There is no one like you, Yahweh. You are great, and your name is great in power. 7 Who does not fear you, king of the nations? For this is what you deserve, for there is no one like you among all the wise men of the nations or all their royal kingdoms. 8 They are all the same, they are brutish and stupid, disciples of idols that are nothing but wood. 9 They bring hammered silver from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz made by artificers, the hands of refiners. Their clothes are blue and purple cloth. Their skillful men made all of these things. 10 But Yahweh is the true God. He is the living God and eternal king. The earth quakes at his anger, and the nations cannot endure his anger. 11 You will speak to them like this, “The gods that did not make the heavens and earth will perish from the earth and from under these heavens.” 12 But it was he who made the earth by his power, and he established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding he stretched out the heavens. 13 His voice makes the roar of waters in the heavens, and he brings up the mists from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain and sends out wind from his storehouse. 14 Every man has become ignorant, without knowledge. Every metalworker is put to shame by his idols. For his cast images are frauds; there is no life in them. 15 They are useless, the work of mockers; they will perish at the time of their punishment. 16 But God, the portion of Jacob, is not like these, for he is the molder of all things. Israel is the tribe of his inheritance; Yahweh of hosts is his name. 17 Gather your bundle and leave the land, you people who have been living under the siege. 18 For Yahweh says this, “See, I am about to throw the inhabitants of the land out this time. I will cause them distress, and they will find it to be so.” 19 Woe to me! Because of my broken bones, my wound is infected. So I said, “Surely this is agony, but I must bear it.” 20 My tent is devastated, and all of my tent cords are cut in two. They have taken my children away from me, so they no longer exist. There is no longer anyone to spread out my tent or to raise up my tent curtains. 21 For the shepherds are stupid and they do not seek Yahweh; so they have not prospered, and all their flock has been scattered. 22 The report of news has arrived, “See! It is coming, a great earthquake is coming from the land of the north To make the cities of Judah into ruins, hideouts for jackals.” 23 I know, Yahweh, that the way of a man does not come from himself. No person walking directs his own steps. 24 Discipline me, Yahweh, nevertheless with justice, not in your anger or you would destroy me. 25 Pour your fury on the nations that do not know you and on the families that do not call on your name. For they have devoured Jacob and consumed him so as to completely destroy him and demolish his habitation. Chapter 11 1 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, 2 “Listen to the words of this covenant, and declare them to each man in Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 3 Say to them, ‘Yahweh, God of Israel says this: Cursed is anyone who does not listen to the words of this covenant. 4 This is the covenant that I commanded your ancestors to keep the day I brought them out from the land of Egypt, from the furnace for smelting iron. I said, “Listen to my voice and do all of these things just as I have commanded you, for you will be my people and I will be your God.” 5 So that I may confirm the oath that I swore to your ancestors, the oath that I would give them the land flowing with milk and honey, where you live today.’” Then I, Jeremiah, answered and said, “Yes, Yahweh!” 6 Yahweh said to me, “Proclaim all these things in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. Say, ‘Listen to the words of this covenant and carry them out. 7 For I have been giving solemn commands to your ancestors from the day I brought them up from the land of Egypt until this present time, persistently warning them and saying, “Listen to my voice.”’ 8 But they did not listen or pay attention. Each person has been walking in the stubbornness of his wicked heart. So I brought all the curses in this covenant that I commanded to come against them. But the people still did not obey.” 9 Next Yahweh said to me, “A conspiracy has been discovered among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10 They have turned to the iniquities of their earliest ancestors, who refused to listen to my word, who instead walked after other gods to worship them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah broke my covenant that I established with their ancestors. 11 Therefore Yahweh says this, ‘See, I am about to bring disaster on them, disaster from which they will not be able to escape. Then they will call out to me, but I will not listen to them. 12 The cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and call out to the gods to which they had given offerings, but they will certainly not be saved by them at the time of their disaster. 13 For you Judah, the number of your gods has increased to equal the number of your cities. You have made the number of shameful altars in Jerusalem, incense altars for Baal, equal to the number of her streets. 14 So you yourself, Jeremiah, must not pray for this people. You must not wail or pray on their behalf. For I will not be listening when they call on me in their disaster. 15 Why is my beloved one, the one who has had so many wicked intentions, in my house? The meat of your sacrifices cannot help you. You rejoice because of your evil actions. 16 In the past Yahweh called you a leafy olive tree, beautiful with lovely fruit. But he will light a fire on it that will sound like the roar of a storm; its branches will be broken. 17 For Yahweh of hosts, the one who planted you, has decreed disaster against you because of the wicked acts that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have committed—they have angered me by giving offerings to Baal.’” 18 Yahweh made me know these things, so I know them. Yahweh made me see their deeds. 19 I was like a gentle lamb being led to a butcher. I did not know that they had formed plans against me, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit! Let us cut him off from the land of the living so his name will be no longer remembered.” 20 Yet Yahweh of hosts is the righteous judge who examines the heart and the mind. I will witness your vengeance against them, for I have presented my case to you. 21 Therefore Yahweh says this concerning the people of Anathoth who are seeking your life, “They say, ‘You must not prophesy in the name of Yahweh, or you will die by our hand.’ 22 Therefore Yahweh of hosts says this, ‘See, I am about to punish them. Their vigorous young men will die by the sword. Their sons and their daughters will die by famine. 23 None of them will be left, because I am bringing disaster against the people of Anathoth, a year of their punishment.’” Chapter 12 1 You are righteous, Yahweh, whenever I bring disputes to you. I must certainly tell you of my reason to complain: Why do the ways of the wicked succeed? All the faithless people are successful. 2 You planted them and they took root. They continue also to produce fruit. You are near to them in their mouths, but far away from their hearts. 3 Yet you, Yahweh, know me. You see me and you test my heart toward you. Take them away like sheep to the slaughter, and set them apart for the day of slaughter! 4 How long will the land go on drying up, and the plants in every field wither because of the wickedness of its inhabitants? The animals and the birds have been taken away. Indeed, the people say, “God will not see what happens to us.” 5 Yahweh said, “Indeed, if you have run with foot soldiers and they have tired you out, how can you compete against horses? If you fall down in the safe countryside, how will you do in the thickets along the Jordan? 6 For even your brothers and your father’s family have betrayed you and have loudly denounced you. Do not trust in them, even if they say nice things to you. 7 I have abandoned my house; I have forsaken my inheritance. I have given my beloved into the hands of her enemies. 8 My inheritance has become to me like a lion in a thicket; she sets herself against me with her own voice, so I hate her. 9 Has not my inheritance become a speckled bird, that other birds of prey go against her all around? Go and gather all the wild beasts and bring them to devour her. 10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard. They have stomped all over my portion of land; they turned my delightful portion into a wilderness, a desolation. 11 They have made her a desolation. I mourn for her; she is desolate. All the land has been made desolate, for there is no one who takes it to heart. 12 Destroyers have come against all the bare places in the wilderness, for Yahweh’s sword is devouring from one end of the land to the other. There is no safety for any living creature. 13 They have sown wheat but harvest thornbushes. They are exhausted from work but have gained nothing. So be ashamed of your gain because of Yahweh’s anger.” 14 Yahweh says this against all my neighbors, the wicked ones who strike at the possession that I made my people Israel inherit, “See, I am the one who is about to uproot them from their own ground, and I will pull up the house of Judah from among them. 15 Then after I uproot those nations, it will happen that I will have compassion on them and bring them back; I will return them—each man to his inheritance and his land. 16 It will come about that if those nations carefully learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name ‘As Yahweh lives’ just as they have taught my people to swear by Baal, then they will be built up in the midst of my people. 17 But if any do not listen, then I will uproot that nation. It will certainly be uprooted and destroyed—this is Yahweh’s declaration.” Chapter 13 1 Yahweh said this to me, “Go and buy a linen undergarment and put it on around your waist, but do not put it in water first.” 2 So I bought an undergarment as Yahweh directed, and I put it on around my waist. 3 Then the word of Yahweh came to me a second time, saying, 4 “Take the undergarment that you purchased that is around your waist, get up and go now to Perath. [1] Hide it there in a rock crevice.” 5 So I went and hid it in Perath, just as Yahweh had commanded me. 6 After many days, Yahweh said to me, “Get up and go back to Perath. Take from there the undergarment that I had told you to hide.” 7 So I went back to Perath [2] and dug out the undergarment from where I had hid it, and behold, it was destroyed and completely useless. 8 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 9 “Yahweh says this: In the same way I will destroy the great arrogance of Judah and Jerusalem. 10 This wicked people who refuses to listen to my word, who walk in the hardness of their heart, who go after other gods to worship them and bow down to them—they will be like this undergarment that is good for nothing. 11 For just as an undergarment clings to someone’s hips, so I have made all the house of Israel and all the house of Judah cling to me—this is Yahweh’s declaration—to be my people, to bring me fame, praise, and honor. But they would not listen to me. 12 So you must speak this word to them, ‘Yahweh, the God of Israel, says this: Every jar will be filled with wine.’ They will say to you, ‘Do we not indeed know that every jar will be filled with wine?’ 13 So say to them, ‘Yahweh says this: See, I am about to fill with drunkenness every inhabitant of this land, the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 14 Then I will smash each man against his brother, fathers and children together—this is Yahweh’s declaration—I will not pity them or have compassion, and I will not spare them from destruction.’” 15 Listen and pay attention. Do not be arrogant, for Yahweh had spoken. 16 Give honor to Yahweh your God before he brings darkness, and before he causes your feet to stumble on the mountains at twilight. For you are hoping for light, but he will turn the place into a deep darkness, into a dark cloud. 17 So if you will not listen, I will weep alone because of your arrogance. My eyes will certainly weep and flow with tears, for Yahweh’s flock has been taken captive. 18 “Say to the king and to the queen, ‘Come down from your thrones, for your splendid crowns have fallen from your heads.’ 19 The cities in the Negev will be shut up, with no one to open them. All Judah will be taken captive, completely taken captive. 20 Lift up your eyes and look at the ones coming from the north. Where is the flock he gave to you, the flock that was so beautiful to you? 21 What will you say when God sets over you those you had trained to be your special allies? Are these not the beginnings of the labor pains that will seize you just like a woman in childbirth? 22 Then you might say in your heart, ‘Why are these things happening to me?’ It will be for the multitude of your iniquities that your skirts are raised up and you have been violated. 23 Can the people of Cush change their skin color, or can a leopard change its spots? If so, then you yourself, although accustomed to wickedness, would be able to do good. 24 So I will scatter them like chaff that perishes in the desert wind. 25 This is what I have given to you, the portion I have decreed for you—this is Yahweh’s declaration— because you have forgotten me and trusted in deceit. 26 So also I myself will strip your skirts off you, and your private parts will be seen. 27 I have seen your adultery and neighing, the wickedness of your prostitution on the hills and in the fields, these detestable things! Woe to you, Jerusalem! How long until you are made clean again?” 13:4 [1] Some transate Perath as the Euphrates . 13:7 [2] Some versions transate Perath as the Euphrates . Chapter 14 1 This is the word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah regarding the drought, 2 “Let Judah mourn; let her gates fall apart. They are wailing for the land; their cries for Jerusalem are going up. 3 Their mighty ones send out their servants for water. When they go to the trenches, they cannot find water. They all return with empty vessels; they cover their heads ashamed and dishonored. 4 Because of this the ground is cracked, for there is no rain in the land. The plowmen are ashamed and cover their heads. 5 For even the doe abandons her young in the fields, for there is no grass. 6 The wild donkeys stand on the bare plains and they pant in the wind like jackals. Their eyes fail to work, for there is no vegetation.” 7 Even though our iniquities testify against us, Yahweh, act for the sake of your name. For our faithless actions increase; we have sinned against you. 8 You are the Hope of Israel, the one who saves him in the time of distress. Why will you be like a stranger in the land, like a foreign wanderer who stretches out and spends just one night? 9 Why are you like someone who is astounded, or like a warrior who has no power to rescue? You are in our midst, Yahweh, and your name is called over us. Do not leave us! 10 Yahweh says this to this people: “Since they love to wander, they have not held back their feet from doing so.” Yahweh is not pleased with them. Now he calls to mind their iniquity and has punished their sins. 11 Yahweh said to me, “Do not pray for good on behalf of this people. 12 For if they fast, I will not listen to their wailing, and if they offer up burnt offerings and food offerings, I will not take pleasure in them. For I will put an end to them by sword, famine, and plague.” 13 Then I said, “Oh, Lord Yahweh! Behold! The prophets are saying to the people, ‘You will not see the sword; there will be no famine for you, for I will give you true security in this place.’” 14 Yahweh said to me, “The prophets prophesy deceit in my name. I did not send them out, nor did I give them any command or speak to them. But deceitful visions and useless, deceitful divination coming from their own minds are what they are prophesying to you.” 15 Therefore Yahweh says this, “About the prophets prophesying in my name but whom I did not send out—those who say there will be no sword or famine in this land: These prophets will perish by sword and famine. 16 Then the people to whom they prophesied will be thrown out in the streets of Jerusalem because of famine and sword, for there will be no one to bury them—them, their wives, their sons, or their daughters—for I will pour out their wickedness on them. 17 Say this word to them: ‘Let my eyes flow with tears, night and day. Do not let them stop, for there will be a great collapse of the virgin daughter of my people— a great and incurable wound. 18 If I go out to the field, there are the ones who were killed by the sword! If I come to the city, there are the diseases that are caused by famine. Both the prophet and the priest wander about the land, and they do not know.’” 19 Have you completely rejected Judah? Do you hate Zion? Why will you afflict us when there is no healing for us? We hoped for peace, but there was nothing good— and for a time of healing, but see, there is only terror. 20 We admit, Yahweh, our offenses, the iniquity of our ancestors, for we have sinned against you. 21 Do not reject us! For the sake of your name, do not make your glorious throne a disgrace. Remember and do not break your covenant with us. 22 Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Or can the skies themselves send down showers? Are you not the one, Yahweh our God? We wait for you, for you are the one who does all these things. Chapter 15 1 Then Yahweh said to me, “Even if Moses or Samuel were standing in front of me, I would still not be in favor of this people. Send them out from before me, for them to go away. 2 It will happen that they will say to you, ‘Where should we go?’ Then you must say to them, ‘Yahweh says this: Those who are for death should go to death; those who are for the sword should go to the sword. Those who are for famine should go to famine; and those who are for captivity should go to captivity.’ 3 For I will assign them to four groups—this is Yahweh’s declaration—the sword to slaughter some, the dogs to drag some away, the birds of the skies and the beast of the earth to consume and destroy some. 4 I will make of them a horrifying thing to all the kingdoms of the earth, because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem. 5 For who will have compassion for you, Jerusalem? Who will grieve for you? Who will turn aside to ask about your well-being? 6 You have forsaken me—this is Yahweh’s declaration—you have gone back from me. So I will strike you with my hand and destroy you. I am tired of having mercy on you. 7 So I will winnow them with a pitchfork at the gates of the land. I will bereave them. I will destroy my people since they will not turn from their ways. 8 I will make their widows number more than the sands of the seashore. Against the mothers of young men I will send the destroyer at noonday. I will make shock and horror suddenly fall on them. 9 The mother who has borne seven children will waste away. She will gasp. Her sun will set while it is still day. She will be ashamed and embarrassed, for I will give those who remain to the sword in the presence of their enemies— this is Yahweh’s declaration.” 10 Woe to me, my mother! For you have borne me, I who am a man of controversy and argument through all the land. I have not lent, nor has anyone lent to me, but they all curse me. 11 Yahweh said: “Will I not rescue you for good? I will certainly make your enemies beg for help in the time of calamity and distress. 12 Can one smash iron? Especially iron from the north that is mixed with bronze? 13 I will give to your enemies your wealth and treasures as free plunder. I will do this because of all your sins committed within all your borders. 14 Then I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for a fire will ignite, kindled in my wrath against you.” [1] 15 Yahweh, you know! Remember me and help me. Bring vengeance for me against those who persecute me. You are patient, but do not allow them to take me away; know that I suffer reproach for your sake. 16 Your words have been found, and I consumed them. Your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I bear your name, Yahweh, God of hosts. 17 I did not sit in the circle of those who celebrated or rejoiced. I sat in solitude because of your powerful hand, for you filled me with indignation. 18 Why is my pain ongoing and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will you be like deceitful waters to me, waters that dry up? 19 Therefore Yahweh said this, “If you repent, then I will restore you, and you will stand before me. For if you separate the foolish things from the precious things, you will be like my mouth. The people will come back to you, but you yourself must not go back to them. 20 I will make you like an impenetrable bronze wall to this people, and they will wage war against you. But they will not defeat you, for I am with you to save and rescue you—this is Yahweh’s declaration— 21 for I will rescue you from the hand of the wicked and redeem you from the hand of the tyrant.” 15:14 [1] Instead of Then I will make you serve your enemies , some ancient copies have Then I will make your enemies take you . Chapter 16 1 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Do not take a wife for yourself, and do not have sons or daughters for yourself in this place. 3 For Yahweh says this to the sons and daughters who are born in this place, to the mothers who bear them, and to the fathers who caused them to be born in this land, 4 ‘They will die diseased deaths. They will not be mourned or buried. They will be like dung on the ground. For they will come to an end by sword and famine, and their corpses will be food for the birds of the skies and the beasts of the earth.’ 5 For this says Yahweh, ‘Do not enter a house where there is mourning. Do not go to mourn or to show sympathy for them, for I have taken away my peace from this people—this is Yahweh’s declaration—and my covenant faithfulness and mercy. 6 Both the great and the small will die in this land. They will not be buried, and no one will mourn for them or cut themselves or shave their heads for them. 7 No one must share any food in mourning to comfort them because of the deaths, and none must give a comforting cup to his father or his mother. 8 You must not go to a banquet house to sit with them in order to eat or drink.’ 9 For Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, ‘See, before your eyes, in your days and in this place, I am about to put an end to the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the sound of the groom and the sound of the bride.’ 10 Then it will happen that you will report all these words to this people, and they will say to you, ‘Why has Yahweh decreed all this great disaster against us? What is our iniquity and sin that we sinned against Yahweh our God?’ 11 So say to them, ‘Because your ancestors abandoned me—this is Yahweh’s declaration—and they went after other gods and worshiped and bowed down to them. They abandoned me and have not kept my law. 12 But you yourselves have brought about more wickedness than your ancestors, for see, each person is walking by the stubbornness of his wicked heart; there is no one who listens to me. 13 So I will throw you from this land to a land that you have not known, neither you nor your ancestors, and you will worship other gods there by day and night, for I will not give any favor to you.’ 14 Therefore, behold, the days are coming—this is Yahweh’s declaration—when it will no longer be said, ‘As Yahweh lives, the one who brought up the people of Israel from the land of Egypt.’ 15 but, ‘As Yahweh lives, the one who brought up the people of Israel from the land of the north and from the lands where he had scattered them.’ For I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their ancestors. 16 Behold! I will send for many fishermen—this is Yahweh’s declaration—so they will fish the people out. After this I will send for many hunters so they will hunt for them among all the mountains and hills, and in rock crevices. 17 For my eye is on all their ways; they cannot be hidden from before me. Their iniquity cannot be concealed from before my eyes. 18 I will first pay back double for their iniquity and sin for their polluting of my land with their disgusting idol figures, and for their filling my inheritance with their disgusting idols.” 19 Yahweh, you are my stronghold and my refuge, my place of safety in the day of distress. The nations will go to you from the ends of the earth and say, “Surely our ancestors inherited deceit. They are empty; there is no profit in them. 20 Do people make gods for themselves? But they are not gods.” 21 Therefore see! I will cause them to know in this time, I will cause them to know my hand and my power, so they will know that Yahweh is my name. Chapter 17 1 “The sin of Judah is written with an iron stylus having a diamond point. It is engraved on the tablet of their hearts and on the horns of your altars. 2 Even their children remember their altars and their Asherah poles that were beside the spreading trees and on the high hills. 3 My mountain in the open country, and your wealth and all your treasures I will give away as plunder, together with your high places, because of the sin you committed in all your territories. 4 You will lose the inheritance that I gave to you. I will enslave you to your enemies in a land that you do not know, for you have ignited a fire in my wrath, which will burn forever.” 5 Yahweh says, “The person who trusts in mankind is accursed; he makes flesh his strength but turns his heart away from Yahweh. 6 For he will be like a small bush in the Arabah and will not see anything good coming. He will stay in the arid places in the wilderness, barren land without inhabitants. 7 But the person who trusts in Yahweh is blessed, for Yahweh is his reason for confidence. 8 For he will be like a tree planted by water, its roots will spread out by the stream. It will not fear the heat when it comes, for its leaves are always green. It is not anxious in a year of drought, and it will not stop producing fruit. 9 The heart is more deceitful than anything else. It is sick; who can understand it? 10 I am Yahweh, the one who searches through the mind, who tests the hearts. I give to each person according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds. 11 A partridge hatches an egg that she did not lay. Someone may become rich unjustly, but when half his days are over, those riches will abandon him, and in the end he will be a fool.” 12 “The place of our temple is a glorious throne, elevated from the beginning. 13 Yahweh is the hope of Israel. All who abandon you will be put to shame; those who turn away from you will be written in the earth, for they have forsaken Yahweh, the fountain of living waters. 14 Heal me, Yahweh, and I will be healed! Rescue me, and I will be rescued. For you are my song of praise. 15 See, they are saying to me, ‘Where is the word of Yahweh? Let it come!’ 16 As for me, I did not run from being a shepherd following you. I did not long for the day of disaster. You know the proclamations that came from my lips. They were made in your presence. 17 Do not be a terror to me. You are my refuge on the day of disaster. 18 May my pursuers be ashamed, but do not let me be ashamed. May they be dismayed, but do not let me be dismayed. Send the day of disaster against them and shatter them with a double share of destruction.” 19 Yahweh said this to me: “Go and stand in the gate of the people where the kings of Judah enter and where they exit, then in all the other gates of Jerusalem. 20 Say to them, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, kings of Judah and all you people of Judah, and every resident of Jerusalem who comes in through these gates. 21 Yahweh says this: “Be careful for the sake of your lives and do not carry a burden on the Sabbath day to bring it to the gates of Jerusalem. 22 Do not bring a load out from your house on the Sabbath day. Do not do any work, but set apart the Sabbath day, just as I commanded your ancestors to do.”’ 23 They did not listen or pay attention, but stiffened their neck so they would not hear me nor accept discipline. 24 It will happen that if you truly listen to me—this is Yahweh’s declaration—and do not bring a load to the gates of this city on the Sabbath day but instead set apart the Sabbath day to Yahweh and not do any work on it, 25 then kings, princes, and those who sit on David’s throne will come to the gates of this city in chariots and with horses, they and their leaders, men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever. 26 They will come from the cities of Judah and from all around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin and the lowlands, from the mountains, and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, thank offerings to the house of Yahweh. 27 But if you do not listen to me—to set apart the Sabbath day and to not carry heavy loads and to not enter the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day—then I will light a fire in its gates, and it will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem, and it cannot be put out.” Chapter 18 1 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, 2 “Arise and go out to the potter’s house, for I will have you hear my word there.” 3 So I went out to the potter’s house, and behold! The potter was working on the potter’s wheel. 4 But the pot he was making from the clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, so he returned the clay and formed it into another pot, and he made it into an object that was pleasing in his eyes. 5 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 6 “Should I not be able to act like this potter with you, house of Israel?—this is Yahweh’s declaration. Behold! Like clay in a potter’s hand—that is how you are in my hand, house of Israel. 7 At one moment, I may proclaim something about a nation or a kingdom, that I will drive it out, tear it down, or destroy it. 8 But if the nation about which I have made that proclamation turns from its evil, then I will relent from the disaster that I was planning to bring upon it. 9 At another moment, I may proclaim something about a nation or a kingdom, that I will build it up or plant it. 10 But if it does evil in my eyes by not listening to my voice, then I will stop the good that I had said I would do for them. 11 So now, speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and say, ‘Yahweh says this: See, I am about to form disaster against you. I am about to devise a plan against you. Repent, each person from his wicked way, so your ways and your practices will bring good to you.’ 12 But they will say, ‘This is no use. We will act according to our own plans. Each one of us will do what his evil, stubborn heart desires.’ 13 Therefore Yahweh says this, ‘Ask the nations, who has ever heard of such a thing as this? The virgin Israel has committed a horrible act. 14 Does the snow in Lebanon ever leave the rocky hills on its sides? Are the mountain streams coming from far away ever destroyed, those cold streams? 15 Yet my people have forgotten me. They have made offerings to useless idols and been made to stumble in their paths; they have left the ancient paths to walk lesser paths. 16 Their land will become a horror, an object of everlasting hissing. Everyone who passes by her will shudder and shake his head. 17 I will scatter them before their enemies like an eastern wind. I will show them my back, and not my face, on the day of their disaster.’” 18 So the people said, “Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, since the law will never perish from the priests, or advice from the wise men, or words from the prophets. Come, let us attack him with our words and no longer pay attention to anything he proclaims.” 19 Pay attention to me, Yahweh, and listen to the voice of my enemies. 20 Will disaster from them really be my reward for being good to them? For they have dug a pit for me. Remember how I stood before you to speak for their welfare, to cause your fury to turn away from them. 21 Therefore give their children over to famine, and give them to the hands of those who use the sword. So let their women become bereaved and widows, and their men be killed, and their young men killed by the sword in battle. 22 Let a distressed shout be heard from their houses, as you suddenly bring raiders against them. For they have dug a pit to capture me and have hidden traps for my feet. 23 But you, Yahweh, you know all of their plans against me to kill me. Do not forgive their iniquities and sins. Do not wipe their sins away from you. Instead, let them be overthrown before you. Act against them in the time of your wrath. Chapter 19 1 Yahweh said this, “Go and purchase a potter’s clay flask while you are with the elders of the people and the priests. 2 Then go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom at the entry of the Broken Pottery Gate, and there proclaim the words that I will tell you. 3 Say, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, “See, I am about to bring disaster on this place, and the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. 4 I will do this because they have abandoned me and profaned this place. In this place they offer sacrifices to other gods that they did not know. They, their ancestors, and the kings of Judah have also filled this place with innocent blood. 5 They built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to him—something that I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind. 6 Therefore, see, the days are coming—this is Yahweh’s declaration—when this place will no longer be called Topheth, the Valley of Ben Hinnom, for it will be the Valley of Slaughter. 7 In this place I will make the plans of Judah and Jerusalem useless. I will make them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of the ones seeking their lives. Then I will give their corpses as food to the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth. 8 Then I will make this city a ruin and the object of hissing, for everyone passing by it will shudder and hiss regarding all of its plagues. 9 I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters; each man will consume the flesh of his neighbor in the siege and in the anguish brought on them by their enemies and the ones seeking their lives.”’ 10 Then you will break the clay flask in the sight of the men who went with you. 11 You will say to them, ‘Yahweh of hosts says this: I will do this same thing to this people and this city just as Jeremiah shattered the clay flask so that it could not be repaired again. People will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no place left for any more dead. 12 This is what I will do to this place and its inhabitants when I make this city like Topheth—this is Yahweh’s declaration— 13 so the houses of Jerusalem and of the kings of Judah will become like Topheth—all the houses on whose rooftops the unclean people worship all the stars of the heavens and pour out drink offerings to other gods.’” 14 Then Jeremiah went from Topheth, where Yahweh had sent him to prophesy. He stood in the courtyard of Yahweh’s house and he said to all the people, 15 “Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, ‘See, I am about to bring to this city and to all of its towns all the disaster that I have proclaimed against it, since they stiffened their neck and refused to listen to my words.’” Chapter 20 1 Pashhur son of Immer the priest—he was a leading officer—heard Jeremiah prophesying these words before Yahweh’s house. 2 So Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet and then placed him in the stocks that were at the Upper Gate of Benjamin in Yahweh’s house. 3 It happened on the next day that Pashhur brought Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, “Yahweh has not called your name Pashhur, but you are Magor Missabib. 4 For Yahweh says this, ‘Look, I will make you an object of horror, you and all of your loved ones, for they will fall by the sword of their enemies and your eyes will see it. I will give all of Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. He will make them captives in Babylon or attack them with the sword. 5 I will give him all the wealth of this city and all of its riches, all of its precious items and all the treasures of the kings of Judah. I will place these things in the hand of your enemies, and they will seize them. They will take them and bring them to Babylon. 6 But you, Pashhur, and all the inhabitants of your house will go into captivity. You will go to Babylon and die there. You and all of your loved ones to whom you prophesied deceitful things will be buried there.’” 7 “Yahweh, you deceived me, and I was deceived. You are stronger than I, and you overpowered me. I have become a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me. 8 For whenever I have spoken, I have called out and proclaimed, ‘Violence and destruction.’ Then Yahweh’s word has become for me reproach and mocking every day. 9 If I say, ‘I will not think about Yahweh anymore. I will not speak any longer in his name.’ Then it is like a consuming fire in my heart, held within my bones. So I struggle to contain it but I cannot. 10 I have heard rumors of terror from many people all around. ‘Report! We must report it!’ Those who are close to me watch to see if I will fall. ‘Perhaps he can be tricked. If so, we can overpower him and take our revenge on him.’ 11 But Yahweh is with me like a powerful warrior, so the ones pursuing me will stagger. They will not defeat me. They will be greatly ashamed, because they will not succeed. They will have unending shame, it will never be forgotten. 12 But Yahweh of hosts, you examine the righteous and see the mind and the heart. Let me see your vengeance on them for I have committed my cause to you. 13 Sing to Yahweh! Praise Yahweh! For he has rescued the lives of those who are oppressed from the hand of evildoers. 14 Let the day when I was born be cursed. Do not let the day that my mother bore me be blessed. 15 Let the man who informed my father be cursed, the one who said, ‘A male child has been born to you,’ causing great joy. 16 Let that man be like the cities that Yahweh overthrew and he did not have compassion on them. Let him hear a cry for help in the dawn, a battle cry at noontime, 17 because he did not kill me in the womb, making my mother to be my tomb, a womb that was pregnant forever. 18 Why is it that I came out from the womb to see troubles and agony, so that my days are filled with shame?” Chapter 21 1 The word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur son of Malkijah and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest to him, and they said, 2 “Please seek advice from Yahweh on our behalf, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war on us. Perhaps Yahweh will do miracles for us, as in times past, and will make him withdraw from us.” 3 So Jeremiah said to them, “This is what you must say to Zedekiah, 4 ‘Yahweh, God of Israel, says this: See, I am about to turn back the instruments of war that are in your hand, with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are closing you in from outside the walls! For I will gather them in the middle of this city. 5 Then I myself will fight against you with a raised hand and a strong arm, and with wrath, fury, and great anger. 6 For I will attack the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They will die in a severe plague. 7 After this—this is Yahweh’s declaration—Zedekiah king of Judah, his servants, the people, and whoever remains in this city after the plague, the sword, and the famine, I will give them all into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those seeking their life. Then he will kill them with the edge of the sword. He will not pity them, spare them, or have compassion.’ 8 Then to this people you must say, ‘Yahweh says this: See, I am about to place before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 Anyone staying in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague; but anyone going out and falling on his knees before the Chaldeans who have closed in against you will live. He will escape with his life. 10 For I have set my face against this city in order to bring disaster and not to bring good—this is Yahweh’s declaration. It has been given into the hand of the king of Babylon and he will burn it.’ 11 Concerning the house of the king of Judah, listen to the word of Yahweh. 12 House of David, Yahweh says, ‘Bring about justice in the morning. Rescue the one who has been robbed by the hand of the oppressor, or my fury will go out like fire and burn, and there is no one who can quench it, because of your evil deeds. 13 See, inhabitant of the valley! I am against you, rock of the plain—this is Yahweh’s declaration— I am against anyone who is saying, “Who will come down to attack us?” or “Who will enter our houses?” 14 I have assigned the fruit of your practices to come against you—this is Yahweh’s declaration— and I will light a fire in the thickets, and it will consume everything around it.’” Chapter 22 1 This is what Yahweh says, “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and proclaim this word there. 2 Say, ‘King of Judah, listen to the word of Yahweh—you who sit on David’s throne—you, and your servants, and your people who come through these gates. 3 Yahweh says this, “Perform justice and righteousness, and anyone who has been robbed—rescue him from the hand of the oppressor. Do not mistreat any foreigner in your land, or any orphan or widow. Do not commit violence or pour out innocent blood in this place. 4 For if you truly do these things, then kings sitting on David’s throne will enter the gates of this house riding in a chariot and on horses, he, his servants, and his people! 5 But if you do not listen to these words from me that I have announced—this is Yahweh’s declaration—then this royal house will become a ruin.”’ 6 For Yahweh says this concerning the house of the king of Judah, ‘You are like Gilead, or like the summit of Lebanon to me. Yet I will turn you into a wilderness, into cities with no inhabitants. 7 For I have designated destroyers to come against you! Men with their weapons will cut off the best of your cedars and let them fall into the fire. 8 Then many nations will pass by this city. Each person will say to the next, “Why has Yahweh acted in this way toward this great city?” 9 Then the other will answer, “Because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh their God and bowed down to other gods and worshiped them.” 10 Do not weep for the one who is dead or mourn for him; but weep bitterly for him who is about to go away, because he will never return and see his native land again.’ 11 For Yahweh says this about Jehoahaz son of Josiah king of Judah, who served as king instead of Josiah his father, ‘He has gone from this place and will not come back. 12 He will die there in the place to where they have exiled him, and he will never again see this land.’ 13 Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, who makes his neighbor work for him for nothing, and he does not give him his wages; 14 he says, ‘I will build for myself a large house with spacious upper rooms.’ So he cuts out large windows for it, and he panels it with cedar, and he paints it red. 15 Is this what makes you a good king, that you wanted to have boards of cedar? Did not your father also eat and drink, yet do justice and righteousness? Then things went well for him. 16 He judged in favor of the poor and needy. It was good then. Is this not what it means to know me?—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 17 But there is nothing in your eyes and heart except worry for your unjust profit and for pouring out innocent blood, for producing oppression and crushing of others. 18 Therefore this is what Yahweh says about Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah: They will not lament for him, saying, ‘Woe, my brother!’ or ‘Woe, my sister!’ They will not lament for him, saying, ‘Woe, master!’ or ‘Woe, majesty!’ 19 He will be buried with a donkey’s burial, dragged away and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem. 20 Go up Lebanon’s mountains and shout. Lift your voice in Bashan. Shout from the Abarim mountains, for all of your friends will be destroyed. 21 I spoke to you when you were safe, but you said, ‘I will not listen.’ This was your custom since your youth, for you have not listened to my voice. 22 The wind will shepherd away all your shepherds, and your friends will go into captivity. Then you will certainly be ashamed and humiliated by all of your evil deeds. 23 You who live in ‘Lebanon,’ who is nestled in cedar buildings, how you will be pitied when the labor pains come upon you, pain like that of a woman in labor!” 24 “As I live—this is Yahweh’s declaration—even if you, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet on my right hand, I would tear you off. 25 For I have given you to the hand of the ones seeking your life and to the hand of those before whom you are afraid, even to the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Chaldeans. 26 I will throw you and your mother who bore you into another land, a country where you were not born, and there you will die. 27 About this land to which they will want to return, they will not come back here. 28 Is this a despised and shattered vessel? Is this man Jehoiachin a pot that pleases no one? Why have they thrown him and his descendants out, and have poured them out into a land that they did not know? 29 Land, Land, Land! Hear the word of Yahweh! 30 Yahweh says this, ‘Write about this man Jehoiachin: He will be childless. He will not prosper during his days, and no one among his descendants will achieve success or ever again sit on David’s throne and rule over Judah.’” Chapter 23 1 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture—this is Yahweh’s declaration.” 2 Therefore Yahweh, the God of Israel, says this concerning the shepherds who are shepherding his people, “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away. You have not cared for them. So I am about to punish you for the evil you have done—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 3 I myself will gather the remnant of my flock from all of the lands where I have driven them, and I will return them to a grazing place, where they will be fruitful and increase. 4 Then I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them so they will no longer fear or be shattered. None of them will go missing—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 5 See, the days are coming—this is Yahweh’s declaration—when I will raise up for David a righteous branch. He will reign as king; he will act wisely and cause justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be rescued, and Israel will live in security. Then this is the name by which he will be called: Yahweh is our righteousness. 7 Therefore see, days are coming—this is Yahweh’s declaration—when they will no longer say, ‘As Yahweh lives, who brought the people of Israel up from the land of Egypt.’ 8 Instead they will say, ‘As Yahweh lives, who brought up and who led back the descendants of the house of Israel from the northern land and all the lands where they had been driven.’ Then they will live in their own land.” 9 Regarding the prophets, my heart is broken in me, and all of my bones tremble. I have become like a drunk man, like a man whom wine has overpowered, because of Yahweh and his holy words. 10 For the land is full of adulterers. Because of these the land is dried up. The meadows in the wilderness dry up. These prophets’ paths are wicked; their power is not used in a right manner. 11 “For both the prophets and the priests are polluted. I even found their wickedness in my house!—this is Yahweh’s declaration— 12 therefore their way will be like a slippery place in the darkness. They will be pushed down. They will fall in it. For I will send disaster against them in the year of their punishment—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 13 For I have seen the prophets in Samaria doing what is repulsive: They prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel astray. 14 Among the prophets in Jerusalem I have seen horrible things: They commit adultery and walk in deceit. They strengthen the hands of evildoers; no one turns back from his evildoing. All of them have become like Sodom to me and its inhabitants like Gomorrah!” 15 Therefore Yahweh of hosts says this concerning the prophets, “Look, I am about to make them eat wormwood and drink poisonous water, for pollution has gone out from the prophets of Jerusalem to all the land.” 16 Yahweh of hosts says this, “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They have deluded you! They are announcing visions from their own minds, not from Yahweh’s mouth. 17 They are constantly saying to those who dishonor me, ‘Yahweh declares there will be peace for you.’ For everyone walking in the stubbornness of his own heart says, ‘Disaster will not come upon you.’ 18 Yet who has stood in Yahweh’s council meeting? Who sees and hears his word? Who pays attention to his word and listens? 19 See, there is a storm coming from Yahweh! His fury is going out, and a tempest is whirling about. It is whirling around the heads of the wicked. 20 Yahweh’s wrath will not return until it has carried out and brought into being his heart’s intentions. In the final days, you will understand it. 21 I did not send out these prophets. They just appeared. I did not proclaim anything to them, but they have still prophesied. 22 For if they had stood in my council meeting, they would have caused my people to hear my word; they would have caused them to turn from their wicked words and corrupt practices. 23 Am I only a God nearby—this is Yahweh’s declaration—and not also a God far away? 24 Can anyone hide in a secret place so I cannot see him?—this is Yahweh’s declaration— and do I not fill the heavens and the earth?—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 25 I have heard what the prophets have said, those who were prophesying deceit in my name. They said, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ 26 How long will this go on, prophets who prophesy lies from their minds, and who prophesy from the deceit in their hearts? 27 They are planning on making my people forget my name with the dreams that they report, each one to his neighbor, just as their ancestors forgot my name in favor of Baal’s name. 28 The prophet who has a dream, let him report the dream. But the one to whom I have declared something, let him declare my word truthfully. What does straw have to do with grain?—this is Yahweh’s declaration— 29 Is not my word like fire?—this is Yahweh’s declaration—and like a hammer that shatters a rock into pieces? 30 So see, I am against the prophets—this is Yahweh’s declaration—anyone who steals words from another person and says they come from me. 31 See, I am against the prophets—this is Yahweh’s declaration—who use their tongues to prophesy proclamations. 32 See, I am against the prophets who dream deceitfully—this is Yahweh’s declaration—and then proclaim them and in this way mislead my people with their deceit and boasting. I am against them, for I have not sent them out nor given them commands. So they will certainly not help this people—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 33 When these people, or a prophet, or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of Yahweh?’ you will say to them, ‘You are the burden, and I will cast you off’—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 34 As for the prophets, priests, and people who are saying, ‘This is the burden of Yahweh’ I will punish that man and his house. 35 You continue to say, each person to his neighbor and each man to his brother, ‘What did Yahweh answer?’ and ‘What did Yahweh declare?’ 36 But you must no longer talk about the ‘burden of Yahweh,’ for the burden is every man’s own word, and you have perverted the words of the living God, Yahweh of hosts, our God. 37 This is what you will say to the prophet, ‘What answer did Yahweh give you?’ or ‘What did Yahweh say?’ 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of Yahweh’, this is what Yahweh says: ‘Because you have said these words, ‘The burden of Yahweh,’ when I sent to you, saying, ‘You will not say, “The burden of Yahweh,”’ 39 therefore, behold, I am about to pick you up and throw you away from me, along with the city that I gave you and your ancestors. 40 Then I will put everlasting shame and insult on you that will not be forgotten.’” Chapter 24 1 Yahweh showed me something. Behold, two baskets of figs were placed before Yahweh’s temple. (This vision happened after Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, took into exile Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, the officials of Judah, the craftsmen and the metalworkers from Jerusalem and brought them to Babylon.) 2 One basket of figs was very good, like first ripe figs, but the other basket of figs was so very bad that they could not be eaten. 3 Yahweh said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs. Figs that are very good and figs that are so very bad they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 5 “Yahweh, God of Israel, says this: I will look on the exiles of Judah for their benefit, just like these good figs, the exiles whom I have sent out from this place to the land of Chaldea. 6 I will set my eyes on them for good and restore them to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down. I will plant them, and not uproot them. 7 Then I will give them a heart to know me, for I am Yahweh. They will be my people and I will be their God, so they will turn to me with all their heart. 8 But like the bad figs that are too bad to be eaten—this is what Yahweh says—I will act in this way with Zedekiah, king of Judah, with his officials, and with the rest of Jerusalem who remain in this land or go to stay in the land of Egypt. 9 I will turn them into a frightening thing, a disaster, in the sight of all the kingdoms on earth, a disgrace and a subject for proverbs, taunts, and curses in every place where I will have driven them. 10 I will send out sword, famine, and plague against them, until they are destroyed from the land that I gave them and their ancestors.” Chapter 25 1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah about all the people of Judah. It came in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah. That was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. 2 Jeremiah the prophet proclaimed this to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 3 He said, “For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah until this day, Yahweh’s words have been coming to me and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened. 4 Yahweh sent out all his servants the prophets to you again and again, but you have not listened or paid any attention. 5 These prophets said, ‘Let each man turn from his wicked way and the corruption of his practices and return to the land that Yahweh gave in ancient times to your ancestors and to you, as a permanent gift. 6 So do not walk after other gods to worship them or bow down to them, and do not provoke him with the work of your hands so that he does you harm.’ 7 But you have not listened to me—this is Yahweh’s declaration—so you have provoked me with the work of your hands to do harm to you. 8 So Yahweh of hosts says this, ‘Because you did not listen to my words, 9 see, I am about to send out a command to gather all the peoples of the north—this is Yahweh’s declaration—with Nebuchadnezzar my servant, king of Babylon, and bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all the nations around you. For I will set them apart for destruction. I will turn them into a horror, an object for hissing, and an unending desolation. 10 I will put an end to the sound of joy and sound of gladness, the sound of the groom and the sound of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 Then all of this land will become a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years. 12 Then it will happen when seventy years have been completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans—this is Yahweh’s declaration—for their iniquity and make it an unending desolation. 13 Then I will carry out against that land all the words that I had spoken, and everything written in this book that Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. 14 For also many other nations and great kings will make slaves out of these nations. I will repay them for their deeds and the works of their hands.’” 15 For Yahweh, God of Israel, said this to me, “Take this cup of the wine of fury from my hand and make all the nations to which I am sending you drink it. 16 For they will drink and then stagger about and rant madly before the sword that I am sending out among them.” 17 So I took the cup from Yahweh’s hand, and I made all the nations to which Yahweh had sent me drink it: 18 Jerusalem, the cities of Judah and her kings and officials—to turn them into ruins and something terrifying, and into an object for hissing and cursing, as they are at this present day. 19 Other nations also had to drink it: Pharaoh king of Egypt and his servants; his officials and all his people; 20 all people of mixed heritage and all the kings of the land of Uz; all the kings of the land of Philistia—Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod; 21 Edom and Moab and the people of Ammon. 22 The kings of Tyre and Sidon, the kings of the coasts on the other side of the sea, 23 Dedan, Tema, and Buz with all the ones who cut the hair on the sides of their heads, they also had to drink it. 24 All the kings of Arabia and all the kings of people of mixed heritage who live in the wilderness; 25 all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes; 26 all the kings of the north, the ones close by and the ones far away—everyone with his brother and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the surface of the earth, all of them had to drink the cup from Yahweh’s hand. Finally, the king of Babylon will also drink from that cup. 27 Yahweh said to me, “Now you must say to them, ‘Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this: Drink and become drunk, then vomit, fall down, and do not rise before the sword that I am sending among you.’ 28 Then it will happen that if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, you will say to them, ‘Yahweh of hosts says this: You must certainly drink it. 29 For see, I am about to bring disaster on the city that is called by my name, and should you yourselves be free from punishment? You will not be free, for I am calling a sword against all the inhabitants of the land!—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts.’ 30 You must prophesy all these words against them, and say to them, ‘Yahweh will roar from the heights and he will shout with his voice from his holy dwelling, and he will roar mightily against his fold; and he will shout, like those who tread the grapes against all those who live on the earth. 31 The sound of battle will resound to the ends of the earth, for Yahweh brings charges against the nations, and he brings judgment on all flesh, and the wicked ones he will put to the sword—this is Yahweh’s declaration.’ 32 Yahweh of hosts says this, ‘See, disaster is going out from nation to nation, and a great storm is beginning from the farthest parts of the earth. 33 Then those killed by Yahweh will on that day extend from one end of the earth to the other; they will not be mourned, gathered, or buried. They will be like dung on the ground. 34 Wail, shepherds, and shout for help! Roll about in the dust, you leaders of the flock, for the days of your slaughter have come; you will be scattered when you fall like fine pottery. 35 There is no refuge for the shepherds, there will be no escape for the leaders of the flock. 36 Hear the cries of the shepherds and the wails of the leaders of the flock, for Yahweh is destroying their pastures. 37 So the peaceful pastures will be devastated because of Yahweh’s fierce anger. 38 Like a young lion, he has left his den, for their land will become a horror because of the oppressor’s anger, because of his angry wrath.’” [1] 25:38 [1] Instead of the oppressor’s anger , some ancient copies and modern versions have the oppressor’s sword . Chapter 26 1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, this word came from Yahweh, saying, 2 “Yahweh says this: Stand in the courtyard of my house and speak about all the cities of Judah who come to worship at my house. Proclaim all the words that I have commanded you to say to them. Do not cut short any word! 3 It may be that they will listen, that each man will turn from his wicked ways, so I will relent concerning the disaster that I am planning to bring on them because of the wickedness of their practices. 4 So you must say to them, ‘Yahweh says this: If you do not listen to me so as to walk in my law that I have placed before you— 5 if you do not listen to the words of my servants the prophets whom I am persistently sending to you—but you have not listened!— 6 then I will make this house like Shiloh; I will turn this city into a curse in the sight of all the nations on earth.’” 7 The priests, the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah announcing these words in Yahweh’s house. 8 So it happened that when Jeremiah had finished announcing all that Yahweh commanded him to say to all the people, the priests, prophets, and all the people seized him and said, “You will certainly die! 9 Why have you prophesied in Yahweh’s name and said that this house will become like Shiloh and this city will become desolate, with no inhabitant?” For all the people had formed a mob against Jeremiah in Yahweh’s house. 10 Then the officials of Judah heard these words and went up from the king’s house to Yahweh’s house. They sat in the gateway at the New Gate of Yahweh’s house. 11 The priests and the prophets spoke to the officials and to all the people. They said, “It is right for this man to die, for he prophesied against this city, just as you heard with your own ears!” 12 So Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and all the people and said, “Yahweh has sent me out to prophesy against this house and this city, to say all the words that you have heard. 13 So now, improve your ways and your practices, and listen to the voice of Yahweh your God so that he will relent concerning the disaster that he has proclaimed against you. 14 I myself—look at me!—am in your hand. Do to me what is good and right in your eyes. 15 But you must surely know that if you kill me, then you are bringing innocent blood on yourselves and on this city and its inhabitants, for Yahweh has truly sent me to you to proclaim all these words for your ears.” 16 Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and prophets, “It is not right for this man to die, for he has proclaimed things to us in the name of Yahweh our God.” 17 Then men from the elders of the land rose up and spoke to the entire assembly of the people. 18 They said, “Micah the Morashite was prophesying in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah. He spoke to all the people of Judah and said, ‘Yahweh of hosts says this: Zion will become a plowed field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the hill of the temple will become a thicket.’ 19 Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all of Judah put him to death? Did he not fear Yahweh and appease the face of Yahweh so that Yahweh would relent concerning the disaster that he proclaimed to them? So will we do greater evil against our own lives?” 20 Meanwhile there was another man who prophesied in the name of Yahweh—Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath Jearim—he also prophesied against this city and this land, agreeing with all of Jeremiah’s words. 21 But when King Jehoiakim and all his soldiers and officials heard his word, then the king tried to put him to death, but Uriah heard and was afraid, so he ran away and went to Egypt. 22 Then King Jehoiakim sent out men to go to Egypt—Elnathan son of Akbor and men to go into Egypt after Uriah. 23 They took Uriah out from Egypt and brought him to King Jehoiakim. Then Jehoiakim killed him with a sword and sent his corpse out to the graves of the ordinary people. 24 But the hand of Ahikam son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so he was not given into the hand of the people to be put to death. Chapter 27 1 In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh. [1] 2 This is what Yahweh said to me, “Make fetters and a yoke for yourself. Place them on your neck. 3 Then send them out to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the people of Ammon, the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon. Send them by the hand of those kings’ ambassadors who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4 Give commands to them for their masters and say, ‘Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this: This is what you must say to your masters, 5 “I myself made the earth by my great strength and my raised arm. I also made the people and animals on the earth, and I give it to anyone who is right in my eyes. 6 So now, I myself am giving all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, my servant. Also, I am giving the living things in the fields to him to serve him. 7 For all the nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson until the time for his land comes. Then many nations and great kings will subdue him. 8 So the nation and the kingdom that does not serve Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and that does not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon—I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with the plague—this is Yahweh’s declaration—until I have destroyed it by his hand. 9 So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your seers, your soothsayers, and sorcerers, who have been speaking to you and saying, ‘Do not serve the king of Babylon.’ 10 For they are prophesying deceit to you in order to send you far away from your lands, for I will drive you away, and you will die. 11 But the nation that places its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him, I will allow it to rest in its land—this is Yahweh’s declaration—and they will cultivate it and make their homes in it.”’” 12 So I spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah and gave him this message, “Place your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people, and you will live. 13 Why will you die—you and your people—by the sword, famine, and plague, just as I have declared about the nation that refuses to serve the king of Babylon? 14 Do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you and say, ‘Do not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they are prophesying lies to you. 15 ‘For I have not sent them out—this is Yahweh’s declaration—for they are prophesying deceit in my name so that I will drive you out and you will perish, both you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.’” 16 I proclaimed this to the priests and all the people and said, “Yahweh says this: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you and say, ‘Look! The objects belonging to Yahweh’s house are being returned from Babylon now!’ They are prophesying lies to you. 17 Do not listen to them. You should serve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city become a ruin? 18 If they are prophets, and if the word of Yahweh has truly come to them, let them beg Yahweh of hosts not to send to Babylon the objects that remain in his house, the house of the king of Judah, and Jerusalem. 19 Yahweh of hosts says this about the pillars, the large basin known as “The Sea” and its base, and the rest of the objects that remain in this city— 20 the objects that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he carried Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. 21 Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this about the objects that remain in the house of Yahweh, the house of the king of Judah, and Jerusalem, 22 ‘They will be brought to Babylon, and they will remain there until the day I have set to come for them—this is Yahweh’s declaration—then I will bring them up and restore them to this place.’” 27:1 [1] Although most Hebrew copies have Jehoiakim , most modern versions have Zedekiah , because the events in this chapter occur during his reign. Chapter 28 1 It happened in that year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year and the fifth month, Hananiah son of Azzur the prophet, who was from Gibeon, spoke to me in Yahweh’s house in front of the priests and all the people. He said, 2 “Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this: I have broken the yoke imposed by the king of Babylon. 3 Within two years I will bring back to this place all the objects belonging to Yahweh’s house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took from this place and transported to Babylon. 4 Then I will bring back to this place Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the captives of Judah who were sent to Babylon—this is Yahweh’s declaration—for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.” 5 So Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Hananiah the prophet in front of the priests and to all the people who stood in Yahweh’s house. 6 Jeremiah the prophet said, “May Yahweh do this! May Yahweh confirm the words that you prophesied and bring back to this place the objects belonging to Yahweh’s house, and all the captives from Babylon. 7 However, listen to the word that I am proclaiming in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. 8 The prophets who existed before me and you from long ago also prophesied about many nations and against great kingdoms, about war, famine [1] , and plague. 9 So the prophet who prophesies that there will be peace—if his word comes true, then it will be known that he is indeed a prophet sent out by Yahweh.” 10 But Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke it. 11 Then Hananiah spoke in front of all the people and said, “Yahweh says this: Just like this, within two years I will break from off the neck of every nation the yoke imposed by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.” Then Jeremiah the prophet went on his way. 12 After Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying, 13 “Go and speak to Hananiah and say, ‘Yahweh says this: You broke a yoke of wood, but I will make instead a yoke of iron.’ 14 For Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this: I have placed a yoke of iron on the neck of all of these nations to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they will serve him. I have also given him the wild beasts in the fields to rule over.” 15 Next Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen Hananiah! Yahweh has not sent you, but you yourself have caused this people to believe in lies. 16 So Yahweh says this: Look, I am about to send you out from the earth. You will die this year, since you proclaimed rebellion against Yahweh.” 17 In the seventh month of that same year, Hananiah the prophet died. 28:8 [1] Some ancient manuscripts have disaster instead of famine . Chapter 29 1 These are the words in the scroll that Jeremiah the prophet sent out from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the captives and to the priests, prophets, and all the people that Nebuchadnezzar exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 This was after Jehoiachin the king, the queen mother, and the high officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen had been sent away from Jerusalem. 3 He sent this scroll by the hand of Elasah son of Shapan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah whom Zedekiah, king of Judah, had sent to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 4 The scroll said, “Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this to all the captives whom I caused to be exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon, 5 ‘Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their fruit. 6 Take wives and give birth to sons and daughters. Then take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands. Let them give birth to sons and daughters and increase there so you do not become too few. 7 Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be exiled, and intercede with me on its behalf since there will be peace for you if it is at peace.’ 8 For Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, ‘Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that you yourselves are having. 9 For they are prophesying deceitfully to you in my name. I did not send them—this is Yahweh’s declaration.’ 10 For Yahweh says this, ‘When Babylon has ruled you for seventy years, I will help you and carry out my good word for you to bring you back to this place. 11 For I myself know the plans that I have for you—this is Yahweh’s declaration—plans for peace and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call to me, and go and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 For you will seek me and find me, since you will seek me with all your heart. 14 Then I will be found by you—this is Yahweh’s declaration—and I will bring back your fortunes; I will gather you from all the nations and places where I scattered you—this is Yahweh’s declaration—for I will bring you back to the place from where I caused you to be exiled.’ 15 Since you said that Yahweh has raised up prophets for us in Babylon, 16 Yahweh says this to the king who sits on the throne of David and to all the people who are staying in that city, your brothers who have not gone out with you into captivity— 17 Yahweh of hosts says this, ‘See, I am about to send sword, famine, and disease on them. For I will make them like rotten figs that are too bad to be eaten. 18 Then I will pursue them with sword, famine, and plague and make them a horrible sight to all the kingdoms on earth—a horror, an object of curses and hissing, and a shameful thing among all the nations where I scattered her. 19 This is because they did not listen to my word—this is Yahweh’s declaration—that I sent out to them through my servants the prophets. I repeatedly sent them, but you would not listen—this is Yahweh’s declaration.’ 20 So you yourselves listen to the word of Yahweh, all you exiles whom he has sent out from Jerusalem to Babylon, 21 ‘Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who prophesy falsely to you in my name: See, I am about to put them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He will kill them before your eyes. 22 Then a curse will be spoken about these persons by all the captives of Judah in Babylon. The curse will say: May Yahweh make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in fire. 23 This will happen because of the shameful things they did in Israel when they committed adultery with their neighbor’s wives and declared false words in my name, things that I never commanded them to say. For I am the one who knows; I am the witness—this is Yahweh’s declaration.’” 24 “About Shemaiah the Nehelamite, say this: 25 ‘Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this: Because you sent out letters in your own name to all the people in Jerusalem, to Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, and said, 26 “Yahweh has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, for you to be in charge of Yahweh’s house. You are in control of all the people who rave and make themselves into prophets. You should put them in stocks and chains. 27 So now, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who makes himself into a prophet against you? 28 For he has sent to us in Babylon and said, ‘It will be a long time. Build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat their fruit.”’” 29 Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet. 30 Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying, 31 “Send word to all the exiles and say, ‘Yahweh says this about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you when I myself did not send him, and he has led you to believe lies, 32 therefore Yahweh says this: Look, I am about to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. There will not be a man for him to stay among this people. He will not see the good that I will do for my people—this is Yahweh’s declaration—for he has proclaimed rebellion against Yahweh.’” Chapter 30 1 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, 2 “This is what Yahweh, God of Israel, says, ‘Write in a scroll all the words that I have spoken to you. 3 For look, days are coming—this is Yahweh’s declaration—when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah. I, Yahweh, have said it. For I will bring them back to the land that I gave their ancestors, and they will possess it.’” 4 These are the words that Yahweh declared concerning Israel and Judah, 5 “For Yahweh says this, ‘We have heard a trembling voice of dread and not of peace. 6 Ask and see if a man bears a child. Why do I see every young man with his hand on his loins like a woman bearing a child? Why have all their faces become pale? 7 Woe! For that day will be great, with none like it. It will be a time of anxiety for Jacob, but he will be rescued from it. 8 For it will be in that day—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts—that I will break the yoke off your neck, and I will shatter your chains, so foreigners will no longer enslave you. 9 But they will worship Yahweh their God and serve David their king, whom I will make king over them. 10 So you, my servant Jacob, do not fear—this is Yahweh’s declaration—and do not be dismayed, Israel. For see, I am about to bring you back from far away, and your descendants from the land of captivity. Jacob will return and be at peace; he will be secure, and there will be no more terror. 11 For I am with you—this is Yahweh’s declaration—to save you. Then I will bring a complete end to all the nations where I have scattered you. But I will certainly not put an end to you, though I discipline you justly and will certainly not leave you unpunished.’ 12 For Yahweh says this, ‘Your injury is incurable; your wound is infected. 13 There is no one to plead your case; there is no remedy for your wound to heal you. 14 All of your lovers have forgotten you. They will not look for you, for I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy and the discipline of a cruel master because of your many iniquities and your innumerable sins. 15 Why do you call for help for your injury? Your pain is incurable. Because of your many iniquities, your innumerable sins, I have done these things to you. 16 So everyone who consumes you will be consumed, and all of your adversaries will go into captivity. For the ones who have plundered you will become plunder, and I will make all of the ones despoiling you a spoil. 17 For I will bring healing on you; I will heal you of your wounds—this is Yahweh’s declaration— I will do this because they called you: Outcast. No one cares for this Zion.’” 18 Yahweh says this, “See, I am about to bring back the fortunes of Jacob’s tents and have compassion on his homes. Then a city will be built on the heap of ruins, and a stronghold will exist again where it used to be. 19 Then a song of praise and a sound of merriment will go out from them, for I will increase them and not diminish them; I will honor them so they will not be humbled. 20 Then their people will be like before, and their assembly will be established before me when I punish all the ones who are now tormenting them. 21 Their leader will come from among them. He will emerge from their midst when I draw him near and when he approaches me. If I do not do this, who would dare come close to me?—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 22 Then you will be my people, and I will be your God. 23 See, the tempest of Yahweh, his fury, has gone out. It is a continual tempest. It will whirl on the heads of the wicked people. 24 Yahweh’s wrath will not return until it has carried out and brought into being his heart’s intentions. In the final days, you will understand it.” Chapter 31 1 “At that time—this is Yahweh’s declaration—I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they will be my people.” 2 Yahweh says this, “The people who have survived the sword have found favor in the wilderness; I will go out to give rest to Israel.” 3 Yahweh appeared to me in the past and said, “I have loved you, Israel, with everlasting love. So I have drawn you toward myself with covenant faithfulness. 4 I will build you up again so you will be built, virgin Israel. You will again pick up your tambourines and go out with happy dances. 5 You will plant vineyards again on the mountains of Samaria; the farmers will plant and put the fruit to good use. 6 For a day will come when the watchmen in the mountains of Ephraim will proclaim, ‘Arise, let us go up to Zion to Yahweh our God.’ 7 For Yahweh says this, “Shout for joy over Jacob! Shout in gladness for the chief people of the nations! Let praise be heard. Say, ‘Yahweh has rescued his people, the remnant of Israel.’ 8 See, I am about to bring them from the northern lands. I will gather them from the farthest parts of the earth. The blind and lame will be among them; pregnant women and those who are about to give birth will be with them. A great assembly will return here. 9 They will come weeping; I will lead them as they make their pleas. I will have them journey to streams of water on a straight road. They will not stumble on it, for I will be a father to Israel, and Ephraim will be my firstborn.” 10 “Hear the word of Yahweh, nations. Report along the coasts in the distance. You nations must say, ‘The one who scattered Israel is gathering her up and keeping her as a shepherd keeps his sheep.’ 11 For Yahweh has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from the hand that was too strong for him. 12 Then they will come and rejoice on the heights of Zion. Their faces will shine because of Yahweh’s goodness, over the corn and the new wine, over the oil and the offspring of the flocks and herds. For their lives will become like a watered garden, and they will never again feel any more sorrow. 13 Then virgins will rejoice with dancing, and young and old men will be together. For I will change their mourning into celebration. I will have compassion on them and cause them to rejoice instead of sorrowing. 14 Then I will saturate the lives of the priests in abundance. My people will fill themselves with my goodness—this is Yahweh’s declaration.” 15 Yahweh says this: “A voice is heard in Ramah, wailing and bitter weeping. It is Rachel weeping for her children. She refuses to be comforted over them, for they live no longer.” 16 Yahweh says this, “Hold your voice back from weeping and your eyes from tears; there is a reward for your work—this is Yahweh’s declaration—your children will return from the land of the enemy. 17 There is hope for your future—this is Yahweh’s declaration—your descendants will return inside their borders.” 18 “I have certainly heard Ephraim sorrowing, ‘You punished me, and I have been punished like an untrained calf. Bring me back and I will be brought back, for you are Yahweh my God. 19 For after I turned back to you, I was sorry; after I was trained, I slapped my thigh. I was ashamed and humiliated, for I have borne the guilt of my youth.’ 20 Is not Ephraim my precious child? Is he not my dear, delightful son? For whenever I speak against him, I certainly still call him to my loving mind. In this way my heart longs for him. I will certainly have compassion on him—this is Yahweh’s declaration.” 21 Place road signs for yourself. Set up guideposts for yourself. Set your mind on the right path, the way you should take. Come back, virgin Israel! Come back to these cities of yours. 22 How long will you waver, faithless daughter? For Yahweh has created something new on earth—a woman surrounds a strong man. 23 Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, says this, “When I bring back the people to their land, they will say this in the land of Judah and its cities, ‘May Yahweh bless you, you righteous place where he lives, you holy mountain.’ 24 For Judah and all its cities will live together there, as will farmers and those who set out with flocks. 25 For I will cause those who are weary to drink, and I fill up those who are faint.” 26 After this I awoke, and I realized that my sleep had been refreshing. 27 “Look, the days are coming—this is Yahweh’s declaration—when I will sow the houses of Israel and Judah with the descendants of man and beast. 28 In the past, I kept them under surveillance in order to uproot them and to tear them down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring them harm. But in the coming days, I will watch over them, in order to build them up and to plant them—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 29 In those days no one will say any longer, ‘Fathers have eaten sour grapes, but the children’s teeth are dulled.’ 30 For each man will die in his own iniquity; everyone who eats sour grapes, his teeth will be dulled. 31 Look, the days are coming— this is Yahweh’s declaration— when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant that I established with their fathers in the days when I took them by their hand to bring them out from the land of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, although I was a husband for them— this is Yahweh’s declaration. 33 This is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after these days —this is Yahweh’s declaration. I will place my law within them and will write it on their heart, for I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 Then each man will no longer teach his neighbor, or a man teach his brother and say, ‘Know Yahweh!’ For all of them will know me, from the smallest of them to the greatest —this is Yahweh’s declaration— for I will forgive their iniquity and will no longer call their sins to mind.” 35 Yahweh says this, it is he who makes the sun to shine by day and fixes the moon and stars to shine by night. He is the one who sets the sea in motion so that its waves roar— Yahweh of hosts is his name. 36 “Only if these permanent things vanish from my sight—this is Yahweh’s declaration— will Israel’s descendants ever stop from forever being a nation before me.” 37 Yahweh says this, “Only if the highest heavens can be measured, and only if the earth’s foundation below can be discovered, will I reject all of Israel’s descendants because of all that they have done—this is Yahweh’s declaration.” 38 “Look, the days are coming—this is Yahweh’s declaration—when the city will be rebuilt for me, from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39 Then the measuring line will go out again farther, to the hill of Gareb and around Goah. 40 The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the terraced fields going out to the Kidron Valley as far as the corner of the Horse Gate on the east, will be set apart for Yahweh. The city will not be pulled up or overthrown again, forever.” Chapter 32 1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2 At that time, the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard at the house of the king of Judah. 3 Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him and said, “Why do you prophesy and say, ‘Yahweh says this: Look, I am about to give over this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it. 4 Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans, for he will certainly be given into the hand of the king of Babylon. His mouth will speak to the king’s mouth, and his eyes will see the king’s eyes. 5 He will take Zekediah to Babylon, and he will remain there until I have dealt with him—this is Yahweh’s declaration. Though you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not succeed.’” 6 Jeremiah said, “The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 7 ‘Look, Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you and will say, “Buy my field that is in Anathoth for yourself, for the right to buy it belongs to you.”’” 8 Then, as Yahweh had declared, Hanamel, the son of my uncle, came to me in the courtyard of the guard, and he said to me, “Buy my field that is in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of inheritance is yours, and the right to buy it belongs to you. Buy it for yourself.” Then I knew that this was Yahweh’s word. 9 So I bought the field in Anathoth from Hanamel, the son of my uncle, and I weighed out for him the silver, seventeen shekels in weight. 10 Then I wrote in a scroll and sealed it, and had witnesses witness it. Then I weighed the silver in the scales. 11 Next I took the deed of purchase that was sealed, following the command and the statutes, as well as the unsealed deed. 12 I gave the sealed scroll to Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah in front of Hanamel, the son of my uncle, and the witnesses who had written in the sealed scroll, and in front of all the Judeans who sat in the courtyard of the guard. 13 So I gave a command to Baruch before them. I said, 14 “Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this: Take these documents, both this receipt of purchase that is sealed and the unsealed copies of the deed of purchase, and put them in a clay jar so they will last for a long time. 15 For Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this: Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.” 16 After I gave the receipt of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to Yahweh and said, 17 “Woe, Lord Yahweh! Look! You alone have made the heavens and the earth by your great strength and with your raised arm. Nothing you say is too difficult for you to do. 18 You show covenant faithfulness to thousands and pour the guilt of men into the laps of their children after them. You are the great and mighty God; Yahweh of hosts is your name. 19 You are great in wisdom and mighty in deeds, for your eyes are open to all the ways of people, to give to each man what his conduct and deeds deserve. 20 You did signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. To this present day here in Israel and among all mankind, you have made your name famous. 21 For you brought your people Israel out from the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand, with a raised arm, and with great terror. 22 Then you gave them this land—which you had sworn to their ancestors to give to them—a land flowing with milk and honey. 23 So they entered and took possession of it. But they did not obey your voice or live in obedience to your law. They did nothing of what you had commanded them to do, so you brought all this disaster on them. 24 Look! The siege mounds have reached up to the city to capture it. For because of sword, famine, and plague, the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. For what you have said would happen is happening, and see, you are watching. 25 Then you yourself said to me, ‘Purchase a field for yourself with silver and have witnesses witness it, even though this city is being given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’” 26 The word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying, 27 “Look! I am Yahweh, God of all mankind. Is anything too difficult for me to do? 28 Therefore Yahweh says this, ‘See, I am about to give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans and Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. He will capture it. 29 The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come and set fire to this city and burn it, along with the houses on the roofs of which the people worshiped Baal and poured out drink offerings to other gods in order to provoke me. 30 For the people of Israel and Judah have certainly been people who have been doing evil before my eyes since their youth. The people of Israel have certainly offended me with the practices of their hands—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 31 Yahweh declares that this city has been a provocation of my wrath and fury since the day that they built it. It has been that right up to this present day. So I will remove it from before my face 32 because of all the wickedness of the people of Israel and Judah, the things that they have done to provoke me—they, their kings, princes, priests, prophets, and every person in Judah and inhabitant of Jerusalem. 33 They turned their backs to me instead of their faces, though I had eagerly taught them. I tried to teach them, but not one of them listened in order to receive correction. 34 They set up their abominable idols in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. 35 They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom in order to put their sons and daughters in the fire for Molech. I did not command them. It never entered my mind that they should do this detestable thing and so cause Judah to sin.’ 36 So now therefore, I, Yahweh, the God of Israel, say this concerning this city, the city about which you are saying, ‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, famine, and plague.’ 37 See, I am about to gather them from every land where I had driven them in my wrath, fury, and great anger. I am about to bring them back to this place and enable them to live in security. 38 Then they will be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them one heart and one way to honor me every day so it will be good for them and their descendants after them. 40 Then I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. I will set honor for me in their hearts, so that they will never turn away from me. 41 Then I will rejoice in doing good to them. I will faithfully plant them in this land with all my heart and all my life. 42 For Yahweh says this, ‘Just as I have brought all this great disaster on this people, so I will bring on them all the good things that I have said I would do for them. 43 Then fields will be bought in this land, about which you are saying, “This is a ruined land, which has neither man nor beast. It has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.” 44 They will buy fields with silver and write in sealed scrolls. They will assemble witnesses in the land of Benjamin, all around Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, in the cities in the hill country and in the lowlands, and in the cities of the Negev. For I will bring back their fortunes—this is Yahweh’s declaration.’” Chapter 33 1 Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut within the courtyard of the guard, saying, 2 “Yahweh the maker, says this—Yahweh, who forms in order to establish—Yahweh is his name, 3 ‘Call to me, and I will answer you. I will demonstrate great things to you, mysteries that you do not understand.’ 4 For Yahweh, God of Israel, says this concerning the houses in this city and the houses of the kings of Judah that are torn down because of the siege ramps and the sword, 5 ‘The Chaldeans are coming to fight and to fill the houses with corpses of people whom I will kill in my wrath and fury, when I hide my face from this city because of all their wickedness. 6 But see, I am about to bring healing and a cure, for I will heal them and will bring to them abundance, peace, and faithfulness. 7 For I will bring back the fortunes of Judah and Israel; I will build them up as in the beginning. 8 Then I will purify them from all the iniquity that they have committed against me. I will pardon all the iniquities that they have done against me, and all the ways that they rebelled against me. 9 For this city will become for me an object of joy, a song of praise and honor for all the nations of the earth who will hear of all the good things that I am going to do for it. Then they will fear and tremble because of all the good things and the peace that I will give to it.’ 10 Yahweh says this, ‘In this place about which you are now saying, “It is desolate, a place with neither man nor beast,” in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate having neither man nor beast, there will be heard again 11 the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the sound of the groom and the sound of the bride, the sound of those who say, while they bring thank offerings to the house of Yahweh, “Give thanks to Yahweh of hosts, for Yahweh is good, and his unfailing love lasts forever!” For I will restore the fortunes of the land to what they were before,’ says Yahweh. 12 Yahweh of hosts says this: ‘In this desolate place, where now there is neither man nor beast—in all its cities there will again be pastures where shepherds can rest their flocks. 13 In the cities in the hill country, the lowlands, and the Negev,in the land of Benjamin and all around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of the ones counting them,’ says Yahweh. 14 ‘Look! Days are coming—this is Yahweh’s declaration—when I will do what I have promised for the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 In those days and in that time I will make a righteous branch to grow for David, and he will carry out justice and righteousness in the land. 16 In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will live in security, for this is what she will be called, “Yahweh is our righteousness.”’ 17 For Yahweh says this: ‘A man from David’s line will never be lacking to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, 18 nor will a man from the Levitical priests be lacking before me to raise burnt offerings, to burn food offerings, and to perform grain offerings all the time.’” 19 The word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying, 20 “Yahweh says this: ‘If you can break my covenant with day and night so that there will no longer be day or night at their proper times, 21 then you will be able to break my covenant with David my servant, so that he will no longer have a son to sit on his throne, and my covenant with the Levitical priests, my servants. 22 As the hosts of heaven cannot be counted, and as the sand of the seashores cannot be measured, so I will increase the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who serve before me.’” 23 The word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying, 24 “Have you not considered what this people has declared when they said, ‘The two families that Yahweh chose, now he has rejected them’? In this way they despise my people, saying that they are no longer a nation in their sight. 25 I, Yahweh, say this, ‘If I have not established the covenant of day and night, and if I have not fixed the laws of heaven and earth, 26 then I will reject the descendants of Jacob and David my servant, and not bring from them a person to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and show mercy to them.’” Chapter 34 1 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all of his army, together with all the kingdoms of the earth, the domains under his power, and all their people were waging war against Jerusalem and all of her cities, saying: 2 “Yahweh, God of Israel, says this: Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him, ‘Yahweh says this: Look, I am about to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon. He will burn it. 3 You will not escape from his hand, for you will certainly be seized and given into his hand. Your eyes will look at the eyes of the king of Babylon; he will speak directly to you as you go to Babylon.’ 4 Listen to the word of Yahweh, Zedekiah king of Judah! Yahweh says this concerning you, ‘You will not die by the sword. 5 You will die in peace. As in the funeral burning of your ancestors, the kings who were before you, they will burn your body. They will say, “Woe, master!” They will lament for you. Now I have spoken—this is Yahweh’s declaration.’” 6 So Jeremiah the prophet proclaimed to Zedekiah king of Judah all these words in Jerusalem. 7 The army of the king of Babylon made war against Jerusalem and all the remaining cities of Judah: Lachish and Azekah. These cities of Judah remained as fortified cities. 8 The word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem, to proclaim freedom to them, 9 that each man must free his Hebrew slaves, both male and female, so one was to make a slave of a Jew, who was his brother. 10 So all the leaders and people entered into the covenant that each person would free his male and female slaves so that they would not be enslaved any longer. They obeyed and set them free. 11 But after this they changed their minds. They brought back the slaves whom they had freed. They forced them to become slaves again. 12 So the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying, 13 “Yahweh, God of Israel, says this, ‘I myself made a covenant with your ancestors on the day that I brought them out from the land of Egypt, out from the house of slavery. That was when I said, 14 “At the end of every seven years, each man must send away his brother, his fellow Hebrew who had sold himself to you and served you for six years. Send him away in freedom.” But your ancestors did not listen to me or incline their ears to me. 15 Now you yourselves repented and began to do what is right in my eyes. You proclaimed freedom, each man to his neighbor, and you made a covenant before me in the house that is called by my name. 16 But then you turned and polluted my name; you caused each man to bring back his male and female slaves, the ones whom you had sent out to go where they wished. You forced them to become your slaves again.’ 17 Therefore Yahweh says this, ‘You yourselves have not listened to me. You should have proclaimed freedom, every one of you, to your brothers and fellow Israelites. So look! I am about to proclaim freedom to you—this is Yahweh’s declaration—freedom for the sword, the plague, and famine, for I am going to make you a horrible thing in the sight of every kingdom on earth. 18 Then I will deal with the people who have broken my covenant, who did not keep the words of the covenant that they established before me when they cut a bull in two and walked between its parts, 19 and then the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the eunuchs and the priests, and all the people of the land walked between the parts of the bull. 20 I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who are seeking their lives. Their bodies will be food for the birds of the skies and the beasts on the earth. 21 So I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his leaders into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who are seeking their life, and into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon that has risen up against you. 22 Look, I am about to give a command—this is Yahweh’s declaration—and will bring them back to this city to wage war against it and take it, and to burn it. For I will turn the cities of Judah into ruined places in which there will be no inhabitants.’” Chapter 35 1 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, saying, 2 “Go to the family of the Rekabites and speak with them. Then bring them to my house, into one of the rooms there, and give them wine to drink.” 3 So I took Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah son of Habazziniah and his brothers, all his sons, and all the family of the Rekabites. 4 I took them to the house of Yahweh, into the rooms of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, the man of God. These rooms were beside the room of the leaders, which was above the room of Maaseiah son of Shallum, the gatekeeper. 5 Then I placed bowls and cups full of wine in front of the Rekabites and said to them, “Drink some wine.” 6 But they said, “We will not drink any wine, for our ancestor, Jonadab son of Rekab, commanded us, ‘Do not drink any wine, neither you nor your descendants, forever. 7 Also, do not build any houses, sow any seeds, or plant any vineyards; this is not for you. For you must live in tents all your days, so that you might live many days in the land where you are staying as foreigners.’ 8 We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab son of Rekab, our ancestor, in all that he commanded us, to never drink wine all of our days, we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters. 9 We will never build houses to live in, and there will be no vineyard, field, or seed in our possession. 10 We have lived in tents and we have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our ancestor commanded us. 11 But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked the land, we said, ‘Come, we must go to Jerusalem to escape from the Chaldean and Aramean armies.’ So we are living in Jerusalem.” 12 Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying, 13 “Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, ‘Go and say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Will you not receive correction and listen to my words? —this is Yahweh’s declaration. 14 The words of Jonadab son of Rekab that he gave to his sons as a command, not to drink any wine, have been observed to this very day. They have obeyed their ancestor’s command. But as for me, I myself have been making persistent proclamations to you, but you do not listen to me. 15 I sent out to you all my servants, the prophets. I was persistent in sending them to say, ‘Let each person turn from his wicked way and do good deeds; let no one walk any longer after other gods and worship them. Instead, come back to the land that I gave to you and your ancestors.’ Yet you will not listen to me or pay attention to me. 16 For the descendants of Jonadab son of Rekab have observed the commands of their ancestor that he gave them, but this people refuses to listen to me.”’ 17 So Yahweh, God of hosts and God of Israel, says this, ‘Look, I am bringing upon Judah and on everyone living in Jerusalem, all the disasters I pronounced against them because I spoke to them, but they did not listen; I called to them, but they did not answer.’” 18 Jeremiah said to the family of the Rekabites, “Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this: You have listened to the commands of Jonadab your ancestor and have kept them all—you have obeyed all that he commanded you to do— 19 so Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, ‘There will always be someone descended from Jonadab son of Rekab to serve me.’” Chapter 36 1 It came about in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, and he said, 2 “Take a scroll for yourself and write on it all the words that I have told you concerning Israel and Judah, and every nation. Do this for everything I have told from the days of Josiah until this very day. 3 Perhaps the people of Judah will listen to all the disasters that I intend to bring on them. Perhaps everyone will turn away from his wicked way, so I can forgive their iniquity and their sin.” 4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote in a scroll, at Jeremiah’s dictation, all the words of Yahweh spoken to him. 5 Next Jeremiah gave a command to Baruch. He said, “I am in prison and cannot go to Yahweh’s house. 6 So you must go and read from the scroll that you wrote at my dictation. On the day of the fast, you must read Yahweh’s words in the hearing of the people in his house, and also in the hearing of all of Judah who have come from their cities. Proclaim these words to them. 7 Perhaps their pleas for mercy will come before Yahweh. Perhaps each person will turn from his wicked way, since the wrath and fury that Yahweh has proclaimed against this people are severe.” 8 So Baruch son of Neriah did everything that Jeremiah the prophet had commanded him to do. He read aloud the words of Yahweh in the house of Yahweh. 9 It came about in the fifth year and ninth month of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, that all the people in Jerusalem and the people who came to Jerusalem from the cities of Judah proclaimed a fast before Yahweh. 10 Baruch read aloud Jeremiah’s words in the house of Yahweh, from the room of Gemariah son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper courtyard, by the gate of the entrance to the house of Yahweh. He did this in the hearing of all the people. 11 Now Micaiah son of Gemariah son of Shaphan heard all of Yahweh’s words in the scroll. 12 He went down to the house of the king, to the secretary’s room. Look, all the officials were sitting there: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Akbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the officials. 13 Then Micaiah reported to them all the words that he had heard that Baruch read aloud in the hearing of the people. 14 So all the officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah son of Shelemiah son of Cushi, to Baruch. Jehudi said to Baruch, “Take the scroll in your hand, the scroll from which you were reading in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Baruch son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and went to the officials. 15 Then they said to him, “Sit down and read this in our hearing.” So Baruch read the scroll. 16 It happened that when they heard all these words, each man turned in fear to the one next to him and said to Baruch, “We must certainly report all of these words to the king.” 17 Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, how did you come to write all these words at Jeremiah’s dictation?” 18 Baruch said to them, “He dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them in ink on this scroll.” 19 Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go, hide yourself, and Jeremiah, too. Do not let anyone know where you are.” 20 So they put the scroll in the room of Elishama the secretary, and they went to the king in the courtyard and they reported everything in the hearing of the king. 21 Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll. Jehudi took it from the room of Elishama the secretary. Then he read it in the hearing of the king and all the officials who were standing beside him. 22 Now the king was staying in the winter house in the ninth month, and a brazier was burning in front of him. 23 It happened that as Jehudi read three or four columns, the king would cut it off with a knife and throw it into the fire in the brazier until all of the scroll was destroyed. 24 But neither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words were frightened, nor did they tear their clothes. 25 Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah had even urged the king not to burn the scroll, but he did not listen to them. 26 Then the king commanded Jerahmeel, a relative, Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but Yahweh had hidden them. 27 Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the scroll and the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation, saying, 28 “Go back, take another scroll for yourself, and write in it all the words that were on the original scroll, the one that Jehoiakim king of Judah burned. 29 Then you must say this to Jehoiakim king of Judah: ‘You burned that scroll, saying, “Why have you written on it, ‘The king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, for he will destroy both man and beast in it’?”’” 30 Therefore Yahweh says this concerning you, Jehoiakim king of Judah: “No descendant of yours will ever sit on the throne of David. As for you, your corpse will be thrown out into the heat of day and the frost of night. 31 For I will punish you, your descendants, and your servants for the iniquity of you all. I will bring on you, on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on every person in Judah all the disasters with which I have threatened you with, but to which you paid no attention.” 32 So Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch son of Neriah the scribe. Baruch wrote on it at Jeremiah’s dictation all the words that had been in the scroll burned by Jehoiakim king of Judah. Furthermore, many other similar words were added to this scroll. Chapter 37 1 Now Zedekiah son of Josiah reigned as king instead of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had made Zedekiah king over the land of Judah. 2 But Zedekiah, his servants, and the people of the land did not listen to the words of Yahweh that he proclaimed by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet. 3 So King Zedekiah, Jehukal son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest sent a message to Jeremiah the prophet. They said, “Pray on our behalf to Yahweh our God.” 4 Now Jeremiah was coming and going among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison. 5 Pharaoh’s army came out from Egypt, and the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard the news about them and left Jerusalem. 6 Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, 7 “Yahweh, God of Israel, says this: This is what you will say to the king of Judah, because he has sent you to seek advice from me, ‘See, Pharaoh’s army, which came to help you, is about to go back to Egypt, its own land. 8 The Chaldeans will return. They will fight against this city, capture it, and burn it.’ 9 Yahweh says this: Do not deceive yourselves by saying, ‘Surely the Chaldeans are leaving us,’ for they will not leave. 10 Even if you had defeated the entire Chaldean army that is fighting you so that only wounded men were left in their tents, they would get up and burn this city.” 11 So it was when the Chaldean army had left Jerusalem as Pharaoh’s army was coming, 12 then Jeremiah went out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin. He wanted to take possession of a tract of land there among his people. 13 As he was in the Benjamin Gate, a chief guard was there. His name was Irijah son of Shelemiah son of Hananiah. He grabbed hold of Jeremiah the prophet and said, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans.” 14 But Jeremiah said, “That is not true. I am not deserting to the Chaldeans.” But Irijah did not listen to him. He took Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 15 The officials were angry with Jeremiah. They beat him and put him in prison, which had been the house of Jonathan the scribe, for they had turned it into a prison. 16 So Jeremiah was put into an underground cell, where he stayed for many days. 17 Then King Zedekiah sent someone who brought him to the palace. In his house, the king asked him privately, “Is there any word from Yahweh?” Jeremiah answered, “There is a word: You will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon.” 18 Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “How have I sinned against you, your servants, or this people so that you have placed me in prison? 19 Where are your prophets, the ones who prophesied for you and said the king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land? 20 But now listen, my master the king! Let my pleas come before you. Do not return me to the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I will die there.” 21 So King Zedekiah gave an order. His servants confined Jeremiah in the courtyard of the guard. A loaf of bread was given him every day from the street of the bakers, until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard. Chapter 38 1 Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehukal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard the words that Jeremiah was declaring to all the people. He was saying, 2 “Yahweh says this: Anyone staying in this city will be killed by sword, famine, and plague. But anyone who goes out to the Chaldeans will survive. He will escape with his own life, and live. 3 Yahweh says this: This city will be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.” 4 So the officials said to the king, “Let this man die, for in this way he is weakening the hands of the fighting men who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people. He is proclaiming these words, for this man is not working for safety for this people, but disaster.” 5 So King Zedekiah said, “Look, he is in your hand since there is no king able to resist you.” 6 Then they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malkijah, son of the king. The cistern was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah down on ropes. There was no water in the cistern, but it was muddy, and he sank down into the mud. 7 Now Ebed-Melek the Cushite was one of the eunuchs in the king’s house. He heard that they had placed Jeremiah in the cistern. Now the king was sitting at the Benjamin Gate. 8 So Ebed-Melek went from the king’s house and spoke with the king. He said, 9 “My master the king, these men have done evil with the way they have treated Jeremiah the prophet. They threw him into a cistern for him to die in it from hunger, since there is no more food in the city.” 10 Then the king gave a command to Ebed-Melek the Cushite. He said, “Take command of thirty men from here and take Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.” 11 So Ebed-Melek took command of those men and went to the king’s house, to a storeroom for clothing under the house. From there he took rags and worn-out clothing and then let them down by ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern. 12 Ebed-Melek the Cushite said to Jeremiah, “Put the rags and worn-out clothing under your arms and on top of the ropes.” So Jeremiah did so. 13 Then they pulled Jeremiah by the ropes. In this way they brought him up from the cistern. So Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard. 14 Then King Zedekiah sent word and brought Jeremiah the prophet to himself, to the third entrance in Yahweh’s house. The king said to Jeremiah, “I want to ask you something. Do not keep the answer from me.” 15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I answer you, will you not certainly kill me? But if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.” 16 But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in private and said, “As Yahweh lives, the one who made us, I will not kill you or give you into the hand of those men who are seeking your life.” 17 So Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Yahweh, God of hosts, God of Israel, says this: If you indeed go out to the officials of the king of Babylon then you will live, and this city will not be burned. You and your family will live. 18 But if you do not go out to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans. They will burn it, and you will not escape from their hand.” 19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “But I am afraid of the people of Judah who have deserted to the Chaldeans, because I might be given over into their hand, for them to treat me badly.” 20 Jeremiah said, “They will not give you over to them. Obey the message from Yahweh that I am telling you, so that things will go well for you, and so that you will live. 21 But if you refuse to go out, this is what Yahweh has shown me. 22 Look! All the women who are left in your house, king of Judah, will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon. These women will say to you, ‘You have been deceived by your friends; they have ruined you. Your feet are now sunk into the mud, and your friends will run away.’ 23 For all of your wives and children will be brought out to the Chaldeans, and you yourself will not escape from their hand. You will be captured by the hand of the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned.” 24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Do not inform anyone about these words, so that you do not die. 25 If the officials hear that I have talked with you, and if they come and say to you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and do not hide it from us, or we will kill you,’ 26 then you must say to them, ‘I made a humble plea before the king that he would not return me to the house of Jonathan to die there.’” 27 Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him, so he answered them as the king had instructed him. So they stopped talking with him, because they had not heard the conversation between Jeremiah and the king. 28 So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured. Chapter 39 1 In the ninth year and tenth month of Zedekiah king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 In the eleventh year and fourth month of Zedekiah, on the ninth day of the month, the city was broken into. 3 Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came and sat in the middle gate: Nebo-Sarsekim, Samgar Nebo, and Sarsechim, an important official. Nebo-Sarsekim was a high official and all the rest were the officials of the king of Babylon. 4 It happened that when Zedekiah, king of Judah, and all his fighting men saw them, they fled. They went out at night from the city by the king’s garden path, through the gate between the two walls. The king went out in the direction of the Arabah. 5 But the army of Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of the Jordan River valley near Jericho. Then they captured him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where Nebuchadnezzar passed sentence on him. 6 The king of Babylon slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his own eyes at Riblah. He also slaughtered all the noblemen of Judah. 7 Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him in bronze chains in order to take him to Babylon. 8 Then the Chaldeans burned the king’s house and the people’s houses. They also tore down the walls of Jerusalem. 9 Nebuzaradan, the commander of the king’s bodyguards, took into exile the rest of the people who were left in the city. This included the people who had deserted to the Chaldeans and the rest of the people who were left in the city. 10 But Nebuzaradan the commander of the king’s bodyguards allowed the poorest people who had nothing for themselves to remain in the land of Judah. He gave them vineyards and fields on that same day. 11 Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had given an order about Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the commander of the king’s bodyguards. He had said, 12 “Take him and care for him. Do not harm him. Do for him anything he tells you.” 13 So Nebuzaradan the commander of the king’s bodyguards, Nebushazban the high eunuch, Nergal-Sharezer the high official, and all the most important officials of the king of Babylon sent men out. 14 Their men took Jeremiah from the courtyard of the guard and entrusted him to Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, to take him home, so Jeremiah stayed among the people. 15 Now the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah while he was under arrest in the courtyard of the guard, saying, 16 “Speak to Ebed-Melek the Cushite and say, ‘Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this: See, I am about to carry out my words against this city for disaster and not for good. For they will all come true before you on that day. 17 But I will rescue you on that day—this is Yahweh’s declaration—and you will not be given into the hand of the men whom you fear. 18 For I will certainly rescue you. You will not fall by the sword. You will escape with your life, since you trust in me—this was Yahweh’s declaration.’” Chapter 40 1 The word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh after Nebuzaradan the commander of the king’s bodyguards had released him at Ramah. He had found Jeremiah bound with chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were being carried into exile to Babylon. 2 The chief guard took Jeremiah and said to him, “Yahweh your God decreed this disaster for this place. 3 So Yahweh brought it about. He did just as he had decreed, since you people sinned against him and did not obey his voice. That is why this thing has happened to you people. 4 But now look! I have released you today from the chains that were on your hands. If it is good in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will take care of you. But if it is not good in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, then do not do so. Look at all the land before you. Go where it is good and right in your eyes to go.” 5 When Jeremiah did not reply, Nebuzaradan said, “Go to Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has put in charge of the cities of Judah. Stay with him among the people or go wherever it is good in your eyes to go.” The commander of the king’s bodyguards gave him food and a gift, and then sent him away. 6 So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. He stayed with him among the people who were left behind in the land. 7 Now some commanders of Judean soldiers who were still in the countryside—they and their men—heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah son of Ahikam governor over the land. They also heard that he had put him in charge of the men, women, and children who were the poorest people in the land, those who had not been exiled to Babylon. 8 So they went to Gedaliah at Mizpah. These men were Ishmael son of Nethaniah; Johanan and Jonathan, sons of Kareah; Seraiah son of Tanhumeth; the sons of Ephai the Netophathite; and Jaazaniah son of the Maakathite—they and their men. 9 Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan took an oath to them and to their men and said to them, “Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldean officials. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you. 10 Look, I am living in Mizpah to meet with the Chaldeans who came to us. So harvest wine, summer fruit, and oil and store them in your containers. Live in the cities that you have occupied.” 11 Then all the Judeans in Moab, among the people of Ammon, and in Edom, and in every land heard that the king of Babylon had allowed a remnant of Judah to stay, that he had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan over them. 12 So all the Judeans returned from every place where they had been scattered. They came back to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah. They harvested wine and summer fruit in great abundance. 13 Johanan son of Kareah and all the army commanders in the countryside came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. 14 They said to him, “Do you realize that Baalis king of the people of Ammon sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to murder you?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikim did not believe them. 15 So Johanan son of Kareah spoke privately to Gedaliah in Mizpah and said, “Allow me to go kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah. No one will suspect me. Why should he kill you? Why allow all of Judah that has been gathered to you to be scattered and the remnant of Judah destroyed?” 16 But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, “Do not do this thing, for you are telling lies about Ishmael.” Chapter 41 1 But it happened that in the seventh month Ishmael son of Nethaniah son of Elishama, from the royal family, and some officers of the king, came—ten men were with him—to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. They ate food together there in Mizpah. 2 But Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and the ten men who were with him rose up and attacked Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, with the sword. Ishmael killed Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had put in charge of the land. 3 Then Ishmael killed all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah in Mizpah and the Chaldean fighting men found there. 4 Then it was the second day after the killing of Gedaliah, but no one knew. 5 Some men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria—eighty men who had shaved their beard, torn their clothes, and cut themselves—with food offerings and frankincense in their hands to go to Yahweh’s house. 6 So Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them as they went, walking and weeping. Then it happened that as he encountered them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam!” 7 It came about that when they came into the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah slaughtered them and threw them into a pit, he and the men who were with him. 8 But there were ten men among them who said to Ishmael, “Do not kill us, for there are provisions of ours in a field: Wheat and barley, oil and honey.” So he did not kill them with their other companions. 9 The cistern where Ishmael threw all the dead bodies that he had killed, was a large cistern that King Asa dug to make a defense against King Baasha of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it in with the dead. 10 Next Ishmael captured all the other people who were in Mizpah, the king’s daughters and all the people who were left in Mizpah whom Nebuzaradan the chief guard had assigned to Gedaliah son of Ahikam. So Ishmael son of Nethaniah captured them and went to cross over to the people of Ammon. 11 But Johanan son of Kareah and all the army commanders with him heard of all the harm that Ishmael son of Nethaniah had done. 12 So they took all their men and went to fight against Ishmael son of Nethaniah. They found him at the great pool of Gibeon. 13 Then it happened that when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan son of Kareah and all the army commanders who were with him, they were very happy. 14 So all the people whom Ishmael had captured at Mizpah turned around and went to Johanan son of Kareah. 15 But Ishmael son of Nethaniah fled with eight men from Johanan. He went to the people of Ammon. 16 Johanan son of Kareah and all the army commanders with him took from Mizpah all the people who had been rescued from Ishmael son of Nethaniah. This was after Ishmael had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Johanan and his companions took the strong men, the fighting men, the women and children, and the eunuchs who had been rescued at Gibeon. 17 Then they went and stayed for a while in Geruth Kimham, which is near Bethlehem. They were going to go to Egypt 18 because of the Chaldeans. They were afraid of them since Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had put in charge of the land. Chapter 42 1 Then all the army commanders and Johanan son of Kareah, Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest approached Jeremiah the prophet. 2 They said to him, “Let our pleas come before you. Pray for us to Yahweh your God for these people who remain since we are so few in number, as you see. 3 Ask Yahweh your God to tell us the way we should go and what we should do.” 4 So Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Look, I will pray to Yahweh your God as you have requested. Whatever Yahweh answers, I will tell you. I will keep nothing back from you.” 5 They said to Jeremiah, “May Yahweh be a true and faithful witness against us, if we do not do everything that Yahweh your God tells us to do. 6 Whether it is good or if it is bad, we will obey the voice of Yahweh our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of Yahweh our God.” 7 At the end of ten days, the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah. 8 So Jeremiah called to Johanan son of Kareah and all the army commanders with him, and to all the people from the least to the greatest. 9 Then he said to them, “This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel—to whom you sent me so I might lay your pleas before him—says, 10 ‘If you go back and live in this land, then I will build you and not tear you down; I will plant you and not pull you up, for I will turn back the disaster that I have brought on you. 11 Do not fear the king of Babylon, whom you are fearing. Do not fear him—this is Yahweh’s declaration—since I am with you to save you and rescue you from his hand. 12 For I will give you mercy. I will have compassion on you, and I will bring you back to your land. 13 But suppose that you say, “We will not stay in this land”—if you do not listen to my voice, the voice of Yahweh your God. 14 Suppose that you say, “No! We will go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see any war, where we will not hear the sound of the trumpet, and we will not go hungry for food. We will live there.” 15 Now listen to this word of Yahweh, you remnant of Judah. Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, ‘If you actually set out to go to Egypt, to go and live there, 16 then the sword that you fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt. The famine that you are worrying about will pursue you to Egypt, and you will die there. 17 So it will happen that all the men who set out to go to Egypt to live there will die by sword, famine, or plague. There will be no survivor of them, no one to escape the disaster that I will bring on them. 18 For Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this: Just as my wrath and my fury were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, in the same way my fury will be poured out on you if you go to Egypt. You will become an object of cursing and a horror, an object for speaking curses, and something dishonorable, and you will not see this place again.’” 19 Then Jeremiah said, “Yahweh has spoken concerning you—the remnant of Judah. Do not go to Egypt! You certainly know that I have been a witness against you today. 20 For you fatally deceived yourselves when you sent me to Yahweh your God and said, ‘Pray to Yahweh our God for us. Everything that Yahweh our God says, tell us, and we will carry it out.’ 21 For I have reported to you today, but you have not listened to the voice of Yahweh your God or to anything about which he sent me to you. 22 So now, you should certainly know that you will die by sword, famine, and plague in the place where you desired to go to live.” Chapter 43 1 It happened that Jeremiah finished proclaiming to all the people all the words of Yahweh their God that Yahweh their God had told him to say. 2 Azariah son of Hoshaiah, Johanan son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are telling lies. Yahweh our God has not sent you to say, ‘Do not go to Egypt to live there.’ 3 For Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, for you to cause our death and to make us captives in Babylon.” 4 So Johanan son of Kareah, all the princes of the army, and all the people refused to listen to Yahweh’s voice to live in the land of Judah. 5 Johanan son of Kareah and all the army commanders took away all the remnant of Judah who had returned from all the nations where they had been scattered to live in the land of Judah. 6 They took the men and women, the children and the king’s daughters, and every person whom Nebuzaradan, the commander of the king’s bodyguards, had let remain with Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan. They also took Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah. 7 They went to the land of Egypt, to Tahpanhes, because they did not listen to Yahweh’s voice. 8 So the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, 9 “Take some large stones in your hand, and, in the sight of the people of Judah, hide them in the mortar in the pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes.” 10 Then say to them, “Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, ‘See, I am about to send messengers to take Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon as my servant. I will place his throne over these stones that you, Jeremiah, have buried. Nebuchadnezzar will place his pavilion over them. 11 For he will come and attack the land of Egypt. Anyone who is assigned to death will be given to death. Anyone who is assigned to captivity will be taken captive. Anyone who is assigned to the sword will be given to the sword. 12 Then I will light a fire in the temples of Egypt’s gods. Nebuchadnezzar will burn them or capture them. He will clean out the land of Egypt just as shepherds clean vermin off their clothes. He will go out from that place in victory. [1] 13 He will break the stone pillars at Heliopolis in the land of Egypt. He will burn the temples of Egypt’s gods.’” 43:12 [1] Instead of I will light a fire , some ancient and modern versions have he will light a fire . Chapter 44 1 The word came to Jeremiah concerning all the Judeans who lived in the land of Egypt, the ones staying in Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis, and in Upper Egypt: 2 “Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says, ‘You yourselves have seen all the disasters that I brought on Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah. See, they are ruins today. There is no one to live in them. 3 This is because of the wicked things they did to offend me by going to burn incense and to worship other gods. These were gods that neither they themselves, nor you, nor your ancestors knew.’ 4 So I repeatedly sent all of my servants the prophets to them. I sent them to say, ‘Stop doing these abominable things that I hate.’ 5 But they did not listen. They refused to pay attention or turn from their wickedness in burning incense to other gods. 6 So my fury and my wrath were poured out and kindled a fire in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. So they became ruins and devastations, as at this present day.’ 7 So now Yahweh, the God of hosts and the God of Israel, says this, ‘Why are you doing great wickedness against yourselves? Why are you causing yourselves to be cut off from among Judah—men and women, children and babies? No remnant of you will be left. 8 By your wickedness you have offended me with the deeds of your hands, by burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you have gone to live. You have gone there so that you will be destroyed, so that you will be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth. 9 Have you forgotten the wickedness committed by your ancestors and the wickedness committed by the kings of Judah and their wives? Have you forgotten the evil committed by yourselves and your wives in the land of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem? 10 To this day, they still are not humbled. They do not honor my law or decrees that I placed before them and their ancestors, nor do they walk in them.’ 11 Therefore Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, ‘See, I am about to set my face against you to bring disaster to you and to destroy all of Judah. 12 For I will take the remnant of Judah that has set out to go to the land of Egypt to live there. I will do this so that they will all perish in the land of Egypt. They will fall by sword and famine. From the least to the greatest they will perish by sword and famine. They will die and will become an object of swearing, cursing, reproaching, and a horrible thing. 13 For I will punish the people inhabiting the land of Egypt just as I punished Jerusalem with the sword, with famine, and with the plague, 14 so that none of the remnant of Judah who have gone to live in the land of Egypt will escape or survive or return to the land of Judah, to which they desire to return and live; and none of them will return except a few who escaped from there.’” 15 Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, and all the women who were in the great assembly, and all the people who were living in Lower and Upper Egypt, answered Jeremiah. 16 They said, “About the word that you have told us in Yahweh’s name—we will not listen to you. 17 For we will certainly do all the things that we said we would do—burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her just as we, our ancestors, our kings, and our leaders did in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. Then we will be filled with food and will prosper, without experiencing any disaster. 18 When we refrained from doing these things, not offering incense to the queen of heaven and not pouring out drink offerings to her, we were all suffering poverty and were dying by sword and famine.” 19 The women said, “When we were making incense offerings before the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, was it against our husbands that we did these things, making cakes in her image and pouring out drink offerings to her?” 20 Then Jeremiah said to all the people—to the men and women, and all the people who answered him—he proclaimed and said, 21 “Did not Yahweh remember the incense that you burned in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem—you and your ancestors, your kings and leaders, and the people of the land? For Yahweh calls this to mind; it comes to his thoughts. 22 Then he was no longer able to bear it because of your wicked practices, because of the abominations that you did. Then your land became a desolation, a horror, and a curse so there was no longer an inhabitant as at this present day. 23 Because you burned incense and sinned against Yahweh, and because you would not listen to his voice, his law, his statutes, or his covenant decrees, this disaster against you has happened as at this present day.” 24 Then Jeremiah said to all the people and all the women, “Hear the word of Yahweh, all of Judah who are in the land of Egypt. 25 Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, ‘You and your wives both have said with your mouths and carried out with your hands what you said, “We will certainly carry out the vows that we made to worship the queen of heaven, to pour out drink offerings to her.” Now fulfill your vows; carry them out.’ 26 So then, hear the word of Yahweh, all of Judah who are staying in the land of Egypt, ‘See, I have sworn by my great name—says Yahweh. My name will no longer be called upon by the mouths of any of the men of Judah in all the land of Egypt, you who now say, “As the Lord Yahweh lives.” 27 See, I am watching over them for disaster and not for good. Every person of Judah in the land of Egypt will perish by sword and famine until they are all finished. 28 Then the survivors of the sword will return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, only a small number of them. So all the remnant of Judah who went to the land of Egypt to live there will know whose word will stand—mine or theirs. 29 This will be the sign for you—this is Yahweh’s declaration—that I am setting against you in this place, so that you will know that my words will certainly attack you with disaster.’ 30 Yahweh says this, ‘Look, I am about to give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those who seek to kill him. It will the same as when I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy who sought his life.’” Chapter 45 1 This is the word that Jeremiah the prophet told Baruch son of Neriah. This happened when he wrote in a scroll these words at Jeremiah’s dictation—this was in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, and he said, 2 “Yahweh, God of Israel, says this to you, Baruch: 3 You have said, ‘Woe is me, for Yahweh has added agony to my pain. My groaning has wearied me; I find no rest.’ 4 This is what you must say to him: ‘Yahweh says this: See, what I built, I am now tearing down. What I planted, I am now pulling up—I will do this throughout all the earth. 5 But are you hoping for great things for yourself? Do not hope for that. For see, disaster is coming on all humanity—this is Yahweh’s declaration—but I am giving you your life as your plunder everywhere you will go.’” Chapter 46 1 This is the word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations. 2 For Egypt: “This is about the army of Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt that was at Carchemish by the Euphrates river. This was the army that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah: 3 Get the small shields and the large shields ready, and go forward to fight. 4 Put the harness on the horses; mount up on the horses and take your stand with your helmets on; polish the spears and put on your armor. 5 What am I seeing here? They are filled with terror and are running away, for their soldiers are defeated. They are running for safety and are not looking back. Terror is all around—this is Yahweh’s declaration— 6 the swift cannot run away, and the soldiers cannot escape. They stumble in the north and fall beside the Euphrates River. 7 Who is this who rises like the Nile, whose waters toss up and down like the rivers? 8 Egypt rises like the Nile, like rivers of water that rise and fall. Egypt says, ‘I will go up and I will cover the earth. I will destroy cities and their inhabitants. 9 Go up, horses. Be angry, you chariots. Let the soldiers go out, Cush and Put, men skillful with a shield, and Ludim, men skillful at bending their bows.’ 10 That day will be the day of vengeance for the Lord Yahweh of hosts, and he will avenge himself on his foes. The sword will devour and be satisfied. It will drink its fill of their blood. For there will be a sacrifice to the Yahweh Lord of hosts in the northern land by the Euphrates River. 11 Go up to Gilead and obtain medicine, virgin daughter of Egypt. It is useless that you put much medicine on yourself. There is no cure for you. 12 The nations have heard of your disgrace. The earth is filled with your laments, for soldier stumbles against soldier; both of them fall together.” 13 This is the word that Yahweh told Jeremiah the prophet when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came and attacked the land of Egypt: 14 “Announce in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpanhes. ‘Take your station and prepare yourself, for the sword will devour those around you.’ 15 Why are your mighty ones face-down on the ground? They will not stand, because I, Yahweh, have pushed them to the ground. 16 He increases the numbers of those who stumble. Each soldier falls against the next one. They are saying, ‘Get up. Let us go home. Let us go back to our own people, to our native land. Let us leave this sword that is beating us down.’ 17 They proclaimed there, ‘Pharaoh the king of Egypt is only a noise, one who has let his opportunity slip away.’ 18 As I live—declares the King, whose name is Yahweh of hosts— someone will come like Mount Tabor and Mount Carmel by the sea. 19 Pack for yourselves baggage to carry into exile, you who live in Egypt. For Memphis will become a waste, it will lie in ruins and no one will live there. 20 Egypt is a very beautiful young cow, but a stinging insect is coming from the north. It is coming. 21 The hired soldiers in her midst are like a fattened bull, but they will also turn away and run away. They will not stand together, for the day of their disaster is coming against them, the time of their punishment. 22 Egypt hisses like a snake and crawls away, for her enemies are marching against her. They are going toward her like woodcutters with axes. 23 They will cut down the forests—this is Yahweh’s declaration—although it is very dense. For the enemies will be more numerous than locusts, unable to be counted. 24 The daughter of Egypt will be made ashamed. She will be given into the hand of people from the north.” 25 Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, says, “See, I am about to punish Amon of Thebes, Pharaoh, Egypt and her gods, her kings the Pharaohs, and those who trust in them. 26 I am giving them into the hand of the ones seeking their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his servants. Then after this Egypt will be inhabited as in previous days—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 27 But you, my servant Jacob, do not fear. Do not be dismayed, Israel, for see, I am about to bring you back from far away, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Then Jacob will return, find peace, and be secure, and there will be no one to terrify him. 28 You, my servant Jacob, do not fear—this is Yahweh’s declaration—for I am with you, so I will bring complete destruction against all the nations where I scattered you. But I will not destroy you completely. Yet I will discipline you justly and will certainly not leave you unpunished.” Chapter 47 1 This is the word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines. This word came to him before Pharaoh attacked Gaza. 2 “Yahweh says this: See, floods of water are rising in the north. They will be like an overflowing river! Then they will overflow the land and everything in it, its cities and its inhabitants! So everyone will shout for help, and all the inhabitants of the land will lament. 3 At the sound of the stamping of their strong horses’ hooves, at the roar of their chariots and the noise of their wheels, fathers will not help their children because of their own weakness. 4 For the day is coming that will devastate all of the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every survivor who wants to help them. For Yahweh is devastating the Philistines, those who remain from the island of Caphtor. 5 Baldness will come upon Gaza. As for Ashkelon, the people who are left in their valley will be made silent. How long will you cut yourself in mourning? 6 Woe, sword of Yahweh! How long will it be until you become silent? Go back to your scabbard! Stop and be silent. 7 How can it rest when Yahweh has commanded it, when he has ordered it to attack Ashkelon and the coastlands along the sea?” Chapter 48 1 To Moab, Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, “Woe to Nebo, for it has been devastated. Kiriathaim has been humiliated and captured. Her fortress has been disgraced and crushed. 2 The honor of Moab is no more. Their enemies in Heshbon plotted disaster against her. They said, ‘Come and let us destroy her as a nation. Madmen will also perish—a sword will go after you.’ 3 Listen! A sound of screaming is coming from Horonaim, where there is ruin and great destruction. 4 Moab has been destroyed. Her children have made their cries heard. 5 They go up the hill of Luhith weeping, for on the way down to Horonaim, screams are heard because of the destruction. 6 Flee! Save your lives and become like a juniper bush in the wilderness. 7 For because of your trust in your practices and your wealth, you also will be captured. Then Chemosh will go away into captivity, together with his priests and leaders. 8 For the destroyer will come to every city; no city will escape. So the valley will perish and the plain will be devastated, as Yahweh has said. 9 Give wings to Moab, for she must certainly fly away. Her cities will become a wasteland, where there is no one to live in them. 10 May anyone who is lazy in doing Yahweh’s work be cursed! May anyone who keeps his sword back from shedding blood be cursed! 11 Moab has felt secure since he was young. He is like his wine that has never been poured from pot to pot. He has never gone into captivity. Therefore he tastes as good as ever; his flavor remains unchanged. 12 So see, the days are coming—this is Yahweh’s declaration—when I will send him those who will tip him over and pour out all his pots and shatter his jars. 13 Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh just as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their object of trust. 14 How can you say, ‘We are soldiers, powerful fighting men’? 15 Moab will be devastated and its cities attacked. For its finest young men have gone down to the place of slaughter. This is the king’s declaration! Yahweh of hosts is his name. 16 Moab’s disaster is soon to happen; calamity is hurrying quickly. 17 All you who are around Moab, wail; and all you who know its fame, shout this, ‘Woe, the strong staff, the honored rod, has been broken.’ 18 Come down from your honored place and sit on the dry ground, you daughter living in Dibon. For the one who will destroy Moab is attacking you, the one who will destroy your strongholds. 19 Stand on the road and watch, you people who live in Aroer. Ask the ones who are fleeing and escaping. Say, ‘What has happened?’ 20 Moab has been shamed, for it has been shattered. Howl and lament; shout for help. Tell it to people by the Arnon River that Moab has been devastated. 21 Now punishment has come to the hill country, to Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath, 22 to Dibon, Nebo, and Beth Diblathaim, 23 to Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul, and Beth Meon, 24 To Kerioth and Bozrah, and to all the cities in the land of Moab— the farthest and the closest cities. 25 The horn of Moab has been hacked off; its arm has been broken—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 26 Make him drunk, because he acted proudly against Yahweh. Let Moab wallow in his vomit, and let him be an object of ridicule. 27 For did not Israel become an object for laughter to you? Was he found among thieves, so that you shook your head at him as often as you spoke about him? 28 Abandon the cities and camp on the cliffs, inhabitants of Moab. Become like a dove that is nesting over the mouth of a hole in the rocks. 29 We have heard of Moab’s pride—his arrogance, his haughtiness, his pride, his self-glory and the conceit in his heart. 30 This is Yahweh’s declaration—I myself know his defiant speech, which amounts to nothing, like his deeds. 31 So I will howl a lament for Moab, and I will shout in sorrow for all of Moab. I will lament for the people of Kir Hareseth. 32 I will weep for you more than I did for Jazer, vine of Sibmah! Your branches passed across the Salt Sea and reached as far as Jazer. The destroyers have attacked your summer fruit and your wine. 33 So celebration and rejoicing have been taken away from the fruit trees and the land of Moab. I have put an end to the wine from their winepresses. They will not tread with joyful shouts. Any shouts will not be shouts of joy. 34 From the shouts at Heshbon as far as Elealeh, their sound is heard at Jahaz, from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah, since even the waters of Nimrim have dried up. 35 For I will put an end to anyone in Moab who makes sacrifices on the high places and burns incense to his gods—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 36 So my heart is lamenting for Moab like a flute. My heart is lamenting like flutes for the people of Kir Hareseth. The riches they gained are gone. 37 For every head is bald and every beard shaved. Incisions are on every hand, and sackcloth is around their waists. 38 There is mourning everywhere, on every flat roof of Moab and in Moab’s plazas. For I have destroyed Moab like pots that no one wants—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 39 How it has been shattered! How they howl in their lamenting! Moab turns its back in shame! So Moab will become an object of derision and a terror to all those who are around him.” 40 For Yahweh says this, “See, the enemy will come flying like an eagle, spreading out his wings over Moab. 41 Kerioth has been captured, and its strongholds have been seized. For in that day the hearts of Moab’s soldiers will be like the hearts of women in birth labor. 42 So Moab will be destroyed and be no longer a people, because he made himself to be great against Yahweh. 43 Terror and the pit, and a trap are coming on you, inhabitant of Moab—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 44 Anyone who flees because of terror will fall into the pit, and anyone who climbs out of the pit will be caught in the trap, for I will bring this on them in the year of my vengeance against them—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 45 The ones who flee will stand in the shadow of Heshbon without any strength, for fire will go out from Heshbon, flame from the middle of Sihon. It will devour the forehead of Moab and the top of the heads of the boastful people. 46 Woe to you, Moab! Chemosh’s people are destroyed, For your sons are taken as captives and your daughters into captivity. 47 But I will restore the fortunes of Moab in later days—this is Yahweh’s declaration.” The judgment on Moab ends here. Chapter 49 1 About the people of Ammon, Yahweh says this, “Does Israel have no children? Is there no one to inherit anything in Israel? Why does Molech occupy Gad, and his people live in its cities? [1] 2 So look, the days are coming—this is Yahweh’s declaration—when I will sound the signal for battle against Rabbah among the people of Ammon, so it will become a deserted heap and its villages will be set on fire. For Israel will possess those who possessed him,” says Yahweh. 3 “Howl in lament, Heshbon, for Ai will be devastated! Shout out, daughters of Rabbah! Put on sackcloth. Lament and run about in futility, for Molech is going into captivity, together with his priests and leaders. 4 Why do you brag about your valleys, your valleys that are so fruitful, faithless daughter? you who trust in your wealth and say, ‘Who will come against me?’ 5 See, I am about to bring terror on you—this is the declaration of Lord Yahweh of hosts— this terror will come from all those who surround you. Each one of you will be scattered before it. There will be no one to gather those running away. 6 But after this I will restore the fortunes of the people of Ammon—this is Yahweh’s declaration.” 7 About Edom, Yahweh of hosts says this, “Is there no longer any wisdom to be found in Teman? Has good advice disappeared from those who have understanding? Has their wisdom become corrupted? 8 Flee! Turn back! Stay in holes in the ground, inhabitants of Dedan. For I am bringing the disaster of Esau on him at the time that I punish him. 9 If grape harvesters came to you, would they not leave a little bit behind? If thieves came in the night, would they not steal only as much as they wanted? 10 But I have stripped Esau bare. I have revealed his hiding places. So he will not be able to hide himself. His children, his brothers, and his neighbors are destroyed, and he is gone. 11 Leave your orphans behind. I will take care of their lives, and your widows can trust in me.” 12 For Yahweh says this, “See, those who did not deserve it must certainly drink some of the cup. Do you yourself think you will go without punishment? You will not, for you will certainly drink. 13 For I have sworn by myself—this is Yahweh’s declaration—that Bozrah will become a horror, a disgrace, a devastation, and an object for cursing. All of its cities will become devastations forever. 14 I have heard news from Yahweh, and a messenger has been sent out to the nations, ‘Gather together and attack her. Get ready for battle.’ 15 “For see, I have made you small compared to the other nations, despised by people. 16 As for your fearsomeness, your heart’s pride has deceived you, inhabitants of places on the cliff, you who have occupied the highest hills so that you may make your nest high like an eagle. I will bring you down from there—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 17 Edom will become a horror to everyone passing by it. Every such person will tremble and hiss because all of its disasters. 18 Like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors,” says Yahweh, “no one will live there; no person will stay there. 19 See, he will go up like a lion from the forests of the Jordan to the green pasturelands. For I will quickly make Edom run from it, and I will put someone who will be chosen in charge of it. For who is like me, and who will summon me? What shepherd is able to resist me?” 20 “So listen to the plans that Yahweh has decided against Edom, the plans that he has formed against the inhabitants of Teman. They will certainly be dragged away, even the smallest flock. Their pasturelands will be turned into ruined places. 21 At the sound of their falling the earth shakes. The sound of distressed shouts is heard at the Sea of Reeds. 22 See, someone will attack like an eagle, and swoop down and spread his wings over Bozrah. Then on that day, the hearts of Edom’s soldiers will become like the heart of a woman in birth labor.” 23 About Damascus: “Hamath and Arpad will be ashamed, for they have heard news of disaster. They melt away! They become as troubled as the sea, which cannot stay calm. 24 Damascus has become very weak. It turns away to flee; terror seizes it. Distress and pain seize it, like the pain of a woman giving birth. 25 How has the city of praise not been forsaken, the town of my joy? 26 Therefore its young men will fall in its plazas, and all the fighting men will perish on that day—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts.” 27 “For I will light a fire on the wall of Damascus, and it will devour the strongholds of Ben Hadad.” 28 About Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, Yahweh says this to Nebuchadnezzar (now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon was going to attack these places): “Arise and attack Kedar and destroy those people of the east. 29 Their tents and their flocks will be taken, along with their tent curtains and all of their equipment; their camels will be led away from them, and men will shout to them, ‘Terror is on every side!’ 30 Flee! Wander far away! Stay in holes in the ground, inhabitants of Hazor—this is Yahweh’s declaration— for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devised a plan against you. Flee! Turn back! 31 Arise! Attack the nation at ease, that lives in safety,” says Yahweh. “They have no gates or bars in them, and its people live by themselves. 32 For their camels will become plunder, and the abundance of their property will become war plunder. Then I will scatter to every wind those who cut the corners of their hair, and I will bring disaster on them from every side—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 33 Hazor will become a lair of jackals, a permanent wasteland. No one will live there; no human being will stay there.” 34 This is the word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet about Elam. This happened at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, and he said, 35 “Yahweh of hosts says this: See, I am about to break the bowmen of Elam, the main part of their power. 36 For I will bring the four winds from the four corners of the heavens, and I will scatter the people of Elam to all of those winds. There is no nation to which those scattered from Elam will not go. 37 So I will shatter Elam before their enemies and before those who seek their lives. for I will bring disaster against them, the fury of my wrath—this is Yahweh’s declaration— and I will send the sword after them until I have annihilated them. 38 Then I will put my throne in Elam and will destroy its king and leaders from there—this is Yahweh’s declaration— 39 and it will happen in later days that I will bring back the fortunes of Elam—this is Yahweh’s declaration.” 49:1 [1] Instead of Molech , some modern versions have their king . Chapter 50 1 This is the word that Yahweh declared about Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet, 2 “Report to the nations and cause them to listen. Lift up a signal and cause them to listen. Do not conceal it. Say, ‘Babylon is taken. Bel is made ashamed. Marduk is dismayed. Its idols are put to shame; its images are dismayed.’ 3 A nation from the north will arise against it, and make her land a desolation. No one will live in it; both man and beast will flee away. 4 In those days and at that time—this is Yahweh’s declaration—the people of Israel and the people of Judah will come together to go with weeping and seek Yahweh their God. 5 They will ask the way to Zion and will set off toward it, saying, We will go and join ourselves to Yahweh in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.” 6 My people have been a lost flock. Their shepherds have led them astray in the mountains; they have turned them around from hill to hill. They went, they forgot the place where they had lived. 7 Everyone who went out to them devoured them. Their adversaries said, ‘We are not guilty, because they sinned against Yahweh, their true home—Yahweh, the hope of their ancestors.’ 8 Leave from the midst of Babylon; go out from the land of the Chaldeans; be like male goats that leave before the rest of the flock does. 9 For see, I am about to set in motion and raise up a group of great nations from the north against Babylon. They will arrange themselves against her. Babylon will be captured from there. Their arrows are like a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed. 10 Chaldea will become plunder. All those who plunder it will be satisfied—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 11 You rejoice, you celebrate the plundering of my inheritance; you jump around like a calf stamping in its pasture; you neigh like a powerful horse. 12 So your mother will be greatly ashamed; the one who bore you will be embarrassed. See, she will be the least of nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. 13 Because of Yahweh’s anger, Babylon will not be inhabited, but will be a complete devastation. Everyone who passes by will shudder because of Babylon and will hiss because all of its wounds. 14 Arrange yourselves against Babylon all around her. Everyone who bends a bow must shoot at her. Do not keep back any of your arrows, for she has sinned against Yahweh. 15 Raise a shout against her all around! She has surrendered; her towers have fallen; her walls are torn down, for this is Yahweh’s vengeance. Take vengeance on her! Do to her just as she has done! 16 Destroy both the farmer who sows seed and the one who uses a sickle at the time of harvest in Babylon. Let each person turn back to his own people from the oppressor’s sword; let them flee to their own land. 17 Israel is a sheep scattered and driven away by lions. First the king of Assyria devoured him; then after this, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon broke his bones. 18 Therefore Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, says this: See, I am about to punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I punished the king of Assyria. 19 I will restore Israel to his homeland; he will graze on Carmel and Bashan. Then he will be satisfied in the hill country of Ephraim and Gilead. 20 In those days and at that time, says Yahweh, iniquity will be looked for in Israel, but none will be found. I will inquire about the sins of Judah, but none will be found, for I will forgive the remnant that I spare.” 21 “Arise against the land of Merathaim, against it and the ones inhabiting Pekod. Put them to the sword and set them apart for destruction—this is Yahweh’s declaration—do everything that I am commanding you. 22 The sounds of battle and enormous destruction are in the land. 23 How the hammer of all the lands has been cut apart and destroyed. How Babylon has become a destroyed place among the nations. 24 I have set a trap for you and you were taken, Babylon, and you did not know it! You were found and captured, because you opposed Yahweh. 25 Yahweh has opened his armory and is bringing out the weapons for carrying out his anger. There is work for the Lord Yahweh of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans. 26 Attack her from far away. Open her granaries and pile her up like heaps of grain. Set her apart for destruction. Leave no remnant of her. 27 Kill all her bulls. Send them down to the place of slaughter. Woe to them, for their day has come—the time for their punishment. 28 There is the sound of those fleeing, of those who are survivors, from the land of Babylon. These will report the vengeance of Yahweh our God for Zion, and vengeance for his temple.” 29 “Summon the archers against Babylon—all those who bend their bows. Camp against her, and let no one escape. Repay her for what she has done. Do to her by the measure she has used. For she had defied Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel. 30 So her young men will fall in the city squares, and all her fighting men will be destroyed on that day— this is Yahweh’s declaration.” 31 “See, I am against you, proud one—this is the declaration of the Lord Yahweh of hosts— for your day has come, proud one, the time when I will punish you. 32 So the proud ones will stumble and fall. No one will raise them up. I will light a fire in their cities; it will devour everything around him. 33 Yahweh of hosts says this: The people of Israel are oppressed, together with the people of Judah. All the ones who captured them still hold them; they refuse to let them go. 34 The one who rescues them is strong. Yahweh of hosts is his name. He will truly plead their case, in order to bring rest to the land, and to bring strife to the ones inhabiting Babylon. 35 A sword is against the Chaldeans—this is Yahweh’s declaration— and against the inhabitants of Babylon, her leaders, and her wise men. 36 A sword against those who say empty words! They will become fools! A sword against her soldiers! They will be filled with terror. 37 A sword is coming against their horses, their chariots and all of the people who are in the midst of Babylon, so they will become like women. A sword is coming against her storerooms, and they will be plundered. 38 A drought is coming on her waters, so they will become dry. For she is a land of worthless idols, and they act like people made insane by their dreadful idols. 39 So desert beasts with the jackals will inhabit there, and the young of ostriches will live in her. For all time, she will no longer be inhabited. From generation to generation, she will not be lived in. 40 Just as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors—this is Yahweh’s declaration— no one will live there; no person will stay in her.” 41 “See, a people is coming from the north; a great nation and many kings are being stirred up from the farthest parts of the earth. 42 They will pick up bows and spears. They are cruel and have no compassion. Their sound is like the sea roar, and they are riding on horses, set out in order as men for battle, against you, daughter of Babylon. 43 The king of Babylon heard the reports about them and his hands fell limp in distress. Anguish seized him like a woman giving birth. 44 Behold! He goes up like a lion from the heights of the Jordan to the enduring grazing place For I will quickly cause them to run from it, and I will put someone who will be chosen in charge of it. For who is like me, and who will summon me? What shepherd is able to resist me? 45 So listen to the plans that Yahweh has decided against Babylon, the plans that he has planned against the land of the Chaldeans. They will certainly be dragged away, even the smallest flock. Their pasturelands will be turned into ruined places. 46 At the sound of conquered Babylon the earth shakes, and their shout of distress is heard among the nations.” Chapter 51 1 “Yahweh says this: See, I am about to stir up a wind of destruction against Babylon and against those who live in Leb Kamai. 2 I will send foreigners to Babylon. They will scatter her and devastate her land, for they will come against her from all around on the day of disaster. 3 Do not let the archers bend their bows; do not let them put on armor. Do not spare her young men; set her whole army apart for destruction. 4 For the wounded people will fall in the land of the Chaldeans; those who are killed will fall in her streets. 5 For Israel and Judah are not forsaken by their God, by Yahweh of hosts, although their land is filled with offenses committed against the Holy One of Israel. 6 Flee from the midst of Babylon; let each man save himself. Do not perish in her iniquity. For it is the time of Yahweh’s vengeance. He will repay all of it to her. 7 Babylon was a golden cup in the hand of Yahweh that made all the world drunk; nations drank her wine and became insane. 8 Babylon will fall suddenly and be destroyed. Wail for her! Give her medicine for her pain; perhaps she can be healed. 9 ‘We wished to heal Babylon, but she is not healed. Let us all leave her and go away, to our own land. For her guilt reaches up to the heavens; it is piled up to the clouds. 10 Yahweh has declared our innocence. Come, let us tell in Zion the deeds of Yahweh our God.’ 11 Sharpen the arrows and take up the shields. Yahweh is stirring up the spirit of the king of the Medes in a plan to destroy Babylon. This is for Yahweh’s vengeance, vengeance for the destruction of his temple. 12 Lift up a banner over Babylon’s walls; make the watch strong; set up watchmen; prepare the ambushes; for the LORD will do what he has said concerning the inhabitants of Babylon. 13 You people who live by many streams of water, you people who are rich with treasures, your end has come. The thread of your life is now cut short. 14 Yahweh of hosts has sworn by his own life, ‘I will fill you with men, like a swarm of locusts, and they will raise a battle cry against you.’ 15 He has made the earth by his power; he set in place the world by his wisdom. By his understanding he stretched out the heavens. 16 When he thunders, there is the roar of waters in the heavens, for he brings up the mist from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for rain and sends out wind from his storehouses. 17 Every man has become ignorant, without knowledge. Every metalworker is put to shame by his idols. For his cast images are frauds, and there is no life in them. 18 They are useless, the work of mockers; they will perish at the time of their punishment. 19 But God, the portion of Jacob, is not like these, for he is the molder of all things. Israel is the tribe of his inheritance; Yahweh of hosts is his name. 20 You are my war hammer, my weapon for battle. With you I will smash nations and destroy kingdoms. 21 With you I will smash horses and their riders; with you I will smash chariots and their drivers. 22 With you I will smash each man and woman; with you I will smash the old and the young. With you I will smash the young men and the virgin girls. 23 With you I will smash the shepherds and their flocks; with you I will smash the plowmen and their teams. With you I will smash the governors and officials. 24 For in your sight I will pay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all of the evil that they did in Zion—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 25 See, I am against you, mountain of destruction—this is Yahweh’s declaration—which destroys the whole earth. I will stretch out my hand against you, and roll you down from the cliffs, and make you a burned-out mountain. 26 So they will not take from you any stone to construct a building’s corner or foundation; for you will become an everlasting devastation—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 27 Lift up a banner over the earth. Blow the trumpet over the nations. Call the nations to attack her: Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a commander to attack her; bring up horses like swarming locusts. 28 Prepare the nations to attack her: The kings of the Medes and his governors, all of his officials and all the lands under his rule. 29 For the land will shake and be in anguish, since Yahweh’s plans continue against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a wasteland where there is no inhabitant. 30 The soldiers in Babylon have stopped fighting; they stay in their strongholds. Their strength has failed; they have become women—her homes are on fire, the bars of her gates are broken. 31 A messenger runs to proclaim to another messenger, and a runner tells another runner to report to the king of Babylon that his city has been taken from end to end. 32 So the fords over the river are seized; the enemy is burning the reed marshes, and Babylon’s fighting men are confused. 33 For Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this: The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor. It is time to trample her down. In a little while the time of harvest will come to her. 34 ‘Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured me, he has driven me into confusion and has made me an empty pot. Like a monster he has swallowed me, he has filled his stomach with my delicious foods, and then he has spit me out.’ 35 The one who lives in Zion will say, ‘May the violence done to me and my flesh be on Babylon.’ Jerusalem will say, ‘May my blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea.’ 36 Therefore Yahweh says this: See, I am about to plead your case and bring about vengeance for you. For I will dry up Babylon’s waters and make her springs run dry. 37 Babylon will become heaps of rubble, a den of jackals, a horror, an object of hissing, where there are no inhabitants. 38 The Babylonians will roar together like young lions. They will growl like lion cubs. 39 When they become hot with greed, I will make a feast for them; I will make them drunk so they become happy, and then sleep an unending sleep and not wake up—this is Yahweh’s declaration— 40 I will send them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats. 41 How Babylon has been captured! So the praise of all the earth is seized. How Babylon has become a ruined place among the nations. 42 The sea has come up over Babylon! She is covered with its roaring waves. 43 Her cities have become a desolation, a dry land and a wilderness, a land that no one inhabits, and no human being passes through. 44 So I will punish Bel in Babylon; I will bring out from his mouth what he swallowed, and the nations will no longer flow to him with their offerings. The walls of Babylon will fall. 45 Go out from her midst, my people. Let each of you save his own life from the fury of my wrath. 46 Do not let your hearts be timid or fear the news that is heard in the land, for the news will come one year. After it in the next year there will be news, and violence will be in the land. Ruler will be against ruler. 47 Therefore, see, days are coming when I will punish the carved idols of Babylon. All of her land will be ashamed, and all of her slaughtered ones will fall in her midst. 48 Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them will rejoice over Babylon. For destroyers will come for her from the north—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 49 As Babylon has made the killed of Israel fall, so the killed of all her land will fall in Babylon. 50 Survivors of the sword, go away! Do not stay still. Call Yahweh to mind from far away; let Jerusalem come to mind. 51 We are ashamed, for we have heard insults; reproach has covered our faces, for foreigners have entered the holy places of Yahweh’s house. 52 Therefore, see, days are coming—this is Yahweh’s declaration—when I will punish her carved idols, and the wounded people will groan in all of her land. 53 For even if Babylon went up to the heavens or fortified her highest fortresses, destroyers would come from me to her—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 54 A shout of distress came from Babylon, a great collapse from the land of the Chaldeans. 55 For Yahweh is destroying Babylon. He is causing her loud voice to perish. Their enemies roar like the waves of many waters; their noise becomes very strong. 56 For the destroyers have come against her—against Babylon!—and her warriors have been captured. Their bows are broken, for Yahweh is the God of vengeance; he will surely carry out this repayment. 57 For I will make her princes, her sages, her officials, and her soldiers drunk, and they will sleep in an unending sleep and never wake up— this is the King’s declaration: Yahweh of hosts is his name. 58 Yahweh of hosts says this: The thick walls of Babylon will be completely demolished, and her high gates will be burned. Then the peoples coming to her aid will labor uselessly; everything that the nations try to do for her will be burned up.” 59 This is the word that Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah son of Neriah son of Mahseiah when he went with Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now Seraiah was a chief officer. 60 For Jeremiah had written in a scroll about all the disaster that was going to come on Babylon—all these words that were written about Babylon. 61 Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you go to Babylon, then you will see and you will read these words aloud. 62 Then you will say, ‘Yahweh, you yourself have declared that you would destroy this place, and that no man or animal will live in it, and it will be desolate forever.’ 63 Then when you have finished reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates. 64 Say, ‘Babylon will sink like this. It will not arise because of the disaster that I am sending against it, and they will fall.’” Jeremiah’s words end here. Chapter 52 1 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign; he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal; she was the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. 2 He did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh; he did everything that Jehoiakim had done. 3 Through Yahweh’s anger, all these events happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until he drove them from before himself. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4 It happened that in the ninth year of the reign of King Zedekiah, in the tenth month, and on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came with all his army against Jerusalem. They camped opposite it, and they built a siege wall around it. 5 So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah’s reign. 6 By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. 7 Then the city was broken into, and all the fighting men fled and went out of the city at night by the way of the gate that was between the two walls, by the king’s garden, although the Chaldeans were all around the city. So they went in the direction of the Arabah. 8 But the army of Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of the Jordan River valley near Jericho. All his army was scattered away from him. 9 They captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he passed sentence on him. 10 The king of Babylon slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his own eyes, and at Riblah he also slaughtered all the leaders of Judah. 11 Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in bronze chains, and brought him to Babylon. The king of Babylon put him in prison until the day of his death. 12 Now in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan came to Jerusalem. He was the commander of the king’s bodyguards and a servant of the king of Babylon. 13 He burned the house of Yahweh, the king’s palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem; also every important building in the city he burned. 14 As for the walls around Jerusalem, all the army of the Babylonians who were with the commander of the bodyguards destroyed them. 15 As for the poorest people, the rest of the people who were left in the city, those who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen— Nebuzaradan, the commander of the bodyguards, took some of them away into exile. 16 But Nebuzaradan, the commander of the bodyguards, left some of the poorest of the land to work the vineyards and fields. 17 As for the bronze pillars that belonged to the house of Yahweh, and the stands, and the large bronze basin called “The Sea” that were in the house of Yahweh, the Chaldeans broke them into pieces and carried all the bronze back to Babylon. 18 The pots, shovels, lamp trimmers, bowls, and all the utensils of bronze with which the priests had served in the temple—the Chaldeans took them all away. 19 The basins and the incense burners, the bowls, pots, lampstands, pans, and basins that were made of gold, and those made of silver—the commander of the king’s guard took them away as well. 20 The two pillars, the large bronze basin known as “The Sea,” and the twelve bronze bulls that were under the stands, things that Solomon had made for the house of Yahweh, contained more bronze than could be weighed. 21 The pillars were eighteen cubits high each, and a line around each one measured twelve cubits. Each was four fingers thick and hollow. 22 A capital of bronze was on top of it. The capital was five cubits high, with latticework and pomegranates all around. It was all made of bronze. The other pillar and its pomegranates were the same as the first. 23 So there were ninety-six pomegranates on the capital’s sides, and one hundred pomegranates above the surrounding latticework. 24 The commander of the bodyguards took prisoner Seraiah, the high priest, together with Zephaniah, the second priest, and the three gatekeepers. 25 From the city he took prisoner an officer who was in charge of soldiers, and seven men of those who advised the king, who were still in the city. He also took prisoner the king’s army officer responsible for drafting men into the army, along with sixty important men from the land who were in the city. 26 Then Nebuzaradan, the commander of the bodyguards, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 The king of Babylon put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. In this way, Judah went out of its land into exile. 28 These were the people who Nebuchadnezzar exiled: In the seventh year, 3,023 Judeans. 29 In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he took 832 people from Jerusalem. 30 In the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan, the commander of the king’s bodyguards, exiled 745 Judean people. All the exiled people totaled 4,600. 31 It happened later in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, that Awel-Marduk, king of Babylon released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. This happened in the year that Awel-Marduk began to reign. 32 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat more honorable than that of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 33 Awel-Marduk removed Jehoiachin’s prison clothes, and Jehoiachin ate regularly at the king’s table for the rest of his life, 34 and a regular food allowance was given to him every day for the rest of his life until his death. Lamentations Chapter 1 1 O how she sits alone, that city, a mighty people. She has become like a widow, mighty among nations. A princess among the provinces, she became a slave. 2 She weeps excessively in the night and her tears are on her cheeks. Of all her lovers, no one brings her comfort. All her friends betrayed her. They have become for her enemies. 3 Judah is exiled, for affliction and great servitude. She sits among the nations. She finds no rest. All of her pursuers overtake her in the midst of distress. 4 The roads of Zion mourn; no one is coming to the appointed time. All her gates are desolate. Her priests are groaning. Her virgins are grieving and she makes herself bitter. 5 Her adversaries have become a chief; her enemies prosper for Yahweh has afflicted her because of her many transgressions. Her children go into captivity before the adversary. 6 All her splendor was sent out from the daughter of Zion. Her princes have become like deer; they do not find a pasture and they go without strength before the pursuer. 7 Jerusalem remembers the days of her affliction and her homelessness, all her treasures which were from former days. When her people fell into the hand of the adversary and there was no one to help her, the adversaries saw her. They laughed over her destruction. 8 Jerusalem sinned greatly; therefore, she became filth. All her glory is scorned, for they have seen her nakedness; again, she groans and turns away. 9 Her uncleanness is in her skirt. She did not remember her end and her descent was marvelous. There was no comforter for her. “O, Yahweh, see my affliction, for the enemy is great!” 10 The adversary spread his hand over all her treasures. So, she saw the nations; they entered her sanctuary, those whom you ordered they not enter into your assembly. 11 All her people are groaning, searching for bread. They give their treasures to restore life with food. “O, Yahweh, look and see, for I have become worthless. 12 Is it nothing to you, all those passing by the way? Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow, which has been forced on me, which Yahweh inflicted on the day of his fierce anger. 13 From on high, he sent fire into my bones and brought it down. He spread a net for my feet and turned me away. He made me desolate, every day of menstration. 14 The yoke of my transgressions is bound. They are knit by his hand. They are placed upon my neck. My strength is made to stumble. The Lord appointed me with hands I cannot raise. 15 The Lord has rejected all my mighty men in my midst. He has spoken against me an appointed time to destroy my young men. The Lord has tread the winepress for the virgin daughter of Judah. 16 Because of these things, I weep. O my eyes, my eyes overflow with water; for the comforter is far from me, one who restores my life. My sons have become desolate, for the enemy is made mighty.” 17 Zion has spread her hands wide; there is no comforter for her. Yahweh commanded that those surrounding Jacob be his adversaries. Jerusalem has become filth in their midst. 18 “Yahweh is surely righteous, for I disobeyed his word. Hear, all peoples, and see my sorrow. My virgins and my young men have gone into captivity. 19 I called to my lovers; they deceived me. My priests and my elders perished in the city, while they sought their food and restored their life. 20 Look, O Yahweh, for I am engulfed; my stomach churns, my heart is undone within me, for I have disobeyed grievously. From the outside, the sword makes a barren womb inside a house like death. 21 Hear, for I am groaning. There is no comforter for me. All my enemies heard my trouble. They rejoiced that you did it. You brought about the day you declared. Yet, may they become like me. 22 May all their evil come before you and deal with them just as you have dealt with me because of all my transgressions. For my groans are many and my heart is faint.” Chapter 2 1 O how the Lord engulfed in his anger the daughter of Zion. He has thrown down from heaven to earth the splendor of Israel. And he has not remembered the footstool of his feet on the day of his anger. 2 The Lord devoured; he did not show compassion on all the pastures of Jacob. In his fury, he threw down the fortifications of the daughter of Judah. He struck the earth with disgrace, the kingdom and its princes. 3 With fierce anger he cut off every horn of Israel. He turned away his right hand from before the enemy. And he has burned Jacob; like a flame of fire it devoured the surrounding. 4 He has bent his bow like an enemy; his right hand is posed like an adversary. And he has slain all those precious to the eye in the tent of the daughter of Zion. he has poured out his wrath like fire. 5 The Lord has become like an enemy. He has swallowed up Israel. He has swallowed up all her palaces. He has destroyed its fortifications. And he has multiplied mourning and lamentation within the daughter of Judah. 6 And he was violent with his garden tabernacle. He ruined his appointed place. Yahweh has caused the appointed festival and Sabbath to be forgotten in Zion. And he has despised the king and priest in his indignant anger. 7 The Lord has rejected his altar. He abandoned his sanctuary. He has closed in the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces. They raised a shout in the house of Yahweh, as a day of the appointed festival. 8 Yahweh planned to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion. He stretched out the measuring line. He did not withhold his hand from devouring. And he has brought the ramparts and wall to mourning. Together they wasted away. 9 Her gates sank into the ground. He has destroyed and shattered her bars. Her king and her princes are among the nations. There is no law. Also, her prophets do not find a vision from Yahweh. 10 They sit on the ground. The elders of the daughter of Zion are silenced. They have thrown up dust on their heads and put on sackcloth. The virgins of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground. 11 My eyes have failed with tears. My stomach churns. My inner parts are poured out to the ground, because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, when child and infant faint in the streets of the town. 12 They say to their mothers, “Where is grain and wine?” when they faint like the slain in the streets of the city, when their lives are poured out in the lap of their mothers. 13 What can I testify to you? To what can I compare you, O daughter of Jerusalem? To what can I liken you, that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For your brokenness is as great as the sea. Who can heal you? 14 Your prophets have seen for you false and worthless visions. And they did not expose your iniquity, to restore your fortunes, but they have seen for you false and enticing oracles. 15 All those passing on the road clap their hands at you. They hiss and shake their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem. “Is this the city that they called ‘the fullness of beauty, the joy of all the earth’?” 16 All your enemies opened their mouths against you. They hiss and grind their teeth. They say, “We have devoured! Surely this is the day we have waited for! We have found, we have seen!” 17 Yahweh has done what he planned to finish. His word, which he commanded from days before, he has overthrown and showed no compassion. And the enemy rejoiced over you. He has lifted up the horn of your adversaries. 18 Their heart cried out to the Lord, “O walls of the daughter of Zion.” Like a tearful river, let your tears flow down day and night. Do not give relief to yourself. Do not rest your eyes. 19 Arise, shout in the night, at the center of the night watches! Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift up your hands to him for the life of your children, those fainting with hunger at the center of every street.” 20 Look, O Yahweh, and see those you have dealt with in this way. Should women eat their fruit, newborn children? Should priest and prophet be slaughtered in the sanctuary of the Lord? 21 The young and the old lie down in the dirt of the streets. My young women and my young men have fallen by the sword. You have struck down; in the day of your anger you slaughtered. You showed no compassion. 22 You have summoned, as a festival day, my surrounding terrors. And there was not an escapee nor survivor on the day of the anger of Yahweh. Those I birthed and multiplied, my enemy has ended them. Chapter 3 1 I am the man seeing affliction by the rod of his fury. 2 He led me and brought about darkness and not light. 3 Surely, against me he turned; his hand twisted all day. 4 He exhausted my flesh and my skin; he shattered my bones. 5 He built up against me and made a surrounding of bitterness and hardship. 6 He makes me dwell in dark places like the dead of long ago. 7 He built a wall around me and I cannot escape. He made my chains heavy. 8 Even though I call out and cry for help, he blocks my prayer. 9 He built a wall around my way with hewn stone; he perverted my paths. 10 He is a bear ready to ambush me, a lion in hiding. 11 He disordered my paths and tore me apart; he has made me desolate. 12 He bent his bow and set me up like a target for an arrow. 13 He pierced my kidneys with the arrows of his quiver. 14 I became a joke to all the peoples, their taunt all day. 15 He filled me with bitterness; he forced me to drink wormwood. 16 And he made my teeth grind with gravel; he made me cower in the dust. 17 And my soul is deprived of peace; I have forgotten good. 18 And I said, “My endurance has perished and my hope in Yahweh.” 19 Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and bitterness. 20 It continually remembers and my soul melts within me. 21 This I return to my heart; therefore, I have hope. 22 The steadfast love of Yahweh does not cease; his mercy does not end. 23 They are new morning by morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 “Yahweh is my portion,” my soul said; therefore, I will hope in him. 25 Yahweh is good to those who wait for him, to the soul seeking him. 26 It is good to wait and be silent for the salvation of Yahweh. 27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. 28 Let him sit alone and be silent when it is laid upon him. 29 Let him put his mouth in the dust; perhaps there is hope. 30 Let him give his cheek to the one striking him; let him be filled with reproach. 31 For the Lord will not withhold forever. 32 Though he brings grief, he will be merciful according to the abundance of his steadfast love. 33 For he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the sons of man. 34 Crushing under his feet all the prisoners of the earth; 35 denying a man justice before the face of the Most High; 36 perverting a man in his dispute—the Lord does not approve. 37 Who has spoken this and it happened, if the Lord did not command? 38 Did not trouble and good come forth from the mouth of the Most High? 39 How can a person, a living man, complain about his guilt? 40 Let us examine our ways and let us seek and return to Yahweh. 41 Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to God in heaven. 42 We have surely transgressed and disobeyed you; you did not pardon. 43 You wrapped in anger and pursued us; you slayed; you showed no pity. 44 You wrapped yourself in a cloud, from a prayer passing through. 45 You made us an outcast and garbage among the nations. 46 They open their mouth against us, all our enemies. 47 Panic and pitfall have come for us, ruin and destruction. 48 My eyes flow with streams of water because the daughter of my people are destroyed. 49 My eye pours forth and it does not cease. There was no relief, 50 until he looked down and Yahweh saw from heaven. 51 My eyes grieve my soul because of all the daughters of my city. 52 Surely, my enemies hunted me like a bird without cause. 53 They silenced my life with a pit and threw a stone on me. 54 They made water overflow over my head. I said, ‘I have been cut off!’ 55 I called your name, O Yahweh, from the depths of the pit. 56 You heard my voice. ‘Do not shut your ear to my relief, to my cry for help.’ 57 You came near in the day I called you; you said, ‘Do not fear.’ 58 O Lord, you defended the dispute of my soul; you saved my life. 59 O Yahweh, you saw my affliction; judge my case. 60 You have seen all their insults, all their plots against me. 61 You have heard their scorn, O Yahweh, all their plots against me. 62 The lips of my assailants and their songs are against me all day. 63 Look! their sitting and rising, their songs are against me. 64 You, O Yahweh, will return to them a payment according to the deeds of their hands. 65 Give them an insolent heart; your condemnation be upon them! 66 You pursue in anger and destroy them from under heaven, O Yahweh. Chapter 4 1 O how the gold is tarnished; the pure gold has changed. The holy stones are scattered at the corner of every street. 2 The precious sons of Zion were weighed with fine gold. O how they are regarded as clay jars, the work of potter’s hands! 3 Even the jackals offer the breast; they nurse their cubs. The daughter of my people are fierce like the ostriches in the wilderness. 4 The tongue of the nursing baby sticks to the roof of his mouth with thirst. The children ask those dispersing for food; there is none for them. 5 Those eating the finest food are desolate in the streets. Those attended with scarlet cloth embrace piles of garbage. 6 The guilt of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom. It was overthrown as a moment and no hands were wrung for her. 7 Her Nazarites were more pure than snow; they were more white than milk. Their bones were more ruddy than coral; their parts were sapphire. 8 Blackness has darkened their form; they are not recognized in the streets. Their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become dry as wood. 9 Those slain by the sword were happier than those slain by hunger, those who slowly wasted away from the piercing of the field’s produce. 10 The hands of compassionate women boiled their children; they became for them a meal in the destruction of the daughter of my people. 11 Yahweh brought to completion his wrath; he poured out his fierce anger. And he kindled a fire in Zion that consumed her foundations. 12 The kings of the earth did not believe, nor any of the inhabitants of the world, that the adversary and enemy would enter into the gates of Jerusalem. 13 The sins of her prophets were more than the iniquities of her priests; they poured out in her midst the blood of the righteous. 14 They stumble blind in the streets. They are defiled with blood. There were none able to touch their clothes. 15 “Away! Unclean!” they shouted at them. “Away! Away! Do not touch!” So they fled, even stumbling. They said among the nations, “They shall not prolong the sojourn.” 16 The face of Yahweh scattered them; he will not continue to watch over them. The face of the priests will no longer rise up; the elders show no grace. 17 In our waiting, our eyes closed in vain for our helper. In our watchtowers, we looked to the nations. He did not rescue. 18 They tracked our steps, walking in our paths. Our end drew near. Our days were fulfilled, for our end has come. 19 Our pursuers became more swift than eagles of heaven. They set us ablaze on the mountains; they lay in wait for us in the wilderness. 20 A breath of our nostrils, Yahweh’s anointed was captured in their pits; of whom we said, “In his shadow, we will live among the nations.” 21 Rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom, who dwells in the land of Uz. Against you also the cup will pass; you will be drunk and go about naked. 22 O Daughter of Zion, your guilt will finish; he will not extend your exile. He will visit your guilt, O Daughter of Edom; he will uncover your sins. Chapter 5 1 Remember, O Yahweh, what has happened to us; look and see our disgrace. 2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers; our houses to foreigners. 3 We have become orphans, there is no father, and our mothers are like widows. 4 We drink our water with silver; we bring in our wood with a price. 5 We are pressed on our necks. We toil; there is no rest for us. 6 We have given a hand to Egypt, Assyria to satisfy bread. 7 Our fathers sinned; they are no more. We ourselves bear their iniquities. 8 Slaves rule over us; there is no one to deliver from their hand. 9 We bring in our bread by our lives, from the sword blade of the wilderness. 10 Our skin grows hot as an oven, from the burning of hunger. 11 Women are raped in Zion; virgins in the cities of Judah. 12 Princes are hung by their hands; they show no honor to the face of elders. 13 Young men lift the grind stone and boys stagger with wood. 14 The elders cease from the gate, the young men from their songs. 15 Our hearts cease from joy; our dancing has turned to mourning. 16 The crown of our head has fallen. Woe to us, for we have sinned! 17 On account of this, our hearts have become sick; on account of these things, our eyes grow dim. 18 On account of Mount Zion, which is desolate, jackals tread over it. 19 You, O Yahweh, are forever. You will sit upon your throne from generation to generation. 20 Why do you forget us for so long? You forsake us for many days? 21 Return us to yourself, O Yahweh, and we will be restored. Renew our days as long ago— 22 unless you have utterly rejected us, are angry with us beyond measure. Ezekiel Chapter 1 1 In the thirtieth year, the fourth month, and the fifth day of the month, it came about that I was living among the captives by the Kebar Canal. The heavens opened, and I saw visions of God. 2 On the fifth day of that month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin— 3 the word of Yahweh came to Ezekiel son of Buzi the priest, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Kebar Canal, and the hand of Yahweh was upon him there. 4 Then I looked, and there was a windstorm coming from the north; a great cloud with fire flashing within it and brightness surrounding it and inside of it, and the fire was the color of amber inside the cloud. 5 In the middle was the likeness of four living creatures. This was their appearance: They had the likeness of a man, 6 but they had four faces each, and each of the creatures had four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, but the soles of their feet were like the hooves of a calf that shone like polished bronze. 8 Yet they had human hands under their wings on all four sides. For all four, their faces and wings were like this: 9 their wings were touching the wings of the next creature, and they did not turn as they went; instead, each one went straight forward. 10 The likeness of their faces was like the face of a man. The four of them had the face of a lion to the right side, and the four of them had the face of an ox on the left side. They four had also the face of an eagle. 11 Their faces were like that, and their wings were spread out above, so that each creature had a pair of wings that touched another creature’s wing, and also a pair of wings that covered their bodies. 12 Each went straight forward, so that wherever the Spirit directed them to go, they went without turning. 13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches; bright fire also moved about among the creatures, and there were flashes of lightning. 14 The living creatures were moving swiftly back and forth, and they had the appearance of lightning! 15 Then I looked at the living creatures; and I saw one wheel on the ground beside each of living creatures with its four faces. 16 This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: Each wheel was like beryl, and the four had the same likeness; their appearance and structure was like a wheel intersecting another wheel. 17 As they moved, they went in any of their four directions, without turning as they went. 18 As for their rims, they were high and fearsome, for the rims were full of eyes round about. 19 Whenever the living creatures moved, the wheels moved beside them. When the living creatures rose up from the earth, the wheels also rose up. 20 Wherever the Spirit would go, they went, and the wheels rose up beside them, for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. 21 Whenever the creatures moved, the wheels also moved; and when the creatures stood still, the wheels stood still; when the creatures rose up from the earth, the wheels rose up beside them, because the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. 22 Over the heads of the living creatures was the likeness of an expansive dome; it looked like awe-inspiring crystal stretched out over their heads above. 23 Beneath the dome, each one of the creature’s wings stretched out straight and touched another creature’s wings. Each of the living creatures also had a pair to cover themselves; each had a pair to cover his own body. 24 Then I heard the sound of their wings. Like the noise of many waters. Like the voice of the Almighty whenever they moved. Like the sound of a rainstorm. Like the sound of an army. Whenever they stood still, they lowered their wings. 25 A voice came from above the dome over their heads whenever they stood still and lowered their wings. 26 Above the dome over their heads was the likeness of a throne that was like the appearance of a sapphire stone, and on the likeness of the throne was a likeness like the appearance of a man. 27 I saw a figure with the appearance of glowing metal with fire in it from the appearance of his hips up; I saw from the appearance of his hips downward the appearance of fire and brightness all around. 28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day was the appearance of the bright light surrounding it. It was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh. When I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice speaking. Chapter 2 1 He said to me, “Son of man, stand up on your feet; then I will speak to you.” 2 Then, as he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. 3 He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the people of Israel, to rebellious nations that have rebelled against me—both they and their ancestors have sinned against me up to this very day! 4 Their descendants have stubborn faces and hard hearts. I am sending you to them, and you will say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Yahweh says.’ 5 Either they will listen or they will not listen. They are a rebellious house, but they will at least know that a prophet has been among them. 6 You, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, although you are with briers and thorns and although you live with scorpions. Do not fear their words or be dismayed by their faces, since they are a rebellious house. 7 But you will speak my words to them, whether they listen or not, because they are most rebellious. 8 But you, son of man, listen to what I am saying to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I am about to give to you!” 9 Then I looked, and a hand was extended out to me; in it was a written scroll. 10 He spread it out before me; it had been written on both its front and back, and written on it were lamentations, mourning, and woe. Chapter 3 1 He said to me, “Son of man, what you have found, eat. Eat this scroll, then go speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and he fed me that scroll. 3 He said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly and fill your stomach with this scroll that I have given to you!” So I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. 4 Then he said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak my words to them. 5 For you are not being sent to a people of strange speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel— 6 not to many peoples of strange speech or a difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I sent you to them, they would have listened to you. 7 But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me. So all the house of Israel is strong browed and hard hearted. 8 Behold! I have made your face as hard as their faces and your brow as hard as their brows. 9 I have made your brow like a diamond, harder than flint! Do not fear them or be discouraged by their faces, since they are a rebellious house.” 10 Then he said to me, “Son of man, all the words that I announce to you—take them into your heart and hear them with your ears! 11 Then go to the captives, to your people, and speak to them. Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Yahweh says,’ whether they will listen or not.” 12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the sound of a great earthquake: “Blessed be the glory of Yahweh from his place!” 13 It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the sound of the wheels that were with them, and the sound of a great earthquake. 14 The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went with bitterness in my spirit’s rage, for the hand of Yahweh was powerfully pressing on me! 15 So I went to the captives at Tel Aviv who lived along the Kebar Canal, and I stayed there among them for seven days, overwhelmed in amazement. 16 Then it happened after seven days that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel, so listen to the word from my mouth, and give them my warning. 18 When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die’ and you do not warn him or speak a warning to the wicked about his evil deeds so he might live—the wicked one will die for his sin, but I will require his blood from your hand. 19 But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked deeds, then he will die for his sin, but you will have rescued your own life. 20 If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and acts unjustly, and I set a stumbling block before him, he will die. Because you did not warn him, he will die in his sin, and I will not call to mind the righteous deeds that he performed, but I will require his blood from your hand. 21 But if you warn the righteous man to stop sinning so that he no longer sins, he will surely live since he was warned; and you will have rescued your own life.” 22 So the hand of Yahweh was on me there, and he said to me, “Arise! Go out into the plain, and I will speak with you there!” 23 I arose and went out into the plain, and there the glory of Yahweh was staying, like the glory that I had seen beside the Kebar Canal; so I fell on my face. 24 The Spirit came to me and stood me up on my feet; and he spoke with me, and said to me, “Go and shut yourself up within your house, 25 for now, son of man, they will place ropes upon you and tie you so you cannot go out among them. 26 I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, so you will be mute, and you will not be able to rebuke them, since they are a rebellious house. 27 But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth so you will say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Yahweh says.’ The one who will hear will hear; the one who will not listen will not listen, for they are a rebellious house!” Chapter 4 1 “But you, son of man, take a brick for yourself and place it before you. Then carve the city of Jerusalem on it. 2 Then lay siege against it, and build forts against it. Raise up an assault ramp against it and set camps around it. Place battering rams all around it. 3 Then take for yourself an iron pan and use it as an iron wall between yourself and the city and set your face against it, for it will be under siege, and you are to put the siege against it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel. 4 Then, lie on your left side and put the sin of the house of Israel on it; you will carry their sin for the number of the days that you lie down against the house of Israel. 5 I myself am assigning to you one day to represent each year of their punishment: 390 days! In this way, you will carry the sin of the house of Israel. 6 When you have completed these days, then lie down a second time on your right side, for you will carry the sin of the house of Judah for forty days. I am assigning to you one day for each year. 7 Set your face toward Jerusalem that is under siege, and with your arm uncovered prophesy against it. 8 For behold! I am placing bonds on you so you will not turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your siege. 9 Take for yourself wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt; put them in a single container and make bread for yourself according to the number of the days that you will lie upon your side. For 390 days you will eat it. 10 The food you will eat will be by weight, twenty shekels per day, and you will eat it at set times each day. 11 Then you will drink water, measured out to a sixth of a hin, and you will drink it at set times. 12 You will eat it as barley cakes, but you will bake it on excrement of human dung within their sight!” 13 For Yahweh says, “This means that the bread that the people of Israel will eat will be unclean, there among the nations where I will banish them.” 14 But I said, “Alas, Lord Yahweh! I have never been unclean! I have never eaten either anything that died or anything killed by animals, from my youth until now, and foul meat has never entered my mouth!” 15 So he said to me, “Look! I have given you cow manure instead of human dung so you can prepare your bread over that.” 16 He also said to me, “Son of man! Behold! I am breaking the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they will eat bread while rationing it in anxiety and drink water while rationing it in trembling. 17 Because they will lack bread and water, every man will be dismayed at his brother and waste away because of their iniquity.” Chapter 5 1 “Then you, son of man, take a sharp sword as a barber’s razor for yourself, and pass the razor over your head and your beard, then take scales to weigh and divide your hair. 2 Burn a third of it with fire in the midst of the city when the days of the siege are completed, and take a third of the hair and strike it with the sword all around the city. Then scatter a third of it to the wind, and I will draw out a sword to chase after the people. 3 But take a small number of hairs from them and tie them into the folds of your robe. 4 Then take more of the hair and throw it into the midst of the fire; and burn it in the fire; from there a fire will go out to all the house of Israel.” 5 The Lord Yahweh says this, “This is Jerusalem in the midst of the nations, where I have placed her, and where I have surrounded her with other lands. 6 But she has in wickedness rejected my decrees more than the nations have, and my statutes more than the countries that surround her. The people have rejected my judgments and have not walked in my statutes.” 7 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this, “Because you are more troublesome than the nations that surround you and have not walked in my statutes or acted according to my decrees, or even acted according to the decrees of the nations that surround you,” 8 therefore the Lord Yahweh says this, “Behold! I myself will act against you. I will execute judgments within your midst for the nations to see. 9 I will do to you what I have not done and the like of which I will not do again, because of all your disgusting actions. 10 Therefore fathers will eat the children in your midst, and sons will eat their fathers, since I will execute judgment on you and scatter to every direction all of you who are left. 11 Therefore, as I live—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration—it is certainly because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your hateful things and with all your disgusting deeds, that I myself will reduce you in number; my eye will not have pity on you, and I will not spare you. 12 A third of you will die by plague, and they will be consumed by famine in your midst. A third will fall by the sword surrounding you. Then I will scatter a third in every direction, and draw out a sword to chase after them as well. 13 Then my wrath will be completed, and I will cause my fury toward them to rest. I will be satisfied, and they will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken in my wrath when I have completed my fury against them. 14 I will make you a desolation and a reproach to the nations that surround you in the sight of everyone who passes by. 15 So Jerusalem will become something for other people to condemn and to mock, a warning and a horror to the nations that surround you. I will execute judgments against you in wrath and fury, and with a furious rebuke—I, Yahweh have declared this! 16 I will send out harsh arrows of famine against you that will become the means with which I will destroy you. For I will increase the famine on you and break your staff of bread. 17 I will send a famine and disasters against you so you will be childless. Plague and blood will pass through you, and I will bring a sword against you—I, Yahweh, have declared this.” Chapter 6 1 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel and prophesy to them. 3 Say, ‘Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord Yahweh! The Lord Yahweh says this to the mountains and to the hills, to the streambeds, and to the valleys: Behold! I am bringing a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places. 4 Then your altars will become desolate and your pillars will be destroyed, and I will throw down your dead in front of their idols. 5 I will lay the dead bodies of the people of Israel before their idols, and scatter your bones around your altars. 6 Everywhere you live, cities will be laid waste and the high places ruined, so that your altars will be laid waste and made desolate. Then they will be broken and disappear, your pillars will be cut down and your works will be wiped away. 7 The dead will fall down in your midst and you will know that I am Yahweh. 8 But I will preserve a remnant among you, and there will be some who escape the sword among the nations, when you are scattered throughout the countries. 9 Then those who escape will think of me among the nations where they will be held captive, that I was grieved by their promiscuous heart that turned away from me, and by their eyes that whored after their idols. Then they will show loathing on their face for the wickedness which they have committed with all their abominations. 10 So they will know that I am Yahweh. It was for a reason that I said I would bring this evil to them. 11 The Lord Yahweh says this: Clap your hands and stomp your foot! Say, ‘Alas!’ because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! For they will fall by sword, famine, and plague. 12 The one far away will die by plague, and the one who is near will fall by the sword. Those who remain and survive will die by famine. In this way I will accomplish my fury against them. 13 Then you will know that I am Yahweh, when their dead lie among their idols, around their altars, on every high hill—on all the mountain peaks, and under every flourishing tree and thick oak—the places where they burned incense to all their idols. 14 I will strike with my hand and make the land desolate and a waste, from the wilderness to Diblah, throughout all the places where they live. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.” [1] 6:14 [1] Instead of Diblah , some ancient copies and modern versions have Riblah . Chapter 7 1 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “You, son of man—the Lord Yahweh says this to the land of Israel.” ‘An end! An end has come to the four borders of the land. 3 Now the end is upon you, for I am sending out my wrath on you, and I will judge you according to your ways; then I will bring all your abominations upon you. 4 For my eyes will not pity you, and I will not spare you. Instead, I will bring your ways upon you, and your abominations will be in your midst, so you will know that I am Yahweh. 5 The Lord Yahweh says this: Disaster! A unique disaster! Behold, it is coming. [1] 6 An end is surely coming. The end has woken up against you. Behold, it is coming! 7 Your doom is coming to you who inhabit the land. The time has come; the day of destruction is near, and the mountains will no longer be joyful. 8 Now before long I will pour out my fury against you and fill up my wrath upon you when I judge you according to your ways and bring all your abominations upon you. 9 For my eye will not look compassionately, and I will not spare you. As you have done, I will do to you; and your abominations will be in your midst so you will know that I am Yahweh, the one punishing you. 10 Behold, the day! Behold, it is coming! Doom has gone out! The rod has blossomed, arrogance has budded! 11 Violence has grown up into a rod of wickedness— none of them, and none of their multitude, none of their wealth, and none of their importance will last! 12 The time is coming; the day has come close. Do not let the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn, since my anger is on the entire multitude! 13 For the seller will not return to the land he sold as long as they both live, because the vision concerning the entire multitude will not be reversed; and because of their sins, none of them will be strengthened! 14 They have blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but there is no one marching to battle; since my anger is on the entire multitude. 15 The sword is on the outside, and plague and famine are inside the building. Those who are in the field will die by the sword, while famine and plague will consume those in the city. 16 But some survivors will escape from among them, and they will go to the mountains. Like doves of the valleys, all of them will moan—each man for his iniquity. 17 Every hand will falter and every knee will be weak as water, 18 and they will wear sackcloth, and terror will cover them; and shame will be on every face, and baldness on all of their heads. 19 They will throw their silver into the streets and their gold will be like refuse. Their silver and their gold will not be able to rescue them in the day of Yahweh’s rage. Their lives will not be saved, and their hunger will not be satisfied, because their iniquity has become a stumbling block. 20 In their pride they took the beauty of his jeweled ornaments, and with them they made their idolatrous figures, and their detestable things. Therefore, I am turning these into an unclean thing to them. 21 Then I will give those things into the hand of strangers as plunder and to the wicked of the earth as plunder, and they will defile them. 22 Then I will turn my face away from them when they defile my cherished place; bandits will enter it and defile it. 23 Make a chain, because the land is filled with the judgment of blood, and the city is full of violence. 24 So I will bring the most wicked of the nations, and they will possess their houses, and I will bring an end to the pride of the mighty, for their holy places will be defiled! 25 Fear will come! They will seek peace, but there will be none. 26 Disaster upon disaster will come, and there will be rumor after rumor. Then they will seek a vision from the prophet, but the law will perish from the priest and advice from the elders. 27 The king will mourn and the prince will dress in despair, while the hands of the people of the land will tremble in fear. According to their own ways I will do this to them! I will judge them with their own standards until they know that I am Yahweh.’” 7:5 [1] Instead of Disaster! A unique disaster! some ancient copies have Disaster after disaster Chapter 8 1 So it came about in the sixth year and the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord Yahweh again fell upon me there. 2 So I looked, and behold, there was a likeness with the appearance of a man. From the appearance of his hips downward there was fire. And from his hips upward there was the appearance of something shining, like glowing metal. 3 Then he reached out the form of a hand and took me by the hair of my head; the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and in visions from God, he brought me to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the inner northern gate, where the idol that provokes great jealousy was standing. 4 Then behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision I had seen on the plain. 5 Then he said to me, “Son of man, lift up your eyes to the north.” So I lifted up my eyes to the north, and to the north of the gate leading to the altar, there in the entrance, was the idol of jealousy. 6 So he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing? These are great abominations that the house of Israel is doing here to make me go far from my own sanctuary. But you will turn and see even greater abominations.” 7 Then he brought me to the doorway of the courtyard, and I looked, and there was a hole in the wall. 8 He said to me, “Son of man, dig into this wall.” So I dug into the wall, and there was a door. 9 Then he said to me, “Go and see the wicked abominations that they are doing here.” 10 So I went in and looked, and behold! There was every form of creeping thing and detestable beast! Every idol of the house of Israel was carved into the wall all around. 11 Seventy elders of the house of Israel were there, and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan was standing in their midst. They were standing in front of the images, and each man had his censer in his hand so that the smell of the cloud of incense went up. 12 He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark? Each one does this in the hidden chamber of his idol, for they say, ‘Yahweh does not see us! Yahweh has forsaken the land.’” 13 Then he said to me, “Turn again and see the other great abominations that they are doing.” 14 Next he brought me to the entrance of the gate of Yahweh’s house that was on the north side, and behold! The women were sitting there mourning for Tammuz. 15 So he said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Turn again and see even greater abominations than these.” 16 He brought me into the inner courtyard of Yahweh’s house, and behold! at the entrance of the temple of Yahweh between the portico and the altar, there were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of Yahweh and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun. 17 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it a little thing for the house of Judah to do these abominations that they are doing here? For they have filled the land with violence and they have turned again to provoke me to anger, putting the branch to their noses. 18 So I will also act among them; my eye will not have compassion, and I will not spare them. Though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.” Chapter 9 1 Then he cried in my hearing with a loud voice, and said, “Let the guards come up to the city, each with his weapon of destruction in his hand.” 2 Then behold! Six men came from the pathway of the upper gate that faces north, each with his weapon of slaughter in his hand. There was a man in their midst dressed in linen with a scribe’s equipment at his side. So they went in and stood beside the bronze altar. 3 Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherubim where it had been to the threshold of the house. He called to the man dressed in linen who had the scribe’s equipment at his side. 4 Yahweh said to him, “Pass through the midst of the city—the midst of Jerusalem—and make a mark on the foreheads of those who groan and sigh about all the abominations being performed in the midst of the city.” 5 Then he spoke to the others within my hearing, “Pass through the city after him and kill. Do not let your eyes have compassion, and do not spare 6 either old man, young man, virgin, little children or women. Kill all of them! But do not approach anyone who has the mark on his head. Begin at my sanctuary!” So they began with the elders who were in front of the house. 7 He said to them, “Defile the house, and fill its courtyards with the dead. Proceed!” So they went out and attacked the city. 8 As they were attacking it, I found myself alone and I fell on my face and cried out and said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh, will you destroy all the remnant of Israel in the outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?” 9 He said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of blood and the city full of perversions, since they say, ‘Yahweh has forgotten the land,’ and ‘Yahweh does not see!’ 10 So then, my eye will not look with compassion, and I will not spare them. I will instead bring it all on their heads.” 11 Behold! The man dressed in linen who had the scribe’s equipment by his side came back. He reported and said, “I have done all that you have commanded.” Chapter 10 1 As I looked toward the dome that was over the heads of the cherubim; something appeared above them like a sapphire with the appearance of the likeness of a throne. 2 Then Yahweh spoke to the man dressed in linen and said, “Go between the wheels underneath the cherubim, and fill both your hands with fiery coals from between the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” Then the man went in as I watched. 3 The cherubim stood on the right side of the house when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner courtyard. 4 The glory of Yahweh rose up from the cherubim and stood over the threshold of the house. It filled the house with the cloud, and the courtyard was full of the brightness of Yahweh’s glory. 5 The sound of the cherubim’s wings was heard as far as the outer courtyard, like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks. 6 It came about, when God commanded the man dressed in linen and said, “Take fire from between the wheels that are between the cherubim,” the man went in and stood beside a wheel. 7 A cherub reached out his hand between the cherubim to the fire that was among the cherubim, and lifted it up and placed it into the hands of the one dressed in linen. The man took it and went back out. 8 I saw on the cherubim something like a man’s hand under their wings. 9 So I looked, and behold! Four wheels were beside the cherubim—one wheel beside each cherub—and the appearance of the wheels was like a beryl stone. 10 Their appearance was the same likeness for all four of them, like a wheel intersecting another wheel. 11 When they moved, they went in any of their four directions, without turning as they went; but whatever direction the head faced, they followed after it without turning as they went. 12 Their whole body—including their backs, their hands, and their wings—was covered with eyes, and eyes covered the four wheels all around also. 13 As I listened, the wheels were called, “Whirling.” 14 They had four faces each; the first face was the face of a cherub, the second face was the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. 15 Then the cherubim—these were the living creatures that I had seen by the Kebar Canal—rose up. 16 Whenever the cherubim moved, the wheels would go beside them, and whenever the cherubim lifted up their wings to rise up from the earth, the wheels did not turn. They still stayed beside them. 17 When the cherubim stood still, the wheels stood still, and when they rose up, the wheels rose up with them, for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. 18 Then the glory of Yahweh went out from over the threshold of the house and stood over the cherubim. 19 The cherubim lifted up their wings and rose from the earth in my sight when they went out, and the wheels did the same beside them. They stood at the eastern entrance to Yahweh’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel came upon them from above. 20 These were the living creatures that I had seen below the God of Israel by the Kebar Canal, so I knew that they were cherubim! 21 They had four faces each and four wings each, and the likeness of human hands under their wings, 22 and the likeness of their faces was like the faces that I had seen in the vision at the Kebar Canal, and each of them went straight ahead. Chapter 11 1 Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the eastern gate of Yahweh’s house, facing east, and behold, in the doorway of the gate there were twenty-five men. I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people, among them. 2 God said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity, and who decide wicked plans in this city. 3 They are saying, ‘The time to build houses is not now; this city is the pot, and we are the meat.’ 4 Therefore prophesy against them. Prophesy, son of man.” 5 Then the Spirit of Yahweh fell on me and he said for me to say: This is what Yahweh says, “That is what you are saying, house of Israel; for I know what goes through your mind. 6 You have multiplied the people you have killed in this city and filled its streets with them. 7 Therefore, the Lord Yahweh says this: The people you have killed, whose bodies you have laid in the midst of Jerusalem, are the meat, and this city is the pot. But you are going to be brought out from the midst of this city. 8 You have feared the sword, so I am bringing the sword upon you—this is the declaration of the Lord Yahweh. 9 I will bring you out of the midst of the city, and put you into the hands of foreigners, for I will bring judgment against you. 10 You will fall by the sword. I will judge you within the borders of Israel so you will know that I am Yahweh. 11 This city will not be your cooking pot, nor will you be the meat within her midst. I will judge you within the borders of Israel. 12 Then you will know that I am Yahweh, the one whose statutes you have not walked in and whose decrees you have not carried out. Instead, you have carried out the decrees of the nations that surround you.” 13 It came about that as I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah, died. So I fell on my face and cried out with a loud voice and said, “Alas, Lord Yahweh, will you completely destroy the remnant of Israel?” 14 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 15 “Son of man, your brothers! Your brothers! The men of your clan and all the house of Israel! All of them are those of whom it is said by those living in Jerusalem, ‘They are far away from Yahweh! This land was given to us as our possession.’ 16 Therefore say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: Though I have removed them far off among the nations, and though I have scattered them among the lands, yet I have been a sanctuary for them for a little while in the lands where they have gone.’ 17 Therefore say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you from the lands where you were scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.’ 18 Then they will go there and remove every detestable thing and every abomination from that place. 19 I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them. I will take out the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 20 so that they will walk in my statutes, they will carry out my decrees and do them. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God. 21 But to those who walk with affection toward their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their conduct on their own heads—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.” 22 The cherubim lifted up their wings and the wheels that were beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was high up over them. 23 Then the glory of Yahweh went up from within the midst of the city and stood on the mountain to the east of the city. 24 The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into Chaldea, to the exiles, in the vision from the Spirit of God, and the vision that I had seen went up from upon me. 25 Then I declared to the exiles all the things of Yahweh that I had seen. Chapter 12 1 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, you live in the midst of a rebellious house, where they have eyes to see but they do not see; and where they have ears to hear but do not listen, because they are a rebellious house. 3 Therefore as for you, son of man, prepare your things for exile, and begin going out by day in their sight, for I will exile you in their sight from your place to another place. Perhaps they will begin to see, though they are a rebellious house. 4 You will bring out your things for an exile in the day in their sight; go out in the evening in their sight in the way that anyone goes into exile. 5 Dig a hole through the wall in their sight, and go out through it. 6 In their sight, lift up your things onto your shoulder, and bring them out in the darkness. Cover your face, for you must not see the land, since I have set you as a sign to the house of Israel.” 7 So I did this, just as I was commanded. I brought out my things of exile in the daytime, and in the evening I dug a hole through the wall by hand. I brought my things out in the dark, and lifted them up on my shoulder in their sight. 8 Then the word of Yahweh came to me in the morning, saying, 9 “Son of man, is the house of Israel, that rebellious house, not asking, ‘What are you doing?’ 10 Say to them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: this prophetic action concerns the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel in whose midst they are.’ 11 Say, ‘I am a sign to you.’ As I have done, so it will be done to them; they will go into exile and into captivity. 12 The prince who is among them will lift up his things upon his shoulder in the dark, and will go out through the wall. They will dig through the wall and bring out their things. He will cover his face, so he will not see the land with his eyes. 13 I will spread out my net over him and he will be caught in my snare; then I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, but he will not see it. He will die there. 14 I will also scatter in every direction all of those around him who were to assist him and his entire army, and I will send out a sword after them. 15 Then they will know that I am Yahweh, when I scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the lands. 16 But I will spare a few men from among them from the sword, famine, and plague, so they may record all of their abominations in the lands where I take them, so they will know that I am Yahweh.” 17 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 18 “Son of man, eat your bread with trembling, and drink your water with shaking and worry. 19 Then say to the people of the land, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the land of Israel, “They will eat their bread with trembling and drink their water while shaking, since the land will be despoiled of its fullness because of the violence of all those who live there. 20 So the cities that were inhabited will be desolate, and the land will become a wasteland; so you will know that I am Yahweh.”’” 21 Again the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 22 “Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel that says, ‘The days are prolonged, and every vision fails’? 23 Therefore, say to them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: I will put an end to this proverb, and the people of Israel will no longer use it.’ Say to them, ‘The days have drawn near when every vision will be fulfilled. 24 For there will no longer be any false visions or favorable divinations within the house of Israel. 25 For I am Yahweh! I speak, and I carry out the words that I speak. The matter will no longer be delayed. For I will speak this word in your days, rebellious house, and I will carry it out!—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.’” 26 Again the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 27 “Son of man! Behold, the house of Israel has said, ‘The vision that he sees is for many days from now, and he prophesies of far off times.’ 28 Therefore say to them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: My words will not be delayed any longer, but the word that I have spoken will be done—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.’” Chapter 13 1 Again, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets who are prophesying in Israel, and say to those who are prophesying out of their own imaginations, ‘Listen to the word of Yahweh. 3 The Lord Yahweh says this: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, but who have seen nothing! 4 Israel, your prophets have been like jackals in the wastelands. 5 You have not gone to the breaks in the wall around the house of Israel in order to repair it, in order to resist in battle on the day of Yahweh. 6 The people have false visions and make false predictions, those who say, “Such and such is Yahweh’s declaration.” Yahweh has not sent them, but they nevertheless have made people hope that their messages would come true. 7 Have you not had false visions and made false predictions, you who say, “Such and such is Yahweh’s declaration” when I myself have not spoken?’ 8 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this, ‘Because you have had false visions and have told lies—therefore this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration against you: 9 My hand will be against the prophets who have lying visions and who make false predictions. They will not be in the assembly of my people, or enrolled in the record of the house of Israel; they must not go to the land of Israel. For you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh! 10 Because of this, and because they led my people astray and said, “Peace!” when there is no peace, they are building a wall that they will paint with whitewash.’ 11 Say to those who are whitewashing the wall, ‘It will fall down; there will be a downpour of rain, and I will send hailstones to make it fall down, and a windstorm wind to break it down. 12 See, the wall will fall down. Have others not said to you, “Where is the whitewash that you put on it?” 13 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this: I will bring a windstorm in my rage, and there will be floods of rain in my wrath! Hailstones in my rage will completely destroy it. 14 For I will tear down the wall that you have covered with whitewash, and I will demolish it to the ground and lay bare its foundations. So it will fall, and you will be annihilated in the middle of it all. Then you will know that I am Yahweh. 15 For I will annihilate in my fury the wall and those who whitewashed it. I will say to you, “The wall exists no more, nor do the people who whitewashed it— 16 the prophets of Israel who prophesied about Jerusalem and who had visions of peace for her. But there is no peace!—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.”’ 17 So you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own minds, and prophesy against them. 18 Say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: Woe to the women who sew magic charms onto every part of their hand and make veils for their heads of every size, used to hunt down people. Will you hunt down my people but save your own lives? 19 You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and crumbs of bread, to kill people who should not die, and to preserve the lives of those who should not continue to live, because of your lies to my people who heard you. 20 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this: I am against the magic charms that you have used to ensnare the people’s lives as if they were birds. Indeed, I will tear them from your arms; and the people whom you have trapped like birds—I will let them go free. 21 I will tear away your veils and rescue my people from your hand, so they will no longer be trapped in your hands. You will know that I am Yahweh. 22 Because you discourage the heart of the righteous person with lies, even though I did not desire his discouragement, and because you encourage instead the actions of the wicked person so that he will not turn from his way to save his life— 23 therefore you will no longer have false visions or continue to make predictions, for I will rescue my people out of your hand. You will know that I am Yahweh.’” Chapter 14 1 Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. 2 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 3 “Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts and have put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their own faces. Should I be inquired of at all by them? 4 Therefore announce this to them and say to them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: Every man of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart, or who puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and who then comes to a prophet—I, Yahweh, will answer him according to the number of his idols. 5 I will do this so that I may take back the house of Israel in their hearts that have been driven far from me through their idols.’ 6 Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: Repent and turn away from your idols! Turn back your faces from all your abominations. 7 For every one from the house of Israel and every one of the foreigners staying in Israel who deserts me, who takes his idols into his heart and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his own face, and who then comes to a prophet to seek me—I, Yahweh, will answer him myself. 8 So I will set my face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb, for I will cut him off from the midst of my people, and you will know that I am Yahweh. 9 If a prophet is deceived and speaks a message, then I, Yahweh, will deceive that prophet; I will reach out with my hand against him and destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. 10 They will carry their own iniquity; the iniquity of the prophet will be the same as the iniquity of the one who inquires from him. 11 Because of this, the house of Israel will no longer wander away from following me nor defile themselves any longer through all their transgressions. They will be my people, and I will be their God—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.’” 12 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 13 “Son of man, when a land sins against me by committing a sin so that I reach out with my hand against it and break the staff of its bread, and send out over it a famine and cut off both man and beast from the land; 14 then even if these three men—Noah, Daniel, and Job—were in the land’s midst, they could only rescue their own lives by their righteousness—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 15 If I send evil beasts through the land and make it barren so that it becomes a wasteland where no man may pass through because of the beasts, 16 then even if these same three men were in it—as I live, declares the Lord Yahweh—they would not be able to rescue even their own sons or daughters; only their own lives would be rescued, but the land would become a wasteland. 17 Or if I bring a sword against that land and say, ‘Sword, go through the land and cut off both man and beast from it’, 18 then even if these three men were in the midst of the land—as I live, declares the Lord Yahweh—they would not be able to rescue even their own sons or daughters; only their own lives would be rescued. 19 Or if I send a plague against this land and pour out my fury against it through bloodshed, in order to cut off both man and beast, 20 then even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in that land—as I live, declares the Lord Yahweh—they would not be able to rescue even their own sons or daughters; only their own lives would be rescued by their righteousness. 21 For the Lord Yahweh says this: I will certainly make things worse by sending my four punishments—famine, sword, wild animals, and plague—against Jerusalem to cut off both man and beast from her. 22 Yet, behold! A remnant will be left in her, survivors who will go out with sons and daughters. Behold! They will go out to you, and you will see their ways and actions and be comforted concerning the punishment that I have sent to Jerusalem, and about everything else that I have sent against the land. 23 The survivors will comfort you when you see their ways and their actions, so you will know all these things I have done against her, that I have not done them in vain!—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.” Chapter 15 1 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, how is a vine better than any tree with branches that is among the trees in a forest? 3 Do people take wood from a vine to make anything? Or do they make a peg from it to hang anything on it? 4 See! If it is thrown into a fire as fuel, and if the fire has burned both of its ends and also the middle, is it good for anything? 5 See! When it was complete, it could not make anything; surely then, when the fire has burned, then it still will not make anything useful. 6 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this: Unlike the trees in the forests, I have given the vine as fuel for fires; I will act in the same way toward the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 7 For I will set my face against them. Though they come out from the fire, yet the fire will consume them; so you will know that I am Yahweh, when I set my face against them. 8 Then I will make the land into an abandoned wasteland because they have committed sin—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.” Chapter 16 1 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, inform Jerusalem about her abominations, 3 and declare, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this to Jerusalem: Your beginning and your birth took place in the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite. 4 On the day of your birth, your mother did not cut your navel, nor did she purify you in water or rub you down with salt, or wrap cloth around you. 5 No eye had compassion for you to do any of these things for you, to be compassionate toward you. On the day that you were born, with loathing for your life, you were thrown out into the open field. 6 But I passed by you, and I saw you writhing in your own blood; so I said to you in your blood, “Live!” I said to you in your blood, “Live!” [1] 7 I made you grow like a plant in a field. You multiplied and became great, and you became the jewel of jewels. Your breasts became firm, and your hair grew thick, though you had been naked and bare. 8 I passed by you again, and I saw you. See! the time of love came for you, so I spread my robe over you and covered your nakedness. Then I swore to you and brought you into a covenant—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration—and you became mine. 9 So I washed you with water and rinsed your blood off you, and I anointed you with oil. 10 I dressed you in embroidered clothes and placed leather sandals on your feet. I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk. 11 Next I adorned you with jewelry, and I put bracelets on your hands, and a chain around your neck. 12 I put a nose ring in your nostrils and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 So you were adorned with gold and silver, and you were dressed in fine linen, silk, and embroidered clothes; you ate fine flour, honey, and oil, and you were very beautiful, and you became a queen. 14 Your fame went out among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect in the majesty that I had given to you—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 15 But you trusted in your own beauty, and you acted like a prostitute because of your fame; you poured out your acts of prostitution on everyone who passed by, so that your beauty became his. 16 Then you took your clothes and with them you made high places for yourself decorated in various colors, and there you acted like a prostitute. This should not have happened. Nor should such a thing exist. 17 You took the fine jewels of the gold and silver that I gave you, and you made for yourself male figures, and you did with them as a prostitute would do. 18 You took your embroidered garments and covered them, and you set my oils and perfumes before them. 19 My bread I gave you—made with fine flour, oil, and honey—you set before them for a fragrant aroma, for this is what happened—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 20 Then you took your sons and daughters whom you bore for me, and you sacrificed them to the images to be devoured as food. Are your acts of prostitution a small matter? 21 You slaughtered my children to the idols and made them pass through the fire. 22 In all your abominations and your acts of prostitution you have not thought about the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare as you thrashed about in your blood. 23 Woe! Woe to you!—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration—therefore, in addition to all this wickedness, 24 you built yourself a mound and made yourself a lofty shrine in every public place. 25 You built your high place at the head of every road and made your beauty a disgrace, and you spread your legs to anyone who passed by, and you multiplied your acts of prostitution. 26 You have acted like a prostitute with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, and you committed many more acts of prostitution, provoking me to anger. 27 See! I will strike you with my hand and cut off your food. I will hand your life over to your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your obscene behavior. 28 You have acted like a prostitute with the Assyrians because you could not be satisfied. You acted like a prostitute and still were not satisfied. 29 You performed many more acts of prostitution in the land of the merchants of Chaldea, and even this did not satisfy you. 30 How sick is your heart—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration—that you would do all these things, deeds of a shameless prostitute? 31 You have built your mounds at the head of every street and made your lofty shrines in every public square. Yet you were not like a prostitute because you scoffed at taking payment. 32 You adulterous woman, you accept strangers instead of your husband. 33 People give payment to every prostitute, but you give your wages to all your lovers and bribe them to come to you from all around for your acts of prostitution. 34 So there is a difference between you and other women. No one offers payment for you to act as a prostitute. You are the very opposite. You gave them payment and none was given to you. 35 Therefore, you prostitute, listen to the word of Yahweh. 36 The Lord Yahweh says this: Because you have poured out your lust and uncovered your nakedness through your acts of prostitution with your lovers and with all your detestable idols, and because you gave them your children’s blood, 37 therefore, behold, I will gather all your lovers that you have met, all those whom you loved and all those whom you hated, and I will gather them against you on every side. I will uncover your nakedness to them so they see all your nakedness. 38 For I will punish you for adultery and the shedding of blood, and I will bring on you the bloodshed of my anger and passion. 39 I will give you into their hands so they will throw down your vaulted chamber and break down your high places and they will strip you of your clothes and take all of your jewelry. They will leave you naked and bare. 40 Then they will bring up a crowd against you and stone you with stones, and they will cut you apart with their swords. 41 They will burn your houses and will perform many acts of punishment on you in the sight of many women, for I will put a stop to your prostitution, and you will no longer pay your lovers. 42 Then I will calm my fury against you; my anger will leave you, for I will be satisfied, and will no longer be angry. 43 Because you did not call to mind the days of your youth and have made me shake with anger because of all these things, therefore, behold! I myself will bring down on your own head the punishment for what you have done—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. Have you not added prostitution to all your other detestable practices? 44 Behold! Everyone who speaks proverbs concerning you will say, “As the mother is, so also is her daughter.” 45 You are the daughter of your mother, who detested her husband and her children, and you are the sister of your sisters who detested their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite, and your father was an Amorite. 46 Your older sister was Samaria and her daughters were the ones living in the north, while your younger sister was the one living south of you, that is, Sodom and her daughters. 47 You not only walked in their ways and copied their behavior and practices, but in all your ways you have been worse than they were. 48 As I live—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration—your sister Sodom and her daughters, have not done as much evil as you and your daughters have done. 49 Behold! This was the sin of your sister Sodom that she was arrogant in her leisure, careless and unconcerned about anything. She did not strengthen the hands of the poor and needy people. 50 She was arrogant and committed disgusting actions before me, so I took them away just as you have seen. 51 Neither did Samaria commit even half of your sins; instead, you have done many more disgusting things than they did, and you have shown that your sisters were better than you because of all the disgusting things that you do! 52 Especially you, show your own shame; in this way you have shown that your sisters were better than you, because of the sins you committed in all those disgusting ways. Your sisters now seem better than you. Especially you, show your own shame, for in this way you have shown that your sisters were better than you. 53 For I will restore their fortunes—the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters; but your fortunes will be among them. 54 On account of these things you will show your shame; you will be humiliated because of everything that you have done, and in this way you will be a comfort to them. 55 So your sister Sodom and her daughters will be restored to their former condition, and Samaria and her daughters will be restored to their former estate. Then you and your daughters will be restored to your former condition. 56 Sodom your sister was not even mentioned by your mouth in the days when you were proud, 57 before your wickedness was revealed. But now you are an object of scorn to the daughters of Edom and to all the daughters of the Philistines around her. People all about despise you. [2] 58 You will show your shame and your disgusting actions!—this is Yahweh’s declaration! 59 The Lord Yahweh says this: I will deal with you as you deserve, you who have despised your oath by breaking the covenant. 60 But I myself will call to mind my covenant with you made in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. 61 Then you will call to mind your ways and be ashamed when you receive your older sisters and your younger sisters. I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of your covenant. 62 I myself will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am Yahweh. 63 Because of these things, you will call everything to mind and be ashamed, so you will no longer open your mouth to speak because of your shame, when I have forgiven you for all that you have done—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.’” 16:6 [1] Some modern versions leave out the second occurrence of I said to you in your blood, “Live!” . 16:57 [2] Instead of Edom , some ancient copies and modern versions have Aram , that is, Syria. Chapter 17 1 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, present a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel. 3 Say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: A large eagle with large wings and long pinions, full of feathers, and that was multicolored went to Lebanon and took hold of the top of a cedar tree. 4 It broke off the tips of the branches and took them to the land of Canaan; he planted it in a city of merchants. 5 He also took some seed of the land and planted it in fertile soil. He placed it beside a large body of water like a willow. 6 Then it sprouted and became a spreading vine low to the ground. Its branches turned toward him, and its roots grew under it. So it became a vine and produced branches and sent out shoots. 7 But there was another great eagle with large wings and many feathers. Behold! This vine turned its roots toward the eagle, and it spread out its branches toward the eagle from the place it had been planted so it would be watered. 8 It had been planted in good soil beside a large body of water so it would produce branches and sprout fruit, to become a magnificent vine.’ 9 Say to the people, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: Will it prosper? Will it not be uprooted and stripped of its fruit so that it withers, and all its fresh growth will wither? No strong arm or many people will be needed to pull it out by its roots. 10 So behold! After it has been planted, will it grow? Will it not wither when the eastern wind touches it? It will completely wither away in the garden plot where it sprouted.’” 11 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 12 “Speak to the rebellious house, ‘Do you not know what these things mean? Behold! The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and took her king and her princes and brought them to him in Babylon. 13 Then he took a royal descendant, made a covenant with him, and brought him under an oath. He took away the powerful people of the land, 14 so the kingdom might become lowly and not lift itself up. By keeping his covenant the land will survive. 15 But the king of Jerusalem rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors to Egypt to acquire horses and an army. Will he succeed? Will the one doing these things escape? If he breaks the covenant, will he escape? 16 As I live!—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration—he will surely die in the land of the king who made him king, the king whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke. He will die in the middle of Babylon. 17 Pharaoh with his mighty army and a great company of men will not help him in battle, when ramps are constructed and siege walls are built up to cut off many lives. 18 For the king despised his oath by breaking the covenant. Behold, he reached out with his hand to make a promise and yet he did all these things. He will not escape. 19 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this: As I live, was it not my oath that he despised and my covenant that he broke? So I will bring his punishment on his head! 20 I will spread my net out over him, and he will be caught in my hunting net. Then I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment on him there for his treason that he committed when he betrayed me! 21 All of his refugees in his armies will fall by the sword, and the ones who remain will be scattered in every direction. Then you will know that I am Yahweh; I have declared this would happen.” 22 The Lord Yahweh says this, ‘So I myself will take away the highest part of the cedar tree, and I will plant it away from its tender branches. I will break it off, and I myself will plant it on a high mountain. 23 I will plant it on the mountains of Israel so it will bear branches and produce fruit, and it will become a majestic cedar so that every winged bird will live under it. They will nest in the shade of its branches. 24 Then all the trees of the field will know that I am Yahweh. I bring down the high trees and I raise up the low trees. I wither the watered tree and I cause the dried tree to bloom. I am Yahweh, I have declared that this will happen; and I have done it.’” Chapter 18 1 The word of Yahweh came to me again, saying, 2 “What do you mean, you who use this proverb concerning the land of Israel and say, ‘Fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are made blunt’? 3 As I live—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration—there will certainly no longer be any occasion for you to use this proverb in Israel. 4 Behold! Every life belongs to me—the life of the father as well as the life of the son, they belong to me! The soul who sins is the one who will die! 5 What can be said about a man who is righteous and who carries out justice and righteousness— 6 if he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and he does not defile his neighbor’s wife, nor approached a woman during her monthly period, is he a righteous man? 7 What can be said about a man who does not oppress anyone, and he gives back to the debtor what was put up as security for a loan, and he does not commit theft but gives his food to the hungry and he covers the naked with clothes, is he a righteous man? 8 What can be said about a man who does not charge too much interest for the money he loans, and he does not take too much profit for what he sells? It is said of him that he carries out justice and establishes faithfulness between people. 9 If that man walks in my statutes and keeps my decrees to act faithfully, then the promise for this righteous man is this: He will surely live!—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 10 But suppose that he has a violent son who sheds blood and does any one of these things that were mentioned, [1] 11 (though his father has not done any of these things). He eats upon the mountains and he defiles his neighbor’s wife, what can be said about him? 12 This man oppresses the poor and needy, and he seizes and robs, and he does not return a pledge, and he lifts up his eyes to the idols and commits disgusting actions, 13 and he lends out money at too high interest and he makes too much profit on what he sells, should that man live? Surely he will not! He will certainly die and his blood will be on him because he has done all these detestable things. 14 But behold! Suppose there is a man who bears a son, and his son sees all the sins that his father has committed, and though he sees them, he does not do those things. 15 That son does not eat upon the mountains, and he does not lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and he does not defile his neighbor’s wife, what can be said about him? 16 That son does not oppress anyone, or seize a pledge, or take stolen things, but instead gives his food to the hungry and covers up the naked with clothes. 17 That son does not oppress anyone or take interest that is too high or make too much profit for a loan, but he carries out my decrees and walks according to my statutes; that son will not die for his father’s sin: He will surely live! 18 His father, since he oppressed others by extortion and robbed his brother, and did what is not good among his people—behold, he will die in his iniquity. 19 But you say, ‘Why does the son not bear the iniquity of his father?’ Because the son carries out justice and righteousness and keeps all my statutes; he does them. He will surely live! 20 The one who sins, he is the one who will die. A son will not bear his father’s iniquity, and a father will not bear his son’s iniquity. The righteousness of the one who acts rightly will be on himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be on himself. 21 But if the wicked turns away from all his sins that he has done, and keeps all my statutes and performs justice and righteousness, then he will certainly live and not die. 22 All the transgressions that he has committed will not be called to mind against him. He will live by the righteousness that he practices. 23 Do I greatly rejoice over the death of the wicked—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration—and not in his turning away from his way so that he may live? 24 But if the righteous person turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity and practices abominations like all the abominations that the wicked person does, then will he live? All the righteousness that he had done will not be called to mind when he betrays me in his treason. So he will die in the sins that he committed. 25 But you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair!’ Listen, house of Israel! Are my ways unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair? 26 When the righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity and dies because of them, then he will die in the iniquity that he has done. 27 But when a wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has done and performs justice and righteousness, then he will preserve his life. 28 For he has seen and turned away from all the transgressions that he had done. He will surely live, and he will not die. 29 But the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair!’ How is my way not fair, house of Israel? It is your ways that are not fair. 30 Therefore I will judge each man among you according to his ways, house of Israel!—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. Repent and turn away from all your transgressions so that they will not be stumbling blocks of iniquity against you. 31 Throw away from yourselves all of the transgressions that you have committed; make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, house of Israel? 32 For I have no delight in the death of the one who dies—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration—so repent and live!” 18:10 [1] Some ancient copies and many modern versions leave out to a brother . Chapter 19 1 “Now you, take up a lamentation against the leaders of Israel 2 and say, ‘Who was your mother? A lioness, she lived with a lion’s son; in the midst of young lions, she nurtured her cubs. 3 She is the one who raised up one of her cubs to become a young lion, a lion who learned to tear apart his victims, and then he devoured men. 4 Then the nations heard about him. He was caught in their trap, and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt. 5 Then she saw that although she had waited for his return, her expectation was now gone, so she took another of her cubs and raised him to become a young lion. 6 This young lion roamed about in the midst of lions. He was a young lion and learned to tear his victims; he devoured men. 7 He seized their widows and ruined their cities. The land and its fullness were abandoned because of the sound of his roaring. [1] 8 But the nations came against him from the surrounding provinces; they spread their nets over him. He was caught in their trap. 9 With hooks they put him in a cage and then they brought him to the king of Babylon. They brought him to the strongholds so that his voice would no longer be heard on the mountains of Israel. 10 Your mother was like a vine planted in your blood beside the water. [2] it was fruitful and full of branches because of the abundance of water. 11 It had strong branches that were used for rulers’ scepters, and its size was exalted above the branches, and its height was seen by the greatness of its foliage. 12 But the vine was uprooted in fury and thrown down to the earth, and an eastern wind dried out its fruit. Its strong branches were broken off and withered and fire consumed them. 13 So now it is planted in the wilderness, in a land of drought and thirst. 14 For fire went out from her large branches and consumed its fruit. There is no strong branch on it, no scepter to rule.’ This is a lamentation and will be sung as a lamentation.” 19:7 [1] Instead of He seized their widows , some ancient copies and many modern versions have He destroyed their fortresses . 19:10 [2] Instead of in your blood , some ancient copies and many modern versions have in your vineyard . Chapter 20 1 It came about in the seventh year, on the tenth day of the fifth month, that elders of Israel came to inquire of Yahweh and sat before me. 2 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 3 “Son of man, declare to the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: Have you come to inquire of me? As I live, I will not be inquired of by you!—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.’ 4 Will you judge them? Will you judge, son of man? Let them know about their fathers’ abominations. 5 Say to them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: On the day that I chose Israel and raised my hand to swear an oath to the descendants of the house of Jacob, and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I raised my hand to swear an oath to them. I said, “I am Yahweh your God”— 6 on that day I raised my hand to swear an oath to them that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had carefully selected for them. It was flowing with milk and honey; it was the most beautiful ornament among all the lands. 7 I said to them, “Let each man throw away the detestable things from before his eyes and the idols of Egypt. Do not make yourselves unclean; I am Yahweh your God.” 8 But they rebelled against me and were unwilling to listen to me. Each man did not throw away the detestable things from before his eyes nor forsake the idols of Egypt, so I determined to pour out my fury upon them to satisfy my wrath among them in the middle of the land of Egypt. 9 I acted for my name’s sake so it would not be profaned in the eyes of the nations among whom they were staying. I made myself known to them, in their eyes, by bringing them out of the land of Egypt. 10 So I sent them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. 11 Then I gave them my statutes and made my decrees known to them, by which a man will live if he obeys them. 12 I also gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between myself and them, for them to know that I am Yahweh who makes them holy. 13 But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not walk in my statutes; instead, they rejected my decrees, by which a man will live if he obeys them. They greatly profaned my Sabbaths, so I said I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness in order to end them. 14 But I acted for my name’s sake so it would not be profaned in the eyes of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out of Egypt. 15 So I myself also raised my hand to swear an oath to them in the wilderness not to bring them into the land that I had been going to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey, which was the most beautiful ornament among all the lands. 16 I swore this because they had rejected my decrees and did not walk in my statutes, and they profaned my Sabbaths, since their hearts walked after their idols. 17 But my eye spared them from their destruction and I did not annihilate them in the wilderness. 18 I said to their children in the wilderness, “Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, or keep their rules, or defile yourselves with their idols. 19 I am Yahweh your God, walk in my statutes; keep my decrees and obey them. 20 Keep my Sabbaths holy so that they will be a sign between me and you, so that you will know that I am Yahweh your God.” 21 But their sons and daughters rebelled against me. They did not walk in my statutes or keep my decrees, by which a man might live if he obeys them. They profaned my Sabbaths, so I determined to pour out my fury upon them to satisfy my wrath against them in the wilderness. 22 But I turned my hand away and acted for my name’s sake, so it would not be profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought out the Israelites. 23 I myself also lifted up my hand to swear to them in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them among the lands. 24 I decided to do this since they had not obeyed my decrees, and since they had rejected my statutes and profaned my Sabbaths. Their eyes were longing after their fathers’ idols. 25 Then I also gave them statutes that were not good, and decrees by which they could not live. 26 I declared them to be unclean through their gifts—they made a sacrifice of every firstborn of the womb and caused them to pass through the fire—that I might fill them with horror so they will know that I am Yahweh!’ 27 Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: In this also your fathers blasphemed me when they were unfaithful to me. 28 When I brought them into the land that I had sworn to give them, and then whenever they saw any high hill and leafy tree, they offered their sacrifices, they provoked me by their offerings, and there they also burned their fragrant incense and poured out their drink offerings. 29 Then I said to them, “What is this high place where you bring offerings there?” So the name is called Bamah to this day.’ 30 Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: Why do you make yourselves unclean with the ways of your fathers? So why do you act like prostitutes, searching for disgusting things? 31 When you offer up your gifts—when you cause your sons to pass through the fire—to this day you defile yourselves with all your idols. So why should I let you seek me, house of Israel? As I live—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration—I will not allow you to seek me. 32 The thought that is forming in your mind will never happen. You say, “Let us be like the other nations, like the clans in the other lands who worship wood and stone.” 33 As I live—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration—I will certainly reign over you with a mighty hand, a raised arm, and fury that will be poured out on you. 34 I will bring you out from the other peoples and will gather you out of the countries among whom you have been scattered. I will do this with a mighty hand and with fury poured out. 35 Then I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will judge you face to face. 36 As I judged your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so also I will judge you—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 37 I will cause you to pass under my rod, and I will make you obey the requirements of the covenant. 38 I will purge from among you the rebels and those who revolt against me. I will send them out from the land where they are staying as foreigners, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am Yahweh. 39 So to you, house of Israel, the Lord Yahweh says this: Each of you should go to his own idols. Worship them if you will refuse to listen to me, but you must no longer profane my holy name with your gifts and your idols. 40 For on my holy mountain, on the mountain peak of Israel—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration—all of the house of Israel will worship me there in the land. I will be pleased to require your offerings there, and also the firstfruits of your tribute with all your holy things. 41 I will accept you like fragrant incense when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered. I will show myself as holy among you for the nations to see. 42 Then, when I bring you to the land of Israel, to the land that I have lifted up my hand to swear to give to your fathers, you will know that I am Yahweh. 43 There you will call to mind your conduct and all of your deeds by which you defiled yourselves, and you will despise yourselves in your own eyes for all your evil deeds that you have done. 44 So you will know that I am Yahweh when I do this to you because of my name’s sake, and not because of your evil deeds, and not because of your corrupt deeds, house of Israel—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.’” 45 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 46 “Son of man, set your face toward the southern lands, and speak against the south; prophesy against the forest of the Negev. 47 Say to the forest of the Negev, ‘This is Yahweh’s declaration—the Lord Yahweh says this: See, I will set a fire among you. It will devour every fresh tree and every dried tree among you. The fiery flame will not be quenched; every face from the south to the north will be burned. 48 Then all flesh will see that I am Yahweh when I light the fire, and it will not be quenched.’” 49 Then I said, “Alas! Lord Yahweh, they are saying of me, ‘Is he not a mere teller of parables?’” Chapter 21 1 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and speak against the sanctuaries; prophesy against the land of Israel. 3 Say to the land of Israel, ‘Yahweh says this: Behold! I am against you! I will draw my sword from its sheath and cut off both the righteous person and the wicked person from you! 4 In order for me to cut off both the righteous and the wicked from you, my sword will go out from its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north. 5 Then all flesh will know that I, Yahweh, have drawn my sword from its sheath. It will no longer hold back!’ 6 As for you, son of man, groan as your loins break! In bitterness groan before their eyes! 7 Then it will happen that they will ask you, ‘For what reason are you groaning?’ Then you will say, ‘Because of the news that is coming, for every heart will faint away, and every hand will falter! Every spirit will grow faint, and every knee will flow like water. Behold! It is coming and it will be like this!—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.’” 8 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 9 “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘The Lord says this: “Say: A sword! A sword! It will be sharpened and polished! 10 It will be sharpened in order to engage in great slaughter! It will be polished in order to be like lightning! Should we rejoice in my son’s scepter? The coming sword hates every such rod! 11 So the sword will be given to be polished, and then to be grasped by the hand! The sword is sharpened and it is polished and it is to be given into the hand of the one who kills!”’” 12 Call for help and lament, son of man! For that sword has come against my people! It is against all the leaders of Israel. They are thrown against the sword with my people. Therefore, slap your thigh! 13 For there is a trial, but what if the scepter does not last?—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 14 Now you, son of man, prophesy and hit your two hands together, for the sword will attack even a third time! A sword for the ones to be slaughtered! It is a sword for the many to be slaughtered, piercing them everywhere! 15 In order to melt their hearts and to multiply their fallen, I have set the sword for slaughter at all their gates. Ah! It is made like lightning, it is grasped for slaughter. 16 You, sword! Strike to the right! Strike to the left! Go wherever your face is turned. 17 For I will also hit my two hands together, and then I will bring my fury to rest! I, Yahweh, declare it!” 18 The word of Yahweh came to me again, saying, 19 “Now you, son of man, assign two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to come. The two roads will start in the same land, and a signpost will mark one of them as leading to a city. 20 Mark one road for the Babylonian army to come to Rabbah, the city of the Ammonites. Mark the other to lead the army to Judah and the city of Jerusalem, which is fortified. 21 For the king of Babylon will stop at the crossroads, at the junction, in order to practice divination. He will shake some arrows and ask direction from some idols and he will examine a liver. 22 In his right hand will be an omen about Jerusalem, to set battering rams against it, to open his mouth to order the slaughter, to sound a war cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp, and to erect siege towers. 23 It will seem to be a useless omen in the eyes of the ones in Jerusalem, those who had sworn an oath to the Babylonians! But the king will accuse them of violating their treaty in order to besiege them! 24 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this: Because you have made your guilt to be remembered, making your transgressions to be revealed, so that in all your actions your sins will be seen— because you have done this you will be taken in hand. 25 As for you, profane and wicked ruler of Israel, whose day of punishment has come, and whose time of committing iniquity has ended, 26 the Lord Yahweh says this to you: Remove the turban and take off the crown! Things will no longer be the same! Exalt the lowly and humble the exalted! 27 A ruin! A ruin! I will make it a ruin! It will not be restored until the one comes who is assigned to execute judgment. 28 So you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this to the people of Ammon concerning their coming disgrace: A sword, a sword is drawn! It is sharpened for the slaughter in order to devour, so it will be like lightning! 29 While prophets see empty visions for you, while they perform rituals to come up with lies for you, this sword will lie on the necks of the wicked who are about to be killed, whose day of punishment has come and whose time of iniquity is about to end. 30 Return the sword to its sheath. In the place of your creation, in the land of your origin, I will judge you! 31 I will pour out my indignation on you! I will fan the fire of my rage against you and put you into the hand of cruel men, craftsmen of destruction! 32 You will become fuel for the fire! Your blood will be in the midst of the land. You will not be remembered, for I, Yahweh have declared this!’” Chapter 22 1 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Now you, son of man, will you judge? Will you judge the city of blood? Make her know all her abominations. 3 You must say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: This is a city that pours out blood in her midst so that her time may come; a city that makes idols to make herself unclean. 4 You have become guilty by the blood that you have poured out, and you have become unclean by the idols that you have made. You have drawn your days to a close, and the end of your years has come. Therefore I will make you a reproach to the nations and a laughingstock to all the lands. 5 Both those who are near and those who are far away from you will mock you—you unclean city—with the reputation known everywhere as being full of confusion. 6 Behold! The rulers of Israel, each one by his own power, have come to you to pour out blood. 7 They have dishonored fathers and mothers within you, and they have performed oppression on the foreigners in your midst. They have mistreated the orphans and the widows within you. 8 You have despised my holy things and have profaned my Sabbaths. 9 Slanderous men have come within you in order to pour out blood, and they eat on the mountains. They perform wickedness in your midst. 10 Within you men uncover the nakedness of their father. Within you they have violated unclean women during their menstrual period. 11 Men who commit abominations with their neighbors’ wives, and men who make their own daughters-in-law shamefully unclean; men who abuse their own sisters—daughters of their own fathers—all these are done within you. 12 These men take bribes within you in order to pour out blood and you have taken interest and gained too much profit, and you have damaged your neighbors through oppression, and you have forgotten me—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 13 See! With my hand I have struck the dishonest gain that you have made, and the bloodshed that is done in the midst of you. 14 Will your heart stand, will your hands be strong on the days when I myself will deal with you? I, Yahweh, am declaring this, and I will do it. 15 So I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the lands. In this way, I will purge your uncleanness from you. 16 So you will become unclean in the eyes of the nations. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.’” [1] 17 Next the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 18 “Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me. All of them are the leftovers of bronze and tin, and iron and lead in the midst of you. They will be like the dross of silver in your furnace. 19 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this, ‘Because all of you have become like dross, therefore, behold! I am about to gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20 As men gather silver, bronze, iron, lead and tin and put it inside a furnace to melt it, and they blow the fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in my anger and my wrath, and I will put you there and melt you. 21 I will gather you and blow on you the fire of my wrath, and you will be melted in the midst of it. 22 As silver is melted in a furnace, you will be melted in it, and you will know that I, Yahweh, have poured out my wrath on you!’” 23 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 24 “Son of man, say to her, ‘You are a land that has not been cleansed. There is no rain on the day of wrath! 25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in her midst, like a roaring lion tearing apart a victim. They consume life and take precious wealth; they make many widows within her! [2] 26 Her priests do violence to my law, and they profane my holy things. They do not distinguish between holy things and profane things, and do not teach the difference between the unclean and the clean. They hide their eyes from my Sabbaths so that I am profaned in their midst. 27 Her princes within her are like wolves tearing apart their victims. They pour out blood and destroy life, to make a profit dishonestly. 28 Her prophets have painted them over with whitewash; they see false visions and predict falsehoods to them. They say “The Lord Yahweh says this” when Yahweh has not spoken. 29 The people of the land have oppressed through extortion and plundered through robbery, and they mistreat the poor and needy, and oppress the foreigner without justice. 30 So I searched for a man from them who would build up a wall and who would stand before me in its breach for the land so I would not destroy it, but I found no one. 31 So I will pour out my indignation upon them. I will finish them with the fire of my indignation and set their way on their own heads—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.’” 22:16 [1] Instead of you will become unclean , some ancient copies have I will give you your inheritance . 22:25 [2] Instead of There is a conspiracy of her prophets within her , some ancient copies have whose princes . Chapter 23 1 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, there were two women, daughters of the same mother. 3 They acted as prostitutes in Egypt in the time of their youth. They acted as prostitutes there. Their breasts were squeezed and their virgin nipples were fondled there. 4 Their names were Oholah—the older sister—and Oholibah—her younger sister. Then they became mine and bore sons and daughters. Their names mean this: Oholah means Samaria, and Oholibah means Jerusalem. 5 But Oholah acted as a prostitute even when she was mine; she lusted for her lovers, for the Assyrians who were dominant, 6 the governor who wore blue, and for his officials, who were strong and handsome, all of them men riding on horses. 7 So she gave herself as a prostitute to them, to all the best of Assyria’s men, and she made herself unclean with everyone she lusted for—and with all their idols. 8 For she had not left her prostitute behavior behind in Egypt, when they had lain with her when she had been a young girl, when they caressed her virgin bosom and poured out their lust upon her. 9 Therefore I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians for whom she lusted. 10 They uncovered her nakedness, took her sons and daughters, killed her with the sword, and she became notorious among other women, so they executed judgment on her. 11 Her sister Oholibah saw this, but she lusted even more passionately and acted like a prostitute even more than her sister. 12 She lusted for the Assyrians, the governors and the dominating officials who dressed impressively, who were men riding horses. All of them were strong, handsome men. 13 I saw that she had made herself unclean. It was the same for both sisters. 14 Then she increased her prostitution even more. She saw men carved on walls, figures of Chaldeans painted in red, 15 wearing belts around their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads. All of them had the appearance of officers of chariot troops, the likeness of sons of Babylonia, whose native land is Chaldea. 16 As soon as her eyes saw them, she lusted for them, so she sent out messengers to them in Chaldea. 17 Then the Babylonians came to her and to her bed of lust, and they made her unclean with their promiscuousness. By what she had done she was made unclean, so she turned herself away from them in disgust. 18 When she displayed her acts of prostitution and uncovered her nakedness, I turned away from her, just as I had turned away in disgust from her sister. 19 Then she increased her prostitution as she remembered the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in the land of Egypt. 20 So she lusted for her lovers, whose private parts were like those of donkeys, and whose reproductive emissions were like those of horses. 21 This is how you committed shameful acts of your youth, when the Egyptians fondled your nipples and squeezed your young breasts. 22 Therefore, Oholibah, the Lord Yahweh says this, ‘Behold! I will turn your lovers against you. Those from whom you turned away, I will bring them against you from every side: 23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, strong, handsome men, governors and commanders, all of them are officers and men of reputation, all of them riding on horses. 24 They will come against you with weapons, and with chariots and wagons, and with a great crowd of people. They will set large shields, small shields, and helmets against you all around. I will give them the opportunity to punish you, and they will punish you with their actions. 25 For I will set my jealous anger on you, and they will deal with you in fury. They will cut off your noses and your ears, and your survivors will fall by the sword. They will take away your sons and your daughters, and your survivors will be devoured by fire. 26 They will strip you of your clothes and take away all of your jewelry. 27 So I will remove your shameful behavior from you and your acts of prostitution from the land of Egypt. You will not lift up your eyes toward them with longing, and you will think of Egypt no longer.’ 28 For the Lord Yahweh says this, ‘Behold! I will give you into the hand of the ones you hate, back into the hand of the ones from whom you had turned away. 29 They will deal with you hatefully; they will take all your possessions and abandon you naked and bare, and your nakedness will be uncovered just as when you engaged in promiscuity and prostitutions. 30 These things will be done to you in your acting like a prostitute, lusting after nations by which you became unclean with their idols. 31 You have walked in the way of your sister, so I will put her cup of punishment into your hand.’ 32 The Lord Yahweh says this, ‘You will drink your sister’s cup that is deep and large. You will become a laughingstock and a subject for derision—this cup contains a great amount. 33 You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, the cup of horror and devastation; the cup of your sister Samaria. 34 You will drink it and drain it empty; then you will shatter it and tear your breasts with the pieces. For I have declared it—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.’ 35 Therefore, the Lord Yahweh says this, ‘Because you have forgotten me and thrown me away behind your back, so also you will bear the consequences of your shameful behavior and acts of sexual immorality.’” 36 Yahweh said to me, “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? So present to them their disgusting actions, 37 since they have committed adultery, and since there is blood on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and they have even caused their sons to pass through the fire, as food for their idols. 38 Then they continue to do this to me: They make my sanctuary unclean, and on the same day they defile my Sabbaths. 39 For when they had slaughtered their children for their idols, then they came to my sanctuary on the same day to defile it! So behold! This is what they have done in the middle of my house. 40 You sent out for men who came from far away, to whom messengers had been sent—now behold. They indeed came, those for whom you bathed, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with jewelry. 41 There you sat on a beautiful bed and at a table arranged before it where you placed my incense and my oil. 42 So the sound of a noisy crowd was around her; including all kinds of men, even Sabeans were brought in from the wilderness, and they put bracelets on their hands and beautiful crowns on their heads. 43 Then I said of her who was worn out by adultery, ‘Now they will be sexually immoral with her, and she with them.’ 44 They went in to her, as men go in to a prostitute. In this way they went in to Oholah and Oholibah, immoral women. 45 But righteous men will pass judgment and punish them as adulteresses, and they will punish them with the sentence for those who shed blood, because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands. 46 So the Lord Yahweh says this: I will raise up a company against them and give them up to be terrorized and plundered. 47 Then that company will stone them with stones and cut them down with their swords. They will kill their sons and daughters and burn down their houses. 48 For I will remove shameful behavior from the land and discipline all the women so they will no longer act like prostitutes. 49 So they will set your shameful behavior against you. You will bear the guilt of your sins with your idols, and in this way you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.” Chapter 24 1 The word of Yahweh came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, and on the tenth day of the month, saying, 2 “Son of man, write for yourself the name of this day, this exact day, for this exact day the king of Babylon has besieged Jerusalem. 3 So speak a proverb against this rebellious house, a parable. Say to them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: Place the cooking pot. Place it and pour water into it. 4 Gather pieces of food within it, every good piece—the thigh and shoulder— and fill it with the best bones. 5 Take the best of the flock and pile up the bones under it. Bring it to a boil and cook the bones in it. 6 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this: Woe to the city of blood, a cooking pot that has rust in it and that rust will not come out of it. Take piece after piece from it, but do not cast lots for it. 7 For her blood is in the midst of her. She has set it on the smooth rock; she has not poured it out on the ground to cover it with dust, 8 so it brings fury up to exact vengeance. I placed her blood on the smooth rock so it could not be covered. 9 Therefore, the Lord Yahweh says this: Woe to the city of blood. I will also enlarge the pile of wood. 10 Stack up the wood and kindle the fire. Cook the meat well and mix in the spices and let the bones be charred. 11 Then set the pot on its coals empty, in order to heat and scorch its bronze, so its uncleanness within it will be melted, its corrosion consumed.’ 12 She has become weary because of toil, but her corrosion has not gone out of her by the fire. 13 Your shameful behavior is in your uncleanness. Because I tried to cleanse you but still you would not be cleansed from your uncleanness, you will not be cleansed anymore until I have satisfied my fury upon you. 14 I, Yahweh, have declared it, and I will do it. I will not relent nor will I rest from it. As your ways were, and as your activities, they will judge you!—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.” 15 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 16 “Son of man! Behold, I am taking the desire of your eyes from you with a plague, but you must not mourn nor weep, and your tears must not flow. 17 You must groan silently. Do not conduct a funeral for the dead. Tie your turban on you and place your sandals on your feet, but do not veil your facial hair or eat the bread of men who mourn for having lost their wives.” 18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening. In the morning I did what I had been commanded to do. 19 The people asked me, “Will you not tell us what these things mean, the things that you are doing?” 20 So I said to them, “The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 21 ‘Say to the house of Israel, the Lord Yahweh says this: Behold! I will desecrate my sanctuary—the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and the yearning of your soul, and your sons and your daughters whom you left behind will fall by the sword. 22 Then you will do exactly as I have done: you will not veil your facial hair, nor eat the bread of mourning men! 23 Instead, your turbans will be on your heads, and your sandals on your feet; you will not mourn nor weep, for you will melt away in your iniquities, and each man will groan for his brother. 24 So Ezekiel will be a sign for you, as everything that he has done you will do when this comes. Then you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh!’” 25 “But you, son of man, on the day that I capture their temple, which is their joy, their pride, and what they see and desire—and when I take away their sons and daughters— 26 on that day, a refugee will come to you to give you the news! 27 On that day your mouth will be opened up to that refugee and you will speak—you will no longer be silent. You will be a sign for them so that they will know that I am Yahweh.” Chapter 25 1 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face against the people of Ammon and prophesy against them. 3 Say to the people of Ammon, ‘Hear the word of the Lord Yahweh. This is what the Lord Yahweh says: Because you said, “Aha!” over 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 exile, 4 therefore, behold, I am giving you to a people in the east as their possession. They will set up camp against you and set up their tents among you. They will eat your fruit and they will drink your milk. 5 I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and the people of Ammon a field for flocks. Then you will know that I am Yahweh. 6 For the Lord Yahweh says this: You have clapped your hands and stamped your feet, and rejoiced with all the contempt within you against the land of Israel. 7 Therefore, behold! I will strike you with my hand and give you as plunder to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples and make you perish from among the countries! I will destroy you, and you will know that I am Yahweh.’ 8 The Lord Yahweh says this, ‘Because Moab and Seir say, “Behold! The house of Judah is like every other nation.” 9 Therefore, behold! I will open the slopes of Moab, starting at his cities on the border—the splendor of Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kiriathaim— 10 to the people of the east who have been against the people of Ammon. I will give them up as a possession so that the people of Ammon will not be remembered among the nations. 11 So I will perform judgments against Moab, and they will know that I am Yahweh.’ 12 The Lord Yahweh says this, ‘Edom has taken vengeance against the house of Judah and has committed wrong in doing so. 13 Therefore, the Lord Yahweh says this: I will strike Edom with my hand and destroy every person and animal there. I will make them a ruined, abandoned place, from Teman to Dedan. They will fall by the sword. 14 I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel, and they will do to Edom according to my anger and my fury, and they will know my vengeance—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.’ 15 The Lord Yahweh says this, ‘The Philistines have taken vengeance with malice and from within themselves they tried to destroy Judah again and again. 16 So this is what the Lord Yahweh says: Behold! I will reach out with my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Kerethites and destroy the remnant who are along the seacoast. 17 For I will take great vengeance against them with furious acts of punishment, so they will know that I am Yahweh, when I take my vengeance on them.’” Chapter 26 1 So it was in the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, ‘Aha! The gates of the people are broken! She has turned to me; I will be filled up because she is ruined.’ 3 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this, ‘Behold! I am against you, Tyre, and I will raise up many nations against you like the sea raises its waves. 4 They will destroy the walls of Tyre and tear down her towers. I will sweep her dust away and make her like a bare rock. 5 She will become a place for nets to dry out in the midst of the sea, since I have declared it—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration—and she will become plunder for the nations. 6 Her daughters who are in the fields will be slaughtered by the swords, and they will know that I am Yahweh.’ 7 For this is what Yahweh says: Behold, from the north I am bringing Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, against Tyre, with horses and chariots, and with horsemen and a great many people. 8 He will kill your daughters in the field. He will set up a siege work and build a ramp against your walls and raise up shields against you. 9 He will place his battering rams to hit against your walls, and his tools will tear down your towers. 10 His horses will be so many that their dust will cover you. Your walls will shake with the sound of horsemen, wagons, and chariots. When he enters your gates, he will enter as men come into a city whose walls have been broken down. 11 The hooves of his horses will trample all of your streets. He will kill your people with the sword and your mighty stone pillars will fall to the ground. 12 They will plunder your riches and loot your merchandise. They will tear down your walls and destroy your luxurious homes. Your stones, your timber, and the rubble they will throw into the waters. 13 I will stop the noise of your songs. The sound of your harps will be heard no more. 14 I will make you a bare rock, you will become a place where nets are spread out to dry. You will never be built again, for I, Lord Yahweh have spoken—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 15 The Lord Yahweh says this to Tyre, ‘Will not the islands quake with the sound of your downfall, and with the groans of the wounded when the terrible slaughter is in your midst? 16 Then all the princes of the sea will step down from their thrones and remove their robes and cast off their embroidered garments. They will clothe themselves with trembling, they will sit on the ground and tremble every moment, and they will be appalled because of you. 17 They will lift up a lament for you and say to you, How you, who were inhabited by sailors, have been destroyed. The famous city that was so strong—it is now gone from the sea. The ones living in her once spread a terror about themselves upon everyone who lived near them. 18 Now the coasts tremble on the day of your downfall. The islands in the sea are terrified, because you are no longer in your place.’ 19 For the Lord Yahweh says this: When I make you a desolate city, like the other cities that are not inhabited, when I raise up the deeps against you, and when the great waters cover you, 20 then I will bring you down to the people of ancient times, like the others who have gone down into the pit; for I will make you live in the lowest realms of the earth as in ruins of ancient times. Because of this you will not come back and stand in the land of the living. [1] 21 I will place disaster on you, and you will be no more forever. Then you will be sought, but you will never be found ever again—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.” 26:20 [1] The expression and stand in the land of the living is supplied by an ancient version. The Hebrew has I will place glory in the land of the living , which does not seem to fit the context here. Chapter 27 1 Again the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Now you, son of man, begin a lamentation concerning Tyre, 3 and say to Tyre, who lives within the gates of the sea, merchants of peoples to many islands, the Lord Yahweh says this to you: Tyre, you have said, ‘I am perfect in beauty.’ 4 Your borders are in the heart of the seas; your builders have perfected your beauty. 5 They have made all your planks with cypress from Senir; they took a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you. 6 They made your oars from the oaks of Bashan; they made your decks out of cypress wood from Cyprus, and they overlaid them with ivory. 7 Your sails were made from colorful linen from Egypt that served as your banner; the colors of blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah are used for the awning on your boat. 8 Those who were living in Sidon and Arvad were your rowers; the sages of Tyre were within you; they were your pilots. 9 Highly experienced craftsmen from Byblos filled your seams; all the ships of the sea and their sailors among you were carrying your merchandise for trade. 10 Persia, Lydia, and Libya were in your army, your men of war. they hung shield and helmet within you; they showed your splendor. 11 The men of Arvad and Helek in your army were on your walls surrounding you, and the people of Gammad were in your towers. They hung up their shields on your walls all around you! They completed your beauty. 12 Tarshish was a trading partner with you because of your abundant wealth of goods to sell: Silver, iron, tin, and lead. They bought and sold your wares! 13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech—they traded slaves and in items made of bronze. They handled your merchandise. 14 Beth Togarmah provided horses, stallions, and mules as your merchandise. 15 The men of Rhodes were your traders on many coasts. Merchandise was in your hand; they sent back horn, ivory, and ebony as tribute! 16 Aram was a dealer in your many products; they provided emeralds, purple, colored cloth, fine fabric, pearls, and rubies as your merchandise. 17 Judah and the land of Israel were trading with you. They provided wheat from Minnith, cakes, honey, oil, and balsam as your merchandise. 18 Damascus was a trader of all your products, of all your enormous wealth, and of the wine of Helbon and the wool of Zahar. 19 Dan and Javan from Izal provided you with merchandise of wrought iron, cinnamon, and calamus. This became merchandise for you. 20 Dedan was your dealer in fine saddle blankets. 21 Arabia and all the chiefs of Kedar were traders with you; they provided you with lambs, rams and goats. 22 The traders of Sheba and Raamah came to sell you the best of every spice and in all kinds of precious gems; they traded gold for your merchandise. 23 Haran, Kanneh, and Eden were traders with you, along with Sheba, Ashur, and Kilmad. 24 These were your dealers in ornate robes of violet cloths with woven colors, and in blankets of multicolored, embroidered, and well-woven cloth in your marketplaces. 25 The ships of Tarshish were the transporters of your merchandise! So you were filled up, heavily laden with cargo in the heart of the seas! 26 Your rowers have brought you into vast seas; the eastern wind has broken you in the middle of them. 27 Your wealth, merchandise, and trade goods; your sailors and pilots, and ship builders; your traders of merchandise and all the men of war who are in you, and all your crew—they will sink into the depths of the sea on the day of your destruction. 28 Cities at the sea will tremble at the sound of your pilots’ cry; 29 All those who handle oars will come down from their ships; mariners and all the pilots on the sea will stand on the land. 30 Then they will make you listen to their voice and will wail bitterly; they will cast dust up on their heads. They will roll about in ashes. 31 They will shave their heads bald for you and bind themselves with sackcloth, and they will weep bitterly over you and they will cry out. 32 They will lift up their wails of lamentation for you and sing dirges over you, Who is like Tyre, who has now been brought to silence in the middle of the sea? 33 When your merchandise went ashore from the sea, it satisfied many peoples; you enriched the kings of the earth with your great wealth and merchandise! 34 But when you were shattered by the seas, by deep waters, your merchandise and all your crew sank! 35 All the inhabitants of the coasts were appalled at you, and their kings shuddered in horror! Their faces trembled! 36 The merchants of the people hiss at you; you have become a horror, and you will be no more forever.” Chapter 28 1 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: Your heart is arrogant! You have said, “I am a god! I will sit in the seat of the gods in the heart of the seas!” Even though you are a man and not a god, you make your heart like the heart of a god; 3 you think that you are wiser than Daniel, and that no secret amazes you! 4 You have made yourself wealthy with wisdom and skill, and obtained gold and silver in your treasuries! 5 By great wisdom and by your trading, you have multiplied your wealth, so your heart is arrogant because of your wealth. 6 Therefore, the Lord Yahweh says this: Because you have made your heart like the heart of a god, 7 I will therefore bring foreigners against you, terrifying men from other nations. They will bring their swords against the beauty of your wisdom, and they will profane your splendor. 8 They will send you down to the pit, and you will die the death of those who die in the heart of the seas. 9 Will you truly say, “I am a god” to the face of one who kills you? You are a man and not God, and you will be in the hand of the one who pierces you. 10 You will die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of foreigners, for I have declared it—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.’” 11 The word of Yahweh came again to me, saying, 12 “Son of man, lift up a lament for the king of Tyre and say to him, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13 You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone covered you: ruby, topaz, emerald, chrysolite, onyx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made from gold. It was on the day you were created that they were prepared. 14 I placed you on the holy mountain of God as the cherub I anointed to guard mankind. You were in the midst of the fiery stones where you walked about. 15 You had integrity in your ways from the day you were created until injustice was found within you. 16 Through your great trade you were filled with violence, and so you sinned. So I threw you out of the mountain of God, as one who was defiled, and I destroyed you, guardian cherub, and drove you from among the fiery stones. 17 Your heart was arrogant with your beauty; you ruined your wisdom because of your splendor. I have sent you down to the earth. I have placed you before kings so they may see you. 18 Because of your many sins and your dishonest trade, you have defiled your holy places. So I have made fire come out from you; it will consume you. I will turn you into ashes on the earth in the sight of all who look at you. 19 All the ones who knew you among the peoples will shudder at you; they will be horrified, and you will be no more forever.’” 20 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 21 “Son of man, set your face against Sidon and prophesy against her. 22 Say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: Behold! I am against you, Sidon! For I will be glorified in your midst so your people will know that I am Yahweh when I execute justice within you. I will be shown to be holy in you. 23 I will send out a plague in you and blood in your streets, and the slain will fall in your midst. When the sword comes against you from all around, then you will know that I am Yahweh. 24 Then there will no longer be pricking briars and painful thorns for the house of Israel from all those around her who despise her people, so they will know that I am the Lord Yahweh!’ 25 The Lord Yahweh says this, ‘When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they were scattered, and when I am set apart among them, so the nations may see, then they will make their homes in the land I will give to my servant Jacob. 26 Then they will live securely within her and build houses, plant vineyards, and live securely when I execute justice on all the ones who now despise them from all around; so they will know that I am Yahweh their God!’” Chapter 29 1 In the tenth year, in the tenth month on the twelfth day of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh, the king of Egypt; prophesy against him and against all of Egypt. 3 Declare and say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: Behold! I am against you, Pharaoh, king of Egypt. You, the great sea monster that lurks in the midst of the river, that says, “My river is my own. I have made it for myself.” 4 For I will place hooks in your jaw, and the fish of your Nile will cling to your scales; I will lift you up from the middle of your river along with all the fish of the river that cling to your scales. 5 I will throw you down into the wilderness, you and all the fish from your river. You will fall on the open field; you will not be gathered nor lifted up. I will give you as food to the living things of the earth and to the birds of the heavens. 6 Then all the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am Yahweh, because they have been a reed stalk to the house of Israel. 7 When they took hold of you in their hand, you broke and tore open their shoulder; and when they leaned on you, you were broken, and you caused their legs to be unsteady. 8 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this: Behold! I will bring a sword against you. I will cut off both man and beast from you. 9 So the land of Egypt will become desolate and a ruin. Then they will know that I am Yahweh, because the sea monster had said, “The river is mine, for I have made it.” 10 Therefore, behold! I am against you and against your river, so I will give the land of Egypt over to desolation and waste, and you will become a wasteland from the Migdol to Syene and the borders of Cush. 11 No man’s foot will pass through it, and no wild animal’s foot will pass through it. It will not be inhabited for forty years. 12 For I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of uninhabited lands, and its cities in the midst of wasted cities will become a desolation for forty years; then I will scatter Egypt among the nations, and I will disperse them through the lands. 13 For the Lord Yahweh says this: At the end of forty years I will gather Egypt from the peoples among whom they were scattered. 14 I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to the region of Pathros, to the land of their origin. Then they will be a lowly kingdom there. 15 It will be the lowliest of the kingdoms, and it will not be lifted up any more among the nations. I will diminish them so they will no longer rule over nations. 16 The Egyptians will no longer be a reason for confidence for the house of Israel. Instead, they will be a reminder of the iniquity that Israel committed when they turned to Egypt for help. Then they will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.’” 17 Then it came about in the twenty-seventh year on the first day of the first month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 18 “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon stationed his army to do hard work against Tyre. Every head was rubbed until it was made bald, and every shoulder was made raw. Yet he and his army received no payment from Tyre for the hard work that he carried out against it. 19 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this, ‘Behold! I am giving the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and he will take away its wealth, plunder its possessions, and carry off all he finds there; that will be his army’s wages. 20 I have given him the land of Egypt as the wages for the work they did for me—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 21 On that day I will make a horn sprout up for the house of Israel, and I make you speak in their midst, so that they will know that I am Yahweh.’” Chapter 30 1 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: Wail, “Woe is the coming day.” 3 The day is near. The day is near for Yahweh. It will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for nations. 4 Then a sword will come against Egypt, and there will be anguish in Cush when the killed people fall in Egypt— when they take her wealth, and when her foundations are ruined. 5 Cush and Put, Lydia and all Arabia, and Libya, together with the people belonging to the covenant—they will all fall by the sword. 6 Yahweh says this: So the ones who support Egypt will fall, and the pride of her strength will go down. From Migdol to Syene their soldiers will fall by the sword—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 7 They will be appalled in the midst of the abandoned lands, and their cities will be among all the ruined cities. 8 Then they will know that I am Yahweh, when I set fire in Egypt, and when all of her helpers are destroyed. 9 In that day messengers will go out from before me in ships to terrorize a secure Cush, and there will be anguish among them on the day of Egypt’s doom. For behold! It is coming. 10 The Lord Yahweh says this: I will make an end of the multitudes of Egypt by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. 11 He and his army with him, the terror of nations, will be brought to destroy the land; they will draw out their swords against Egypt and fill the land with those who have been killed. 12 I will make the rivers into dry ground, and I will sell the land into the hand of wicked men. I will make the land and its fullness desolate by the hand of strangers—I, Yahweh, have spoken. 13 The Lord Yahweh says this: I will destroy idols, and I will bring an end to the worthless idols of Memphis. There will no longer be a prince in the land of Egypt, and I will put terror on the land of Egypt. 14 Then I will make Pathros desolate and set fire in Zoan, and I will execute acts of judgment on Thebes. 15 For I will pour out my fury on Pelusium, the stronghold of Egypt, and cut off the multitude of Thebes. 16 Then I will set fire in Egypt; Pelusium will be in great agony, Thebes will be broken up, and Memphis will face enemies every day. 17 The young men in Heliopolis and Bubastis will fall by the sword, and their cities will go into captivity. 18 In Tahpanhes, the day will hold back its light when I break the yoke of Egypt there, and the pride of her strength will be finished. There will be a cloud covering her, and her daughters will walk into captivity. 19 I will execute acts of judgment in Egypt, so they will know that I am Yahweh.’” 20 Then it came about in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 21 “Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Behold! It has not been bound up, or set to heal with a bandage, so that it will become strong enough to grasp a sword. 22 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this, ‘Behold, I am against Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. For I will break his arm, both the strong one and the broken one, and I will make the sword fall from his hand. 23 Then I will scatter Egypt among the nations and disperse them among the lands. 24 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and place my sword in his hand so that I might destroy Pharaoh’s arms. He will groan before the king of Babylon with the groans of a dying man. 25 For I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, while Pharaoh’s arms will fall. Then they will know that I am Yahweh, when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon; for he will attack the land of Egypt with it. 26 So I will scatter Egypt among the nations and disperse them through the lands. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.’” Chapter 31 1 Then it came about in the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, say to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to his multitudes around him, ‘In your greatness, who are you like? 3 Behold! Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon with beautiful branches, giving shade to the forest, and the tallest in height, and the branches formed its treetop. 4 Many waters made it tall; the deep waters made it huge. Rivers flowed all around its area, for their channels stretched out to all the trees in the field. 5 Its great height was more than any of the other trees in the field, and its branches became very many; its branches grew long because of many waters as they grew. 6 Every bird of the heavens nested in its branches, while every living thing of the field gave birth to its young under its foliage. All of the many nations lived under its shade. 7 For it was beautiful in its greatness and the length of its branches, for its roots were in many waters. 8 Cedars in the garden of God could not equal it. None among the cypress trees matched its branches, and the plane tree could not equal its boughs. There was no other tree in the garden of God that was like it in its beauty. 9 I made it beautiful with its many branches and all the trees of Eden that were in the garden of God envied it. 10 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this: Because it was tall in height, and it set its treetop between its branches, it lifted up its heart because of its height. 11 I have given it into the hand of a mighty one of the nations, to deal with it according to what its wickedness deserves. I have thrown it out. 12 Foreigners who were the terror of all the nations cut it off and left it to die. Its branches fell on the mountains and all the valleys, and its boughs lay broken in all the ravines of the land. Then all the nations on earth came out from under its shade and they went away from it. 13 All the birds of the sky rested on the trunk of the fallen tree, and every animal of the field came to its branches. 14 This happened so that no other trees that grow by the waters will lift up their foliage to the height of the tallest trees, and that no other trees that grow beside the waters will reach up to that height. All of them have been assigned to death, to the earth below, among the children of humanity, with those that go down to the pit. 15 The Lord Yahweh says this: On the day when the cedar went down to Sheol I brought mourning to the earth. I covered the deep waters over it, and I held back the ocean waters. I kept back the great waters, and I brought mourning to Lebanon for him. So all the trees of the field mourned because of it. 16 I brought shuddering to the nations at the sound of its downfall, when I threw it down to Sheol with those who went down into the pit. So I comforted all the trees of Eden in the lowest parts of the earth. These had been the choicest and best trees of Lebanon; the trees that drank the waters. 17 For they also went down with it to Sheol, to the ones who had been killed by the sword. These were its strong arm, those nations who had lived in its shade. 18 Which of the trees in Eden was your equal in glory and greatness? For you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the lowest parts of the earth among the uncircumcised; you will live with those who were killed by the sword.’ This is Pharaoh and all of his multitudes—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.” Chapter 32 1 Then it happened in the twelfth month of the twelfth year, on the first of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, lift up a lament concerning Pharaoh the king of Egypt; say to him, ‘You are like a young lion among the nations, but you are like a monster in the seas; you churn up the water, you stir up the waters with your feet and muddy their waters. 3 The Lord Yahweh says this: So I will spread my net over you in the assembly of many peoples, and they will lift you up in my net. 4 I will abandon you in the land. I will throw you into a field and cause all the birds of the heavens to settle on you; the hunger of all living animals on earth will be satisfied by you. 5 For I will put your flesh on the mountains, and I will fill the valleys with your worm-filled corpse. 6 Then I will pour your blood over the mountains, and the stream beds will be filled with your blood. 7 Then when I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with clouds, and the moon will not shine its light. 8 All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you, and I will put darkness over your land—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 9 So I will terrify the heart of many peoples in lands that you do not know, when I bring about your collapse among the nations, among lands that you have not known. [1] 10 I will shock many peoples concerning you; their kings will shudder in horror concerning you when I swing my sword before them. Every moment each one will tremble because of you, on the day of your downfall. 11 For the Lord Yahweh says this: The sword of the king of Babylon will come against you. 12 I will cause your multitudes to fall by warriors’ swords—each warrior a terror of nations. These warriors will devastate the pride of Egypt and destroy all of its multitudes. 13 For I will destroy all the livestock from beside the plentiful waters; the foot of man will no longer stir the waters up, neither will the hooves of cattle stir them. 14 Then I will calm their waters and make their rivers run like oil— this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 15 When I make the land of Egypt an abandoned place, when the land is made bare of all its fullness, when I attack all the inhabitants in her, they will know that I am Yahweh. 16 There will be a lament; the daughters of the nations will lament over her; they will lament over Egypt, over all her multitudes they will lament—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.’” 17 Then it happened in the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 18 “Son of man, weep for the multitudes of Egypt and bring them down— her and the daughters of majestic nations—to the lowest earth with those who have gone down to the pit. 19 ‘Are you really more beautiful than anyone else? Go down and lie down with the uncircumcised.’ 20 They will fall among those who were killed by the sword. The sword has been drawn! She has been given to the sword; they will seize her and her multitudes. 21 The strongest of the warriors in Sheol will declare about Egypt and her allies, ‘They have come down here! They will lie with the uncircumcised, with those who were killed by the sword.’ 22 Assyria is there with all her assembly. Her graves surround her; all of them were killed by the sword. 23 Those whose graves are set in the recesses of the pit are there, with all her assembly. Her graves surround all of those who were killed, who fell by the sword, those who brought terror on the land of the living. 24 Elam is there with all her multitudes. Her graves surround her; all of them were killed. Those who fell by the sword, who have gone down uncircumcised to the lowest parts of the earth, who brought their terrors on the land of the living and who carry their own shame, together with the ones going down to the pit. 25 They set a bedroll for Elam and all her multitudes in the midst of the slain; her graves surround her. All of them are uncircumcised, pierced by the sword, because they had brought their terrors on the land of the living. So they carry their own shame, together with the ones going down to the pit among all those who have been killed, those who are going down to the pit. Elam is among all those who were killed. 26 Meshech, Tubal, and all their multitudes are there! Their graves surround them. All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword, because they had brought their terrors on the land of the living. 27 They do not lie with the fallen warriors of the uncircumcised who have gone down to Sheol with all their weapons of war, and with their swords placed under their heads and their iniquities over their bones. For they were the terror of warriors in the land of the living. 28 So you, Egypt, will be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised! You will lie alongside those who were pierced by the sword. 29 Edom is there with her kings and all her leaders. They have been placed in their strength with those killed by the sword. With the uncircumcised they lie, with those who have gone down to the pit. 30 The princes of the north are there—all of them and all the Sidonians who went down with the ones who had been pierced. They were powerful and made others to be afraid, but now they are there in shame, uncircumcised with those who were pierced by the sword. They carry their own shame, together with the ones going down to the pit. 31 Pharaoh will look and be comforted about all his multitudes who were pierced by the sword—Pharaoh and all his army—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 32 I put him as my terrifying one in the land of the living, but he will be laid down in the midst of the uncircumcised, among those pierced by the sword, Pharaoh and all his multitudes—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.” 32:9 [1] Instead of when I bring about your collapse among the nations , some ancient and modern versions have when I take you into captivity among the nations . Chapter 33 1 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, declare this to your people; say to them, ‘When I bring a sword against any land, then the people of that land take one man from among themselves and make him a watchman for them. 3 He looks for the sword as it comes on the land, and he blows his horn to warn the people! 4 If the people hear the sound of the horn but do not pay attention, and if the sword comes and kills them, then each one’s blood is on his own head. 5 If someone hears the sound of the horn and pays no attention, his blood is on him; but if he pays attention, he will save his own life. 6 However, if the watchman sees the sword as it is coming, but if he does not blow the horn, with the result that the people are not warned, and if the sword comes and takes anyone’s life, then that person dies in his own sin, but I will require his blood from the watchman.’ 7 Now you yourself, son of man! I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; you will hear the words from my mouth and warn them on my behalf. 8 If I say to a wicked person, ‘Wicked one, you will surely die!’ but if you do not announce this so as to warn the wicked about his way, then he who is wicked will die in his sin, but I will require his blood from your hand! 9 But you, if you warn the wicked about his way, so that he might turn back from it, and if he does not turn back from his way, then he will die in his sin, but you yourself will have saved your own life. 10 So you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘You are saying this, “Our transgressions and our sins are on us, and we are decaying in them! How can we live?”’ 11 Say to them, ‘As I live—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration—I do not delight in the death of the wicked, for if the wicked repents from his way, then he will live! Repent! Repent from your wicked ways! For why should you die, house of Israel?’ 12 So now you, son of man, say to your people, ‘The righteousness of a righteous person will not save him if he sins! The wickedness of a wicked person will not cause him to perish if he repents from his sin! For the righteous person will not be able to live because of his righteousness if he sins. 13 If I say to the righteous, “He will surely live!” and if he trusts in his righteousness and then commits injustice, I will not call to mind any of his righteousness. He will die for the wickedness he committed. 14 So if I say to the wicked, “You will surely die,” but if he then repents from his sins and does what is just and right— 15 if he restores the loan guarantee that he wickedly demanded, or if he makes restitution for what he has stolen, and if he walks in the statutes that give life and no longer commits sin—then he will surely live. He will not die. 16 None of the sins that he has committed will be called to mind for him. He has acted justly and rightly, and so, he will surely live! 17 But your people say, “The way of the Lord is not fair!” but it is your ways that are not fair! 18 When the righteous person turns away from his righteousness and commits sin, then he will die in it! 19 When the wicked turns away from his wickedness and does what is just and righteous, he will live because of those things! 20 But you people say, “The way of the Lord is not fair!” I will judge each of you according to his way, house of Israel!’” 21 It happened in the twelfth year, on the fifth day of the tenth month of our captivity, that a fugitive came to me from Jerusalem and said, “The city has been captured!” 22 The hand of Yahweh had been on me in the evening before the fugitive came, and my mouth was opened by the time that he came to me in the dawn. So my mouth was open; I was no longer mute! 23 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 24 “Son of man, the ones inhabiting those ruins in the land of Israel are talking and say, ‘Abraham was only one person, and he inherited the land, but we are many! The land has been given to us as a possession.’ 25 Therefore say to them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: You eat blood, and you lift up your eyes towards your idols, then you pour out people’s blood. Should you really possess the land? 26 You have depended on your swords and have done disgusting things; each man defiles his neighbor’s wife. Should you really possess the land?’ 27 You will say this to them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: As I live, surely the ones in the ruins will fall by the sword, and I will give those in the fields to the living creatures as food, and those in fortresses and in caves will die of plagues. 28 Then I will turn the land into a desolation and a horror, and the pride of its might will end, for the mountains of Israel will be deserted, and there will be no one to pass through them.’ 29 So they will know that I am Yahweh, when I make the land a desolation and a waste because of all the abominations that they have done. 30 So now you, son of man—your people are saying things about you beside the walls and the gates of the houses, and each says to one another—each man to his brother, ‘Let us go and listen to the prophet’s word that comes out from Yahweh!’ 31 So my people will come to you, as they often do, and will sit in front of you and listen to your words, but they will not obey them. Right words are in their mouths, but their hearts are going after unjust profit. 32 For you are like a lovely song to them, a beautiful sound that is well played on a stringed instrument, so they will listen to your words, but none of them will obey them. 33 So when all of this happens—behold! it will happen!—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.” Chapter 34 1 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this to the shepherds: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who are shepherding themselves. Should not shepherds guard the flock? 3 You eat the fatty portions and you dress in wool. You slaughter the fatlings of the flock. You do not shepherd at all. 4 You have not strengthened those who have diseases, nor do you heal the ones who are ill. You do not bind up the ones who are broken, and you do not restore the outcasts or seek the lost. Instead, you rule over them through strength and violence. 5 Then they were scattered without a shepherd, and they became food for all the living beasts in the fields, after they were scattered. 6 My flock strays on all of the mountains and on every high hill, and it is dispersed over the entire surface of the earth. Yet no one is searching for them. 7 Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh: 8 As I live—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration—because my flock has become plunder and food for all the beasts in the fields, because there was no shepherd and none of my shepherds sought my flock, but the shepherds guarded themselves and did not shepherd my flock. 9 Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh: 10 The Lord Yahweh says this: Behold! I am against the shepherds, and I will require my flock from their hand. Then I will dismiss them from shepherding the flock; neither will the shepherds any longer shepherd themselves since I will take away my flock from their mouths, so that my flock will no longer be food for them. 11 For the Lord Yahweh says this: Behold! I myself will seek out my flock and I will look after them, 12 like a shepherd seeking his flock on the day he is within the midst of his scattered flock. Thus I will seek my flock, and I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on the day of clouds and darkness. 13 Then I will bring them out from among the peoples; I will gather them from the lands and bring them to their land. I will put them in pastures on the mountainsides of Israel, by the streams, and in every settlement in the land. 14 I will put them in good pastures; the high mountains of Israel will be their grazing places. They will lie down there in good places for grazing, in abundant pastures, and they will graze on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will shepherd my flock, and I myself will make them lie down—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration— 16 I will seek the lost and restore the outcast. I will bind up the broken sheep and heal the sick sheep but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd with justice. 17 So now you, my flock—this is what the Lord Yahweh says—behold, I will be a judge between sheep and sheep and between rams and male goats. 18 Is it not enough to feed on the good pasture, that you must trample down with your feet what is left of the pasture; and to drink from clear waters, that you must muddy the rivers with your feet? 19 Must my sheep eat what you have trampled with your feet, and drink what you have muddied with your feet? 20 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this to them: Behold! I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the thin ones, 21 for you have pushed them with your sides and shoulders, and you have gored all of the weak ones with your horns until you have scattered them away from the land. 22 I will save my flock and they will no longer be plunder, and I will judge between one sheep and another! 23 I will set over them one shepherd, my servant David. He will shepherd them, he will feed them, and he will be their shepherd. 24 For I, Yahweh, will be their God, and my servant David will be a prince among them—I, Yahweh, have declared this. 25 Then I will make a covenant of peace with them and remove the evil wild animals from the land, so that they will live securely in the wilderness and safely sleep in the forests. 26 I will also bring blessings on them and on the places around my hill, for I will send out showers in due season. These will be showers of blessing. 27 Then the trees of the field will produce their fruit, and the earth will yield its produce. My sheep will be secure in their land; then they will know that I am Yahweh, when I break the bars of their yoke, and when I rescue them from the hand of those who enslaved them. 28 They will no longer be plunder for the nations, and the wild animals on the earth will no longer devour them. For they will live securely, and no one will frighten them. 29 For I will provide them a land known for its crops; so they will not be victims of famine in the land, and they will not bear the scorn of the nations. 30 Then they will know that I, Yahweh their God, am with them. They are my people, the house of Israel—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 31 For you are my sheep, the flock of my pasture, and my people, and I am your God—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.’” Chapter 35 1 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it. 3 Say to it, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: Behold! I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will strike you with my hand and make you a desolation and a waste. 4 I will make your cities ruins, and you yourself will become desolate; then you will know that I am Yahweh. 5 Because you have always been hostile to the people of Israel, and because you poured them out into the hands of the sword at the time of their distress, at the time their punishment was at its greatest. 6 Therefore, as I live—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration—I will prepare you for bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you! Since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you. 7 I will make Mount Seir a complete desolation when I cut off from it anyone who passes through and returns again. 8 I will fill its mountains with those who were killed; on your high hills and valleys and in all your streams those who were killed by the sword will fall. 9 I will make you a perpetual desolation. Your cities will not be inhabited, but you will know that I am Yahweh. 10 You have said, “These two nations and these two lands will become mine, and we will possess them,” even when Yahweh was present with them. 11 Therefore, as I live—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration—so I will do according to your anger and according to your jealousy that you had in your hatred of Israel, and I will show myself to them when I judge you. 12 So you will know that I am Yahweh. I have heard all the insults you spoke against the mountains of Israel, when you said, “They have been destroyed; they have been given over to us to devour.” 13 You exalted yourselves against me with what you said, and you multiplied the words you said against me; and I heard it all. 14 The Lord Yahweh says this: I will make you a desolation, while the entire earth rejoices. 15 As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the people of Israel because of its desolation, I will do the same to you. You will become a desolation, Mount Seir, and all of Edom—all of it! Then they will know that I am Yahweh.’” Chapter 36 1 “Now you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, ‘Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of Yahweh. 2 The Lord Yahweh says this: The enemy has said about you, “Aha!” and “The ancient high places have become our possession.”’ 3 Therefore prophesy and say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: Because of your desolation and because of the attacks that came on you from all sides, you have become a possession of the other nations; you have been the subject of slanderous lips and tongues, and of people’s stories. 4 Therefore, mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord Yahweh: The Lord Yahweh says this to the mountains and the high hills, to the streambeds and valleys, to the uninhabited desolations and the forsaken cities that have become plunder and a subject of mocking for the other nations that surround them— 5 therefore the Lord Yahweh says this: I have certainly spoken in the fire of my fury against the other nations, against Edom and all who took my land for themselves as a possession, against all those who had both joy in their heart and disdain in their spirit, as they seized my land that they might claim its pasturelands for themselves.’ 6 Therefore, prophesy to the land of Israel and say to the mountains and to the high hills, to the streambeds and to the valleys, ‘the Lord Yahweh says this: Behold! In my fury and in my anger I am declaring this because you have borne the insults of nations. 7 Therefore, the Lord Yahweh says this: I myself will lift up my hand to swear that the nations that surround you will certainly carry their own shame. 8 But you, mountains of Israel, you will grow branches and bear fruit for my people Israel, since they will soon come back to you. 9 For behold, I am for you, and I treat you with favor; you will be plowed and sown with seed. 10 So I will multiply upon you the number of your people, even the whole house of Israel. The cities will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. 11 I will multiply man and beast on you mountains so that they will multiply and be fruitful. Then I will cause you to be inhabited as you previously were, and I will make you prosper more than you did in the past, for you will know that I am Yahweh. 12 I will bring men, my people Israel, to walk on you. They will possess you, and you will be their inheritance, and you will no longer cause their children to die. 13 The Lord Yahweh says this: Because they are saying to you, “You devour men, bereaving your nation of children,” 14 therefore you will not consume people any longer, and you will no longer make your nation mourn their deaths. This is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 15 Nor will I allow you to hear the insults of the nations any longer; you will no longer have to bear the shame of the peoples or cause your nation to fall—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.’” 16 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 17 “Son of man, when the house of Israel inhabited their land, they defiled it with their ways and their deeds. Their ways were like the unclean menstruation of a woman before me. 18 So I poured out my fury against them for the blood that they poured out on the land and for their pollution of it by their idols. 19 I scattered them among the nations; they were dispersed through the lands. I judged them according to their ways and their deeds. 20 Then they went to the nations, and wherever they went, they profaned my holy name when people said of them, ‘Are these really the people of Yahweh? For they have been thrown out of his land.’ 21 But I had compassion for my holy name that the house of Israel had defiled among the nations, when they went there. 22 Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: I am not doing this for your sake, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations everywhere you have gone. 23 For I will make my great name holy, which you have profaned among the nations—in the midst of the nations, you profaned it. Then the nations will know that I am Yahweh—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration—when you see that I am holy. 24 I will take you from the nations and gather you from every land, and I will bring you to your land. 25 Then I will sprinkle pure water on you so you will be purified from all of your impurities, and I will purify you from all of your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and a new spirit in your innermost parts, and I will take away the heart of stone from your flesh. For I will give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will set my Spirit in you and enable you to walk in my statutes and keep my decrees, so you will do them. 28 Then you will inhabit the land that I gave to your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 For I will save you from all of your uncleanness. I will summon the grain and multiply it. I will no longer put famine upon you. 30 I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field so that you will no longer bear the shame of famine among the nations. 31 Then you will think of your wicked ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will show loathing on your faces because of your own sins and your disgusting deeds. 32 I am not doing this for your sake—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration—let this be known to you. So be ashamed and disgraced because of your ways, house of Israel. 33 The Lord Yahweh says this: On the day that I purify you from all your iniquity, I will cause you to inhabit the cities and to rebuild the ruined places. 34 For you will plow the ruined land until it is no longer a ruin before the eyes of all who pass by. 35 Then they will say, “This land was desolate, but it has become like the garden of Eden; the desolate cities and the uninhabited ruins that were torn down are now fortified and inhabited.” 36 Then the other nations around you will know that I am Yahweh, that I built up the ruins and replanted the abandoned places. I am Yahweh. I have declared it and I will do it. 37 The Lord Yahweh says this: Again I will be asked by the house of Israel to do this for them, to increase them like a flock of people. 38 Like the flock is set apart for sacrifices, like the flock in Jerusalem at her appointed feasts, so will the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people and they will know that I am Yahweh.’” Chapter 37 1 The hand of Yahweh was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of Yahweh and set me down in the midst of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 Then he made me pass through them round and round. Behold! A great many of them were in the valley. Behold! They were very dry. 3 He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live again?” So I said, “Lord Yahweh, you alone know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones. Listen to the word of Yahweh. 5 The Lord Yahweh says this to these bones: Behold! I am about to put breath into you, and you will live. 6 I will place sinews over you and bring flesh onto you. I will cover you with skin and put breath within you so you will live. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.’” 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; as I prophesied, behold, a sound came, that of shaking. Then the bones drew together—bone against bone. 8 I looked and, behold, sinews were now on them, and flesh grew up and skin covered them. But there was still no breath in them. 9 Then Yahweh said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: Breath, come from the four winds, and breathe on these who have been killed, so they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as I was commanded; the breath came into them and they lived. Then they stood on their feet, a very great army. 11 Then Yahweh said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the entire house of Israel. Behold! They are saying, ‘Our bones have dried up, and our hope is gone. We have been cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: Behold! I will open your graves and lift you out from them, my people. I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you will know that I am Yahweh, when I open your graves and bring you out from them, my people. 14 I will place my Spirit within you so you will live, and I will cause you to rest in your land when you know that I am Yahweh. I declare and will do it—this is Yahweh’s declaration.’” 15 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 16 “So now you, son of man, take one stick for yourself and write on it, ‘For Judah and for the people of Israel, his companions.’ Then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the branch of Ephraim, and for all the people of Israel, their companions.’ 17 Bring both of them together into one stick, so that they become one in your hand. 18 When your people speak to you and say, ‘Will you not tell us what these things of yours mean?’ 19 then say to them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: Behold! I am taking the branch of Joseph that is in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel his companions and joining it to the branch of Judah, so that they will make one branch, and they will become one in my hand.’ 20 Hold in your hand the branches that you wrote on before their eyes. 21 Declare to them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: Behold! I am about to take the people of Israel from among the nations where they went. I will gather them from the surrounding lands and I will bring them to their land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and there will be one king as king over all of them, and they will no longer be two nations. They will no longer be divided into two kingdoms. 23 Then they will no longer defile themselves with their idols, their disgusting things, or any of their other sins. For I will save them from all of their faithless actions with which they have sinned, and I will purify them, so they will be my people and I will be their God. [1] 24 David my servant will be king over them. So there will be one shepherd over them all, and they will walk according to my decrees and they will keep my statutes and obey them. 25 They will live in the land that I have given to my servant Jacob, where your fathers had stayed. They will live in it forever—they, their children, and their grandchildren, for David my servant will be their chief forever. 26 I will establish a covenant of peace with them. It will be an everlasting covenant with them. I will establish them and multiply them and set my holy place in their midst forever. 27 My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. 28 Then the nations will know that I am Yahweh who sets Israel apart, when my holy place is among them forever.’” 37:23 [1] Some ancient and most modern versions read in this way: from all of their faithless actions . However, the Hebrew text reads from their dwelling places , which many think makes little sense in this context. Chapter 38 1 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face toward Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; and prophesy against him. 3 Say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: Behold! I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 4 So I will turn you around and set hooks in your jaw; I will send you out with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all of them dressed in full armor, a great company with large shields and small shields, all of them holding swords! 5 Persia, Cush, and Libya are with them, all of them with shields and helmets! 6 Gomer and all her troops, and Beth Togarmah, from the far parts of the north, and all its troops! Many peoples are with you! 7 Get ready! Yes, prepare yourself and your troops assembled with you, and be their commander. 8 You will be called after many days, and after some years you will go to a land that has recovered from the sword and that has been gathered from many peoples, gathered back to the mountains of Israel that had been a continuous ruin. But the land’s people will be brought out of the peoples, and they will live in safety, all of them! 9 So you will go up as a storm goes; you will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, all the many soldiers with you. 10 The Lord Yahweh says this: It will happen on that day that plans will form in your heart, and you will devise wicked schemes.’ 11 Then you will say, ‘I will go up to the open land; I will go to the quiet people living in safety, all of them living where there are no walls or bars, and where there are no city gates. 12 I will capture booty and steal plunder, in order to bring my hand against the ruins that are newly inhabited, and against the people gathered from the nations, people who are gaining livestock and property, and who are living at the center of the earth.’ 13 Sheba and Dedan, and the traders of Tarshish along with all its young warriors will say to you, ‘Have you come to plunder? Have you assembled your armies to take away spoil, to carry off silver and gold, to take their livestock and property and to haul away much plunder?’ 14 Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: On that day, when my people Israel are living securely, will you not learn about them? 15 You will come from your place far away in the north with a great army, all of them riding on horses, a great company, a large army. 16 You will attack my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land. In the latter days I will bring you against my land, so the nations might know me when I show myself through you, Gog, to be holy before their eyes. 17 The Lord Yahweh says this: Are you not the one of whom I spoke in former days by the hand of my servants, the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in their own time for years that I would bring you against them? 18 So it will come to be in that day when Gog attacks the land of Israel—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration—my wrath will mount up in my anger. 19 In my zeal and in the fire of my anger, I declare that on that day there will be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. 20 They will shake before me—the fish of the sea and the birds of the skies, the beasts of the fields, and all the creatures that crawl on the earth, and every person who is on the surface of the land. The mountains will be thrown down and the cliffs will fall, until every wall falls to the earth. 21 I will summon a sword against him on all my mountains—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration—each man’s sword will be against his brother. 22 Then I will judge him by plague and blood; and overflowing rain and hailstones and burning sulfur I will rain down upon him and his troops and the many nations that are with him. 23 For I will show my greatness and my holiness and I will make myself known in the eyes of the many nations, and they will know that I am Yahweh.’” Chapter 39 1 “Now you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: Behold! I am against you, Gog, chief of Meshech and Tubal. 2 I will turn you and lead you on; I will bring you up from the far north and bring you to the mountains of Israel. 3 Then I will knock your bow out of your left hand and make the arrows fall from your right hand. 4 You will fall on the mountains of Israel—you and all your troops and the soldiers who are with you. I will give you to the birds of prey and the wild beasts of the fields for food. 5 You will fall on the open field, for I myself declare it—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 6 Then I will send out fire on Magog and on those living in safety on the coasts, and they will know that I am Yahweh. 7 For I will make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will no longer allow my holy name to be profaned; the nations will know that I am Yahweh, the Holy One in Israel. 8 Behold! The day is coming, and it will take place—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 9 The ones living in the cities of Israel will go out and they will use weapons to kindle and make fires and burn them—small shields, large shields, bows, arrows, the clubs and spears; they will make fires with them for seven years. 10 They will not gather wood from the fields or cut down trees from the forests, since they will burn the weapons; they will take from those who wanted to take from them; they will plunder those who wanted to plunder them—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.” 11 Then it will happen on that day that I will make a place there for Gog—a grave in Israel, a valley for those who journey to the east of the sea. It will block those who wish to cross over. There they will bury Gog with all his multitudes. They will call it the Valley of Hamon Gog. 12 For seven months the house of Israel will bury them in order to purify the land. 13 For all the people of the land will bury them; it will be a memorable day for them when I am glorified—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 14 Then they will designate men to continually go through the land, to find those who were traveling through, but who died and their bodies remained on the surface of the land, so that they may bury them, in order to cleanse the land. At the end of the seventh month they will begin their search. 15 As these men pass through the land, when they see any human bone, they will put a marker by it, until gravediggers come and bury it in the Valley of Hamon Gog. 16 There will be a city there by the name of Hamonah. In this way they will purify the land. 17 Now to you, son of man, the Lord Yahweh says this: Say to all the winged birds and all the wild beasts in the fields, ‘Gather together and come. Gather from all around to the sacrifice that I myself am making for you, a large sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, so that you may consume flesh and drink blood. 18 You will consume the flesh of warriors and drink the blood of the princes of the earth; they will be rams, lambs, goats, and bulls, they were all fattened in Bashan. 19 Then you will eat fat to your satisfaction; you will drink blood until drunkenness; this will be the sacrifice that I will slaughter for you. 20 You will be satisfied at my table with horse, chariot, warrior, and every man of war—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.’ 21 I will set my glory among the nations, and all the nations will see my judgment that I perform and my hand that I have set against them. 22 The house of Israel will know that I am Yahweh their God from that day onward. 23 The nations will know that the house of Israel went into captivity because of their iniquity by which they betrayed me, so I hid my face from them and gave them into the hand of their adversaries so that all of them fell by the sword. 24 I did to them according to their uncleanness and their sins, when I hid my face from them. 25 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob, and I will have compassion on all the house of Israel, when I act with zeal for my holy name. 26 Then they will bear their shame and all the treason in which they betrayed me. They will forget all this when they rest in their land in safety, with no one to terrify them. 27 When I restore them from the peoples and gather them from the lands of their enemies, I will show myself to be holy in the sight of many nations. 28 Then they will know that I am Yahweh their God, for I sent them into captivity among the nations, but then I will gather them back to their land. I will not leave any of them among the nations. 29 I will no longer hide my face from them when I pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.” Chapter 40 1 In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity at the beginning of the year on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was captured—on that same day, the hand of Yahweh was upon me and he took me there. 2 In visions from God he brought me to the land of Israel. He brought me to rest on a very high mountain; to the south were what appeared to be buildings of a city. 3 Then he brought me there. Behold, a man! His appearance was like the appearance of bronze. A linen cord and a measuring stick were in his hand, and he stood in the city gate. 4 The man said to me, “Son of man, look with your eyes and listen with your ears, and fix your mind on all that I am revealing to you, for you were brought here so I could reveal them to you. Report everything that you will see to the house of Israel.” 5 There was a wall surrounding the temple area. The length of the measuring stick in the man’s hand was six long cubits. Each long cubit was a cubit and a handbreadth in length. So he measured the wall, and it was one measuring stick thick and one rod high. 6 Then he went to the temple gate that faced east. He went up its steps and measured the threshold of the gate—one stick in depth. [1] 7 The guard chambers were each one stick in length and one stick in width; there were five cubits between any two of the chambers, and the threshold of the temple gate by the temple portico was one stick deep. 8 He measured the portico of the gate; it was one stick in length. 9 He measured the portico of the gate. It was one stick deep. The doorposts were two cubits in width. This was the portico of the gate facing the temple. 10 There were three guard chambers on either side of the east gate, and each of them had the same measurement, and the walls that separated them had the same measurement. 11 Then the man measured the width of the gateway entrance—ten cubits; and he measured the length of the gateway entrance—thirteen cubits. 12 He measured the wall that was bordering the front of the chambers—one cubit high. The chambers measured six cubits on each side. 13 Then he measured the gateway from the roof of one chamber to that of the next chamber—twenty-five cubits, from the entrance of the first chamber to that of the second. 14 Then he measured the wall that went between the guard chambers—sixty cubits in length; he measured as far as the gate’s portico. 15 The entrance from the front of the gate to the other end of the gate’s portico was fifty cubits. 16 There were closed windows toward the chambers and toward their pillars within the gates all around; and likewise for the porches. There were windows all around the inside, and each jamb was decorated with palm trees. 17 Then the man brought me to the outer courtyard of the temple. Behold, there were rooms, and there was pavement in the courtyard, with thirty rooms next to the pavement. 18 The pavement went up to the side of the gates, and its width was the same as the gates’ length. This was the lower pavement. 19 Then the man measured the distance from the front of the lower gate to the front of the inner gate; it was one hundred cubits on the east side, and the same on the north side. 20 Then he measured the length and width of the gate that was at the north of the outer court. 21 There were three chambers on either side of that gate, and the gate and its portico measured the same as the main gate—fifty cubits in total length and twenty-five cubits in width. 22 Its windows, portico, chambers, and its palm trees corresponded to the gate that faced east. Seven steps went up to it and to its portico. 23 There was a gate to the inner courtyard in front of the gate facing north, just as also there was a gate to the east; the man measured from one gate to the other gate—one hundred cubits in distance. 24 Next the man brought me to the gate of the southern entrance, and its walls and portico measured the same as the other outer gates. 25 There were closed windows in the gateway and its portico just as at that gate. The south gate and its portico measured fifty cubits in length and twenty-five cubits in width. 26 There were seven steps up to the gate and its portico, and there were carvings of palm trees on the walls on either side. 27 There was a gate to the inner courtyard on the southern side, and the man measured from that gate to the gate of the south entrance—one hundred cubits in distance. 28 Then the man brought me to the inner courtyard by way of its southern gate, which had the same measurements as the other gates. 29 Its chambers, walls, and porticos measured the same as the other gates; there were windows all around in the portico. The inner gate and its portico measured fifty cubits in length and twenty-five cubits in width. 30 There were also porticos all around the inner wall; these were twenty-five cubits in length and five cubits in width. 31 This portico faced the outer courtyard with carved palm trees on its walls and eight steps going up to it. 32 Then the man brought me to the inner courtyard by the eastern way and measured the gate, which had the same measurements as the other gates. 33 Its chambers, walls, and portico measured the same as the other gates, and there were windows all around. The inner gate and its portico measured fifty cubits in length and twenty-five cubits in width. 34 Its portico faced the outer courtyard; it had palm trees on either side of it and eight steps going up it. 35 Next the man brought me to the northern gate and measured it; it measured the same as the other gates. 36 Its chambers, walls, and portico measured the same as the other gates, and there were windows all around. The gateway and its portico measured fifty cubits in length and twenty-five cubits in width. 37 Its portico faced the outer courtyard; it had palm trees on either side of it and eight steps going up it. 38 There was a room with a door by each of the inner gateways. This was where they rinsed the burnt offerings. 39 There were two tables on each side of each portico, on which the burnt offering was slaughtered, and also the sin offering and the guilt offering. 40 By the wall of the courtyard, going up to the gate to the north, there were two tables. Also on the other side there were two tables at the gate’s portico. 41 There were four tables on either side by the gate; they slaughtered animals on the eight tables. 42 There were four tables of cut stone for the burnt offerings, one and a half cubits in length, one and a half cubits in width, and one cubit tall. On them they laid the tools with which they slaughtered the burnt offerings for the sacrifices. 43 Two-pronged hooks a handbreadth in length were fastened in the portico all around, and the flesh of the offerings would be put on the tables. 44 On the outside of the inner gate, within the inner courtyard, were singers’ chambers, one on the north side facing south, and the other on the south side facing north. 45 Then the man said to me, “This room facing south is for the priests who are on duty in the temple. 46 The room facing north is for the priests on duty at the altar. These are the sons of Zadok who come near to Yahweh to serve him; they are among the sons of Levi.” 47 Next he measured the courtyard—one hundred cubits in length and one hundred cubits in width in a square, with the altar in front of the house. 48 Then the man brought me to the portico of the house and measured its doorposts—they were five cubits thick on either side. The entryway itself was fourteen cubits in width, and the walls on each side of it were three cubits in width. [2] 49 The length of the portico was twenty cubits, and its depth was eleven cubits. There were steps that went up to it and columns that stood on either side of it. [3][4] 40:6 [1] After one stick in depth , the Hebrew text reads in addition: one threshold one stick in depth” . Many modern versions, however, leave this expression out, because it seems to be a repetition of preceding text. 40:48 [2] Instead of the walls on each side of it were three cubits in width , the Hebrew text reads the entrance was three cubits in width , but this seems to be a mistake, judging from the preceding words in this verse. 40:49 [3] Instead of steps , some ancient and modern versions read ten steps . 40:49 [4] Instead of eleven cubits , some ancient and modern versions read twelve cubits . Chapter 41 1 Then the man brought me into the temple’s holy place and measured the doorposts—six cubits in width on either side. [1] 2 The width of the doorway was ten cubits; the wall on each side was five cubits in length. Then the man measured the dimensions of the holy place—forty cubits in length and twenty cubits in width. 3 Then the man went into the very holy place and measured the posts of the doorway—two cubits, and the doorway was six cubits in width. The walls on either side were seven cubits in width. 4 Then he measured the room’s length—twenty cubits. Its width—twenty cubits to the front of the temple hall. Then he said to me, “This is the most holy place.” 5 Then the man measured the wall of the house—it was six cubits thick. The width of each side room around the house was four cubits in width. 6 There were side rooms on three levels, one room above another, thirty rooms on each level. There were ledges around the wall of the house, to support all of the side rooms, for there was no support put in the wall of the house. 7 So the side rooms widened and went around going up, for the house went around higher and higher all around; the rooms widened as the house went up, and a stairway went up to the highest level, through the middle level. 8 Then I saw a raised part all around the house, the foundation for the side chambers; it measured a full stick in height—six cubits. 9 The width of the wall of the side rooms on the outside was five cubits. There was an open space to the outside of these rooms in the sanctuary. 10 On the other side of this open space were the priests’ outer side rooms; this space was twenty cubits in width all around the sanctuary. 11 There were doors into the side rooms from another open space—one doorway was on the north side, and the other on the south side. The width of this open area was five cubits all around. 12 The building that faced the courtyard on the west side was seventy cubits in width. Its wall measured five cubits thick all around, and it was ninety cubits in length. 13 Then the man measured the sanctuary—one hundred cubits in length. The separated building, its wall, and the courtyard also measured one hundred cubits in length. 14 The width of the front of the courtyard in front of the sanctuary was also one hundred cubits. 15 Then the man measured the length of the building behind the sanctuary, to its west, and the galleries on either side—one hundred cubits. The holy place and the portico, 16 the inner walls and the windows, including the narrow windows, and the galleries all around on three levels, were all paneled in wood. 17 Above the entryway to the inner sanctuary and spaced along the walls there was a measured pattern. 18 It was decorated with cherubim and palm trees; with a palm tree between each cherub, and each cherub had two faces: 19 the face of a man looked toward a palm tree on one side, and the face of a young lion looked toward a palm tree on the other side. They were carved all around the entire house. 20 From the ground to above the doorway, cherubim and palm trees were carved on the outer wall of the house. 21 The gate posts of the holy place were square. Their appearance was like the appearance of 22 the wooden altar in front of the holy place, which was three cubits high and two cubits in length on each side. Its corner posts, base, and frame were made of wood. Then the man said to me, “This is the table that stands before Yahweh.” [2] 23 There were double doors for the holy place and the most holy place. 24 These doors had two hinged door panels each, two panels for one door and two panels for the other. 25 Carved on them—on the doors of the holy place—were cherubim and palm trees just as the walls were decorated, and there was a wooden roof over the portico at the front. 26 There were narrow windows and palm trees on either side of the portico. These were the side rooms of the house, and they also had overhanging roofs. 41:1 [1] After six cubits in width on either side , most ancient copies and some modern versions add the width of the tent . 41:22 [2] Instead of Their appearance was like the appearance of the wooden altar in front of the holy place, which was , some modern versions have They all looked like each other. The wooden altar in front of the holy place was . Chapter 42 1 Next the man sent me out to the outer courtyard on the north side, and he brought me to rooms in front of the outer courtyard and the northern outer wall. 2 Those rooms were one hundred cubits along their front and fifty cubits in width. 3 Some of those rooms faced the inner courtyard and were twenty cubits away from the sanctuary. There were three levels of rooms, and the ones above looked down on the ones below and were open to them, having a walkway. Some of the rooms looked out onto the outer courtyard. 4 A passage ten cubits in width and one hundred cubits in length ran in front of the rooms. The rooms’ doors were toward the north. [1] 5 But the upper halls were smaller, for the walkways took away from them more space than they did in the lowest and middle levels of the building. 6 For the halls on the third story had no columns, unlike the courtyards, which did have columns. So the highest level’s rooms were smaller in size compared to the rooms in the lowest and middle levels. 7 The outside wall ran along the rooms toward the outer courtyard, the courtyard that was in front of the rooms. That wall was fifty cubits in length. 8 The length of the rooms of the outer courtyard was fifty cubits, and the rooms facing the sanctuary were one hundred cubits in length. 9 There was an entrance to the lowest rooms from the east side, coming from the outer courtyard. 10 Along the wall of the outer courtyard on the eastern side of the outer courtyard, in front of the sanctuary’s inner courtyard, there were also rooms [2] 11 with a walkway in front of them. They were as the appearance of the rooms on the northern side. They had the same length and breadth and the same exits and arrangements and doors. 12 On the south side were doors into rooms that were just the same as on the north side. A passage on the inside had a door at its head, and the passage opened into the various rooms. On the east side there was a doorway into the passage at one end. 13 Then the man said to me, “The northern rooms and the southern rooms that are in front of the outer courtyard are holy rooms where the priests who work nearest to Yahweh may eat the most holy food. They will put the most holy things there—the food offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering—for this is a holy place. 14 When the priests enter there, they must not go out of the holy place to the outer court, without laying aside the clothes in which they served, since these are holy. So they must dress in other clothes before going near the people.” 15 The man completed measuring the inner house and then took me out to the gate that faced the east and measured all the surrounding area there. 16 He measured the east side with a measuring stick—five hundred cubits with the measuring stick. [3] 17 He measured the north side—five hundred cubits with the measuring stick. [4] 18 He also measured the south side—five hundred cubits with the measuring stick. [5] 19 He also turned and measured the west side—five hundred cubits with the measuring stick. [6] 20 He measured it on four sides. It had a wall around it that was five hundred cubits in length, and five hundred cubits in width, to separate the holy from that which is common. 42:4 [1] Some ancient versions and many modern versions read one hundred cubits . Ancient Hebrew copies and some modern versions read one cubit . 42:10 [2] Hebrew and some modern versions read on the eastern side . However, some ancient copies and most modern versions read on the southern side . 42:16 [3] Instead of five hundred cubits , which some ancient and most modern versions read, Hebrew reads five hundred measuring sticks , which seems to be an error. 42:17 [4] Instead of five hundred cubits, which some ancient and most modern versions read, Hebrew reads five hundred measuring sticks , which seems to be an error. 42:18 [5] Instead of five hundred cubits , which some ancient and most modern versions read, Hebrew reads five hundred measuring sticks , which seems to be an error. 42:19 [6] Instead of five hundred cubits , which some ancient and most modern versions read, Hebrew reads five hundred measuring sticks , which seems to be an error. Chapter 43 1 The man then brought me to the gate that opened to the east. 2 Behold! The glory of the God of Israel came from the east; his voice was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with his glory. 3 It was according to the appearance of the vision that I saw, according to the vision that I saw when he had come [1] to destroy the city, and the visions were like the vision that I saw at the Kebar Canal—and I fell to my face. 4 So the glory of Yahweh came to the house by way of the gate that opened to the east. 5 Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court. Behold! The glory of Yahweh was filling the house. 6 The man was standing beside me, and I heard someone else speaking to me from the house. 7 He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet, where I will live in the midst of the people of Israel forever. The house of Israel will no longer profane my holy name—they or their kings—with their faithlessness or with the corpses of their kings at their high places. 8 They will no longer profane my holy name by putting their threshold next to my threshold, and their gateposts next to my gateposts, with nothing but a wall between me and them. They profaned my holy name with their disgusting actions, so I consumed them with my anger. 9 Now let them remove their faithlessness and the corpses of their kings from before me, and I will live in their midst forever. 10 Son of man, you yourself must tell the house of Israel about this house so they will be ashamed of their iniquities. They should think about this description. 11 For if they are ashamed of all that they have done, then reveal to them the design of the house, its details, its exits, its entrances, and all its designs, all its decrees and rules. Then write this down before their eyes so they will keep to all its design and all its rules, so as to obey them. 12 This is the regulation for the house: From the peak of the hill to all the surrounding border around it, it will be most holy. Behold! This is the regulation for the house. 13 These will be the measurements of the altar in cubits—that cubit being a regular cubit and a handbreadth in length. So the gutter around the altar will be a cubit deep, and its width will also be a cubit. The border around its surrounding edge will be one span. This will be the base of the altar. 14 From the gutter at the ground level up to the lower ledge of the altar is two cubits, and that ledge itself is one cubit in width. Then from the small ledge up to the large edge of the altar, it is four cubits, and the large edge is a cubit in width. 15 The hearth on the altar for the burnt offerings is four cubits high, and there are four horns pointing upward on the hearth. 16 The hearth is twelve cubits in length and twelve cubits in width, a square. 17 Its border is fourteen cubits in length and fourteen cubits in width on each of its four sides, and its rim is a half cubit in width. The gutter is a cubit in width all around with its steps facing east.” 18 Next he said to me, “Son of man, the Lord Yahweh says this: These are the regulations for the altar on the day they make it, for raising the burnt offering onto it, and for sprinkling blood on it. 19 You will give a bull from the cattle as a sin offering for the Levitical priests who are the descendants of Zadok, those who come near to me to serve me—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 20 Then you will take some of its blood and place it on the altar’s four horns and the four sides of its edge and on the surrounding rim; you will cleanse it and make atonement for it. 21 Then take the bull for the sin offering and burn it in the appointed part of the temple area outside of the sanctuary. 22 Then on the second day you will offer a male goat without blemish from the goats as a sin offering; the priests will cleanse the altar just as they cleansed it with the bull. 23 When you finish its cleansing, offer an unblemished bull from the cattle and an unblemished ram from the flock. 24 Offer them before Yahweh; the priests will throw salt onto them and raise them up as a burnt offering to Yahweh. 25 You must prepare a male goat as a sin offering daily for seven days, and the priests must also prepare an unblemished bull of the cattle and unblemished ram from the flock. 26 They must atone for the altar for seven days and purify it, and in this way they must consecrate it. 27 They must complete these days, and on the eighth day and onward it will come about that the priests will prepare your burnt offerings and your peace offerings on the altar, and I will accept you—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.” 43:3 [1] Instead of when he had come, which some Hebrew manuscripts and some ancient and many modern versions have, the other Hebrew manuscripts have when I came . Chapter 44 1 Then the man brought me back to the outer sanctuary gate that faced east; it was closed tightly. 2 Yahweh said to me, “This gate has been sealed shut; it will not be opened. No man will go through it, for Yahweh, the God of Israel, has come through it, so it has been closed tightly. 3 The ruler of Israel will sit in it to eat food before Yahweh. He will enter by way of the gate’s portico and go out the same way.” 4 Then he brought me by way of the northern gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and behold, the glory of Yahweh filled the house of Yahweh, and I fell to my face. 5 Then Yahweh said to me, “Son of man, set your heart and look with your eyes and listen with your ears to all that I am declaring to you, to all the statutes of the house of Yahweh and all its regulations. Think about the house’s entrance and exits. 6 Then say to the rebellious ones, the house of Israel, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: Let all of your disgusting actions be enough for you, house of Israel— 7 that you brought foreigners with uncircumcised hearts and uncircumcised flesh to be in my sanctuary, profaning my house, while you were offering me food, fat and blood—you have broken my covenant by all your disgusting actions. 8 You have not carried out your duties regarding my holy things, but you appointed others to take up your duties, and you assigned them to care for my holy place. 9 The Lord Yahweh says this: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, from any of those who live among the people of Israel, may enter my holy place. 10 Yet the Levites went far from me—they wandered away from me, going after their idols—but they will pay for their sin. 11 They are servants in my sanctuary, watching the gates of the house and serving in the house and they slaughter the burnt offerings and the people’s sacrifices, and they will stand before the people and serve them. 12 But because they performed the sacrifices before their idols, they became stumbling blocks for sin for the house of Israel. Therefore I will lift up my hand to swear an oath against them—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration—they will bear their punishment. 13 They will not come near me to act as my priests or to approach any of my holy things, the most holy things. Instead, they will bear their reproach and their guilt for the disgusting actions that they have done. 14 But I will place them as keepers of the work in the house, for all of its duties and everything that is done in it. 15 Then the Levitical priests, those sons of Zadok who fulfilled the duties of my sanctuary when the people of Israel were wandering away from me—they will come near me to worship me. They will stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 16 They will come to my sanctuary; they will approach my table to worship me and to fulfill their duties to me. 17 So it will be that when they come to the gates of the inner courtyard, they will have to dress in linen clothes, for they must not come in wool inside the gates of the courtyard and its house. 18 There should be linen turbans on their heads and linen underclothes on their hips. They must not dress in clothes that make them sweat. 19 When they go out to the outer courtyard, to the outer courtyard in order to go to the people, they must take off the clothes they wore when they served; they must take them off and lay them down in a holy room, so they do not make other people holy by contact with their special clothing. 20 Also they must neither shave their heads nor allow their hair to hang loosely, but they must trim the hair of their heads. 21 No priest may drink wine when he comes to the inner court, 22 nor take a widow or a divorced woman as a wife for himself, but only a virgin from the line of the house of Israel or a widow who was previously married to a priest. 23 For they will teach my people the difference between the holy and the profane; they will make them know the unclean from the clean. 24 In a dispute they will stand to judge with my decrees; they must be just. They will keep my law and my statutes in every feast, and they will celebrate my holy Sabbaths. 25 They must not defile themselves by going near to a dead person; however, if the dead person was his father or mother, son or daughter, brother or unmarried sister, then they may defile themselves. 26 After a priest has become unclean, they will count off a period of seven days for him. 27 On the day he enters the holy place, into the inner courtyard to serve in the holy place, he must bring a sin offering for himself—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 28 This will be their inheritance: I am their inheritance, and you must give them no property in Israel; I will be their property! 29 They will eat the food offerings, the sin offerings, the guilt offerings, and everything devoted to Yahweh in Israel, will be theirs. 30 The best of the firstfruits of all things and every contribution, anything from all of your contributions will belong to the priests, and you will give the first of your dough to the priests so that blessing may rest on your house. 31 The priests will not eat any carcass or animal torn by a beast, whether bird or beast. Chapter 45 1 When you cast lots to divide up the land as an inheritance, you must make an offering to Yahweh; this offering will be a holy part of the land, twenty-five thousand cubits in length, and ten thousand cubits in width. It will be holy, all its area round about. [1] 2 From this there will be a five hundred cubits by five hundred cubits square surrounding the holy place, with a surrounding border fifty cubits in width. 3 From this area you will measure a portion that is twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width; it will be the sanctuary, the most holy place. 4 It will be a holy place in the land for the priests who serve Yahweh, who come near Yahweh to serve him. It will be a place for their houses and a holy area for the holy place. 5 So it will be twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width, and it will be for towns for the Levites who serve in the house. 6 You will designate an area for the city, five thousand cubits in width and twenty-five thousand in length, that will be next to the area reserved for the holy place; this city will belong to all the house of Israel. 7 The prince’s land will be on both sides of the area reserved for the holy place and the city. It will be to their west and to their east. The length will correspond to the length of one of those portions, from the west to the east. 8 This land will be property for the prince in Israel. My princes will no longer oppress my people; instead, they will give the land to the house of Israel, for their tribes. 9 The Lord Yahweh says this: It is enough for you, princes of Israel! Remove violence and strife; do justice and righteousness! Quit your evictions of my people!—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 10 You must have accurate scales, accurate ephahs, and accurate baths! 11 The ephah and the bath will be the same amount, so that a bath will be a tenth of a homer; the ephah will be a tenth of a homer. Their measure will be corresponding to the homer. 12 The shekel will be twenty gerahs; sixty shekels will make a mina for you. 13 This is the contribution that you must present: A sixth of an ephah for every homer of wheat, and you will give a sixth of an ephah for every homer of barley. 14 The regulation offering of oil will be a tenth of a bath for every cor (which is ten baths), or for every homer, since a homer is also ten baths. 15 One sheep or goat from the flock for every two hundred animals from the watered regions of Israel will be used for any burnt offering or peace offering to make atonement for the people—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 16 All the people of the land will give this contribution to the prince in Israel. 17 It will be the prince’s responsibility to furnish animals for the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the drink offerings at the festivals and the new moon celebrations, and on the Sabbath days—all the fixed festivals of the house of Israel. He will provide for the sin offerings, the grain offerings, the burnt offerings, and the peace offerings for atonement on behalf of the house of Israel. 18 The Lord Yahweh says this: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you will take an unblemished bull from the herd and perform a sin offering for the sanctuary. 19 The priest will take some of the blood of the sin offering and place it on the doorposts of the house and on the four corners of the border of the altar, and on the doorposts of the gate to the inner court. 20 You will do this on the seventh of the month for each person’s sin by accident or ignorance; in this way you will atone for the temple. 21 In the first month on the fourteenth day of the month, there will be for you a festival, a seven-day festival. You will eat unleavened bread. 22 On that day, the prince will prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bull as a sin offering. 23 For the seven days of the festival, the prince will prepare a burnt offering for Yahweh: Seven bulls and seven unblemished rams each day for seven days, and a male goat each day as a sin offering. 24 Then the prince will perform a food offering of an ephah for each bull and an ephah for each ram with a hin of oil for each ephah. 25 In the seventh month on the fifteenth day of the month, at the festival, the prince will perform offerings on these seven days: Sin offerings, burnt offerings, food offerings, and offerings of oil. 45:1 [1] Instead of ten thousand , which the Hebrew text and some modern versions have, some ancient copies and many modern versions have twenty thousand . Chapter 46 1 The Lord Yahweh says this: The gate of the inner courtyard, facing east, will be shut for the six days of work, but on the Sabbath it will be opened, and on the day of the new moon it will be opened. 2 The prince will enter the outer courtyard by the way of the gate and its portico from outside, and he will stand before the doorposts of the inner gate while the priests perform his burnt offering and peace offering. Then he will worship at the threshold of the inner gate and go out, but the gate will not be shut until evening. 3 The people of the land will also worship before Yahweh at the entrance to this gate on the Sabbaths and new moons. 4 The burnt offering that the prince offers to Yahweh on the Sabbath day will be six unblemished lambs and an unblemished ram. 5 The grain offering with the ram will be an ephah, and the grain offering with the lambs will be what he wishes to give, and a hin of oil with each ephah of grain. 6 On the day of the new moon he must offer an unblemished bull from a herd, six lambs, and an unblemished ram. 7 He must make a grain offering of an ephah for the bull and an ephah for the ram, and what he wishes to give for the lambs, and a hin of oil for every ephah of grain. 8 When the prince enters by the way of the gate and its portico, he must leave by the same way. 9 But when the people of the land come before Yahweh at the appointed festivals, anyone entering through the north gate to worship must leave through the south gate; and anyone entering through the south gate must leave through the north gate. No one may turn back to the gate through which he entered, for he must go out straight ahead. 10 The prince must be in their midst; when they go in, he must go in, and when they leave, he must leave. 11 At the festivals, the grain offering must be an ephah of grain for the bull and an ephah for the ram, and whatever he wishes to give with the lambs, and a hin of oil for every ephah. 12 When the prince gives a freewill offering, either a burnt offering or a peace offering to Yahweh, the gate facing east will be opened for him. He will offer his burnt offering or his peace offering as he does it on the Sabbath day. Then he must go out, and after he has gone out the gate will be shut. 13 In addition, you will give an unblemished lamb one year old as a burnt offering to Yahweh daily; you will do this morning after morning. 14 You will give a grain offering with it morning after morning, a sixth of an ephah and a third of a hin of oil to moisten the flour of the grain offering for Yahweh, according to a permanent statute. 15 They will prepare the lamb, the grain offering, and the oil morning after morning, a permanent burnt offering. 16 The Lord Yahweh says this: If the prince gives a gift to any of his sons, it is his inheritance. It will be the property of his sons, it is an inheritance. 17 But if he gives a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, then it will be that servant’s until the year of liberty, and then it will return to the prince. His inheritance will certainly be for his sons. 18 The prince will not take the people’s inheritance away from their own property; he must provide for his sons from his own property so that my people will not be scattered, each man from his own property.’” 19 Next the man brought me through the entrance at the gate to the holy rooms for the priests, which faced north and behold! There was a place toward the west. 20 He said to me, “This is the place where the priests must boil the guilt offering and the sin offering and where they must bake the grain offering. They must not bring the offerings into the outer courtyard, for then the people would be consecrated.” 21 Then he brought me to the outer courtyard and he led me past the four corners of that courtyard, and I saw that in every corner of the courtyard there was a another court. 22 In the four corners of the outer courtyard there were four small courtyards, forty cubits in length and thirty in width. There were the same dimensions for all four of the courtyards. [1] 23 There was a row made of stone all around the four of them, and cooking hearths were under the stone row. 24 The man said to me, “These are the places where the temple servants will boil the people’s sacrifices.” 46:22 [1] The Hebrew word translated here as small is unclear. It is translated in this way by some ancient and some modern versions. However, other modern versions translate it differently. Chapter 47 1 Then the man took me back to the entrance to the temple, and there was water flowing out from under the temple threshold of the house toward the east—for the front of the temple faced east—and the water was flowing down the south side of the temple, to the right of the altar. 2 So he brought me out through the northern gate and led me around to the gate facing east, and there the water was flowing from this gate on its south side. 3 As the man was going toward the east, there was a measuring line in his hand; he measured off one thousand cubits and brought me through the water to ankle-deep water. 4 Then he measured one thousand cubits again and brought me through the water to knee-deep water; and he measured another thousand cubits and brought me to hip-deep water. 5 Next he measured off another thousand cubits, but it was a river that I could not cross through because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—it was a river that could not be crossed. 6 The man said to me, “Son of man, do you see this?” and he brought me out and had me walk back along the riverbank. 7 As I walked back, there the riverbank had many trees on this side and also the other side. 8 The man said to me, “This water is going out to the eastern territory and down to the Arabah; this water flows into the Salt Sea and will make it fresh. 9 It will be that every living creature that swarms will live where the water goes; there will be many fish, for these waters flow there. It will make the salt water fresh. Everything will live wherever the river goes. 10 Then it will happen that fishermen of En Gedi will stand by the water, and there will be a place to dry out the fishing nets by En Eglaim. There will be many kinds of fish in the Salt Sea, like the fish in the Great Sea for their abundance. 11 But the Salt Sea’s swamps and marshes will not be made fresh; they will be for providing salt. 12 Beside this river on its banks, on both sides, all kinds of trees will grow that bear food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will never fail to grow. Each month the trees will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves will be for healing. 13 The Lord Yahweh says this: This will be the way that you divide the land up for the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph will have two portions. 14 You are to divide equally what I lifted up my hand and swore to give to your fathers. This land will come to you as an inheritance. 15 This will be the boundary of the land on the north side from the Great Sea by way of Hethlon, and then to Zedad. [1] 16 Then the boundary will go to Berothah, to Sibraim, which is between Damascus and Hamath, and then to Hazer Hattikon, which is beside the boundary of Hauran. 17 So the boundary will go from the sea to Hazar Enan on the border with Damascus and Hamath to the north. This will be the north side. 18 On the east side the boundary will run between Hauran and Damascus, along the Jordan River between Gilead and the land of Israel. You will measure from the border to the eastern sea. This will be the eastern border. [2] 19 Then on the south side the boundary will run from Tamar as far as the waters of Meribah Kadesh, then along the brook of Egypt to the Great Sea. This will be the boundary on the south side. 20 Then the boundary on the west side will be the Great Sea to a point opposite Lebo Hamath. This will be the west side. 21 In this way you will divide this land for yourselves, for the tribes of Israel. 22 So you will distribute the inheritances for yourselves and for the foreigners in your midst, those who have given birth to children in your midst and who are, with you, like the native born people of Israel. You will cast lots for inheritances among the tribes of Israel. 23 Then it will happen that the foreigner will be with the tribe among whom he is living. You must give him an inheritance—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.” 47:15 [1] The Hebrew text reads by way of Hethlon, and then to Zedad , but some modern versions imitate 48:1 and add Lebo Hamath . 47:18 [2] The Hebrew text reads You will measure from the border to the eastern sea . However, some ancient and modern versions read to the eastern sea as far as Tamar . Chapter 48 1 These are the names of the tribes. The tribe of Dan will receive one portion of land; its boundary will run along the northern boundary of Israel by way of Hethlon and Lebo Hamath. Its boundary will go on to Hazar Enan and along the border with Damascus to the north and then on to Hamath. Dan’s boundary will go from east all the way to the Great Sea. 2 Adjoining the border of Dan, from the east side to the west, Asher will have one portion. 3 Adjoining the border of Asher from the east side to the west, Naphtali will have one portion. 4 Adjoining the border of Naphtali from the east side to the west, Manasseh will have one portion. 5 Adjoining the border of Manasseh from the east side to the west, Ephraim will have one portion. 6 Adjoining the border of Ephraim from the east side to the west, Reuben will have one portion. 7 Adjoining the border of Reuben from the east side to the west, Judah will have one portion. 8 The offering of land that you will make will be along the border with Judah and extend from the east side to the west side; it will be twenty-five thousand cubits in width. Its length will correspond to one tribe’s portion from the east side to the west side, and the temple will be in the middle of it. 9 This land that you will offer up to Yahweh will be twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand cubits in width. 10 These will be the assignments of this holy portion of land: The priests will have land assigned to them measuring twenty-five thousand cubits in length on the north side; ten thousand cubits in width on the west side; ten thousand cubits in width on the east side; and twenty-five thousand cubits in length on the south side, with the holy place of Yahweh in the middle of it. 11 This will be for the consecration of the priests of the line of Zadok, who have served me faithfully and who did not go astray when the people of Israel went astray, as the Levites did. 12 The offering for them will be a portion of this most holy land, extending to the border of the Levites. 13 The Levites’ land along the border with the priests’ land will be twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand cubits in width. The entire length of the two tracts of land will be twenty-five thousand cubits in length and twenty thousand cubits in width. 14 They must not sell it or exchange it; none of this firstfruits of the land of Israel must ever be separated from these tracts, for it all is holy to Yahweh. 15 The remaining land, five thousand cubits in width and twenty-five thousand cubits in length, will be for the collective use of the city, the houses, and the pastureland; the city will be in its midst. 16 These will be the city’s measurements: The north side will be 4,500 cubits in length; the south side will be 4,500 cubits in length; the east side will be 4,500 cubits in length; and the west side will be 4,500 cubits in length. 17 There will be pasture for the city toward the north, 250 cubits deep; to the south, 250 cubits deep; to the east, 250 cubits deep, and to the west, 250 cubits deep. 18 The remaining area of the holy offering will stretch for ten thousand cubits to the east and ten thousand cubits to the west. It will stretch along the border of the holy offering, and its produce will be food for those working in the city. 19 The people who work in the city, people belong to all the tribes of Israel, will farm that land. 20 All the land offering will measure twenty-five thousand cubits by twenty-five thousand cubits. In this way you will make the holy offering of land, together with the land for the city. 21 The rest of the land on either side of the holy offering and the city area will be for the prince. The prince’s tract of land to the east will extend for twenty-five thousand cubits from boundary of the holy offering to the eastern border—and his tract to the west will extend for twenty-five thousand cubits to the western border. In the middle will be the holy offering, and the holy place of the temple will be in its midst. 22 The land extending from the property of the Levites and the area of the city in its midst will be for the prince; it will be between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin—this land will be for the prince. 23 As for the remaining tribes, their portions will also run from the eastern side to the west side. Benjamin will receive one portion. 24 Adjoining the border of Benjamin from the east side to the west, Simeon will have one portion. 25 Adjoining the border of Simeon from the east side to the west, Issachar will have one portion. 26 Adjoining the border of Issachar from the east side to the west, Zebulun will have one portion. 27 To the south of Zebulun’s boundary, running from the east side to the west side, will be the land of Gad—one portion. 28 The southern boundary of Gad will extend from Tamar to the waters of Meribah Kadesh, and farther to the brook of Egypt, and then to the Great Sea. 29 This is the land for which you will cast lots; it will be the inheritance of the tribes of Israel. These will be their portions. This is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 30 These will be the exits from the city: On the north side, which will measure 4,500 cubits in length, 31 will be three gates, named for tribes of Israel: one gate for Reuben, one gate for Judah, and one gate for Levi. 32 On the east side, which will measure 4,500 cubits in length, will be three gates: one gate for Joseph, one gate for Benjamin, and one gate for Dan. 33 On the south side, which is 4,500 cubits in length, will be three gates: one gate for Simeon, one gate for Issachar, and one gate for Zebulun. 34 On the west side, which will measure 4,500 cubits, will be three gates: one gate for Gad, one gate for Asher, and one gate for Naphtali. 35 The distance around the city will be eighteen thousand cubits; from that day on, the city’s name will be “Yahweh Is There.” Daniel Chapter 1 1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels from the house of God. He brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. 3 Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, chief of his officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, 4 youths in whom was no blemish, who were good-looking, skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge and understanding learning, and who were competent to stand in the palace of the king, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. 5 The king assigned them a daily portion of the choice food of the king and of the wine that he drank. They were to be trained for three years, and at the end of which they were to stand before the king. 6 Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, some of the sons of Judah. 7 The chief of the officials gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego. 8 But Daniel resolved in his heart that he would not defile himself with the choice food of the king or with the wine that he drank. So he asked permission from the chief of the officials that he might not defile himself. 9 Now God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the officials. 10 The chief of the officials said to Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see your faces looking worse than the youths who are of your own age? Then you would endanger my head with the king.” 11 Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the officials had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. 12 “Please test your servants for ten days, and let us be given some vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then let our appearance be observed in your presence and the appearance of the youths who eat the choice food of the king, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” 14 So he listened to them in this matter, and he tested them for ten days. 15 At the end of ten days their appearance appeared better, and they were fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the choice food of the king. 16 So the steward took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables. 17 As for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and insight in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. 18 At the end of the time, when the king had commanded to bring them in, the chief of the officials brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 The king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king. 20 In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters, who were in his entire kingdom. 21 And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus. Chapter 2 1 In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams. His spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him. 2 Then the king gave orders to summon the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. 3 The king said to them, “I have had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.” 4 Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, “O King, live forever! Tell the dream to your servants, and we will show the interpretation.” 5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm. If you do not make known the dream to me and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb and your houses made a rubbish heap. 6 But if you show the dream and its interpretation, you will receive gifts from me, a reward, and great honor. Therefore show me the dream and its interpretation.” 7 They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” 8 The king answered and said, “I know for certain that you are trying to gain time because you see that the word from me is firm. 9 that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only one sentence for you. For you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt words before me until the times change. So then, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can show me its interpretion.” 10 The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who is able to reveal the matter for the king, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing from any magician or enchanter or Chaldean. 11 The thing that the king demands is difficult, and there is no one else who can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.” 12 Because of this the king was angry and very furious, and he gave an order to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. 13 So the decree went out that the wise men were to be killed; and they searched for Daniel and his friends to kill them. 14 Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to Arioch the captain of the guard of the king, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. 15 He answered and said to Arioch, the commander of the king, “Why is the decree from the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel. 16 Then Daniel went in and requested of the king that he would give him time so that he might show the interpretation to the king. 17 Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, 18 so that they might seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven 20 Daniel answered and said, “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever; for wisdom and power belong to him. 21 He changes the times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. 22 He reveals the deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. 23 O God of my fathers, I thank you and praise you for the wisdom and power you have given to me. Now you have made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the matter that concerns the king.” 24 Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him, “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon. Bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation.” 25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel in haste before the king and said thus to him, “I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.” 26 The king said to Daniel (whose name was Belteshazzar), “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I saw and its interpretation?” 27 Daniel answered before the king and said, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers are able to show to the king the mystery that the king has asked. 28 However, there is a God in heaven, who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the latter days. This was your dream and the visions of your head while on your bed. 29 As for you, O king, your thoughts on your bed turned to what would happen after this, and he who reveals mysteries has made known to you what is going to happen. 30 As for me, this mystery was revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and so that you may know the thoughts of your mind. 31 You, O King, were looking and behold, a great statue. This statue, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you. Its appearance was terrifying. 32 The head of this statue was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and its thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 You continued looking until a stone was cut out, although not by human hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and it crushed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors. The wind carried them away so that no trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. 36 This was the dream. Now we will tell its interpretation before the king. 37 You, O king, are the king of kings to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength, and the glory; 38 and wherever the sons of men dwell, the animals of the fields and the birds of the heavens, he has given them into your hand, and he has made you rule over them all. You are the head of gold. 39 After you will arise another kingdom inferior to you, then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth. 40 Then there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron crushes and shatters all things. And like iron that breaks into pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces. 41 And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of the clay of a potter and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; some of the firmness of iron will be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay. 42 As the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44 In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will the kingdom be left to another people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it will stand forever. 45 Just as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain by no human hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will happen after this. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.” 46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and paid homage to Daniel, and he commanded that an offering and incense be offered up to him. 47 The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings, and the one who reveals mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.” 48 Then the king gave Daniel high honors and gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 Daniel made a request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the administration of the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the court of the king. Chapter 3 1 King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold whose height was sixty cubits and its width six cubits. He set it up on the Plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. 2 Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather together the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 3 Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered together for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 4 Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, 5 that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6 But whoever does not fall down and worship, at that very moment, will be thrown into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.” 7 Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, harp and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshipped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 8 Therefore at this time certain Chaldeans came forward and brought malicious accusations against the Jews. 9 They responded and said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! 10 You, O king, have made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, harp, and bagpipe, and all kinds of music, must fall down and worship the golden image. 11 But whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire. 12 There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you. They do not serve your gods, or worship the golden image that you have set up.” 13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar responded and said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you will not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? 15 Now if you are ready—at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, harp, and bagpipe, and all kinds of music—to fall down and worship the image that I have made, all will be well. But if you do not worship, you will immediately be thrown into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire. Who is the god who will rescue you out of my hands?” 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he will rescue us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you set up.” 19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He answered by giving orders to heat the furnace seven times more than it was normally heated. 20 He commanded certain mighty men who were in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire. 21 Then these men were tied up in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other clothing, and they were thrown into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. 22 For this reason, because the command of the king was urgent and the furnace was extremely hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23 But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. 24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and stood up in haste. He said to his counselors, “Did we not throw three men bound into the midst of the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “Certainly, O king.” 25 He answered and said, “Look! I see four men unbound walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt. The appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” 26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire; he responded and said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the midst of the fire. 27 The satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the counselors of the king gathered together and saw that the fire had no power over the bodies of these men; the hair of their heads was not singed; their cloaks were not harmed; and the smell of fire had not come on them. 28 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the command of the king, and gave up their bodies rather than serve or worship any god except their God. 29 Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language that speaks anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be torn limb from limb, and their houses be made into rubbish heaps because there is no other god who is able to save like this.” 30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. Chapter 4 1 King Nebuchadnezzar to all peoples, nations, and languages that live in all the earth: May your peace abound! 2 It has seemed good to me to make known the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for 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 ease in my house and prospering in my palace. 5 I saw a dream that made me afraid. As I lay on my bed, the fantasies and the visions of my head alarmed me. 6 So I gave a decree to bring before me all the wise men of Babylon that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream. 7 Then the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers came in, and I told them the dream, but they could not make known to me its interpretion. 8 But at last Daniel came in before me, whose name is Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and I told him the dream. 9 “O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, since I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no mystery is too difficult for you, tell me the visions of my dream that I saw and their interpretation. 10 These were the visions of my head as I lay upon my bed: I was looking, and behold, a tree in the middle of the earth, and its height was great. 11 The tree grew and became strong. Its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth. 12 Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit was abundant, and in it was food for all. The animals of the field found shade under it, and the birds of the heavens lived in its branches. All flesh was fed from it. 13 I was looking in the visions of my head as I lay on my bed, and behold, a watcher, a holy one, came down from heaven. 14 He shouted aloud and said thus, ‘Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, strip off its leaves, and scatter its fruit. Let the animals flee from under it and the birds from its branches. 15 But leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field. Let him be wet with the dew of heaven. Let his portion be with the animals in the grass of the earth. 16 Let his mind be changed from that of a man, and let the mind of an animal be given to him, and let seven periods of time pass over him. 17 The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, and the decision is a command of the holy ones, so that the living may know that the Most High is ruler over the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he wishes and sets over it the lowliest of men.’ 18 I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw this dream. Now you, O Belteshazzar, tell me the interpretation, because all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation. But you are able, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.” 19 Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was appalled for a while, and his thoughts alarmed him. The king answered and said, “Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or the interpretation alarm you.” Belteshazzar asnwered and said, “My lord, may the dream be for those who hate you and its interpretation for your enemies. 20 The tree that you saw, which grew and became strong, and whose top reached to heaven and was visible to all the earth 21 and whose leaves were beautiful, and whose fruit was abundant, and in which was food for all, under which the animals of the field dwelt, and in whose branches the birds of the heavens lived— 22 it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong. Your greatness has grown and reaches to heaven, and your dominion to the ends of the earth. 23 In that the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field, and let him be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the animals of the fields until seven periods of time pass over him,’ 24 this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High that has come upon my lord the king: 25 that you will be driven from among men, and your dwelling will be with the animals of the fields. You will be made to eat grass like an ox, and you will be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you acknowledge that the Most High is ruler over the kingdom of men and he gives it to whom he wishes. 26 And as it was commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree, your kingdom will be assured to you from the time you recognize that Heaven rules. 27 Therefore, O king, let my advice be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that perhaps there may be a prolonging of your prosperity.” 28 All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon. 30 The king answered and said, “Is this not the great Babylon, which I have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?” 31 While the words were still in the mouth of the king, a voice fell from heaven: “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: the kingdom has departed from you. 32 You will be driven away from men, and your dwelling will be with the animals of the field. You will be made to eat grass like an ox. Seven periods of time will pass over you until you acknowledge that the Most High is ruler over the kingdom of men and he gives it to whom he wishes.” 33 Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven away from men. He ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown long like the feathers of eagles, and his nails like the claws of birds. 34 At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my reason returned to me. “I blessed the Most High, and I praised and glorified him who lives forever. For his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation. 35 All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing; he does according to his will among the army of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?’” 36 At that time my reason returned to me, and my majesty and my splendor returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My counselors and my noblemen sought me, and I was reestablished in my kingdom, and surpassing greatness was added to me. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, extol, and honor the King of heaven, for all his deeds are right, and his ways are just; and he is able to humble those who walk in pride. Chapter 5 1 King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his noblemen, and he drank wine in front of the thousand. 2 When Belshazzar tasted the wine, he gave orders to bring the vessels of gold and silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem, so that the king and his noblemen, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. 3 Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God which was in Jerusalem, and the king and his noblemen, his wives and his concubines drank from them. 4 They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. 5 Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the palace of the king, opposite the lampstand. The king saw the back of the hand that was writing. 6 Then the color of the king changed, and his thoughts frightened him; the joints of his hips loosened, and his knees knocked together. 7 The king called aloud to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers. The king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon, “Any man who reads this writing and shows me its intepretation will be clothed with purple and will have a chain of gold around his neck, and he will be the third ruler in the kingdom.” 8 Then all the wise men of the king came in, but they could not read the writing or make known the intepretation to the king. 9 Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed, and his color changed, and his noblemen were perplexed. 10 The queen came into the banquet house because of the words of the king and his noblemen. The queen spoke and said, “O king, live forever! Do not let your thoughts alarm you. Do not let your color change. 11 There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, illumination and insight and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him. King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, your father the king, appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, 12 because an excellent spirit, knowledge, and insight for interpreting dreams, explaining riddles and solving problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called and he will show the interpretation.” 13 Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king answered and said to Daniel, “You are that Daniel, one of the exiles of Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah. 14 I have heard about you, that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that illumination and insight and excellent wisdom are found in you. 15 Now the wise men and enchanters have been brought in before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but they could not show the interpretation of the matter. 16 But I have heard about you, that you are able to give interpretations and solve problems. Now if you are able to read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you will be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck, and you will be the third ruler in the kingdom.” 17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, “Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation. 18 As for you, O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father kingship, greatness, honor, and majesty. 19 Because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whom he wished, he killed, and whom he wished, he kept alive. Whom he wished, he raised up, and whom he wished, he humbled. 20 But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he acted presumptuously, he was brought down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken away from him. 21 He was driven away from the sons of mankind, and his mind was made like that of an animal, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. He was given grass to eat like an ox. His body was wet with the dew of heaven until he recognized that the Most High God is ruler over the kingdom of mankind and that he sets over it whom he wishes. 22 Yet you, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this. 23 Instead, you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. The vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have drunk wine from them, and you praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see, hear, or know, but you have not honored the God in whose hand is your breath and whose are all your ways. 24 Then from his presence the palm of a hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. 25 This is the writing that was inscribed: ‘Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin.’ 26 This is the interpretation of the matter: ‘Mene,’ ‘God has numbered your kingdom and brought it to an end.’ 27 ‘Tekel,’ ‘you have been weighed on the scales and found lacking.’ 28 ‘Peres,’ ‘your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.’” 29 Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel with purple. A chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made about him, that he would be the third ruler in the kingdom. 30 That same night Belshazzar, the Chaldean king, was killed, 31 and Darius the Mede received the kingdom at about sixty-two years old. Chapter 6 1 It pleased Darius to appoint over the kingdom 120 satraps, who would be throughout the whole kingdom. 2 Over them were three high officials, of whom Daniel was one, to whom these satraps should give account, so that the king might suffer no loss. 3 Then this Daniel became distinguished above the high officials and satraps because an extraordinary spirit was in him, and the king planned to appoint him over the whole kingdom. 4 Then the high officials and the satraps were seeking to find a ground for accusation against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they were not able to find any ground for accusation or corruption because he was faithful, and no negligence or corruption was found in him. 5 Then these men said, “We will not find any ground for accusation against this Daniel unless we find something against him with regard to the law of his God.” 6 Then these high officials and satraps went as a group to the king and said to him as follows, “O King Darius, live forever! 7 All the high officials of the kingdom, the prefects, and the satraps, the counselors, and the governors have consulted together that the king should establish a statute and enforce an injunction, that whoever makes a petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be thrown into the den of lions. 8 Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document so that it may not be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which may not be revoked.” 9 Therefore king Darius signed the document and injunction. 10 Now when Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went into his house (now his windows were open in his roof chamber toward Jerusalem), and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously. 11 Then these men went as a group and found Daniel making petition and imploring favor before his God. 12 Then they approached and spoke before the king about the injunction of the king: “Did you not sign an injunction that any man who makes a petition to any god or man within thirty days, except to you, O king, must be thrown into the den of lions?” The king answered and said, “The matter is certain, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which may not be revoked.” 13 Then they answered and said before the king, “Daniel, who is one of the people of the exile from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the injunction that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.” 14 Then the king, when he heard the matter, was greatly distressed, and he set his mind on Daniel to deliver him; and until the sun went down he kept exerting himself to rescue him. 15 Then these men went as a group to the king and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians, that no injunction or statute that the king establishes can be changed.” 16 Then the king gave an order, and Daniel was brought in and thrown into the den of lions. The king responded and said to Daniel, “Your God, whom you serve continually, may he deliver you.” 17 A stone was brought and laid over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signet rings of his nobles so that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. 18 Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting. No entertainment was brought before him, and his sleep fled from him. 19 Then the king got up at dawn, at the break of day, and went in haste to the den of lions. 20 As he came near to the den to Daniel, he cried out in a troubled voice. The king responded and said to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” 21 Then Daniel spoke to the king, “O king, live forever! 22 My God sent his angel and shut the mouths of the lions, and they have not hurt me, because I was found blameless before him and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.” 23 Then the king was exceedingly glad, and gave an order for Daniel to be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. 24 The king gave an order, and they brought those men who had maliciously accused Daniel and threw them, their children, and their wives into the den of lions; and they had not reached the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones. 25 Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that live in all the earth: “May your peace abound. 26 I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom men are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God and enduring forever, and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed, and his dominion will be to the end. 27 He delivers and rescues, and he does signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.” 28 So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and during the reign of Cyrus the Persian. Chapter 7 1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions in his mind while lying on his bed. Then he wrote the dream down and told the sum of the matter: 2 Daniel related and said, “In my vision at night I was looking, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. 3 And four great beasts, each one different from the other, were coming up out of the sea. 4 The first was like a lion but had the wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. 5 And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. Three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth; and thus it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’ 6 After this I was looking, and behold, another, like a leopard, and on its back it had four wings of a bird. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it. 7 After this I was looking in the visions of the night, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and exceedingly strong. It had large iron teeth; it devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 8 While I was considering the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots before it. And behold in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things. 9 I kept looking until thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head was like pure wool. His throne was flames of fire, its wheels were burning fire. 10 A river of fire was flowing and coming out from before him; thousands upon thousands served him, and myriads upon myriads were standing before him. The court sat, and the books were opened. 11 Then I continued looking because of the sound of the great words which the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was killed, and its body was destroyed, and it was given to the burning fire. 12 As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but an extension in life was given to them for a season and a time. 13 I was looking in the visions of the night, and behold, with the clouds of heaven one like a son of man was coming, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, so that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed. 15 As for me, Daniel, my spirit was distressed inside of me, and the visions of my head kept alarming me. 16 I approached one of those who were standing there and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of the things. 17 ‘These great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the earth. 18 But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom, and they will possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.’ 19 Then I desired to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze, and which devoured, crushed, and trampled down what was left with its feet, 20 and about the ten horns that were on its head, and the other that came up, and before which three fell down, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth speaking great things, and which was greater in appearance than its companions. 21 I kept looking, and this horn was waging war with the saints and prevailing against them 22 until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High. Then the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom. 23 Thus he said, ‘the fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the kingdoms. It will devour the whole earth, and trample it down and crush it. 24 As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise, and another will arise after them. He will be different from the previous ones, and he will put down three kings. 25 He will speak words against the Most High and will wear out the saints of the Most High. He will intend to change the times and the law. They will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. 26 But the court will sit, and his dominion will be taken away, to be consumed and destroyed to the end. 27 Then the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions will serve and obey him.’ 28 Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts were greatly alarming me, and my face grew pale. But I kept the matter in my heart.” Chapter 8 1 In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar, I, Daniel, had a vision appear to me (after the one that appeared to me at the first). 2 I saw in the vision, and as I was looking, that I was in Susa, the citadel, which is in the province of Elam. And I saw in the vision that I was beside the Ulai Canal. 3 Then I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a ram standing beside the canal. It had two horns and both horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last. 4 I saw the ram charging westward, and northward, and southward; no animal could stand before him. There was no one to rescue out of his hand. He did as he pleased and magnified himself. 5 As I was observing, behold, a male goat was coming from the west across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground. The goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes. 6 He came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing in front of the canal, and he ran at him in his powerful rage. 7 I saw him come beside the ram, and he was enraged at him, and he struck the ram and shattered his two horns. The ram had no strength to stand before him. So he cast him down to the ground and trampled on him. There was no one who could rescue the ram from his power. 8 Then the male goat magnified himself exceedingly. But when he was mighty, the great horn was broken, and in its place there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven. 9 Out of one of them came forth a little horn, which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Beautiful Land. 10 It grew up to the host of heaven. Some of the host and some of the stars it threw down to the earth and trampled on them. 11 It magnified itself to be as great as the Prince of the host. It took away from him the regular burnt offering, and the place of his sanctuary was overthrown. 12 Because of transgression, the host will be given over to it along with the regular burnt offering. It will throw truth to the ground, and it will act and prosper. 13 Then I heard a holy one speaking and another holy one said to that particular one who was speaking, “For how long is the vision about the regular burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate, the giving over of the sanctuary and the host to be trampled on?” 14 He said to me, “For 2300 evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary will be put right.” 15 When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it. And behold, standing before me was one having the appearance of a man. 16 I heard the voice of a man between the banks of the Ulai, and he called out and said, “Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.” 17 So he came near where I stood. When he came, I was frightened and fell on my face. But he said to me, “Understand, O son of man, that the vision is for the time of the end.” 18 Now while he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face to the ground. Then he touched me and made me stand on my feet. 19 He said, “Behold, I am going to make known to you what will happen at the latter end of the indignation, for it refers to the appointed time of the end. 20 The ram that you saw with the two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia. 21 The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn that is between his eyes is the first king. 22 The horn that was broken and the four that arose in its place represent four kingdoms which will arise from his nation, but not with his power. 23 At the latter end of their rule, when the transgressors have reached their limit, a king of bold face, one who understands riddles, will arise. 24 His power will be great—but not by his own power. He will destroy to an extraordinary degree; he will succeed in what he does. He will destroy mighty men and the holy people. 25 By his cunning he will make deceit prosper under his hand. He will magnify himself in his heart. He will destroy many while they are at ease. He will even rise up against the Prince of princes, and he will be broken, but by no human hand. 26 The vision of the evenings and mornings that has been told is true. But seal up the vision, for it refers to many days in the future.” 27 Then I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for days. Then I got up, and went about the business of the king. But I was appalled by the vision, and there was no one to explain it. Chapter 9 1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, a descendant of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans-- 2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years which was revealed as the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. 3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, to seek him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4 I prayed to Yahweh my God, and I made confession and said, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love for those who love him and keep his commandments. 5 We have sinned and done wrong. We have acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and ordinances. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7 To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us belongs shame on our faces, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands where you have driven them, because of their treachery which they have committed against you. 8 To us, O Yahweh, belongs shame on our faces, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. 9 To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him 10 and have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh our God by walking in his laws which he set before us through his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, not obeying your voice. The curse and oath that are written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against him. 12 He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring on us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done to Jerusalem. 13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come on us, yet we have not entreated the favor of Yahweh our God, turning away from our iniquities and giving attention to your truth. 14 Therefore Yahweh has kept the calamity ready and has brought it on us, for Yahweh our God is righteous in all his deeds which he has done, yet we have not obeyed his voice. 15 Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for yourself, as it is this day, we have sinned, we have been wicked. 16 O Lord, in accordance with all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain. Because for our sins and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become an object of scorn to all those around us. 17 So now, our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy; for your sake, O Lord, make your face shine on your desolate sanctuary. 18 O my God, incline your ear and hear; open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we are not presenting our supplications before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, pay attention and take action! For your own sake, do not delay, my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.” 20 While I was speaking and praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before Yahweh my God on behalf of the holy mountain of my God, 21 while I was still speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight, at the time of the evening sacrifice. 22 He gave me understanding and spoke with me and said, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding. 23 At the beginning of your supplications, a word went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore consider the word and understand the vision. 24 Seventy sevens are decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place. 25 Know and understand that from the issuing of the word to restore and build Jerusalem until an anointed one, a prince, there will be seven sevens and sixty-two sevens. It will be built again with plaza and moat, but in times of distress. 26 After the sixty-two sevens, the anointed one will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end will come with a flood, and there will be war to the end. Desolations are decreed. 27 He will make a strong covenant with the many for one seven. In the middle of the seven, he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. On the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, until the complete destruction that is decreed is poured out on the desolator.” Chapter 10 1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a word was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar. The word was true, and it was a great conflict. He understood the word and had an understanding of the vision. 2 In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three whole weeks. 3 I ate no tasty food, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all until three entire weeks were completed. 4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was on the bank of the great river (that is, the Tigris), 5 I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a man dressed in linen, whose waist was girded with a belt of pure gold from Uphaz. 6 His body was like topaz, his face was like the appearance of lightning, his eyes were like flaming torches, his arms and his feet were like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words was like the sound of a multitude. 7 I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision. However, a great trembling fell on them, and they ran away to hide themselves. 8 So I was left alone and saw this great vision. No strength remained in me; my complexion turned to deathly pale, and I retained no strength. 9 Then I heard the sound of his words, and as I heard the sound of his words, I fell on my face in a deep sleep with my face to the ground. 10 Then behold, a hand touched me, and set me trembling on my knees and the palms of my hands. 11 He said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly treasured, understand the words that I am about to speak to you. Stand upright, for now I have been sent to you.” When he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. 12 Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come because of your words. 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days. Then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia. [1] 14 Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come.” 15 While he was speaking to me according to these words, I turned my face toward the ground and was unable to speak. 16 And behold, one in the likeness of the sons of man touched my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spoke and said to him who stood before me: “O my lord, pains have come upon me because of the vision; I retain no strength. 17 How can such a servant of my lord talk with such as my lord? As for me, there remains now no strength in me, and there is no breath left in me.” 18 Again the one with the appearance of a man touched me and strengthened me. 19 He said, “Do not be afraid, O man greatly treasured. May peace be to you! Be strong and be strong!” While he was speaking to me, I was strengthened and said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.” 20 Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? But now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia. When I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come. 21 But I will tell you what is inscribed in the Book of Truth. There is no one who stands strong with me against these, except Michael your prince.” 10:13 [1] Instead of kings of Persia , some ancient copies have prince of the kings of Persia. Chapter 11 1 As for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to support and protect him. 2 Now I will tell you the truth. Behold, three more kings will arise in Persia, and a fourth will gain far more riches than all the others. When he becomes strong through his riches, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece. 3 Then a mighty king will arise, and he will rule with great dominion and do according to his desires. 4 But as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom will be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not to his posterity, and not according to his authority with which he ruled. For his kingdom will be uprooted and given to others besides these. 5 Then the king of the South will become strong, but one of his princes will become stronger than he and will rule; his dominion will be a great dominion. 6 After some years, they will make an alliance. The daughter of the king of the South will come to the king of the North to make an agreement. But she will not retain the strength of her arm, nor will he endure, or his arm. She will be given up, along with those who brought her, he who fathered her, and he who supported her in those times. [1] 7 But from a branch of her roots one will rise up in his place. He will come against the army and enter the fortress of the king of the North. He will deal with them and will prevail. 8 He will also carry away as booty to Egypt their gods along with their cast metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold. For some years he will stay away from the king of the North. 9 Then he will come into the realm of the king of the South but will return to his own land. 10 His sons will wage war and assemble a multitude of great forces. It will keep coming and overflow like a flood and pass through, and again will carry the war as far as his fortress. 11 Then the king of the South will be enraged and go out and fight against him, against the king of the North. Then he will raise up a great multitude, but the multitude will be given into his hand. 12 When the multitude is carried off, his heart will be lifted up, and he will cause tens of thousands to fall, but he will not prevail. 13 For the king of the North will again raise a multitude, greater than the first. At the end of some years, he will surely come with a great army and much equipment. 14 In those times many will rise against the king of the South. Men of violence among your people will lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision, but they will stumble. 15 Then the king of the North will come, heap up siege ramps, and capture a city with fortifications. The forces of the South will not stand, not even his choicest troops, for there will be no strength to stand. 16 But he who comes against him will act according to his desires; no one will stand before him. He will stand in the Beautiful Land, with destruction in his hand. 17 He will set his face to come with the strength of his entire kingdom, and with him will be an agreement that he will make. He will give him the daughter of women to ruin it. But it will not stand or be to his advantage. 18 After this, he will turn his face to the coastlands and will capture many. But a commander will end his insolence against him. Moreover, he will cause his insolence to turn back upon him. 19 Then he will turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble and fall and not be found. 20 Then will arise in his place one who will send a tax collector for the splendor of the kingdom. But in a few days he will be broken, though not in anger nor in battle. 21 In his place will arise a despicable person to whom royal majesty has not been given. He will come unexpectedly and seize the kingdom by intrigue. 22 And the overflowing forces will be swept away before him and broken, and also the prince of the covenant. 23 After an alliance is made with him, he will act deceitfully, and he will go up and become strong with a small number of people. 24 Without warning he will come into the richest parts of the province, and he will do what neither his fathers nor his fathers' fathers did. He will scatter among them plunder, booty, and possessions. He will devise his plans against fortresses, but only for a time. 25 He will stir up his power and his heart against the king of the South with a great army. The king of the South will wage war with an exceedingly great and mighty army, but he will not stand, because plots will be devised against him. 26 Even those who eat his fine food will break him. His army will be swept away, and many will fall down slain. 27 The two kings, with their hearts bent on evil, will speak lies at the same table, but it will not suceed, for the end is still to come at the appointed time. 28 Then he will return to his land with much plunder, but his heart will be set against the holy covenant. He will take action and then return to his own land. 29 At the appointed time he will return and come into the South. But this last time it will not be as before. 30 For ships of Kittim will come against him, and he will withdraw in fear and return. He will curse the holy covenant and take action. He will come back and pay attention to those who forsake the holy covenant. 31 Forces from him will rise up and profane the sanctuary fortress. They will take away the regular burnt offering, and they will set up the abomination that causes desolation. 32 He will corrupt with flattery those who act wickedly toward the covenant. But the people who know their God will be strong and take action. 33 Those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many. But they will stumble by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder for some days. 34 When they stumble, they will receive a little help. Many will join themselves with them in hypocrisy. 35 Some of those who have insight will stumble in order to refine, purify, and cleanse them, until the time of the end. For it is still to come at the appointed time. 36 The king will act according to his desires. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god. Against the God of gods, he will speak astonishing things. He will be succeessful until the indignation is accomplished. For what is decreed will be done. 37 He will pay no attention to the gods of his fathers or to the one desired by women. Neither will he pay attention to any other god. For he will magnify himself above all. 38 He will honor the god of fortresses instead of these. A god whom his fathers did not know, he will honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and treasures. 39 He will take action against the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god. He will heap great honor on those who acknowledge him. He will make them rulers over the many, and he will divide up the land for a price. [2] 40 At the time of the end the king of the South will wage war with him. But the king of the North will storm against him with chariots and horsemen, and with many ships. He will come into countries, overflow, and pass through. 41 He will come into the Beautiful Land, and many will fall. But these will escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the main part of the sons of Ammon. 42 He will stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape. 43 He will become ruler over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; the Libyans and the Cushites will be in his footsteps. 44 But rumors from the east and the north will terrify him, and he will go out with great rage to exterminate and to devote many to destruction. 45 He will pitch his palatial tents between the seas and the beautiful holy mountain. Yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him. 11:6 [1] Instead of his arm , which the Hebrew text has, some ancient and many modern versions read his seed , that is, his children. 11:39 [2] Instead of He will attack the strongest fortresses , some modern versions have He will defend his fortress. Chapter 12 1 “At that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as never has been since there was a nation until that time. But at that time your people will be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. 2 Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who have insight will shine like the brightness of the heavenly expanse, and those who turn the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. 4 But you, Daniel, keep the words secret, and seal up the book until the time of the end. Many will run back and forth, and knowledge will increase.” 5 Then I, Daniel, looked, and behold, two others were standing, one on this bank of the stream, and one on that bank of the stream. 6 One said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream, “How long will it be until the end of these wonders?” 7 I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream. He raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven and swore by him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time. When the smashing of the power of the holy people has come to an end, all these things will be completed. 8 I heard, but I did not understand. So I said, “O my lord, what will be the outcome of these things?” 9 He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. 10 Many will be purified, cleansed, and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly. None of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand. 11 From the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1, 290 days. 12 Blessed is he who is patient and arrives at the 1, 335 days. 13 But as for you, go your way until the end. Then you will rest and will stand for your allotted portion at the end of the days.” Hosea Chapter 1 1 This is the word of Yahweh that came to Hosea son of Beeri in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel. 2 When Yahweh spoke at first through Hosea, Yahweh said to Hosea, “Go, take for yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry. For the land is committing flagrant harlotry by forsaking Yahweh.” 3 So he went and took Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4 Yahweh said to him, “Call his name Jezreel. For yet a little while I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 It will happen on that day that I break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.” 6 She conceived again and bore a daughter. Then Yahweh said to Hosea, “Call her name Lo-Ruhamah, for I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, that I should forgive them at all. 7 But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by Yahweh their God. I will not save them by bow, sword, battle, horses, or horsemen.” 8 After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son. 9 Then Yahweh said, “Call his name Lo-Ammi, for you are not my people, and I am not your God. 10 Yet the number of the sons of Israel will be like the sand of the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ it will be said to them, ‘You are sons of the living God.’ 11 The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be gathered together. They will appoint one leader for themselves, and they will go up from the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel. Chapter 2 1 Say to your brothers, ‘My people!’ and to your sisters, ‘You have been shown compassion.’” 2 Contend with your mother, contend, for she is not my wife, and neither am I her husband. Let her put away her harlotry from her face, and her adultery from between her breasts. 3 If not, I will strip her naked and expose her as on the day that she was born. I will make her like the wilderness, and make her like a parched land, and I will make her die from thirst. 4 I will have no mercy on her children, because they are children of harlotry. 5 For their mother has played the harlot, and she who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, “I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.” 6 Therefore, I will hedge up her way with thorns. I will build up a wall against her so she cannot find her paths. 7 She will pursue her lovers, but she will not overtake them. She will seek them, but she will not find them. Then she will say, “I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than it is now.” 8 For she had not known that it was I who gave her the grain, the new wine and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold, which they then used for Baal. 9 Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my new wine in its season. I will take away my wool and my flax that were used to cover her nakedness. 10 Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one will rescue her out of my hand. 11 I will also put an end to all her mirth, her feasts, her new moon celebrations, her Sabbaths, and all her appointed festivals. 12 “I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, of which she has said, ‘These are my wages that my lovers gave me.’ I will make them a forest, and the animals of the field will devour them. 13 I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals, when she burned incense to them, when she adorned herself with her rings and jewelry, and she went after her lovers and forgot me— this is the declaration of Yahweh.” 14 Therefore, behold, I am going to allure her. I will bring her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. 15 I will give her back her vineyards, and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope. She will answer me there as in the days of her youth, as in the days that she came out of the land of Egypt. 16 “It will be in that day—this is the declaration of Yahweh— that you will call me, ‘My husband,’ and you will no longer call me, ‘My Baal.’ 17 For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth; and they will be remembered by their names no more.” 18 “On that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts in the fields, with the birds in the sky, and with the crawling things on the ground. I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. 19 I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness, in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness, and you will know Yahweh. 21 On that day, I will answer—this is the declaration of Yahweh— I will answer the heavens, and they will answer the earth. 22 The earth will answer the grain, the new wine and the oil, and they will answer Jezreel. 23 I will sow her for myself in the land, and I will have mercy on Lo-Ruhamah. I will say to Lo-Ammi, ‘You are my people,’ and they will say, ‘You are my God.’” Chapter 3 1 Yahweh said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as Yahweh loves the sons of Israel, although they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.” 2 So I bought her for myself for fifteen pieces of silver and a homer and a lethek of barley. 3 I said to her, “You must dwell with me many days. You will not play the harlot or belong to any other man. In the same way, I will be with you.” 4 For the sons of Israel will dwell for many days without a king, prince, sacrifice, stone pillar, ephod or household idols. 5 Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek Yahweh their God and David their king, and in the last days, they will come trembling to Yahweh and to his goodness. Chapter 4 1 Hear the word of Yahweh, O sons of Israel. For Yahweh has a lawsuit against the inhabitants of the land, because there is no faithfulness or steadfast love, no knowledge of God in the land. 2 There is cursing, lying, murder, stealing and adultery. They have broken all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. 3 Therefore the land mourns, and all who live in it are wasting away, along with the beasts in the fields and the birds in the sky, even the fish in the sea, are being taken away. 4 But let no one bring a lawsuit; and let no one accuse. For my contention is with you, O priests. 5 You will stumble by day; the prophets will also stumble with you by night, and I will destroy your mother. 6 My people are destroyed because of the lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you from being priests to me. Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. 7 The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against me. I will change their glory into shame. 8 They feed on the sin of my people; they are greedy for their iniquity. 9 It will be like people, like priests: I will punish them for their ways; I will repay them for their deeds. 10 They will eat but not have enough; they will play the harlot but not increase, because they have forsaken Yahweh to devote themselves to 11 harlotry, wine, and new wine, which take away the understanding. 12 My people consult their wooden idols, and their walking sticks inform them. For a spirit of harlotry has led them astray, and they have played the harlot, departing from their God. 13 They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burn incense on the hills, under oaks, poplars and terebinths, because the shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the harlot, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery. 14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery. For the men themselves go aside with harlots, and they offer sacrifices with cult prostitutes. So the people without understanding will be thrown down. 15 Though you, O Israel, play the harlot, let not Judah become guilty. Do not go to Gilgal, do not go up to Beth Aven, and do not swear, saying, “As Yahweh lives.” 16 Israel is stubborn, like a stubborn heifer; can Yahweh now feed them like lambs in a broad pasture? 17 Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone. 18 Even when their liquor is gone, they play the harlot continually; her rulers dearly love their shame. 19 The wind will wrap her up in its wings; and they will be ashamed because of their sacrifices. Chapter 5 1 “Hear this, O priests! Pay attention, O house of Israel! Listen, O house of the king! For the judgment is for you, for you have been a snare at Mizpah and a net spread over Tabor. 2 The rebels stand deep in slaughter, but I will discipline all of them. [1] 3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me; for now, O Ephraim, you have played the harlot; Israel is defiled. 4 Their deeds will not allow them to return to their God, for a spirit of harlotry is within them, and they do not know Yahweh. 5 The pride of Israel testifies against him; Israel and Ephraim will stumble in their guilt; Judah also will stumble with them. 6 They will go with their flocks and herds to seek Yahweh, but they will not find him, for he has withdrawn from them. 7 They were unfaithful to Yahweh, for they have borne illegitimate children. Now the new moon will devour them with their fields. 8 Blow the horn in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah. Sound the alarm at Beth Aven: ‘We will follow you, O Benjamin!’ 9 Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of punishment. Among the tribes of Israel I declare what is certain. 10 The princes of Judah are like those who move a boundary. I will pour out my wrath on them like water. 11 Ephraim is oppresssed; he is crushed in judgment, because he was determined to go after idols. 12 So I will be like a moth to Ephraim, and like rot to the house of Judah. 13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to the great king. But he is not able to cure you or heal your wound. 14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear and go away; I will carry off, and there will be no one to rescue. 15 I will go and return to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, until they earnestly seek me in their distress.” 5:2 [1] Some modern versions have The rebels have dug a deep pit , The rebels have dug deep at Shittim , or, continuing on from the previous verse, a pit dug deep at Shittim . Chapter 6 1 “Come, let us return to Yahweh. For he has torn us, but he will heal us; he has struck us down, but he will bandage us. 2 After two days he will revive us; he will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before him. 3 Let us know; let us press on to know Yahweh. His going forth is sure as the dawn; he will come to us like the showers, like the spring rains that water the earth.” 4 O Ephraim, what will I do with you? O Judah, what will I do with you? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes away early. 5 Therefore I have cut them to pieces by the prophets, I have killed them with the words of my mouth. My judgments are like the light that goes forth. 6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. 7 Like Adam they have transgressed the covenant; there they were unfaithful to me. 8 Gilead is a city of evildoers with footprints of blood. 9 As a band of raiders lie in wait for a man, so the priests band together to commit murder on the way to Shechem; surely they have committed shameful crimes. 10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing; the harlotry of Ephraim is there; Israel is defiled. 11 For you also, Judah, a harvest has been appointed. When I restore the fortunes of my people, Chapter 7 1 when I would heal Israel, the sin of Ephraim is exposed, as well as the evil deeds of Samaria, for they practice deceit; the thief breaks in, and the marauding band raids outside. 2 But they do not realize in their hearts that I remember all their evil. Now their deeds surround them; they are before my face. 3 By their evil they make the king glad, and by their lies the princes. 4 They are all adulterers, like an oven heated by the baker, who ceases to stir the fire from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened. 5 On the day of our king the princes became sick with the heat of wine. He stretched out his hand with those who were mocking. 6 For with their hearts like an oven, they approach their intrigue. Their anger smolders all night; in the morning it burns like a flaming fire. 7 All of them are hot as an oven, and they devour those who rule over them. All their kings have fallen; none of them calls on me. 8 Ephraim mixes himself among the peoples. Ephraim is a flat cake that has not been turned over. 9 Foreigners have devoured his strength, but he does not know it. Gray hairs are sprinkled on him, but he does not know it. 10 The pride of Israel testifies against him; yet they have not returned to Yahweh their God, nor have they sought him, for all this. 11 Ephraim is like a dove, silly and without sense, calling to Egypt, then going to Assyria. 12 When they go, I will spread my net over them, I will bring them down like the birds of the sky. I will discipline them in accordance with the report to their assembly. 13 Woe to them! For they have strayed from me. Destruction to them! For they have rebelled against me! I would have redeemed them, but they spoke lies against me. 14 They do not cry to me with their heart, but they wail on their beds. They gather together for grain and new wine; they turn away from me. [1] 15 Though I trained and strengthened their arms, yet they plot evil against me. 16 They return, but not upward. They are like a slack bow. Their princes will fall by the sword because of the insolence of their tongues. This will be their derision in the land of Egypt. 7:14 [1] Instead of They gather together , which the Hebrew text has, some ancient copies and many modern versions have They cut themselves , an allusion to the pagan custom of idol worshipers wounding themselves in the frenzy of prayer. Chapter 8 1 “Put the trumpet to your lips! One like a vulture is over the house of Yahweh because they have transgressed my covenant and rebelled against my law. 2 They cry out to me, ‘My God, we in Israel know you.’ 3 Israel has rejected the good; the enemy will pursue him. 4 They have set up kings, but not by me. They have appointed princes, but I did not know. With their silver and gold they have made idols for themselves, so that they might be cut off.” 5 “Your calf has been rejected, O Samaria. My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence? 6 For from Israel is even this; a craftsman made it; it is not God! Surely the calf of Samaria will be broken to pieces. 7 For they sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; it yields no flour. If it were to yield, strangers would devour it. 8 Israel is swallowed up; they are now among the nations like a vessel in which no one delights. 9 For they have gone up to Assyria, a wild donkey all alone. Ephraim has hired lovers for herself. 10 Even though they hire lovers among the nations, I will now gather them together. They will begin to waste away because of the burden of the king of princes. 11 Since Ephraim has multiplied altars for sin offerings, they have become altars for sinning for him. 12 Were I to write for him my law ten thousand times, they would be regarded as something strange. 13 As for my sacrificial gifts, they sacrifice meat and eat it, but Yahweh does not accept them. Now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins. They will return to Egypt. 14 Israel has forgotten his Maker and has built palaces. Judah has multiplied fortified cities, but I will send fire on his cities; it will devour his fortresses. Chapter 9 1 Do not rejoice, O Israel, with joy like the peoples. For you have played the harlot, forsaking your God. You have loved the wages of a harlot on all the threshing floors. 2 The threshing floor and the winepress will not feed them; and the new wine will fail them. 3 They will not remain in the land of Yahweh; instead, Ephraim will return to Egypt, and they will eat unclean food in Assyria. 4 They will not pour out wine offerings to Yahweh, neither will their sacrifices be pleasing to him. It will be like the bread of mourners to them: all who eat it will be defiled. For their bread will be for themselves only; it will not come into the house of Yahweh. 5 What will you do on the day of an appointed festival, and on the day of a festival for Yahweh? 6 For behold, they go away from destruction, but Egypt will gather them, Memphis will bury them. As for their treasures of silver— sharp briers will possess them, thorns will be in their tents. 7 The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have come. Let Israel know these things. The prophet is a fool, the man of the spirit is insane, because of your great iniquity and great hostility. 8 The prophet is the watchman with my God over Ephraim. But the snare of a fowler is on all of his ways, and hostility in the house of his God. 9 They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their iniquity, he will punish their sins. 10 Like grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel. Like the first fruit on the fig tree in its first season, I saw your fathers. But they came to Baal Peor, and they devoted themselves to that shameful thing. They became detestable like that which they loved. 11 As for Ephraim, their glory will fly away like a bird-- no birth, no pregnancy, and no conception. 12 Even if they bring up their children, I will bereave them until no one is left. Yes, woe to them indeed when I turn away from them! 13 Ephraim, as I have seen, is like Tyre planted in a meadow; but Ephraim will bring out his children to him who slaughters.” 14 Give them, O Yahweh—what will you give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. 15 “All their evil is in Gilgal, indeed I came to hate them there. Because of the wickedness of their deeds, I will drive them out of my house. I will love them no more; all their princes are rebels. 16 Ephraim is stricken; their root is dried up; they will bear no fruit. Even if they give birth, I will kill the precious ones of their womb.” 17 My God will reject them because they have not listened to him. They will become wanderers among the nations. Chapter 10 1 Israel is a luxuriant vine that produces his fruit. The more his fruit increased, the more altars he built. As his land prospered, he improved his pillars. 2 Their heart is deceitful; now they must bear their guilt. He will break down their altars; he will destroy their pillars. 3 For now they will say, “We have no king, for we do not fear Yahweh, and a king—what could he do for us?” 4 They speak mere words, they make covenants with worthless oaths. So judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field. 5 The inhabitants of Samaria will be afraid for the calf of Beth Aven. Indeed, its people will mourn over it, as will its idolatrous priests who had rejoiced over it and over its splendor, for it has departed from them. 6 The thing itself will be carried to Assyria as tribute for the great king. Ephraim will receive shame, and Israel will be ashamed of its idol. 7 The king of Samaria will be cut off, like a twig on the face of the waters. 8 The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed. Thorns and thistles will grow up on their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!” 9 “O Israel, you have sinned since the days of Gibeah; there they have remained. Will not the war against the sons of injustice overtake them in Gibeah? 10 When it is my desire, I will discipline them; and the nations will be gathered against them when they are bound for their double iniquity. 11 Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh, and I spared her fair neck; but I will harness Ephraim; Judah will plow; Jacob will harrow for himself. 12 Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in accordance with steadfast love. Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek Yahweh, until he comes and rains righteousness on you. 13 You have plowed wickedness; you reaped injustice. You have eaten the fruit of lies because you trusted in your way, in your many warriors. 14 Therefore a tumult will rise among your people, and all your fortresses will be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth Arbel on the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to pieces with their children. 15 So it will be done to you, O Bethel, because of your great wickedness. At dawn the king of Israel will be completely cut off.” Chapter 11 1 “When Israel was a child I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. 2 The more they called them, the more they went away from me. They kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning incense to idols. [1] 3 Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk. I took them by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. 4 I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love. I was to them like someone who eased the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them. 5 They will not return to the land of Egypt; but Assyria--he will be their king, because they refused to return to me. 6 The sword will whirl against their cities, and destroy the bars of their gates, and devour them because of their own plans. 7 My people are bent on turning away from me. Though they call to the Most High, he will not raise them up at all. 8 How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboyim? My heart is turned over within me; all my compassions are aroused. 9 I will not execute my fierce anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim. For I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath. 10 They will go after Yahweh; he will roar like a lion. When he roars, his sons will come trembling from the west. 11 They will come trembling like a bird from Egypt, like a dove from the land of Assyria. I will settle them in their homes—this is the declaration of Yahweh. 12 Ephraim has surrounded me with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit. But Judah still goes about with God, and is faithful to the Holy One.” 11:2 [1] Some ancient and most modern versions have they went away from me . The Hebrew text has they went away from them . Chapter 12 1 Ephraim feeds on the wind and pursues the east wind all day. He multiplies lies and violence. They make a covenant with Assyria and olive oil is carried to Egypt. 2 Yahweh also has a dispute with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; he will repay him according to his deeds. 3 In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he struggled with God. 4 He struggled with the angel and prevailed. He wept and begged for his favor. He found him at Bethel; and there he spoke with us. 5 Yahweh, the God of hosts; Yahweh is his memorial name. 6 But you must return to your God. Keep covenantal love and justice, and wait continually for your God. 7 A merchant has false scales in his hands; he loves to oppress. 8 Ephraim said, “Surely I have become rich; I have found wealth for myself. In all my labors they will not find iniquity in me, which would be sin.” 9 “I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt. I will again make you live in tents, as in the days of the appointed festival. 10 I spoke to the prophets, and I multiplied visions. By the hand of the prophets I gave parables.” 11 If there is iniquity in Gilead, surely they are worthless. In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls; their altars also will be like heaps of stone beside the furrows of the fields. 12 Jacob fled to the land of Aram; Israel worked for a wife; and for a wife, he kept sheep. 13 Yahweh brought Israel up from Egypt by a prophet, and by a prophet he was kept. 14 Ephraim has bitterly provoked to anger. So his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him and will turn back his reproach to him. Chapter 13 1 “When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling. He exalted himself in Israel, but he became guilty through Baal and died. 2 And now they sin more and more, and they make for themselves cast metal images, idols skillfully made from their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. They say of them, ‘Those who sacrifice people kiss calves.’ 3 Therefore they will be like the morning clouds, and like the dew that goes away early, like the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor, and like smoke from a window. 4 But I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt; and you were to know no god except me, for there is no savior besides me. 5 I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought. 6 When they had their pasture, then they became full; they were filled, and their heart became lifted up. Therefore they forgot me. 7 So I will become like a lion to them; like a leopard I will lurk along the path. 8 I will encounter them like a bear robbed of her cubs. I will rip open their chests, and there I will devour them like a lion, as a wild beast would tear them apart. 9 He destroys you, O Israel; for you are against me, against your helper. 10 Where now is your king, that he may save you in all your cities, and your rulers, about whom you said, ‘Give me a king and princes’? 11 I gave you a king in my anger, and I took him away in my wrath. 12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is stored up. 13 Pains of childbirth will come on him, but he is an unwise son, for at the right time he does not present himself at the opening of the womb. 14 Will I ransom them from the hand of Sheol? Will I redeem them from death? Where, O Death, are your plagues? Where, O Sheol, is your destruction? Compassion is hidden from my eyes.” 15 Though he flourishes among his brothers, an east wind will come; the wind of Yahweh will come up from the wilderness. His fountain will dry up, and his spring will be parched. It will plunder his treasury of every precious object. 16 Samaria will be held guilty, for she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword; their young children will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women will be ripped open. Chapter 14 1 Return, O Israel, to Yahweh your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. 2 Take with you words and return to Yahweh. Say to him, “Take away all iniquity and accept what is good, so that we may offer the fruit of our lips. [1] 3 Assyria will not save us; we will not ride on horses. Neither will we say anymore to the work of our hands, ‘Our God,’ for in you the fatherless finds compassion.” 4 “I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them. 5 I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily and take root like the cedar of Lebanon. 6 His shoots will sprout; his beauty will be like the olive trees, and his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon. 7 Those who live in his shadow will return; they will revive like the grain and blossom like the vine. His fame will be like the wine of Lebanon. 8 O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after him. I am like a luxuriant cypress; from me comes your fruit.” 9 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of Yahweh are right, and the righteous will walk in them, but transgressors will stumble in them. 14:2 [1] The phrase so that we may offer to you the fruit of our lips represents the interpretation of some ancient versions. The Hebrew text has so that we may offer bulls, our lips . Some modern versions interpret this to mean, so that we may offer to you bulls, which we have promised to do . Joel Chapter 1 1 This is the word of Yahweh that came to Joel son of Pethuel. 2 Hear this, you elders, and listen, all you inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this happened in your days or in the days of your fathers? 3 Tell your sons about it, and let your sons tell their sons, and their sons the next generation. 4 What the cutting locust has left the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust has left the hopping locust has eaten; and what the hopping locust has left the destroying locust has eaten. 5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you drinkers of wine, because the sweet wine has been cut off from your mouth. 6 For a nation has come up against my land, strong and without number. Its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and it has the fangs of a lioness. 7 It has made my vine into a waste and has splintered my fig tree. It has stripped its bark and thrown it away; their branches are bare white. 8 Mourn like a virgin dressed in sackcloth for the bridegroom of her youth. 9 The grain offering and the drink offering have been cut off from Yahweh’s house. The priests, Yahweh’s servants, mourn. 10 The fields are ruined, the ground is mourning because the grain has been destroyed. The new wine has dried up, the oil fails. 11 Be ashamed, you farmers, and wail, you vine growers, for the wheat and the barley. For the harvest of the fields has perished. 12 The vines have withered and the fig trees have dried up, the pomegranate trees, also the palm trees, and the apple trees— all the trees of the field have withered. For joy has withered away from the sons of mankind. 13 Put on sackcloth and mourn, you priests! Wail, you servants of the altar. Come, lie all night in sackcloth, you servants of my God. For the grain offering and the drink offering have been withheld from the house of your God. 14 Call for a holy fast, and call a holy assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of Yahweh your God, and cry to Yahweh. 15 Alas for the day! For the day of Yahweh is almost here. With it will come destruction from the Almighty. 16 Has not food been cut off from before our eyes, and joy and gladness from the house of our God? 17 The seeds shrivel under their clods, the storehouses are desolate, and the granaries have been broken down, because the grain has dried up. 18 How the animals groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed because they have no pasture. Also, the flocks of sheep suffer. 19 Yahweh, I cry to you. For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and flames have burned all the trees of the fields. 20 Even the animals of the fields pant for you, for the water brooks have dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness. Chapter 2 1 Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble in fear, for the day of Yahweh is coming; indeed, it is near. 2 It is a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness. Like the dawn that spreads on the mountains, a large and mighty army is approaching. There has never been an army like it before, and there never will be again, even after many generations. 3 A fire is consuming everything in front of it, and behind it a flame is burning. The land is like the garden of Eden in front of it, but behind it there is a ruined wilderness. Indeed, nothing will escape from it. 4 The army’s appearance is like the appearance of horses, and they run like war horses. 5 With a noise like that of chariots they jump on the tops of the mountains, like the noise of fiery flames that devour the stubble, like a mighty army ready for battle. 6 At their presence people are in anguish and all their faces become pale. 7 They run like mighty warriors; they climb the walls like soldiers; they march, every one in step, and do not swearve from their paths. 8 Neither does one thrust another aside; they march, each in his path; they break through the weapons and do not fall out of line. 9 They rush on the city, they run on the wall, they climb into the houses, they enter through the windows like thieves. 10 The earth shakes in front of them, the heavens tremble, the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars stop shining. 11 Yahweh raises his voice in front of his army, for his warriors are very numerous; for they are strong, those who carry out his commands. For the day of Yahweh is great and very terrible. Who can survive it? 12 “Yet even now,” says Yahweh, “Return to me with all your heart. Fast, weep, and mourn.” 13 Tear your heart and not only your garments, and return to Yahweh your God. For he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abundant in covenant faithfulness, and he relents from inflicting punishment. 14 Who knows? Will he perhaps turn and have compassion, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for Yahweh your God? 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, call for a holy fast, and call a holy assembly. 16 Gather the people, call for the holy assembly. Assemble the elders, gather the children and the nursing infants. Let the bridegrooms come out of their rooms, and the brides out of their bridal chambers. 17 Let the priests, the servants of Yahweh, weep between the porch and the altar. Let them say, “Spare your people, Yahweh, and do not make your inheritance into an object of scorn, that the nations mock them. Why should they say among the nations, ‘Where is their God?’” 18 Then Yahweh was zealous for his land and had pity on his people. 19 Yahweh answered and said to his people, “Look, I will send you grain, new wine, and oil. You will be satisfied with them, and I will no longer make you a disgrace among the nations. 20 I will remove the northern attackers far from you, and will drive them into a dry and abandoned land. The front of their army will go into the eastern sea, and the rear into the western sea. Its stench will rise, and its bad smell will rise.” Indeed, he has done great things. 21 Do not fear, O land, be glad and rejoice, for Yahweh will do great things. 22 Do not fear, you beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness will sprout, the trees will bear their fruit, and the fig trees and the vines will yield their full harvest. 23 Be glad, O sons of Zion, and rejoice in Yahweh your God. For he will give you the autumn rain for your vindication and bring down showers for you, the autumn rain and the spring rain as before. 24 The threshing floors will be full of grain, and the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. 25 “I will restore to you the years of crops that the swarming locust has eaten— the hopping locust, the destroying locust, and the cutting locust— my mighty army that I sent among you. 26 You will eat plentifully and be full, and praise the name of Yahweh your God, who has done wonders among you, and never again will my people be put to shame. 27 You will know that I am among Israel, and that I am Yahweh your God, and there is none else, and never again will my people be put to shame. 28 It will come about afterward that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. 29 Also on male servants and female servants, in those days I will pour out my Spirit. 30 I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood, fire, and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun will turn into darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes. 32 It will be that everyone who calls on the name of Yahweh will be saved. For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as Yahweh has said, and among the survivors, those whom Yahweh calls. Chapter 3 1 Behold, in those days and at that time, when I return the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will gather all the nations, and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. I will judge them there, because of my people and my inheritance Israel, whom they scattered among the nations, and because they divided up my land. 3 They cast lots for my people, traded a boy for a prostitute, and sold a girl for wine so they could drink. 4 Now, what have you against me, Tyre, Sidon and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, I will immediately return your retribution on your own head. 5 For you took my silver and my gold, and you brought my precious treasures into your temples. 6 You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, in order to remove them far from their territory. 7 Look, I am about to stir them up, out of the place where you sold them, and will return your payment on your own head. 8 I will sell your sons and your daughters, into the hand of the sons of Judah. They will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far off, for Yahweh has spoken.” 9 Proclaim this among the nations, “Prepare yourselves for war, rouse the mighty men, let them come near, let all the men of battle come up. 10 Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning knives into spears. Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’ 11 Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations, gather yourselves together there. O Yahweh, bring down your mighty warriors. 12 Let the nations wake themselves up and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. For there will I sit to judge all the surrounding nations. 13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, crush the grapes, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their wickedness is enormous.” 14 There are multitudes, multitudes in the Valley of Judgment. For the day of Yahweh is near in the Valley of Judgment. 15 The sun and the moon become dark, the stars keep back their brightness. 16 Yahweh will roar from Zion, and raise his voice from Jerusalem. The heavens and earth will shake, but Yahweh will be a shelter for his people, and a fortress for the sons of Israel. 17 “So you will know that I am Yahweh your God who lives in Zion, my holy mountain. Then Jerusalem will be holy, and no strangers will pass through it again. 18 It will come about on that day that the mountains will drip with sweet wine, the hills will flow with milk, all the brooks of Judah will flow with water, and a fountain will come from the house of Yahweh and water the Valley of Shittim. 19 Egypt will become an abandoned devastation, and Edom will become an abandoned wilderness, because of the violence done to the sons of Judah, because they shed innocent blood in their land. 20 But Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem will be inhabited from generation to generation. 21 I will avenge their blood that I have not yet avenged, for Yahweh lives in Zion.” Amos Chapter 1 1 The message of Amos, who was among the shepherds in Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and also in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. 2 He said, “Yahweh will roar from Zion; he will raise his voice from Jerusalem. The pastures of the shepherds will wither; the top of Carmel will dry up.” 3 This is what Yahweh says: “For three sins of Damascus, even for four, I will not turn away punishment, because they threshed Gilead with instruments of iron. 4 I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, and it will devour the fortresses of Ben Hadad. 5 I will break the gate bars of Damascus and cut off the one who rules over the Valley of Aven, and also the one who holds the scepter in Beth Eden. The people of Aram will go in captivity to Kir,” says Yahweh. 6 This is what Yahweh says: “For three sins of Gaza, even for four, I will not turn away punishment, because they carried away captive a whole people, to hand them over to Edom. 7 I will send fire on the walls of Gaza, and it will devour her fortresses. 8 I will cut off the one who lives in Ashdod and the one who holds the scepter from Ashkelon. I will turn my hand against Ekron, and the rest of the Philistines will perish,” says the Lord Yahweh. 9 This is what Yahweh says: “For three sins of Tyre, even for four, I will not turn away punishment, because they had delivered up a whole people to Edom, and they did not remember their covenant of brotherhood. 10 I will send fire on the walls of Tyre, and it will devour her fortresses.” 11 This is what Yahweh says, “For three sins of Edom, even for four, I will not turn away punishment, because he pursued his brother with the sword and cast off all pity. His anger raged continually, and his wrath lasted forever. 12 I will send fire on Teman, and it will devour the palaces of Bozrah.” 13 This is what Yahweh says, “For three sins of the sons of Ammon, even for four, I will not turn away punishment, because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead, that they may enlarge their borders. 14 I will light a fire in the walls of Rabbah, and it will devour the palaces, with a shout in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind. 15 Their king will go into captivity, he and his officials together,” says Yahweh. Chapter 2 1 This is what Yahweh says: “For three sins of Moab, even for four, I will not turn away punishment, because he burned the bones of the king of Edom to lime. 2 I will send fire on Moab, and it will devour the fortresses of Kerioth. Moab will die in an uproar, with shouting and the sound of the horn. 3 I will destroy the judge in her, and I will kill all the princes with him,” says Yahweh. 4 This is what Yahweh says: “For three sins of Judah, even for four, I will not turn away punishment, because they rejected the law of Yahweh and did not keep his statutes. Their lies caused them to go astray, after which their fathers had also walked. 5 I will send fire on Judah, and it will devour the fortresses of Jerusalem.” 6 This is what Yahweh says: “For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not turn away punishment, because they sold the innocent for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals. 7 They trample the heads of the poor into the dust of the ground; they thrust aside the way of the oppressed. A man and his father go in to the same girl and so profane my holy name. 8 They lie down beside every altar on clothes taken as pledges, and in the house of their God they drink the wine of those who were fined. 9 Yet I destroyed the Amorites before them, whose height was like the height of cedars; he was strong as the oaks. Yet I destroyed his fruit above and his roots below. 10 Also, I brought you up out of the land of Egypt and led you forty years in the wilderness to possess the land of the Amorites. 11 I raised up prophets from among your sons and Nazirites from your young men. Is it not so, sons of Israel?— this is Yahweh’s declaration. 12 But you persuaded the Nazirites to drink wine and commanded the prophets saying, ‘Do not prophesy!’ 13 Behold, I will crush you as a cart that is full of grain can crush someone. 14 A place of refuge will be lost by the swift; the strong will not add to his own strength; neither will the mighty save himself. 15 The one who holds the bow will not stand; the one who is swift with his feet will not escape; the one who rides the horse will not escape with his life. 16 Even the bravest warriors will flee naked in that day— this is Yahweh’s declaration.” Chapter 3 1 Hear this word that Yahweh has spoken against you, people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt saying: 2 “I have chosen only you from all the families of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all your sins.” 3 Will two walk together unless they have agreed? 4 Will a lion roar in the forest when he has no victim? Will a young lion growl from his den if he has caught nothing? 5 Can a bird fall in a trap on the ground when no bait is set for him? Will a trap spring up from the ground when it has not caught anything? 6 If a trumpet sounds in a city, will the people not tremble? If disaster overtakes a city, has Yahweh not sent it? 7 Surely the Lord Yahweh will not do anything unless he reveals his plan to his servants the prophets. 8 The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord Yahweh has spoken; who will not prophesy? 9 Proclaim this in the fortresses at Ashdod, and in the fortresses in the land of Egypt; say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria and see what great confusion is in her, and what oppression is in her. 10 For they do not know how to do right— this is Yahweh’s declaration— They store up violence and destruction in their fortresses.” 11 Therefore, this is what the Lord Yahweh says: “An enemy will surround the land, and pull down your strongholds and plunder your fortresses.” 12 This is what Yahweh says: “As the shepherd rescues out of the mouth of the lion two legs only, or a piece of an ear; so will the sons of Israel who live in Samaria be rescued with only the corner of a couch or a piece of a bed.” 13 Hear and testify against the house of Jacob— this is the declaration of the Lord Yahweh, the God of hosts: 14 “For on the day that I bring punishment for the sins of Israel on her, I will also bring punishment on the altars of Bethel. The horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground. 15 I will destroy the winter house with the summer house. The houses of ivory will perish, and the large houses will vanish— this is Yahweh’s declaration.” Chapter 4 1 Listen to this word, you cows of Bashan, you who are in the mountain of Samaria, you who oppress the poor, you who crush the needy, you who say to your husbands, “Bring us drinks.” 2 The Lord Yahweh has sworn by his holiness saying, “Behold, the days will come on you when they will take you away with hooks, the last of you with fishhooks. 3 You will go out through the breaks in the city wall, each one going straight through, and you will be thrown out toward Harmon— this is Yahweh’s declaration.” 4 “Go to Bethel and sin, to Gilgal and multiply sin, bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days. 5 Offer a thanksgiving sacrifice with bread; proclaim freewill offerings; announce them, for this pleases you, you sons of Israel— this is the declaration of the Lord Yahweh. 6 For I also gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities and lack of bread in all your places. Yet you have not returned to me— this is Yahweh’s declaration. 7 I also withheld rain from you when there were still three months to the harvest. I caused it to rain on one city, and caused it not to rain on another city. One piece of land was rained on, but the piece of land where he caused it not to rain on it dried up. 8 Two or three cities staggered to another city to drink water, but were not satisfied. Yet you have not returned to me— this is Yahweh’s declaration. 9 I afflicted you with blight and mildew. The multitude of your gardens, your vineyards, your fig trees, and your olive trees— the locusts devoured them all. Yet you have not returned to me— this is Yahweh’s declaration. 10 I sent a plague on you in the manner of Egypt. I killed your young men with the sword, carried away your horses, and made the stench of your camp come up to your nostrils. Yet you have not returned to me— this is Yahweh’s declaration. 11 I overthrew cities among you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a burning stick snatched out of the fire. Yet you have not returned to me— this is Yahweh’s declaration. 12 Therefore I will do something terrible to you, Israel; and because I will do something terrible to you, prepare to meet your God, Israel! 13 For, behold, he who forms the mountains also creates the wind, reveals his thoughts to mankind, makes the morning darkness, and treads on the high places of the earth. Yahweh, God of hosts, is his name.” Chapter 5 1 Hear this word that I take up as a lament over you, house of Israel. 2 The virgin Israel has fallen; she will rise no more; she is forsaken on her land; there is no one to raise her up. 3 For this is what the Lord Yahweh says: “The city that went out with a thousand will have a hundred left, and the one that went out with a hundred will have ten left belonging to the house of Israel.” 4 For this is what Yahweh says to the house of Israel: “Seek me and live! 5 Do not seek Bethel; nor enter Gilgal; do not journey to Beersheba. For Gilgal will surely go into captivity, and Bethel will become nothing. 6 Seek Yahweh and live, or he will break out like fire in the house of Joseph. It will devour, and there will be no one to quench it in Bethel. 7 Those people turn justice into a bitter thing and throw righteousness down to the ground!” 8 God made the Pleiades and Orion; he turns darkness into the morning; he makes the day dark with night and calls for the waters of the sea; he pours them out on the surface of the earth. Yahweh is his name! 9 He causes destruction to fall on the strong, and destruction comes down on the fortresses. 10 They hate anyone who corrects them in the city gate, and they abhor anyone who speaks the truth. 11 Therefore, because you trample down the poor and take portions of wheat from him— although you have built houses of worked stone, you will not live in them. You have delightful vineyards, but you will not drink their wine. 12 For I know how many are your offenses and how great are your sins— you who afflict the just, take bribes, and turn aside the needy in the city gate. 13 Therefore any prudent person is silent at such a time, for it is an evil time. 14 Seek good and not evil, so that you may live. So Yahweh, the God of hosts, will really be with you, as you say he is. 15 Hate evil, love good, establish justice in the city gate. Perhaps Yahweh, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. 16 Therefore, this is what Yahweh says, the God of hosts, the Lord, “Wailing will be in all the squares, and they will say in all the streets, ‘Woe! Woe!’ They will call the farmers to mourning and the mourners to wail. 17 In all vineyards there will be wailing, for I will pass through your midst,” says Yahweh. 18 Woe to you who desire the day of Yahweh! Why do you long for the day of Yahweh? It will be darkness and not light, 19 as when a man flees from a lion and a bear meets him, or he goes in a house and puts his hand on the wall and a snake bites him. 20 Will not the day of Yahweh be darkness and not light? Gloom and no brightness? 21 “I hate, I despise your festivals, I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. 22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them, neither will I look at the fellowship offerings of your fattened animals. 23 Remove from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the sound of your harps. 24 Instead, let justice flow like water, and righteousness like a constantly flowing stream. 25 Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness for forty years, house of Israel? 26 You have lifted up the images of Sikkuth, your king, and Kaiwan, your star god, which you made for yourselves. 27 Therefore I will exile you beyond Damascus,” says Yahweh, whose name is the God of hosts. Chapter 6 1 Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who are secure in the hill country of Samaria, the notable men of the best of the nations, to whom the house of Israel comes for help! 2 “Go to Kalneh and look; from there go to Hamath, the great city; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are they better than your two kingdoms? Is their border larger than your border?” 3 Woe to those who put off the day of disaster and make the throne of violence come near. 4 They lie on beds of ivory and lounge on their couches. They eat lambs from the flock and calves from the stall. 5 They sing foolish songs to the music of the harp; they improvise on musical instruments as David did. 6 They drink wine from bowls and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but they do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph. 7 Therefore, now they will go into exile with the first exiles, and the feasts of those who lounge about will pass away. 8 “I, the Lord Yahweh, have sworn by myself— this is the declaration of Yahweh, the God of hosts, I detest the pride of Jacob; I hate his fortresses. Therefore I will deliver up the city with all that is in it.” 9 It will come about that if there are ten men left in one house, they will all die. 10 When a man’s relative comes to take their bodies up—the one who is to cremate them after bringing the corpses out of the house—if he says to the person in the house, “Is there anyone with you?” What if that person says, “No.” Then he will say, “Be quiet, for we must not mention Yahweh’s name.” 11 For, behold, Yahweh will give a command, and the big house will be smashed to pieces, and the little house to bits. 12 Do horses run on the rocky cliffs? Does one plow there with oxen? Yet you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness. 13 You who rejoice over Lo Debar, who say, “Have we not taken Karnaim by our own strength?” 14 Therefore, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, house of Israel—this is the declaration of Yahweh, the God of hosts. They will afflict you from Lebo Hamath to the brook of the Arabah.” Chapter 7 1 This is what the Lord Yahweh showed me. Behold, he formed a locust swarm when the spring crop began to come up, and, behold, it was the late crop after the king’s harvest. 2 When they finished eating the vegetation of the land, then I said, “Lord Yahweh, please forgive; how will Jacob survive? For he is so small.” 3 Yahweh relented concerning this. “It will not happen,” he said. 4 This is what the Lord Yahweh showed me: Behold, the Lord Yahweh called on fire to judge. It dried the vast, deep water under the earth and would have devoured the land, also. 5 But I said, “Lord Yahweh, please stop; how will Jacob survive? For he is so small.” 6 Yahweh relented concerning this, “This also will not happen,” said the Lord Yahweh. 7 This is what he showed me: Behold, the Lord stood beside a wall with a plumb line, and the plumb line was in his hand. 8 Yahweh said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Behold, I will put a plumb line among my people Israel. Never again will I spare them. 9 The high places of Isaac will be destroyed, the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.” 10 Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent a message to Jeroboam, king of Israel, saying: “Amos has conspired against you in the middle of the house of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words. 11 For this is what Amos said, ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely go into exile away from his land.’” 12 Amaziah said to Amos, “Seer, go, run yourself back to the land of Judah, and there eat bread and prophesy. 13 But you must never again prophesy here at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a royal house.” 14 Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I am not a prophet nor am I a prophet’s son, for I am a herdsman, and I take care of sycamore fig trees. 15 But Yahweh took me from tending the flock, and Yahweh said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ 16 Now hear the word of Yahweh. You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not speak against the house of Isaac.’ 17 Therefore this is what Yahweh says, ‘Your wife will be a prostitute in the city; your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword; your land will be measured and divided up; you will die in an unclean land, and Israel will surely go into exile from his land.’” Chapter 8 1 This is what the Lord Yahweh showed me. Behold, a basket of summer fruit! 2 He said, “What do you see, Amos?” I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then Yahweh said to me, “The end has come for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer. 3 The songs of the temple will become wailings in that day— this is the declaration of the Lord Yahweh— many dead bodies, they are thrown everywhere! Silence!” 4 Listen to this, you who trample the needy and remove the poor of the land. 5 They say, “When will the new moon be over, so we can sell grain again? When will the Sabbath day be over, so that we can sell wheat? We will make the measure small and increase the price, as we cheat with false scales. 6 This is so we can sell bad wheat, buy the poor with silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals.” 7 Yahweh has sworn by the pride of Jacob, “Surely I will never forget any of their actions.” 8 Will not the land quake for this, and every one who lives in it mourn? All of it will rise up like the Nile River, and it will be tossed about and settle again, like the river of Egypt. 9 “It will come in that day— this is the declaration of the Lord Yahweh— that I will make the sun set at noon, and I will darken the earth at daylight. 10 I will turn your festivals into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. I will make all of you wear sackcloth and have baldness on every head. I will make it like mourning for an only son, and a bitter day to its end. 11 Behold, the days are coming— this is the declaration of the Lord Yahweh— when I will send a famine in the land, not a famine for bread, nor of thirst for water, but for hearing the words of Yahweh. 12 They will stagger from sea to sea; they will run from the north to the east to seek the word of Yahweh, but they will not find it. 13 In that day the beautiful virgins and the young men will faint from thirst. 14 Those who swear by the sin of Samaria [1] and say, ‘As your god lives, Dan,’ and, ‘As the way to Beersheba exists’— [2] they will fall and never rise again.” 8:14 [1] Instead of the sin of Samaria , some versions have Ashimah of Samaria. Ashimah was the name of a pagan goddess worshiped in some parts of Syria . 8:14 [2] The Hebrew text has As the way to Beersheba exists , where this might refer to what people going to worship Beersheba’s idols might have said. However, some versions change the Hebrew text to read As the loved one of Beersheba lives . Here “loved one” stands for an idol worshiped in Beersheba. Chapter 9 1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said, “Strike the tops of the pillars so that the foundations will shake. Break them in pieces on all of their heads, and I will kill the last of them with the sword. Not one of them will get away, not one of them will escape. 2 Though they dig into Sheol, there my hand will take them. Though they climb up to heaven, there I will bring them down. 3 Though they hide on the top of Carmel, there I will search and take them. Though they are hidden from my sight in the bottom of the sea, there will I give orders to the serpent, and it will bite them. 4 Though they go into captivity, driven by their enemies before them, there will I give orders to the sword, and it will kill them. I will keep my eyes on them for harm and not for good.” 5 The Lord Yahweh of hosts touches the land and it melts; all who live in it mourn; all of it will rise up like the River, and sink again like the river of Egypt. 6 It is he who builds his steps in the heavens, and has established his vault over the earth. He calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the earth, Yahweh is his name. 7 “Are you not like the sons of Cush to me, sons of Israel— this is Yahweh’s declaration— did I not bring up Israel out of the land of Egypt, the Philistines from Crete, and the Arameans from Kir? 8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord Yahweh are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth, except that I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob— this is Yahweh’s declaration. 9 For, behold, I will give a command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations, as one shakes grain in a sieve, so that not the smallest stone will fall to the ground. 10 All the sinners of my people will die by the sword, those who say, ‘Disaster will not overtake or meet us.’ 11 In that day I will raise up the tent of David that has fallen, and close up its breaches. I will raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old, 12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations that are called by my name after them— this is Yahweh’s declaration—he does this. 13 Behold, the days will come—this is Yahweh’s declaration— when the plowman will overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes will overtake him who plants seed. The mountains will drip sweet wine, and all the hills will flow with it. 14 I will bring back from captivity my people Israel. They will build the ruined cities and inhabit them, they will plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they will make gardens and eat their fruit. 15 I will plant them upon their land, and they will never again be uprooted from the land that I have given them,” says Yahweh your God. Obadiah Chapter 1 1 The vision of Obadiah: thus says my Lord Yahweh concerning Edom. We have heard a message from Yahweh, and a messenger has been sent off among the nations: Get up! And let us rise up against her for battle! 2 Behold, I am making you small among the nations, you are extremely despised. 3 The pride of your heart has deceived you: he who dwells in the clefts of the rock, lofty in his dwelling; he who says in his heart, “Who will bring me down to earth?” 4 If you make yourself high like the eagle, even if your nest is set between the stars, from there I will bring you down: a declaration of Yahweh. 5 If thieves came to you, and plunderers by night (how you are being destroyed!), would they not steal enough for them? If grape-cutters came to you, would they not leave behind gleanings? 6 How Esau is being ransacked, his hidden treasures being searched out! 7 All the men of your covenant are sending you away as far as the border. The men of your peace are deceiving you and are prevailing against you. They of your bread will set a trap under you. There is no understanding in him. 8 Will I not on that day (a declaration of Yahweh) destroy wise men from Edom, and understanding from the mountain of Esau? 9 And your mighty men will be dismayed, O Teman, so that a man will be cut off from the mountain of Esau by slaughter. 10 Because of violence against your brother Jacob, shame will cover you, and you will be cut off for eternity. 11 On the day that you stood opposite, on the day that strangers took captive his wealth, and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you also were like one of them. 12 But you should not have looked on the day of your brother, on the day of his misfortune. And you should not have rejoiced over the sons of Judah in the day of their perishing. And you should not have made your mouth great in a day of distress. 13 You should not have entered the gate of my people in the day of their calamity. You should not have looked—yes, you!—on his evil in the day of his calamity. And you women should not have looted his wealth in the day of his calamity. 14 And you should not have stood at the crossroads to cut down his fugitives. And you should not have delivered up his survivors in a day of distress. 15 For the day of Yahweh is near upon all the nations. According to what you have done, it will be done to you; your recompense will return on your own head. 16 For according to how you drank on the mountain of my holiness, all the nations shall drink continually. And they will drink, and they will swallow, and they will become like they never existed. 17 But in the mountain of Zion there will be an escape, and there will be holiness, and the house of Jacob will possess their own possessions. 18 And the house of Jacob will become a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau as stubble. And they will burn them, and consume them. And there will be no survivor for the house of Esau, for Yahweh has spoken. 19 And the Negev will possess the mountain of Esau, and the Shephelah, the Philistines. And they will possess the field of Ephraim and the field of Samaria, and Benjamin, Gilead. 20 And the exile of this army of the sons of Israel, who are Canaanites, as far as Zarephath, and the exile of Jerusalem, who are in Sepharad: they will possess the cities of the Negev. 21 And saviors will go up to the mountain of Zion to judge the mountain of Esau, and the kingdom will belong to Yahweh. Jonah Chapter 1 1 Now the word of Yahweh came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Get up, go to Nineveh, the great city, and call out against it, because their wickedness has risen up before my face.” 3 But Jonah got up to run away to Tarshish from before the face of Yahweh. And he went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish, away from before the face of Yahweh. 4 But Yahweh sent out a great wind on the sea and a great storm happened on the sea, so that the ship was thinking to be broken apart. 5 Then the sailors were frightened and each man cried out to his own god. And they threw the things that were in the ship into the sea to lighten it from upon them. But Jonah had gone down into the innermost parts of the ship, and had lain down, and was deeply asleep. 6 Then the captain of the crew came to him and said to him, “What are you doing sleeping? Get up! Cry out to your god! Maybe that god will notice us and we will not perish.” 7 Then every man said to his friend, “Come, and let us cast lots, so that we may know on whose account this evil is happening to us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Please tell us on whose account this evil is happening to us. What is your occupation, and where do you come from? What is your country, and from which people are you?” 9 So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear Yahweh, the God of heaven, who has made the sea and the dry land.” 10 Then the men were afraid with great fear, and they said to him, “What is this that you have done?” For the men knew that he was running away from before the face of Yahweh, because he had told them. 11 Then they said to him, “What should we do to you so that the sea will calm down from upon us?” For the sea was going forward and storming. 12 And he said to them, “Lift me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will calm down from upon you, for I know that this great storm is upon you because of me.” 13 But the men rowed hard to return themselves to the land, but they could not, because the sea was going forward and storming over them. 14 So they cried out to Yahweh and said, “Ah! Yahweh, please do not let us perish on account of the life of this man, and do not put innocent blood upon us, because you, Yahweh, have done just as you desired.” 15 So they lifted up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared Yahweh with great fear, and they offered a sacrifice to Yahweh and vowed vows. 17 Now Yahweh appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the abdomen of the fish three days and three nights. [1] 1:17 [1] Now Yahweh appointed … and three nights Some versions place this text at the beginning of verse 1 in chapter 2. Chapter 2 1 And Jonah prayed to Yahweh his God from the abdomen of the fish. [1] 2 And he said, “I cried out to Yahweh from my distress, and he answered me; from the belly of Sheol I cried out, you heard my voice. 3 Now you had cast me deep into the heart of the seas, and a current surrounded me; all your billows and your waves passed over me. 4 But as for me, I said, ‘I have been driven out from before your eyes; yet I might again look toward your holy temple.’ 5 Water had closed around me even as far as life, the deep was surrounding me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. 6 I had gone down to the bases of the mountains, the earth with its bars were around me forever; but you brought up my life from the pit, Yahweh, my God! 7 When my spirit fainted upon me, I remembered Yahweh and my prayer came to you, to your holy temple. 8 Those who give attention to empty vanities forsake their covenant faithfulness. 9 But as for me, I will sacrifice to you with a voice of thanksgiving; I will fulfill what I have vowed. Salvation belongs to Yahweh!” 10 And Yahweh spoke to the fish, and it vomited up Jonah onto the dry land. 2:1 [1] Now Yahweh appointed … and three nights Some versions place this text at the beginning of this verse instead of in verse 1:17. Chapter 3 1 Then the word of Yahweh came to Jonah a second time, saying, 2 “Get up, go to Nineveh, the great city, and call out to it the proclamation that I tell to you.” 3 So Jonah got up and went to Nineveh, according to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh was great city to God, a journey of three days. 4 So Jonah began to go into the city a journey of one day, and he called out and said, “Until forty days, then Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5 And the men of Nineveh believed God. And they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. 6 Then the word came to the king of Nineveh, and he rose up from his throne, and he took off his robe from being on him; and he covered himself with sackcloth, and sat down on the ash heap. 7 And he proclaimed and spoke within Nineveh from a decree of the king and his nobles, saying: “No person or animal, herd or flock, may taste anything; they must not graze, and they must not drink water. 8 But every person and every animal must cover themselves with sackcloth, and they must cry out to God with strength; and each man must turn back from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who knows? This god might turn back and have compassion and relent from the burning of his nose so that we will not perish.” 10 And God saw their deeds, that they turned away from their evil ways. And God relented in regard to the evil that he had said he would do to them; and he did not do it. Chapter 4 1 But this was evil to Jonah, a great evil, and it burned to him. 2 So he prayed to Yahweh and said, “Ah! Yahweh, was this not my word while I was in my country? Because of this I acted preemptively to flee to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, long of nostrils and abundant in covenant faithfulness, and one who relents from evil. 3 So now, Yahweh, I beg you, take my life from me, for my death is better than my life.” 4 And Yahweh said, “Is it right that it burns to you?” 5 Then Jonah went out from the city and sat down facing the city from the east. And there he made a shelter for himself, and he sat under it in the shade until he might see what would transpire within the city. 6 Then Yahweh God appointed a plant and caused it to grow up from over Jonah to be a shade over his head in order to rescue him from his evil. And Jonah rejoiced with great rejoicing because of the plant. 7 Then God appointed a worm at the rising of the dawn of the next day; and it attacked the plant, and it withered. 8 And as soon as the rising of the sun happened, then God appointed a hot east wind; and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah, and he became faint. Then he asked his spirit to die and said, “My death is better than my life.” 9 Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right that it burns to you about the plant?” And he said, “It is right that it burns to me, even as far as death.” 10 Then Yahweh said, “As for you, you feel troubled about the plant, for which you did no work, nor did you make it grow; it came as a son of a night, and it perished as a son of a night. 11 So as for me, should I not feel troubled about Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than 120,000 people who cannot distinguish between their right hand and their left hand, and many animals?” Micah Chapter 1 1 This is the word of Yahweh that came to Micah the Morashtite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. 2 Hear, all you peoples. Listen, earth, and all that is in it. Let the Lord Yahweh be against you as a witness, the Lord from his holy temple. 3 For look, Yahweh comes out of his place; he will come down and tread on the high places of the earth. 4 The mountains will melt under him; the valleys will break apart, like wax before fire, like waters that are poured down a steep place. 5 All this is because of the Jacob’s transgression, and because of the sins of the house of Israel. What is Jacob’s transgression? Is it not Samaria? What is Judah’s high place? Is it not Jerusalem? 6 “I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the field, a place for planting vineyards, and I will pour her stones down into the valley and I will uncover her foundations. 7 All her carved figures will be broken to pieces, and all her payments will be burned with fire, and all her idols, I will make a complete destruction. Since from the payments of prostitutes she gathered them, to the payments of prostitutes, they will return.” 8 Because of this, I will lament and wail; I will go barefoot and naked; I will wail like the jackals and mourn like owls. 9 For her wound is incurable, for it has come to Judah. It has reached the gate of my people, to Jerusalem. 10 Do not tell about it in Gath; do not weep at all. At Beth Leaphrah I roll myself in the dust. 11 Pass by, inhabitants of Shaphir, in nakedness and shame. do not come out, inhabitants of Zaanan. Beth Ezel mourns, its place to stand is taken from you. 12 For the inhabitants of Maroth wait anxiously for good, because disaster has come down from Yahweh to the gates of Jerusalem. 13 Harness the chariot to the team of horses, inhabitants of Lachish. She was the beginning of sin for the daughter of Zion, for in you were found, the transgressions of Israel. 14 So you will give a parting gift to Moresheth Gath; the town of Akzib will decieve the kings of Israel. 15 I will again bring a conqueror to you, inhabitants of Mareshah; the splendor of Israel will come to Adullam. 16 Shave your head and cut off your hair for the sons in whom you delight. Make yourself as bald as eagles, for they will go into exile from you. Chapter 2 1 Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who do evil on their beds. In the light of morning, they do it because there is power in their hands 2 They desire fields and seize them; and houses and they take them. They oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance. 3 Therefore Yahweh says this, “Look, I am planning to bring disaster against this clan, from which you will not remove your necks. You will not walk arrogantly, for it will be an evil time. 4 In that day he lifts up against you a song, and lament with a wailing lamentation. and say, ‘We are completely ruined; He changes the territory of my people. How can he remove it from me? He portions out our fields to traitors!’” 5 Therefore, you will not have one who casts the line by lot in the assembly of Yahweh. 6 “Do not preach,” they preach. “They should not preach these things; reproaches will not overtake us.” 7 Should it really be said, house of Jacob, “Is the Spirit of Yahweh angry? Are these his deeds?” Do not my words do good to anyone who walks uprightly? 8 Lately my people have risen up like an enemy. You strip the rich robe from those who pass trustingly as those returning from battle. 9 The women of my people, you drive from their pleasant houses; from their young children, you take my splendor forever. 10 Get up and leave, for this is not a resting place because of its uncleanness; it is destroyed with complete destruction. 11 If someone comes to you in a spirit of falsehood and lies and says, “I will prophesy to you about wine and strong drink,” he would be considered to be a prophet for this people. 12 I will surely assemble all of you, Jacob. I will surely gather the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a fold, like a flock in the midst of their pasture. There will be a loud noise because of the multitude of people. 13 Someone who breaks open their way for them will go ahead of them. They break through the gate and go out; their king will pass on before them. Yahweh will be at their head. Chapter 3 1 And I said, “Now listen, you leaders of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel: Is it not for you to understand justice? 2 Those who hate good and love evil, those who tear off their skin from off them their flesh from their bones— 3 those who eat the flesh of my people, and their skin from off them, they tear off and their bones, they break and chop them in pieces, just like a pot, and as meat in the midst of a cauldron. 4 Then they will cry out to Yahweh, but he will not answer them. He will hide his face from them at that time, because they have done evil deeds.” 5 Thus Yahweh says against the prophets, who lead my people astray, who bite with their teeth, they proclaim, ‘Peace.’ and who do not give in their mouths, they consecreate against him war. 6 Therefore, it will be night for you without a vision; it will be dark for you, without divination. The sun will go down on the prophets, and the day will be dark on them. 7 The seers will be put to shame, and the diviners will be disgraced. They will cover their lips, all of them, for there is no answer from God.” 8 But, I am full of power by the Spirit of Yahweh, and justice and strength, to declare to Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin. 9 Now listen to this, you leaders of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, you who detest justice, and all that is upright, they make crooked. 10 who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity. 11 Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets do divination for money. Yet on Yahweh, they lean saying, “Is not Yahweh in our midst? No evil will come on us.” 12 Therefore, because of you, Zion will become a plowed field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the hill of the temple will become a thicket. Chapter 4 1 And it will be in the last days it will come about that the mountain of the house of Yahweh will be established as a head over the mountains. And, it will be lifted above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. 2 Many nations will go and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the house of the God of Jacob so that he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For from Zion the law will go out, and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem. 3 He will judge among many peoples and will decide for strong nations far away. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, nor will they train for war any longer. 4 And, they will sit every person under his vine and under his fig tree. No one will make them afraid, for the mouth of Yahweh of hosts has spoken. 5 For all the peoples walk, each one, in the name of their god. But we will walk in the name of Yahweh our God forever and ever. 6 “On that day,” declares Yahweh, “I will assemble the lame and gather the outcast, those whom I have afflicted. 7 And I will turn the lame into a remnant, and the ones driven away into a strong nation, and Yahweh will reign over them on Mount Zion, from now and until forever. 8 And you, watchtower for the flock, hill of the daughter of Zion— to you it will come, your former dominion will arrive, the kingdom that belongs to the daughter of Jerusalem. 9 Now, why do you shout so loudly? Is there no king among you? Has your counselor died, that pain grips you like that of a woman in labor? 10 Be in pain and labor daughter of Zion like a woman giving birth. For now you will you go out of the city, and live in the field, and go to Babylon. There you will be rescued. There Yahweh will redeem you from the hand of your enemies. 11 Now many nations are assembled against you; they say, ‘Let her be defiled; let our eyes gloat over Zion.’ 12 And they do not know the thoughts of Yahweh neither do they understand his plans, for he has gathered them like bundles of grain prepared for the threshing floor. 13 Arise and thresh, daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn to be iron, and I will make your hooves to be bronze. And you will break into pieces many peoples and you will devote to Yahweh their unjust earnings, their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.” Chapter 5 1 Now come together in battle ranks, daughter of soldiers! A siege has been set up against us! With a rod they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek. [1] 2 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, even though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you one will come to me to rule in Israel, whose beginning is from ancient times, from everlasting. 3 Therefore God will give them up, until the time when she who is in labor bears a child, and the rest of his brothers return to the people of Israel. 4 He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of Yahweh, in the majesty of the name of Yahweh his God. They will remain, for then he will be great to the ends of the earth. 5 For this shall be the peace— when the Assyrians come into our land, and when they march against our fortresses, then we will raise against them seven shepherds and eight leaders over men. 6 They will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in its entrances. [2] He will rescue us from the Assyrians, when they come into our land, when they march inside our borders. 7 The remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples, like dew from Yahweh, like showers on the grass, that do not wait for a man, and they do not wait for the children of mankind. 8 The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, among many peoples, like a lion among the animals of the forest, like a young lion among the flocks of sheep. When he goes through them, he will trample over them and tear them to pieces, and there will be no one to save them. 9 Your hand will be lifted against your enemies, and it will destroy them. 10 “It will happen in that day”—this is Yahweh’s declaration— “that I will destroy your horses from among you and will demolish your chariots. 11 I will destroy the cities in your land and throw down all your strongholds. 12 I will destroy the witchcraft in your hand, and you will no longer have any diviners. 13 I will destroy your carved figures and your stone pillars from among you. You will no longer worship the workmanship of your hands. 14 I will uproot your Asherah poles from among you, and I will destroy your cities. 15 I will execute vengeance in anger and wrath on the nations that have not listened.” 5:1 [1] Instead of come together in battle ranks , some interpreters translate cut yourselves , referring to the pagan practice of cutting oneself while praying to idols. Also, some modern versions follow an ancient version that reads build up your fortifications . 5:6 [2] The Hebrew text has in its entrances , that is, in their gates. However, some modern versions suppose that a different Hebrew word was intended: with a drawn sword . Chapter 6 1 Now listen to what Yahweh says, “Arise, state your case before the mountains; and let the hills hear your voice. 2 Listen to Yahweh’s lawsuit, you mountains, and you enduring foundations of the earth. For Yahweh has a lawsuit with his people, and he will fight in court against Israel.” 3 “My people, what have I done to you? How have I wearied you? Testify against me! 4 For I brought you up out of the land of Egypt and rescued you out of the house of bondage. I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to you. 5 My people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised, and how Balaam son of Beor answered him as you went from Shittim to Gilgal, so you may know the righteous acts of Yahweh.” 6 What should I bring to Yahweh, as I bow down to the high God? Should I come to him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousand rivers of oil? Should I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for my own sin? 8 He has told you, man, what is good, and what Yahweh requires from you: Act justly, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God. 9 The voice of Yahweh is making a proclamation to the city— even now wisdom acknowledges your name: “Pay attention to the rod, and to the one who has put it in place. [1] 10 There is wealth in the houses of the wicked that is dishonest, and false measures that are abominable. 11 Should I consider a person to be innocent if he uses fraudulent scales, with a bag of deceptive weights? 12 The rich men are full of violence, the inhabitants have spoken lies, and their tongue in their mouth is deceitful. 13 Therefore I will strike you with a terrible blow, and I will make you desolate because of your sins. 14 You will eat but not be satisfied; your emptiness will remain inside you. You will store goods away but not save, and what you do save I will give to the sword. [2] 15 You will sow but not reap; you will tread the olives but not anoint yourselves with oil; you will press grapes but drink no wine. 16 The regulations made by Omri have been kept, and all the deeds of the house of Ahab. You walk by their advice. So I will make you, city, a ruin, and you inhabitants an object of hissing, and you will bear the reproach of my people.” [3] 6:9 [1] Instead of the Hebrew text’s reading of Pay attention to the rod and to the one who has put it into place , some modern versions have Listen, tribe, and those assembled together in the city . 6:14 [2] Parts of this verse are difficult to understand, because there are two Hebrew words in it whose meanings are not known. As a result, various other readings have been proposed that some modern versions follow. 6:16 [3] The Hebrew text has you will bear the reproach of my people , but an ancient Greek version has you will bear the scorn of the nations . Some modern versions follow this reading. Chapter 7 1 Woe is me! I have become like the gathering of summer fruit, and like the grapes that have been gleaned; there is no grape cluster to eat, no ripe early fig that my soul desires. 2 The faithful ones have disappeared from the land; there is no upright person in all mankind. They all lie in wait to shed blood; each one hunts his own brother with a net. 3 Their hands are very good at doing harm: the ruler asks for money, the judge is ready for bribes, and the powerful man is saying to others what he wants to obtain. Thus they plot together. 4 The best of them is like a brier, the most upright is worse than a thorn hedge. It is the day foretold by your watchmen, the day of your punishment. Now is the time of their confusion. 5 Do not trust any neighbor; put no confidence in any friend. Be careful about what you say even to the woman who lies in your arms. 6 For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises up against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies are the people of his own house. 7 But as for me, I will look to Yahweh. I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. 8 Do not rejoice over me, my enemy. After I fall, I will rise. When I sit in darkness, Yahweh will be a light for me. 9 Because I sinned against Yahweh, I will bear his rage until he pleads my cause, and executes judgment for me. He will bring me to the light, and I will see him rescue me in his justice. 10 Then my enemy will see it, and shame will cover the one who said to me, “Where is Yahweh your God?” My eyes will look at her; she will be trampled down like the mud in the streets. 11 A day to build your walls will come; on that day the boundaries will be extended very far. 12 On that day your people will come to you, from Assyria and the cities in Egypt, from Egypt to the River, from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain. 13 But the land will be desolate because of the people who are living there, because of the fruit of their actions. 14 Shepherd your people with your rod, the flock of your inheritance. They live alone in a thicket, in the midst of a pastureland. Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead as in the old days. 15 As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show them wonders. 16 The nations will see and be ashamed of all their power. They will put their hands on their mouths; their ears will be deaf. 17 They will lick the dust like a snake, like creatures that crawl on the earth. They will come out of their dens with fear; they will come with fear to you, Yahweh our God, and they will be afraid because of you. 18 Who is a God like you— who takes away sin, who passes over the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? He does not keep his anger forever, because he delights in his covenant faithfulness. 19 You will again have compassion on us; you will trample our iniquities under your feet. You will throw all our sins into the depths of the sea. 20 You will give truth to Jacob and covenant faithfulness to Abraham, as you swore to our ancestors in ancient days. Nahum Chapter 1 1 The declaration about Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum, the Elkoshite. 2 Yahweh is a jealous God and avenges; Yahweh avenges and is full of wrath; Yahweh takes vengeance on his adversaries, and he continues his anger for his enemies. 3 Yahweh is slow to anger and great in power; he will certainly not allow the wicked to go unpunished. Yahweh makes his way in the whirlwind and the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. 4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; he dries up all the rivers. Bashan withers, and Carmel also; the flowers of Lebanon wither. 5 The mountains shake in his presence, and the hills melt; the earth heaves in his presence, indeed, the world and all people who live in it. 6 Who can stand before his indignation? Who can resist the fierceness of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken apart by him. 7 Yahweh is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knows those who take refuge in him. 8 But he will make a complete end to its place with an overwhelming flood; he will pursue his enemies into darkness. 9 What are you people plotting against Yahweh? He will make a complete end to it; trouble will not rise up a second time. 10 For they will become tangled up like thornbushes; and like those who are drunken with their drink; they will be devoured by fire like stubble fully dried. 11 Someone arose among you, Nineveh, who planned evil against Yahweh, someone who promoted wickedness. 12 This is what Yahweh says, “Even if they are at their full strength and full numbers, they will nevertheless be cut off; their people will be no more. But you, Judah: Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more. 13 Now will I break that people’s yoke from off you; I will break your chains.” 14 Yahweh has given a command about you, Nineveh: “There will be no more descendants bearing your name. I will cut off the carved figures and the cast metal figures from the houses of your gods. I will dig your graves, for you are contemptible.” 15 Look, on the mountains there are the feet of him who is bringing good news, who is announcing peace! Celebrate your festivals, O Judah, and keep your vows, for the wicked one will invade you no more; he is completely cut off. Chapter 2 1 The one who will scatter you is coming up against you. Guard the city walls, watch the roads, gird your loins, marshal all your strength. 2 For Yahweh is restoring the majesty of Jacob, like the majesty of Israel, although the plunderers devastated them and destroyed their vine branches. 3 The shields of his mighty men are red, and the soldiers are clothed in scarlet; the chariots flash with their metal on the day that they are made ready, and the cypress spears are brandished. 4 The chariots race madly through the streets; they rush back and forth in the squares. They look like torches, and they run like lightning. 5 The invader calls his officers; they stumble in their marching; they hurry to attack the city wall. The large shield used in a siege is made ready to protect these attackers. 6 The gates at the rivers are forced open, and the palace melts away. 7 It is decreed: she is stripped of her clothes and is taken away; her female servants moan like doves, beating on their breasts. 8 Though Nineveh was like a pool of water throughout her days, now its people are fleeing away like rushing water. Others shout, “Stop, stop,” but no one turns back. 9 Take the silver plunder, take the gold plunder, for there is no end to the supply, wealth from all Nineveh’s desirable things. 10 Nineveh is empty, desolate and ruined. Everyone’s heart melts, everyone’s knees strike together, and anguish is in all loins; all their faces grow pale. 11 Where now is the lions’ den, the place where the young lion cubs were fed, the place where the lion and lioness walked, where the cubs of the lion were, where they were afraid of nothing? 12 The lion tore enough for his cubs; he strangled victims for his lionesses, and filled his cave with prey, his dens with torn carcasses. 13 “See, I am against you—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts. I will burn your chariots in the smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from your land, and the voices of your messengers will be heard no more.” Chapter 3 1 Woe to the city full of blood! It is all full of lies and stolen property; Her prey never departs. 2 But now there is the noise of whips and the sound of rattling wheels, galloping horses, and bounding chariots. 3 There are charging horsemen, flashing swords, glittering spears, many slain, heaps of corpses. There is no end to the dead bodies; their attackers stumble over the dead bodies. 4 This is happening because of the many harlotries of the beautiful prostitute, the mistress of witchcraft, who sells nations through her prostitution, and peoples through her acts of witchcraft. 5 “See, I am against you—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts—I will raise up your skirt over your face and show your nakedness to the nations, your shame to the kingdoms. 6 I will throw disgusting filth on you and make you vile; I will make you someone that everyone will look at with digust. 7 It will come about that everyone who looks at you will flee from you and say, ‘Nineveh is destroyed; who will weep for her?’ Where can I find anyone to comfort you?” 8 Nineveh, are you better than Thebes, that was built on the Nile River, that had water around her, whose defense was the ocean, whose wall was the sea itself? 9 Cush and Egypt were her strength, and there was no end to its strength; Put and Libya were allies to her. 10 Yet Thebes was carried away; she went into captivity; her young children were dashed in pieces at the head of every street; her enemies threw lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains. 11 You also will become drunk; you will try to hide, and you will also look for a refuge from your enemy. 12 All your fortresses will be like fig trees with the earliest ripe figs: if they are shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater. 13 See, the people among you are women; the gates of your land have been opened wide to your enemies; fire has devoured their bars. 14 Go draw water for the siege; strengthen your fortresses; go into the clay and tread the mortar; pick up the molds for the bricks. 15 Fire will devour you there, and the sword will cut you off. It will devour you as creeping locusts devour everything. Make yourselves as many as the creeping locusts, as many as the swarming locusts. 16 You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars in the heavens; but they are like locusts: they spread their wings and then fly away. 17 Your princes are like locusts, and your generals are like swarms of locusts that settle on the walls on a cold day. But when the sun rises they fly away and no one knows where they are. 18 King of Assyria, your shepherds are asleep; your nobles are lying down resting. Your people are scattered on the mountains, and there is no one to gather them. 19 No healing is possible for your wounds. Your wounds are severe. Everyone who hears the news about you will clap their hands in joy over you. For upon whom has not come your endless evil? Habakkuk Chapter 1 1 The message that Habakkuk the prophet received, 2 “Yahweh, how long will I cry for help, and you will not hear? I cry out to you, ‘Violence!’ but you will not save. 3 Why do you make me see iniquity and look upon wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and contention rises up. 4 Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice does not last for any time. For the wicked surround the righteous; therefore false justice goes out.” 5 “Look at the nations and observe them; be amazed and astonished! For I am surely about to do something in your days that you will not believe even if it is told to you. 6 For look! I am about to raise up the Chaldeans—that fierce and impetuous nation— they are marching throughout the breadth of the earth to seize dwelling places that were not their own. 7 They are terrifying and fearsome; their judgment and splendor proceed from themselves. 8 Their horses also are swifter than leopards, quicker than the evening wolves. So their horsemen come galloping, and their horsemen come from a great distance—they fly like an eagle swift to devour. 9 They all come for violence; all their faces moving foward, and they gather captives like sand. [1] 10 So they mock kings, and rulers are only a mockery for them. They laugh at every stronghold, for they pile up earth and capture them. 11 Then they sweep past like the wind and pass on—guilty men, those whose might is their god.” 12 “Are you not from ancient times, O Yahweh my God, my Holy One? We will not die. O Yahweh, you have ordained them for judgment, and you, O Rock, have established them for correction. 13 Your eyes are too pure to gaze upon evil, and you are not able to look on wrongdoing with favor; why then have you looked favorably on those who betray? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than they are? 14 You make men like fish in the sea, like creeping things without a ruler over them. 15 He brings all of them up with a fishhook; he drags men away in his fishnet; he gathers them together in his dragnet; so he rejoices and he is glad. 16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet, for by his net his portion is fat, and his food is the richest kind. 17 Will he therefore keep emptying his net, and will he continually slaughter the nations without mercy?” 1:9 [1] The Hebrew text translated here as their multitudes go like the desert wind is very difficult; many modern versions have other interpretations. Chapter 2 1 I will stand at my guard post and station myself on the watchtower, and I will watch carefully to see what he will say to me and how I should turn from my complaint. [1] 2 Yahweh answered me and said, “Record this vision, and write plainly on the tablets so that the one reading them might run. 3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time and it hastens to the end and will not fail. Though it delays, wait for it. For it will surely come and will not tarry. 4 Look! He whose desires are not right within him is puffed up. But the righteous will live by his faith. 5 For wine betrays the arrogant man so that he will not abide, but enlarges his appetite like Sheol and, like death, is never satisfied. He gathers to himself every nation and collects for himself all of the peoples. 6 Will not all these create a saying to ridicule him and a taunting song and riddles about him, saying, ‘Woe to the one increasing what is not his own! For how long will you increase for yourself the weight of the pledges you have taken?’ 7 Will not your debtors rise up suddenly, and those awake who will make you tremble? You will be spoil for them. 8 Because you have plundered many peoples, all the remnant of the peoples will plunder you. For you have shed human blood and acted with violence against the land, the cities, and all who live in them. 9 ‘Woe to the one who carves out evil gains for his house, so he can set his nest on high to keep himself safe from the hand of evil.’ 10 You have devised shame for your house by cutting off many people, and have sinned against yourself. 11 For the stones will cry out from the wall, and the rafters of timber will answer them, 12 ‘Woe to the one who builds a city with blood, and who establishes a town in iniquity.’ 13 Is it not indeed from Yahweh of hosts that peoples labor for fire and all the other nations weary themselves for nothing? 14 Yet the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh as the waters cover the sea. 15 ‘Woe to the one who forces his neighbors to drink— you pour out your wrath [2] and you make them drunk in order to look at their nakedness.’ 16 You will have your fill of shame instead of glory. Now it is your turn! Drink, and you will expose your uncircumcised foreskin! The cup in the right hand of Yahweh is coming around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory. 17 For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you and the destruction of animals will terrify you. For you have shed the blood of man and you have acted with violence against the land, the cities, and all who live in them. 18 What does an idol profit you when its maker has shaped it or a metal image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts his own handiwork when he makes these mute gods. 19 ‘Woe to him who says to the wood, Wake up! Or to the silent stone, Arise!’ Can these things teach? See, it is overlaid with gold and silver, but there is no breath at all within it. 20 But Yahweh is in his holy temple! Let all the earth be silent before him.” 2:1 [1] Instead of how I should turn from my complaint , which is what the Hebrew text has, some modern versions have how I should answer when he replies to my complaint or how I should answer when he rebukes me . 2:15 [2] There is some question about whether the Hebrew should be translated as anger , or as wineskin . Chapter 3 1 The prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth. [1] 2 Yahweh, I have heard your report, and I fear. O Yahweh, revive your work in the midst of the years; in the midst of the years make it known; remember to have compassion in your wrath. 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 His brightness was like the light; rays flashed from his hand; and there he hid his power. 5 Deadly disease went before him, and the plague followed at his heels. 6 He stood and measured the earth; he looked and made the nations tremble. Even the eternal mountains were shattered, and the everlasting hills bowed down. His ways are everlasting. 7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction, and the tent curtains in the land of Midian trembling. 8 Was your wrath against the rivers, O Yahweh? Was your anger against the rivers, or your fury against the sea, when you rode upon your horses and your victorious chariots? 9 You removed the sheath from your bow; you called for many arrows! Selah. You split the earth with rivers. 10 The mountains saw you and twisted in pain. Downpours of water passed over them; the deep sea raised its voice. It lifted up its waves on high. 11 The sun and moon stood still in their high places at the light of your arrows as they fly, at the gleam of your flashing spear. 12 You have marched over the earth with indignation. In anger you have threshed the nations. 13 You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed one. You crush the head of the house of the wicked to lay him bare from the thigh up to the neck. Selah 14 You have pierced the head of his warriors with his own arrows since they came like a storm to scatter us, their gloating was like one who devours the afflicted in a hiding place. 15 You have trampled on the sea with your horses, on the surge of the great waters. 16 I heard, and my inner parts trembled! My lips quivered at the sound. Decay enters into my bones, and my legs tremble beneath me Yet I will wait quietly for the day of distress to come upon the people who invade us. 17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there is no fruit on the vines; and though the produce of the olive tree fails and the fields yield no food; and though the flock is cut off from the fold and there are no cattle in the stalls, 18 yet, I will rejoice in Yahweh. I will be joyful because of the God of my salvation. 19 The Lord Yahweh is my strength and he makes my feet like the feet of a deer. He makes me tread on my high places. For the music director, on my stringed instruments. 3:1 [1] The Hebrew text adds the expression on shigionoth , which may refer to musical directions for singers. Zephaniah Chapter 1 1 This is the word of Yahweh that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi son of Gedaliah son of Amariah son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah. 2 “I will utterly remove everything from the surface of the earth—this is the declaration of Yahweh. 3 I will destroy man and beast; I will destroy the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, the stumbling blocks along with the wicked. For I will cut off man from the surface of the earth—this is the declaration of Yahweh. 4 I will reach out with my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off every remnant of Baal from this place and the names of the idolatrous priests along with the priests, 5 the people on the housetops who bow down to worship the heavenly bodies, and the people who bow down and swear to Yahweh but who also swear by Milcom. [1] 6 and those who have turned away from following Yahweh, those who neither seek Yahweh nor ask for his guidance.” 7 Be silent before the Lord Yahweh! For the day of Yahweh is near; Yahweh has prepared the sacrifice and set apart his guests. 8 “It will come about on the day of Yahweh’s sacrifice, that I will punish the officials and the sons of the king, and everyone dressed in foreign clothes. 9 On that day I will punish all those who leap over the threshold, those who fill the house of their master with violence and deceit. 10 So it will be on that day—this is the declaration of Yahweh— that a cry of distress will come from the Fish Gate, wailing from the Second District, and a great crashing sound from the hills. 11 Wail, O inhabitants of the Market District, for all the merchants will be ruined; all those who weigh out silver will be cut off. 12 It will come about at that time that I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish the men who are like wine left to thicken on its dregs and say in their heart, ‘Yahweh will not do anything, either good or evil.’ 13 Their wealth will become plunder, and their houses will be an abandoned devastation! They will build houses but not live in them, and plant vineyards but not drink their wine. 14 The great day of Yahweh is near, near and hurrying quickly! The sound of the day of Yahweh will be bitter; the warrior cries aloud there! 15 That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness. 16 It will be a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the high battlements. 17 For I will bring distress upon mankind, so that they will walk about like blind men because they have sinned against Yahweh. Their blood will be poured out like dust, and their inner parts like dung. 18 Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the wrath of Yahweh. In the fire of his jealousy the whole earth will be consumed, for he will bring a complete, a terrible end of all the inhabitants of the earth.” 1:5 [1] The Hebrew text has by their king , but some modern versions read by Milcom , the name of a pagan god that many people worshiped. Chapter 2 1 Gather yourselves together, yes, gather, O nation without shame— 2 before the decree takes effect and that day passes like the chaff, before the burning anger of Yahweh comes upon you, before the day of the anger of Yahweh comes upon you. 3 Seek Yahweh, all you humble people on earth who do his commands! Seek righteousness. Seek humility, and perhaps you will be hidden on the day of the anger of Yahweh. 4 For Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon will turn into a devastation. They will drive out Ashdod at noon, and Ekron will be uprooted! 5 Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast, the nation of the Kerethites! Yahweh has spoken against you, Canaan, land of the Philistines. I will destroy you until no inhabitant remains. 6 So the seacoast will become pastures, with meadows for shepherds and folds for flocks. 7 The coastal region will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah, who will pasture their flocks on it. Their people will lie down in the evening in the houses of Ashkelon, for Yahweh their God will care for them and restore their fortunes. 8 “I have heard the taunts of Moab and the reviling of the sons of Ammon when they taunted my people and made boasts against their territory. 9 Therefore, as I live—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel— Moab will become like Sodom, and the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah; a place of nettles and salt pits, deserted forever. But the remnant of my people will plunder them, and the remainder of my nation will take possession of them.” 10 This will happen to them in return for their pride, since they taunted and boasted against the people of Yahweh of hosts. 11 Then Yahweh will be awesome against them, for he will starve all the gods of the earth. Everyone will bow down to him, everyone from his own place, nations on every shore. 12 You also, O Cushites, will be pierced by my sword, 13 and he will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria, and he will make Nineveh an abandoned devastation, a dry waste like the desert. 14 Then herds will lie down in her midst, every animal of the nations, both the desert owl and the screech owl will rest in the top of her columns. A call will sing out from the windows; rubble will be in the doorways; her carved cedar beams will be exposed. 15 This is the exultant city that lived securely, that said in her heart, “I am, and nothing is my equal.” How she has become a horror, a place for beasts to lie down in. Everyone that passes by her will hiss and shake his fist at her. Chapter 3 1 Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled, the oppressing city. 2 She listens to no voice, she does not accept correction. She does not trust in Yahweh and will not draw near to her God. 3 Her officials are roaring lions in her midst. Her judges are evening wolves who leave nothing to be gnawed upon in the morning. 4 Her prophets are insolent and treacherous men. Her priests have profaned what is holy and have done violence to the law. 5 Yahweh is righteous in her midst. He does no wrong. Morning by morning he will dispense his justice; each dawn he does not fail. Yet unrighteous people know no shame. 6 “I have cut off nations; their fortresses are ruined. I have laid waste their streets, so that no one passes over them. Their cities are destroyed, without a man, without an inhabitant. 7 I said, ‘Surely you will fear me and accept correction. Then your dwelling will not be cut off by all that I have planned to do to you.’ But all the more they were eager to behave corruptly in all their deeds. 8 Therefore wait for me—this is the declaration of Yahweh—for the day when I rise up to seize the prey. For my decision is to gather the nations, to assemble the kingdoms, to pour out on them my indignation—all of my burning anger; for in the fire of my jealousy all the earth will be consumed. [1] 9 But then I will give to the peoples purified lips, that all of them may call upon the name of Yahweh to serve him shoulder to shoulder. 10 From beyond the rivers of Cush my worshipers—the daughter of my scattered people—will bring offerings due me. 11 In that day you will not be put to shame for all your deeds by which you rebelled against me, since at that time I will remove from among you your proud, exalting ones, and you will never again act arrogantly on my holy mountain. 12 But I will leave among you a humble and lowly people, and they will find refuge in the name of Yahweh. 13 The remnant of Israel will do no injustice and speak no lies, and no deceitful tongue will be found in their mouth; so they will graze and lie down, and no one will make them afraid.” 14 Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! 15 Yahweh has taken away the judgments against you; he has driven out your enemies! The king of Israel, Yahweh, is among you. You will never again fear evil! 16 In that day it will be said to Jerusalem, “Do not fear, O Zion. Do not let your hands fall limp. 17 Yahweh your God is among you, a mighty one to save you. He will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. 18 The sorrows for the appointed feasts I will remove from you; they are a burden and a reproach to you. [2] 19 Behold, I am about to deal with all your oppressors. At that time, I will rescue the lame and gather up the outcast. I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. 20 At that time I will bring you in; at that time I will gather you together. I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” says Yahweh. 3:8 [1] The Hebrew text as until the day that I rise up to seize the prey . However, some ancient and modern versions have until the day that I rise up as a witness . 3:18 [2] This verse is very difficult to understand, and modern versions translate it in many different ways. Haggai Chapter 1 1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of Yahweh came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and to the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, saying, 2 “Thus says Yahweh of hosts: These people say, ‘The time has not come to rebuild the house of Yahweh.’” 3 Then the word of Yahweh came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies ruined? 5 So now thus says Yahweh of hosts: ‘Set your heart to examine your ways! 6 You have sown much seed, but bring in little harvest; you eat but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink but cannot get drunk. You wear clothes but cannot warm yourselves, and the wage earner earns money only to put it into a bag full of holes!’ 7 Thus says Yahweh of hosts: “Set your hearts to examine your ways! 8 Go up to the mountain, bring timber, and build my house; then I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified!—says Yahweh.” 9 “You looked for much, but behold! you have brought little home, for I blew it away! Why?” declares Yahweh of hosts. “Because my house lies in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house. 10 Therefore because of you the heavens withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its produce. 11 I have called for a drought upon the land and upon the mountains, upon the grain and upon the new wine, upon the oil and upon what the ground produces, upon men and upon beasts, and upon all the labor of your hands!” 12 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, along with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of Yahweh their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, because Yahweh their God had sent him and the people feared the face of Yahweh. 13 Then Haggai, the messenger of Yahweh, spoke the message of Yahweh to the people and said, “I am with you!—this is the declaration of Yahweh!” 14 So Yahweh stirred up the spirit of the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and the spirit of the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people, so that they came and worked on the house of Yahweh of hosts, their God 15 in the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king. Chapter 2 1 In the seventh month on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of Yahweh came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, saying, 2 “Speak now to the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and to the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, and to the remnant of the people. Say, 3 ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not like nothing in your eyes? 4 Now, be strong, O Zerubbabel!—this is the declaration of Yahweh— and be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land!—this is the declaration of Yahweh— and work, for I am with you!—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts. 5 This is the word which I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, and my Spirit remains in your midst. Do not fear! 6 For thus says Yahweh of hosts: In a little while I will once again shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land! 7 I will shake all nations, and they will come with the precious things of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory, says Yahweh of hosts. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts. 9 The glory of this house will be greater in the future than at the beginning, says Yahweh of hosts, and I will give peace in this place!—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts.” 10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of Yahweh came by Haggai the prophet, saying, 11 “Thus says Yahweh of hosts: Ask the priests concerning the law, and say, 12 ‘If a man carries meat that is set apart to Yahweh in the fold of his garment, and the fold touches bread or stew, wine or oil, or any kind of food, does it become holy?’” The priests answered and said, “No.” 13 Then Haggai said, “If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these things, does he become unclean?” The priests answered and said, “Yes, he becomes unclean.” 14 So Haggai answered and said, “So it is with this people and this nation before me!—this is the declaration of Yahweh—and so it is with every work done by their hands. What they offer there is unclean! 15 Now then, set your hearts to consider from this day onward. Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of Yahweh, 16 From that time when you came to a heap of twenty measures of grain, there were only ten; and when you came to the wine vat to draw out fifty measures, there were only twenty. 17 I struck you and all the work of your hands with blight and with mildew and with hail, but you still did not turn to me—this is the declaration of Yahweh. 18 Set your hearts to consider from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day that the foundation of the temple of Yahweh was laid. Set your hearts to consider this! 19 Is there still seed in the storehouse? Until now the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not produced! But from this day will I bless you!” 20 Then the word of Yahweh came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month and said, 21 “Speak to Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, and say, ‘I am about to shake the heavens and the earth. 22 For I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms and destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations! I will overthrow the chariots and their riders; the horses and their riders will fall down, each one by the sword of his brother. 23 On that day—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts—I will take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant—this is the declaration of Yahweh. I will make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you! —this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts!’” Zechariah Chapter 1 1 In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah son of Berechiah son of Iddo, the prophet, saying, 2 “Yahweh was exceedingly angry with your fathers! 3 Say to them, ‘Yahweh of hosts says this: Turn to me!—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts— and I will return to you, says Yahweh of hosts. 4 Do not be like your fathers to whom the prophets cried out previously, saying, “Yahweh of hosts says this: Turn now from your evil ways and your evil practices!” But they would not hear and did not pay attention to me—this is Yahweh’s declaration.’ 5 Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, are they here forever? 6 But my words and my decrees that I commanded my servants the prophets, have they not overtaken your fathers? So they repented and said, ‘Just as Yahweh of hosts planned to do to us what our ways and actions deserved, so he has dealt with us.’” 7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah son of Berechiah son of Iddo, the prophet, saying, 8 “I saw in the night, and, look! a man was riding on a red horse, and he was standing among the myrtle trees that {are} in the valley; and behind him there were red, reddish-brown, and white horses.” 9 I said, “What {are} these things, Lord?” Then the angel who talked with me said to me, “I will show you what these things are.” 10 Then the man who stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, “These {are those} Yahweh has sent out to roam throughout the earth.” 11 They answered the angel of Yahweh who stood among the myrtle trees; they said to him, “We have been roaming throughout the earth; and see, all the earth sits still and is at rest.” 12 Then the angel of Yahweh answered and said, “Yahweh of hosts, how long will you show no compassion to Jerusalem and to the cities of Judah, which you have been angry with these seventy years?” 13 Yahweh answered the angel who had talked with me, {with} good words, words of comfort. 14 So the angel who had talked {with} me said to me, “Call out and say, ‘Yahweh of hosts says this: I have been jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great passion! 15 I am very angry with the nations that are at ease. When I was only a little angry with them, they made the disaster worse. 16 Therefore Yahweh says this: I have returned to Jerusalem with mercies. My house will be built within her— this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts—and the {measuring} line will be stretched out over Jerusalem!’ 17 Again call out, saying, ‘Yahweh of hosts says this: My cities will once again overflow with goodness, and Yahweh will again comfort Zion, and he will once again choose Jerusalem.’” 18 Then I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, four horns! 19 I spoke to the angel who talked with me, “What {are} these?” He answered me, “These {are} the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” 20 Then Yahweh showed me four craftsmen. 21 I said, “What {are} these people coming to do?” He answered, and said, “These {are} the horns that scattered Judah so that no man would lift up his head. But the {blacksmiths} have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations that lifted up a horn against the land of Judah to scatter her.” Chapter 2 1 Then I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand. 2 I said, “Where {are} you going?” So he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what {is} its width and what {is} its length.” 3 And behold, the angel who had talked with me went away and another angel went out to meet him. 4 And he said to him, “Run and speak to that young man; saying, ‘Jerusalem will sit in the open country because of the multitudes of men and beasts within her. 5 For I—this is Yahweh’s declaration—will become for her a wall of fire around her, and I will be the glory in her midst. 6 Up! Up! Flee from the land of the north—declares Yahweh— for I have scattered you like the four winds of the skies!—declares Yahweh. 7 Up! Escape to Zion, you who live with the daughter of Babylon!’” 8 For Yahweh of hosts said this, after he honored and sent me against the nations that plundered you— for whoever touches you, touches the apple of God’s eye! 9 “For I myself will shake my hand over them, and they will be plunder for their slaves.” Then you will know that Yahweh of hosts has sent me. 10 “Sing and be glad, daughter of Zion, for I myself will come and encamp among you!—declares Yahweh.” 11 Then great nations will join Yahweh in that day and they will become my people; and I will encamp in your midst, and you will know that Yahweh of hosts has sent me to you. 12 Then Yahweh will inherit Judah as his rightful possession in the holy land and will once again choose Jerusalem. 13 Be silent, all flesh, before Yahweh, for he has been roused from his holy place! Chapter 3 1 Then Yahweh showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of Yahweh and Satan was standing at his right to accuse him. 2 Then Yahweh said to Satan, “May Yahweh rebuke you, Satan; may Yahweh, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! {Is} this not a poker pulled from the fire?” 3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4 Then he spoke and said to those who stood before him, saying, “Remove the filthy clothes from upon him.” Then he said to Joshua, “Look! I have caused your iniquity to pass from you and I will dress you in fine clothing.” 5 Then I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head!” So they set a clean turban on Joshua’s head and clothed him with clothes, while the angel of Yahweh was standing by. 6 Next the angel of Yahweh said to Joshua, 7 “Yahweh of hosts says this: If you will walk in my ways, and if you will keep my commandments, then you will govern my house and guard my courts, for I will allow you to walk among these who stand here. 8 Please Listen, Joshua the high priest, you and your companions who live with you! For these men {are} a sign, for I myself will bring up my servant the Branch. 9 Now look at the stone that I have set before Joshua. There are seven eyes on this single stone, and I will engrave an inscription—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts— and I will remove the sin from this land in one day. 10 In that day—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts—each man will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and under his fig tree.” Chapter 4 1 Then the angel who was talking with me turned and roused me like a man who was roused from his sleep. 2 Then he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand made entirely of gold, with a bowl on its top. It has seven lamps on it and seven tubes for each lamp, which are on the top. 3 Two olive trees {are} by it, one on the right side of the bowl and one on the left side.” 4 So again, I spoke to the angel who was talking with me. I said, “What do these things mean, my master?” 5 The angel who was talking with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these things mean?” I said, “No, my master.” 6 So he answered and said to me, “This {is} the word of Yahweh to Zerubbabel: Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says Yahweh of hosts. 7 What {are} you, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel {you will become} a plain, and he will bring out the top stone to shouts of ‘Grace! Grace to it!’” 8 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house and his hands will bring {it} to completion.” Then you will know that Yahweh of hosts has sent me to you. 10 For who has despised the day of small things? They will rejoice and will see the plumb stone in the hand of Zerubbabel. (These seven {are} the eyes of Yahweh, they roam over the whole earth.) 11 Then I answered and said to him, “What {are} these two olive trees on the right of the lampstand and on the left?” 12 Then I answered again and said to him, “What {are} these two olive branches beside the two gold pipes that have golden {oil} pouring out of them?” 13 Then he said to me, “Do you not know what these {are}?” I said, “No, my master.” 14 Then he said, “These {are} the two sons of oil who stand before the Lord of all the earth.” Chapter 5 1 Then I turned and lifted my eyes, and I saw, behold, a flying scroll! 2 Then he said to me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.” 3 Then he said to me, “This {is} the curse that goes out over the surface of the whole land. For every thief will be cut off according to what it says on the one {side}, and everyone who swears a false oath will be cut off {according to} what it says on the other {side}. 4 I will send it out—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts—so it will enter into the house of the thief and into the house of the one that swears falsely by my name. And it will remain in his house and consume its timber and its stones.” 5 Then the angel who was speaking with me went out and said to me, “Raise now your eyes and see what {is} coming!” 6 And I said, “What is it?” And he said, “This {is} the measuring basket that {is} coming.” And he said, “This {is} their iniquity in the whole land.” [1] 7 And behold, a lead covering was lifted off and there was a woman sitting inside the measuring basket! 8 And he said, “This {is} Wickedness!” Then he threw her inside the measuring basket, and he threw the weight of lead over its opening. 9 And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming, and wind was in their wings—for they had wings like a stork’s wings. And they lifted up the measuring basket between earth and between heaven. 10 And I said to the angel who was talking to me, “Where {are} they taking the measuring basket?” 11 And he said to me, “To build for it a temple in the land of Shinar, and when it is ready, it will be set there on its base.” 5:6 [1] Some ancient and most modern versions have their iniquity . The Hebrew text has their eye , but this is widely thought to be an error. Chapter 6 1 And I turned and lifted my eyes and I saw, and behold, four chariots coming out from between two mountains; and the two mountains {were} made of bronze. 2 The first chariot had red horses, the second chariot had black horses, 3 and the third chariot had white horses, and the fourth chariot had spotted gray horses. 4 And I answered and said to the angel who talked with me, “What {are} these, my master?” 5 And the angel answered and said to me, “These are four winds of heaven that go out from where they were, before the Lord of all the earth. 6 The one with the black horses is going out to the north country; and the white ones are going out to the west; and the spotted ones are going out to the south country.” 7 These strong {horses} went out and sought to go and roam over the earth, and he said, “Go and roam over the earth!” and they went to roam over the earth. 8 Then he called out to me and spoke to me, saying, “Look at the ones that are going out to the north country; they will appease my spirit in the north country.” 9 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 10 “Take from the exiles—from Heldai, and from Tobijah, and from Jedaiah—and you go this same day and take it into the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah, who has come from Babylon. 11 And take the silver and gold and make a crown and set {it} on the head of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 12 And speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, saying: Behold, a man whose name {is} Branch, and he will grow from his place and he will build the temple of Yahweh! 13 And he will build the temple of Yahweh, and he will bear glory, and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne, and a counsel of peace will exist between both of them. 14 And the crown will be given to Heldai, to Tobijah, to Jedaiah, and to Hen, son of Zephaniah as a memorial in the temple of Yahweh. 15 Then those who are far off will come and build the temple of Yahweh, so you will know that Yahweh of hosts has sent me to you; for {this} will happen if you truly listen to the voice of Yahweh your God!’” Chapter 7 1 And it happened in the fourth year of Darius the king, the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah, on the fourth {day} of the ninth month, in Kislev. 2 {The people} of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek and their men {to} beg before the face of Yahweh. 3 They spoke to the priests who {were} at the house of Yahweh of hosts {and} to the prophets; they said, “Should I mourn in the fifth month by means of a fast, as I have done these many years?” 4 So the word of Yahweh of hosts came to me, saying, 5 “Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests and say, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh {month} for these seventy years, were you truly fasting for me? 6 When you ate and drank, did you not eat and {drink for yourselves}? 7 Were these not the same words that Yahweh proclaimed by the mouth of the former prophets, when you still inhabited Jerusalem and the surrounding cities in prosperity and were settled in the Negev, and the foothills to the west?’” 8 The word of Yahweh came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Yahweh of hosts says this, ‘Judge with true justice, covenant faithfulness, and mercy. Let each man do this for his brother. 10 About the widow and orphan, the foreigner, and the poor person—do not oppress them, and let none of you plot any harm against another in your heart.’ 11 But they refused to pay attention and set their shoulders stubbornly. They stopped up their ears so they would not hear. 12 They made their hearts as hard as rock so they would not hear the law or the words of Yahweh of hosts. He had sent these messages to the people by his Spirit in earlier times, by the mouth of the prophets. But the people refused to listen, so Yahweh of hosts was very angry with them. 13 It happened that when he called, they did not listen. In the same way,” said Yahweh of hosts, “they will call out to me, but I will not listen. 14 For I will scatter them with a whirlwind to all the nations that they have not seen, and the land will be desolate after them. For no one will pass through the land or return to it since the people have made their delightful land into a wasteland.” Chapter 8 1 The word of Yahweh of hosts came to me, saying, 2 “Yahweh of hosts says this: I am passionate for Zion with great zeal and I am passionate for her with great anger! 3 Yahweh of hosts says this: I will return to Zion and will live in the midst of Jerusalem, for Jerusalem will be called The City of Truth and the mountain of Yahweh of hosts will be called The Holy Mountain! 4 Yahweh of hosts says this: Old men and old women will once again be in the streets of Jerusalem, and every person will need a staff in his hand because he has grown so old. 5 The streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing in them. 6 Yahweh of hosts says this: If something seems impossible in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also seem impossible in my eyes?—this is Yahweh’s declaration. 7 Yahweh of hosts says this: Behold, I am about to rescue my people from the land of the sunrise and from the land of the setting sun! 8 For I will bring them {back,} and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem, so they will again be my people, and I will be their God in truth and in righteousness! 9 Yahweh of hosts says this: You who now continue to hear the same words that came from the prophets’ mouths when the foundation of my house was laid—this house of mine, Yahweh of hosts: Strengthen your hands so that the temple can be built. 10 For before those days no crops were gathered in by anyone, there was no profit for either man or beast, and there was no peace from enemies for anyone going or coming. I had set every person each against his neighbor. 11 But now it will not be as in former days, I will be with the remnant of this people— this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts. 12 For seeds of peace will be sown; the climbing vine will give its fruit and the earth will give its produce; the skies will give their dew, for I will make the remnant of this people inherit all these things. 13 You were an example to the other nations of a curse, house of Judah and house of Israel. So I will rescue you and you will be a blessing. Do not be afraid; let your hands be strong! 14 For Yahweh of hosts says this: Just as I planned to do harm to you when your ancestors provoked my anger— says Yahweh of hosts—and did not relent, 15 so also I will plan in these days to do good again to Jerusalem and the house of Judah! Do not fear! 16 These are the things that you must do: Speak truth, every person with his neighbor. Judge with truth, justice, and peace in your gates. 17 Do not plan to do evil within your heart against one another, and do not love false oaths—for these are the things I hate!—this is Yahweh’s declaration.” 18 Then the word of Yahweh of hosts came to me, saying, 19 “Yahweh of hosts says this: The fasts of the {fourth} month, the fifth month, the seventh month, and the tenth month will become times of joy, gladness, and happy festivals for the house of Judah! Therefore love truth and peace! 20 Yahweh of hosts says this: People will come again, even those who are living in many different cities. 21 The inhabitants of one {city} will go to {another} city and say, ‘Let us quickly go to beg before the face of Yahweh and to seek Yahweh of hosts! We ourselves are also going.’ 22 Many people and mighty nations will come to seek Yahweh of hosts in Jerusalem and beg for the favor of Yahweh! 23 Yahweh of hosts says this: In those days ten men from every language and nation will grasp the hem of your robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard {that} God {is} with you!’” Chapter 9 1 “This is a declaration of Yahweh’s word concerning the land of Hadrak and Damascus, its resting place; for the eyes of all humanity and all the tribes of Israel are toward Yahweh. 2 This declaration also concerns Hamath, {which} borders on Damascus, and it concerns Tyre and Sidon, for they are very wise. 3 Tyre has built herself a stronghold and heaped up silver like dust and refined gold like mud in the streets. 4 Look! The Lord will dispossess her and destroy her strength on the sea, so she will be devoured by fire. 5 Ashkelon will see and be afraid! Gaza also will tremble greatly! Ekron, her hopes will be disappointed! The king will perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall no longer be inhabited! 6 Strangers will make their homes in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines. 7 For I will remove their blood from their mouths and their abominations from between their teeth. Then they will become a remnant for our God like a clan in Judah, and Ekron will become like the Jebusites. 8 I will camp around my land against enemy armies, [1] so no one can pass through or return, for no oppressor will overrun them, for now I see with my own eyes! 9 Shout with great joy, daughter of Zion! Shout with happiness, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold! Your king is coming to you with righteousness and is rescuing you. He is humble and {is} riding on a donkey, on the colt of a donkey. 10 Then I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem, and the bow will be cut off from battle; for he will speak peace to the nations, and his dominion {will be} from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth! 11 As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the pit where there is no water. 12 Return to the stronghold, prisoners of hope! Even today I am declaring {that} I will return double to you, 13 for I have bent Judah as my bow. I have filled my quiver with Ephraim. I have roused your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece, and have made you, Zion, like a warrior’s sword!” 14 Yahweh will appear to them, and his arrows will shoot out like lightning! For my Lord Yahweh will blow the trumpet and will advance with the storms from Teman. 15 Yahweh of hosts will defend them, and they will devour them and defeat the stones of the slings. Then they will drink and shout like men drunk on wine, and they will be filled with wine like bowls, like the corners of the altar. 16 So Yahweh their God will rescue them on that day, as the flock of his people. They are the jewels of a crown that will shine on his land. 17 How good and how beautiful they will be! The young men will flourish on grain and the virgins on sweet wine!” 9:8 [1] Most interpreters translate the Hebrew words as against enemy armies and some translate the Hebrew as a guard, and so translate the phrase, I will surround my temple as a guard . Chapter 10 1 Ask for rain from Yahweh in the season of the spring rain— Yahweh who makes thunderstorms— and he gives rain showers to everyone and vegetation in the field. 2 For household idols speak falsely; the diviners envision a lie; they tell deceitful dreams and give empty comfort, so {they} wander like sheep and suffer because {there is} no shepherd. 3 “My wrath burns against the shepherds; it is the male goats—the leaders—that I will punish. Yahweh of hosts will also attend to his flock, the house of Judah, and make them like his warhorse in battle! 4 From Judah will come the cornerstone; from him will come the {tent} peg; from him will come the war bow; from him will come every ruler together. [1] 5 They will be like warriors who trample {their enemies} into the mud of the streets in battle; they will make war, for Yahweh is with them, and they will shame those who ride warhorses. 6 I will strengthen the house of Judah and save the house of Joseph; for I will restore them and have mercy on them. They will be as though I had not cast them off, for I {am} Yahweh their God, and I will respond to them. 7 Then Ephraim will be like a warrior, and their hearts will rejoice as with wine; their children will see and rejoice. Their hearts will rejoice in me! 8 I will whistle for them and gather them, for I will rescue them, and they will become as great as they previously were! 9 I sowed them among the peoples, but they will remember me in distant countries, so they and their children will live and return. 10 For I will restore them from the land of Egypt and gather them from Assyria. I will bring them to the land of Gilead and Lebanon until there is no {more room} for them. 11 I will pass through the sea of their affliction; I will strike the waves of that sea and will dry up all the depths of the Nile. The majesty of Assyria will be brought down, and the scepter of Egypt will go away from the Egyptians. 12 I will strengthen them in myself, and they will walk in my name—this is Yahweh’s declaration.” 10:4 [1] Many modern versions put the idea of together at the start of the next verse. Chapter 11 1 Open your doors, Lebanon, that fire may devour your cedars! 2 Lament, cypress trees, for the cedar {trees} have fallen! What was majestic has been devastated! Lament, you oaks of Bashan, for the strong forest has gone down. 3 The shepherds howl, for their glory has been destroyed! The voice of the young lions’ roar, for the pride of the Jordan River has been devastated! 4 This is what Yahweh my God says, “Like a shepherd, watch over the flock set aside for slaughter! 5 (The ones who buy them slaughter them and are not punished, and the ones who sell them say, ‘Blessed be Yahweh! I have become rich!’ for the shepherds working for the flocks’ owners have no pity on them.) 6 For I will no longer pity the inhabitants of the land!—this is Yahweh’s declaration. See! I myself am about to turn over every person into the hand of his neighbor and into the hand of his king, and they will destroy the land and none of them will I deliver {them} from their hand.” 7 So I became the shepherd of the flock marked for slaughter, for those who dealt in sheep. I took two staffs; one staff I called “Favor” and the other I called “Unity.” In this way I shepherded the flock. 8 In one month I destroyed the three shepherds. I became impatient with them, and they also hated me. 9 Then I said to the owners, “I will not work as a shepherd for you any longer. The sheep that are dying—let them die; the sheep that are being destroyed—let them be destroyed. Let the sheep that remain each eat the flesh of its neighbor.” 10 So I took my staff “Favor” and broke it to break the covenant that I had made with all of my tribes. 11 On that day the covenant was broken, and those who dealt in sheep and who were watching me knew that Yahweh had spoken. 12 I said to them, “If it seems good to you, pay me my wages. But if not, do not do it.” So they weighed out my wages—thirty {pieces} of silver. 13 Then Yahweh said to me, “Deposit the silver in the treasury, the excellent price at which they valued you!” So I took the thirty {pieces} of silver and deposited them in the treasury in the house of Yahweh. 14 Then I broke my second staff, “Unity,” to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. 15 Yahweh said to me, “Again, take the equipment of a foolish shepherd for yourself, 16 for see, I am about to set in place a shepherd in the land. He will not care for the perishing sheep. He will not seek out the sheep gone missing, nor heal the crippled sheep. He will not feed the sheep that are healthy, but will eat the flesh of the fattened sheep and will tear off their hooves. 17 Woe to the worthless shepherd who forsakes the flock! May the sword come against his arm and his right eye! May his arm wither away and may his right eye become blind!” Chapter 12 1 This is a declaration of Yahweh’s word concerning Israel—a declaration of Yahweh, who stretched out the skies and laid the foundation of the earth, who fashions the spirit of mankind within man, 2 “See, I am about to make Jerusalem into a cup causing all the peoples surrounding her to stagger about. It will also be like that for Judah during the siege against Jerusalem. 3 On that day, I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. Anyone trying to lift that stone will hurt himself very much, and all the nations of the earth will gather against that city. 4 On that day—this is Yahweh’s declaration—I will strike every horse with confusion and its rider with madness. Over the house of Judah I will open my eyes, but every horse of the peoples I will strike with blindness. 5 Then the leaders of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem {are} our strength because of Yahweh of hosts, their God.’ 6 On that day I will make the leaders of Judah like firepots among wood and like a flaming torch among standing grain, for they will consume all the surrounding peoples on their right and on their left. Jerusalem will again live in her own place.” 7 Yahweh will save the tents of Judah first, so that the honor of the house of David and the honor of those who live in Jerusalem may not be greater than the rest of Judah. 8 On that day Yahweh will be the defender of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on that day those who are weak among them will be like David, while the house of David {will be} like God, like the angel of Yahweh in front of them. 9 “On that day {that} I will begin to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 10 But I will pour out a spirit of compassion and pleading on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so they will look on me, the one they have pierced. They will mourn for me, as one mourns for an only {son}; they will bitterly lament for him like those who lament the death of a firstborn son. 11 On that day the laments in Jerusalem will be like the laments at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 The land will mourn, each clan separate from other clans. The clan of the house of David will be separate and their wives will be separate from the men. The clan of the house of Nathan will be separate and their wives will be separate from the men. 13 The clan of the house of Levi will be separate and their wives will be separate from the men. The clan of the Shimeites will be separate and their wives will be separate from the men. 14 Every clan of the remaining clans—each clan will be separate and the wives will be separate from the men.” Chapter 13 1 “On that day a spring will be opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for their sin and impurity. 2 On that day—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts—I will cut off the names of the idols from the land and they will no longer be remembered. I will remove the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land. 3 If any man continues to prophesy, his father and mother who bore him will tell him, ‘You will not live, for you speak lies in the name of Yahweh!’ Then the father and mother who bore him will pierce him when he prophesies. 4 On that day each prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he is about to prophesy. These prophets will no longer wear a hairy cloak, in order to deceive the people. 5 For each will say, ‘I am not a prophet! I am a man who works the soil, for the land became my work while I was still a young man!’ 6 But someone will say to him, ‘What are these wounds between your arms?’ and he will answer, ‘I was wounded with those in my friends’ house.’” 7 “Sword! Rouse yourself against my shepherd, the man who stands close to me— this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts. Strike the shepherd, and the flock will scatter! For I will turn my hand against the lowly ones. 8 Then it will come about that throughout all the land—this is Yahweh’s declaration— that two-thirds of it will be cut off! Those people will perish; only one-third will remain there. 9 I will bring that third through the fire and refine them as silver is refined; I will test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will answer them and say, ‘This is my people!’ and they will say, ‘Yahweh is my God!’” Chapter 14 1 Behold! A day for Yahweh is coming when your plunder will be divided in your midst. 2 For I will gather every nation against Jerusalem for battle and the city will be captured. The houses will be plundered and the women raped. Half of the city will go out into captivity, but the remainder of the people will not be cut off from the city. 3 But Yahweh will go out and wage war against those nations as when he wages war on the day of battle. 4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is beside Jerusalem to the east. The Mount of Olives will be split in half between the east and the west by a very great valley and half of the mountain will go back toward the north and half toward the south. 5 Then you will flee down the valley between Yahweh’s mountains, for the valley between those mountains will reach to Azel. You will flee just as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah. Then Yahweh my God will come and all the holy ones will be with him. 6 On that day there will be no light, but no cold or frost either. 7 On that day, a day known only to Yahweh, there will no longer be day or night, for the evening will be a time of light. 8 On that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem. Half of them will flow to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in winter. 9 Yahweh will be king over all the earth. On that day there will be Yahweh, the one God, and his name alone. 10 All the land will be like the Arabah, from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. Jerusalem will continue to be raised up and remain in its own place, from the Benjamin Gate to the place where the first gate was, to the Corner Gate, and {from} the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses. 11 {The people} will live in Jerusalem and there will be no more {complete} destruction from God against them. Jerusalem will live in safety. 12 This will be the plague with which Yahweh will attack all the peoples that waged war against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot away even as they are standing on their feet. Their eyes will rot in their sockets and their tongues will rot in their mouths. 13 On that day that great fear from Yahweh will come among them. Each one will seize the hand of another, and the hand of one will be raised up against the hand of another. 14 Judah will also fight against Jerusalem. They will gather the wealth of all the surrounding nations—gold, silver, and fine clothes in great abundance. 15 A plague will also be on the horses {and} the mules, the camels and the donkeys, and on every animal in those camps will also suffer that same plague. 16 Then it will happen {that} all who remain in those nations that came against Jerusalem will instead go up from year to year to worship the king, Yahweh of hosts, and to keep the Festival of Shelters. 17 It will happen {that} if anyone from all the nations of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the king, Yahweh of hosts, then Yahweh will not bring rain on them. 18 If the nation of Egypt does not go up, then they {will not} receive {rain}. A plague from Yahweh will attack the nations that do not go up to keep the Festival of Shelters. 19 This will be the punishment for Egypt and the punishment for every nation that does not go up to keep the Festival of Shelters. 20 But on that day, the bells of the horses {will say,} “Set apart to Yahweh,” and the basins in Yahweh’s house will be like the bowls before the altar. 21 For every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be set apart to Yahweh of hosts and everyone who brings a sacrifice will eat from them and boil in them. On that day traders will no longer be in the house of Yahweh of hosts. Malachi Chapter 1 1 The oracle of the word of Yahweh to Israel by the hand of Malachi. 2 “I have loved you,” says Yahweh. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Was not Esau the brother of Jacob?” declares Yahweh. “Yet I have loved Jacob, 3 but Esau I have hated. I have made his mountains an abandoned devastation, and I left his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.” 4 If Edom says, “We are beaten down, but we will return and build up the ruins,” Thus Yahweh of hosts will say, “They may build, but I will tear down. Others will call them ‘The country of wickedness’ and ‘The people toward whom Yahweh is indignant forever.’ 5 Your own eyes will see this, and you will say, ‘Yahweh is great beyond the borders of Israel.’” 6 “A son honors his father, and a servant honors his master. If I, then, am a father, where is my honor? If I am a master, where is the reverence for me?” says Yahweh of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. “But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ 7 By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that the table of Yahweh may be despised. 8 When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not evil? When you offer the lame and sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor! Will he accept you or will he lift up your face?” says Yahweh of hosts. 9 Now entreat the face of God, that he may be gracious to us. But Yahweh of hosts says that with such an offering in your hand, would he lift up any of your faces? 10 “Oh, if only there were one among you who would shut the temple gates, so that you might not light fires on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you,” says Yahweh of hosts, “and I will not accept any offering from your hand. 11 For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations and in every place incense and pure offerings will be offered to my name. For my name will be great among the nations,” says Yahweh of hosts. 12 “But you are profaning it when you say the table of the Lord is polluted, and that its fruit, its food, is to be despised. 13 You also say, ‘How tiresome this is,’ and you snort at it,” says Yahweh of hosts. “You bring what has been taken by a wild animal or is lame or sick; and this you bring as your offering. Should I accept this from your hand?” says Yahweh. 14 “May the deceiver be cursed who has a male animal in his flock and vows to give it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is flawed! For I am a great king,” says Yahweh of hosts, “and my name will be feared among the nations.” Chapter 2 1 Now, O priests, this command is for you. 2 “If you will not listen, and if you will not lay it on your heart to give honor to my name,” says Yahweh of hosts, “then I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have cursed them, because you are not laying my command on your heart. 3 See, I am about to rebuke your descendants, and I will spread dung on your faces, the dung from your festivals, and he will take you away with it. [1][2] 4 So you will know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant may continue to be with Levi,” says Yahweh of hosts. 5 “My covenant with him was life and peace, and I gave them to him; it was a covenant of fear, and he feared me, and he stood in awe of my name. 6 True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness and he turned many away from iniquity. 7 For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of Yahweh of hosts. 8 But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,” says Yahweh of hosts. 9 “So I also have made you despised and humiliated before all the people, inasmuch as you have not kept my ways, but have instead shown partiality in matters of the law.” 10 Is there not one father for us all? Has not one God created us? Why are we faithless each man against his brother, profaning the covenant of our fathers? 11 Judah has been faithless. An abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of Yahweh which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. 12 May Yahweh cut off from the tents of Jacob the man who does this, the one who is awake and the one who answers, even if he is bringing an offering to Yahweh of hosts. [3] 13 And this second thing you do: You cover the altar of Yahweh with tears, with weeping and groaning, because he still does not turn toward the offering or accept it with favor from your hand. 14 But you say, “Why does he not?” Because Yahweh was a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have been faithless, even though she was your companion and your wife by covenant. 15 Did he not make them one, with a portion of his spirit? And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth. 16 “For I hate divorce,” says Yahweh, the God of Israel, “and the one who covers his garment with violence,” says Yahweh of hosts. “So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not be faithless.” 17 You have wearied Yahweh with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the eyes of Yahweh, and he delights in them,” or “Where is the God of justice?” 2:3 [1] Instead of rebuke your descendants , which the Hebrew text has, some ancient and modern versions have cut off your shoulder (or arm ). Some other modern versions have corrupt your descendants . 2:3 [2] Instead of he will take you away with it , which is in the Hebrew text, some ancient and modern versions have I will take you away from beside me , that is, from my presence . 2:12 [3] Instead of the one who is awake and the one who answers , some versions have other expressions such as the master and the one who studies . Chapter 3 1 “Behold, I am about to send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he will come,” says Yahweh of hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like the fire of the refiner and like the soap of the fullers. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi. He will refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to Yahweh. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to Yahweh, as in the days of old, and as in former years. 5 “Then I will approach you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, the adulterers, those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who turn aside the foreigner, and against those who do not fear me,” says Yahweh of hosts. 6 “For I, Yahweh, have not changed; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, have not come to an end. 7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says Yahweh of hosts. “But you say, ‘How will we return?’ 8 Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this,” says Yahweh of hosts, “if I do not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing for you, until there is no more need. 11 I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil. Your vines in the fields will not lose their fruit,” says Yahweh of hosts. 12 “All the nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight,” says Yahweh of hosts. 13 “Your words against me have been strong,” says Yahweh. “But you say, ‘What have we said among ourselves against you?’ 14 You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God. What profit is it that we have kept his requirements or walked mournfully before Yahweh of hosts? 15 So now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper, but they even test God and escape.’” 16 Then those who feared Yahweh spoke with one another. Yahweh paid attention and listened, and a book of remembrance was written before him about those who feared Yahweh and honored his name. 17 “They will be mine,” says Yahweh of hosts, “in the day when I make up my treasured possession, I will have compassion on them, as a man has compassion on his own son who serves him. 18 Then once again you will distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him. Chapter 4 1 For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and all the evildoers will become stubble. The day that is coming will burn them up,” says Yahweh of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. You will go out, and you will leap like calves from the stall. 3 And you will trample down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I act,” says Yahweh of hosts. 4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel, the statutes and the rulings. 5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and fearful day of Yahweh. 6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I do not come and strike the land with complete destruction.” Matthew Chapter 1 1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham: 2 Abraham fathered Isaac, and Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers, 3 and Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez fathered Hezron, and Hezron fathered Ram, 4 and Ram fathered Amminadab, and Amminadab fathered Nahshon, and Nahshon fathered Salmon, 5 and Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, and Obed fathered Jesse, 6 and Jesse fathered David the king, and David fathered Solomon by the {wife} of Uriah, 7 and Solomon fathered Rehoboam, and Rehoboam fathered Abijah, and Abijah fathered Asa, 8 and Asa fathered Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat fathered Joram, and Joram fathered Uzziah, 9 and Uzziah fathered Jotham, and Jotham fathered Ahaz, and Ahaz fathered Hezekiah, 10 and Hezekiah fathered Manasseh, and Manasseh fathered Amon, and Amon fathered Josiah, 11 and Josiah fathered Jechoniah and his brothers at the Babylonian deportation, 12 and after the Babylonian deportation, Jechoniah fathered Shealtiel, and Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel, 13 and Zerubbabel fathered Abiud, and Abiud fathered Eliakim, and Eliakim fathered Azor, 14 and Azor fathered Zadok, and Zadok fathered Achim, and Achim fathered Eliud, 15 and Eliud fathered Eleazar, and Eleazar fathered Matthan, and Matthan fathered Jacob, 16 and Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, the one called Christ. 17 Therefore, all the generations from Abraham until David {were} 14 generations, and from David until the Babylonian deportation {were} 14 generations, and from the Babylonian deportation until the Christ {were} 14 generations. 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was thus: His mother, Mary, having been engaged to marry Joseph, before they came together, was found having in the womb from the Holy Spirit. 19 Now Joseph her husband, being righteous, and not wanting to publicly disgrace her, he intended to divorce her secretly. 20 But he having reflected on these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him by way of a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, you should not fear to take Mary as your wife, because the one having been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bear a son, and you will call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 Now all this happened so that might be fulfilled {what} was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, 23 “Behold, the virgin will have in her womb and bear a son, and they will call his name Immanuel”—which is translated, “God with us.” 24 And Joseph, having been awakened from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took her {as} his wife. 25 And he did not know her until she bore a son. And he called his name Jesus. Chapter 2 1 Now, Jesus having been born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, learned men from the east arrived in Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is the one having been born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east and came to worship him.” 3 But having heard this, Herod the king became troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And having brought together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired from them, “Where is the Christ being born?” 5 And they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet, 6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the leaders of Judah, for from you will come out a ruling one who will shepherd my people Israel.’” 7 Then Herod, having secretly called the learned men, inquired from them the time of the appearing of the star. 8 And having sent them to Bethlehem, he said, “Having gone, search carefully for the young child, and after you have found him, report to me so that I also, having come, might worship him.” 9 And they, having heard the king, went on their way, and behold, the star that they saw in the east was going before them until, having come, it stood over where the young child was. 10 And having seen the star, they rejoiced with very great joy. 11 And having gone into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother. And having fallen down, they worshiped him, and having opened their treasures, they offered him gifts: gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned through a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their country by another way. 13 Now they having departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appears to Joseph by means of a dream, saying, “Having gotten up, take the young child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is going to seek the young child to kill him.” 14 And having gotten up, he took the young child and his mother at night and departed for Egypt, 15 and he was there until the death of Herod, in order that might be fulfilled {what} was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” 16 Then Herod, having seen that he had been mocked by the learned men, was very angry, and having sent forth, he killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all its region, from two years and under, according to the time that he had determined exactly from the learned men. 17 Then was fulfilled {what} was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet, saying, 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and not willing to be comforted, because they are no more.” 19 Now Herod having died, behold, an angel of the Lord appears through a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Having gotten up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for the ones seeking the life of the child have died.” 21 And he, having gotten up, took the child and his mother, and entered into the land of Israel. 22 But having heard that Archelaus is reigning over Judea in the place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. But having been warned by means of a dream, he withdrew to the region of Galilee, 23 and having gone there, he lived in a city being called Nazareth, so that it might be fulfilled {what} was spoken through the prophets, that he will be called a Nazarene. Chapter 3 1 Now in those days, John the Baptist comes preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens is near.” 3 For this is the one spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, saying, “A voice calling out in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’” 4 Now this John had his clothing from the hair of a camel and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then were going out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the {region} around the Jordan, 6 and being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. 7 Now having seen many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Therefore, produce fruit worthy of repentance. 9 And you should not think to say among yourselves, ‘We have Abraham {as} father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. 10 But already the ax is set against the root of the trees. So, every tree not producing good fruit is chopped down and is thrown into a fire. 11 I baptize you with water for repentance. But the one coming after me is mightier than I, of whom I am not worthy to carry away his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire; 12 whose winnowing fork {is} in his hand, and he will thoroughly clear off his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the storehouse. But he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” 13 Then Jesus comes from Galilee to the Jordan, to John, to be baptized by him. 14 But John was hindering him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?” 15 But answering, Jesus said to him, “Permit {it} now, for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permits him. 16 Now having been baptized, Jesus immediately came up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove, resting upon him, 17 and behold, a voice from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son. I am very pleased with him.” Chapter 4 1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And having fasted 40 days and 40 nights, afterwards, he was hungry. 3 And having approached, the one tempting said to him, “If you are the Son of God, speak so that these stones might become bread.” 4 But he, answering, said, “It is written, ‘Man will not live by bread alone, but by every word coming through the mouth of God.’” 5 Then the devil takes him into the holy city and set him on the highest point of the temple, 6 and says to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and, ‘They will lift you up in their hands, lest you might hit your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You will not test the Lord your God.’” 8 Again, the devil takes him to a very high hill and shows him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these things I will give you, if having fallen down, you would worship me.” 10 Then Jesus says to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written, ‘You will worship the Lord your God, and you will serve only him.’” 11 Then the devil leaves him, and behold, angels came and began to minister to him. 12 Now having heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. 13 And having left Nazareth, having come, he lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territories of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that it might be fulfilled what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, 15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, { the} way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— 16 the people sitting in darkness have seen a great light, and to the ones sitting in the region and shadow of death, upon them has a light arisen.” 17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has come near.” 18 Now walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he says to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 And immediately, they, having left their nets, followed him. 21 And having gone on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the {son} of Zebedee, and John his brother in the boat with Zebedee their father mending their nets, and he called them, 22 and immediately they, having left the boat and their father, followed him. 23 And he was going around in all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people. 24 And the news of him went out into all Syria, and they brought to him all the ones having sickness. being afflicted by various diseases and pains, and being possessed by demons, and the epileptic and the paralytic, and he healed them. 25 And large crowds followed him from Galilee and Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and beyond the Jordan. Chapter 5 1 Now having seen the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and he having sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And having opened his mouth, he taught them, saying, 3 “Blessed {are} the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens. 4 Blessed {are} the ones mourning, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed {are} the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed {are} the ones hungering and thirsting for righteousness, for they will be fed. 7 Blessed {are} the merciful, for they will obtain mercy. 8 Blessed {are} the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed {are} the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. 10 Blessed {are} the ones persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens. 11 Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute {you} and say every evil thing against you falsely because of me. 12 Rejoice and be very glad, for great {is} your reward in the heavens, for in this way they persecuted the prophets before you. 13 You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt has lost its taste, with what might it be made salty again? It is good for nothing any longer, except having been thrown out, to be trampled by men. 14 You are the light of the world. A city being set on top of a hill is not able to be hidden. 15 Neither do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but rather on the lampstand, and it shines for all the ones in the house. 16 Let your light shine before men in such a way so that they might see your good deeds and might glorify your Father in the heavens. 17 Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I came not to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For truly I say to you, until the heaven and the earth passes away, one jot or one tittle will certainly not pass away from the law until all things are accomplished. 19 Therefore, whoever annuls one of the least of these commandments and teaches men to do so will be called least in the kingdom of the heavens. But whoever does and teaches {them}, that one will be called great in the kingdom of the heavens. 20 For I say to you that unless your righteousness abounds more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will certainly not enter into the kingdom of the heavens. 21 You have heard that it was said to the ancient ones, ‘Do not kill,’ and, ‘Whoever kills will be subject to the judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone being angry with his brother will be subject to the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Fool!’ will be subject to the council. And whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be subject to the Gehenna of fire. 23 Therefore, if you offer your gift at the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar and go; first be reconciled with your brother, and then, having come, offer your gift. 25 Be in agreement with your accuser quickly while you are with him on the way, lest your accuser might hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I say to you, you will certainly not come out from there until you have paid the last quadrans. 27 You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone looking on a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 But if your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw {it} away from you. For it is better for you that one of your members would perish and your whole body would not be thrown into Gehenna. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw {it} away from you. For it is better for you that one of your members would perish and your whole body would not go into Gehenna. 31 Now it has been said, ‘Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that everyone divorcing his wife, except for a report of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery. And whoever marries {the one who} has been divorced commits adultery. 33 Again, you have heard that it was said to the ancients, ‘Do not break an oath, but carry out your oaths to the Lord.’ 34 But I tell you not to swear at all, neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God; 35 nor by the earth, for it is a footstool for his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Neither should you swear by your head, for you are not able to make one hair white or black. 37 But let your word be ‘Yes, yes,’ {or} ‘No, no.’ But anything greater than this is from the evil one. 38 You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye in exchange for an eye, and a tooth in exchange for a tooth.’ 39 But I tell you not to resist the evil one. Instead, whoever strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And to the one wanting to have judgment passed upon you and to take away your coat, let him also have your cloak. 41 And whoever will compel you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to the one asking you, and do not turn away from the one wanting to borrow from you. 43 You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray on behalf of the ones persecuting you, [1] 45 so that you might be sons of your Father in the heavens. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust. 46 For if you love the ones loving you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same thing? 47 And if you love only your brothers, what do you do more? Do not even the Gentiles do the same thing? 48 Therefore, you shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. 5:44 [1] The best ancient copies do not have Bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you. Chapter 6 1 Now take heed not to do your righteousness before men to be seen by them, otherwise, you do not have a reward with your Father in the heavens. 2 So when you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before yourself even as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be glorified by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 3 But you, giving alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your alms may be in secret, and your Father seeing in secret will reward you. 5 And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray, having stood in the synagogues and on the corners of the street, so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 6 But you, when you pray, enter into your inner chamber, and having shut your door, pray to your Father in secret, and your Father seeing in secret will reward you. 7 Now praying, do not make useless repetitions even as the Gentiles, for they think that because of their many words they will be heard. 8 Therefore, you should not be like them, for your Father knows what need you have before you ask him. 9 Therefore, you must pray like this: ‘Our Father in the heavens, let your name be honored. 10 Let your kingdom come, let your will also be done on earth as {it is} in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread; 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also forgave our debtors; 13 and do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ [1] 14 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive the men, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. 16 Now when you fast, do not like the mournful hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so that they may be seen as fasting by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 17 But you, {when} fasting, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that you would not appear fasting to men, but only to your Father in secret; and your Father, seeing in secret, will reward you. 19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on the earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Instead, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in nor steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 22 The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, if your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light. 23 But if your eye is evil, your whole body is full of darkness. Therefore, if the light in you is darkness, how great {is} the darkness! 24 No one is able to serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and will love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and will despise the other. You are not able to serve God and wealth. 25 Because of this I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you might eat or what you might drink, nor about your body, what you might wear. Is not life more than food, and the body, {than} clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the sky, that they do not sow nor reap nor gather into barns, but your heavenly Father feeds them. {Are} you not more valuable than them? 27 But who among you, being anxious, is able to add one cubit to his lifespan? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They do not labor, nor do they spin {cloth}. 29 But I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 But if God thus clothes the grass of the field, existing today and tomorrow being thrown into an oven, {will he} not much more, you of little faith? 31 Therefore, you should not be anxious, saying, ‘What might we eat?’ or, ‘What might we drink?’ or, ‘What might we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all of these things. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 Therefore, you should not be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day {is} its evil. 6:13 [1] The best ancient copies do not have For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Chapter 7 1 Do not judge, so that you will not be judged. 2 For with the judgment you judge, you will be judged, and with the measure you measure, it will be measured to you. 3 Now why do you look at the speck of wood in the eye of your brother, but you do not notice the log in your eye? 4 Or how will you say to your brother, ‘Let me take out the speck of wood from your eye,’ while behold, the log {is} in your eye? 5 You hypocrite! First take out the log from your eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck of wood from the eye of your brother. 6 You should neither give the holy to the dogs, nor should you throw your pearls in front of the pigs. Otherwise they will trample them under their feet, and having turned, tear you to pieces. 7 Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone asking, receives; and the one seeking, finds; and to the one knocking, it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there from among you, of whom his son will ask for bread—he will not give him a stone, will he? 10 Or he will also ask for a fish—he will not give him a snake, will he? 11 Therefore, if you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in the heavens give good things to the ones asking him? 12 Therefore, all things in as much as you desire that men do to you, in this manner also, you do to them, for this is the law and the prophets. 13 Enter through the narrow gate. For wide {is} the gate and broad {is} the road that is leading to destruction, and there are many entering through it. 14 For the gate {is} narrow and the way has been made narrow that is leading to life, and there are few finding it. 15 Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 By their fruits you will know them. They do not gather grapes from a thornbush or figs from thistles, do they? 17 In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but the bad tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree is not able to produce bad fruit, nor a bad tree to produce good fruit. 19 Every tree not producing good fruit is cut down and thrown into a fire. 20 So then, you will recognize them from their fruits. 21 Not everyone saying to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but the one doing the will of my Father in the heavens. 22 Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons, and in your name do many mighty deeds?’ 23 And then I will pubicly declare to them, ‘I never knew you! Go away from me, the ones practicing lawlessness!’ 24 Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be compared to a wise man who built his house upon the rock. 25 And the rain came down, and the floods came, and the winds blew and struck against that house, but it did not fall down, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 But everyone hearing these words of mine and not doing them will be compared to a foolish man who built his house upon the sand. 27 And the rain came down, and the floods came, and the winds blew and struck against that house, and it fell, and its destruction was great.” 28 And it happened that when Jesus finished speaking these words, the crowds were astonished by his teaching, 29 for he was teaching them as having authority, and not as their scribes. Chapter 8 1 Now {when} he had come down from the hill, large crowds followed him. 2 And behold, a leper, having approached, bowed before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you are able to make me clean.” 3 And having reached out his hand, he touched him, saying, “I am willing. Be clean.” And immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. 4 And Jesus says to him, “See that you tell no one, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.” 5 Now {when} he had entered into Capernaum, a centurion came to him, begging him 6 and saying, “Lord, my servant has been lying in the house paralyzed, being tormented terribly.” 7 And he says to him, “I, {when} I have come, will heal him.” 8 And answering, the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy that you might enter under my roof, but only speak a word and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another one, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does {it}.” 10 But having heard this, Jesus was amazed and said to the ones following him, “Truly I say to you, I have found such great faith from no one in Israel. 11 But I tell you that many will come from east and west, and they will recline to eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, in the kingdom of the heavens. 12 But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and grinding of the teeth.” 13 And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! As you believed, let it be done for you.” And the servant was healed at that hour. 14 And {when} Jesus had come into the house of Peter, he saw his mother-in-law having been laid down and being sick with a fever. 15 And he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him. 16 Now evening having come, they brought to him many being possessed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all the ones having sickness, 17 so that might be fulfilled that which had been spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, “He himself took our weaknesses and bore our diseases.” 18 Now Jesus, having seen a crowd around him, commanded to depart to the other side. 19 And having approached, a scribe said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 And Jesus says to him, “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky, nests, but the Son of Man does not have {a place} where he might lay his head.” 21 Now another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, permit me first to go away and to bury my father.” 22 But Jesus says to him, “Follow me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.” 23 And {when} he had entered into a boat, his disciples followed him. 24 And behold, a great storm happened on the sea, so that the boat was covered by the waves. But he was sleeping. 25 And having approached, they woke him, saying, “Lord, save us; we are perishing!” 26 And he says to them, “Why are you cowardly, you of little faith?” Then, having gotten up, he rebuked the winds and the sea, and a great calm happened. 27 But the men marveled, saying, “What sort of is he, that even the winds and the sea obey him?” 28 And {when} he had come to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two men met him, being possessed by demons, coming out of the tombs, very violent, so that no one was strong enough to pass through that road. 29 And behold, they cried out, saying, “What to us and to you, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the set time?” 30 Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at a distance from them. 31 But the demons were begging him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of the pigs.” 32 And he said to them, “Go!” And they, having come out, went away into the pigs; and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep slope into the sea, and they died in the water. 33 Now the ones feeding them ran away and, having gone away to the city, they reported everything, and the {things concerning} the ones possessed by demons. 34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And having seen him, they begged him that he would depart from their region. Chapter 9 1 And having entered into a boat, he crossed over and came to his own city. 2 And behold, they were bringing to him a paralytic lying on a mat. And {when} Jesus had seen their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Child, have courage. Your sins are forgiven.” 3 And behold, some of the scribes said among themselves, “This one blasphemes.” 4 And Jesus, having known their thoughts, said, “For what reason do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But in order that you might know that the Son of Man has authority on the earth to forgive sins…” he then says to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your mat, and go to your house.” 7 And having gotten up, he went away to his house. 8 Now {when} the crowds had seen this, they were afraid and glorified God, having given such authority to men. 9 And {as} Jesus is passing on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collection office, and he says to him, “Follow me.” And having gotten up, he followed him. 10 And it happened that he is reclining at table in the house, and behold, many tax collectors and sinners, having come, were dining with Jesus and his disciples. 11 And the Pharisees, having seen this, were saying to his disciples, “For what reason does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But he, having heard this, said, “The ones being healthy do not have need of a physician, but the ones having sickness. 13 But having gone, learn what this is: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” 14 Then the disciples of John come to him, saying, “For what reason do we and the Pharisees often fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them, “The sons of the bridal chamber are not able to mourn while the bridegroom is still with them, are they? But days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 Now no one puts a patch of new cloth on an old garment, for his patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear happens. 17 Neither do they put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the skins are burst, and the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are destroyed. Instead, they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.” 18 {While} he is saying these things to them, behold, a certain official, having approached, bowed down to him, saying, “My daughter has just now died, but, having come, lay your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 And having gotten up, Jesus and his disciples followed him. 20 And behold, a woman suffering from a discharge of blood for 12 years, having come up behind him, touched the edge of his garment, 21 for she was saying to herself, “If only I touch his garment, I will be healed.” 22 But Jesus, having turned and having seen her, said, “Daughter, take courage; your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that hour. 23 And Jesus, having come into the house of the official and having seen the flute players and the crowd being disturbed, 24 said, “Go away, for the girl has not died, but sleeps.” But they laughed at him. 25 But when the crowd had been put outside, having entered, he took her hand, and the girl was raised up. 26 And this report went out into all that region. 27 And {as} Jesus is departing from there, two blind men followed him, crying out and saying, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” 28 Now {when} he had come into the house, the blind men came to him and Jesus says to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They say to him, “Yes, Lord.” 29 Then he touched their eyes, saying, “Let it happen to you according to your faith.” 30 And their eyes were opened, and Jesus warned them, saying, “See that you let no one know {about this}.” 31 But they, having gone out, reported it in all that region. 32 Now {as} they are going away, behold, they brought to him a mute, demon-possessed man. 33 And {when} the demon had been cast out, the mute {man} spoke, and the crowds were astonished, saying, “Such as this has never been seen in Israel!” 34 But the Pharisees were saying, “By the ruler of the demons he casts out the demons.” 35 And Jesus was going around all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness. 36 Now having seen the crowds, he felt compassion for them, because they were troubled and discouraged, like sheep not having a shepherd. 37 Then he says to his disciples, “The harvest {is} plentiful, but the laborers {are} few. 38 Therefore, earnestly ask the Lord of the harvest, so that he might send out laborers into his harvest.” Chapter 10 1 And having summoned his 12 disciples, he gave them authority over unclean spirits, so as to cast them out and to heal every disease and every sickness. 2 Now the names of the 12 apostles are these: first, Simon (called Peter), and Andrew his brother; and James the {son} of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the {son} of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, having even betrayed him. 5 These Twelve Jesus sent out, having instructed them, saying, “Do not go on the way {to the} Gentiles, and do not enter into a city of the Samaritans. 6 But go instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 Now {as} you are going, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of the heavens has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, {and} cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. 9 Do not acquire gold or silver or copper in your belts, 10 nor a bag for the journey nor two tunics nor sandals nor a staff, for the laborer {is} worthy of his food. 11 But whatever city or village you enter into, find someone who is worthy in it and stay there until you leave. 12 Now entering into the house, greet it. 13 And if indeed the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace be returned to you. 14 And whoever does not receive you nor listen to your words, departing from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. 15 Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city. 16 Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so become wise as the serpents and harmless as the doves. 17 But beware of the men, for they will hand you over to councils, and they will whip you in their synagogues; 18 and you will even be brought before governors and kings for my sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they hand you over, do not be anxious about how or what you will speak, for what you will say will be given to you in that hour. 20 For you are not the one speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking in you. 21 Now brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise up against parents and put them to death. 22 And you will be hated by everyone because of my name, but the one having endured to the end, he will be saved. 23 But whenever they persecute you in this city, flee to the next, for truly I say to you, you will certainly not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes. 24 A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. 25 It is enough for the disciple that he might be like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much worse the members of his household! 26 Therefore, do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, and hidden, that will not be made known. 27 What I tell you in the darkness, say in the daylight, and what you hear in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. 28 And do not be afraid of the ones killing the body but not being able to kill the soul. But instead, fear the one being able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for an assarion? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Therefore, do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows. 32 Therefore, everyone who will confess about me before men, I will also confess about him before my Father in the heavens. 33 But whoever denies me before men, I will also deny him before my Father in the heavens. 34 Do not think that I came to bring peace upon the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 and the enemies of a man {will be} the ones of his household. 37 The one loving father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and the one loving son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. 39 The one having found his life will lose it, and the one having lost his life for my sake will find it. 40 The one receiving you receives me, and the one receiving me receives the one having sent me. 41 The one receiving a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a reward of a prophet, and the one receiving a righteous {man} in the name of a righteous {man} will receive a reward of a righteous {man}. 42 And whoever gives to one of these little ones a cup of cold water to drink only in the name of a disciple, truly I say to you, he will certainly not lose his reward.” Chapter 11 1 And it happened that when Jesus had finished giving orders to his 12 disciples, he departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities. 2 Now John, having heard in the prison about the deeds of Christ, having sent through his disciples, 3 said to him, “Are you the one coming, or are we expecting another?” 4 And answering, Jesus said to them, “Having gone, report to John what you see and hear. 5 The blind regain their sight, and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised, and the poor are being told the gospel. 6 And blessed is whoever does not stumble over me.” 7 Now {as} these were going on their way, Jesus began to say to the crowds concerning John, “What did you go out in the wilderness to see—a reed being shaken by the wind? 8 But what did you go out to see—a man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, the ones wearing soft clothing are in the houses of the kings. 9 But what did you go out to see—a prophet? Yes, I say to you, and greater than a prophet. 10 This is {the one} about whom it is written, ‘Behold, I am sending my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’ 11 Truly I say to you, among {the ones} born of women there has not arisen one greater than John the Baptist, but the least important in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he. 12 But from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of the heavens suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. 13 For all the prophets and the law have prophesied until John; 14 and if you are willing to accept {it}, he is Elijah, the one being about to come. 15 The one having ears to hear, let him hear. 16 Now to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplace, who are calling out to one another, 17 saying, ‘We played a flute for you, and you did not dance. We mourned, and you did not weep.’ 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold a man, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom has been justified by her children.” 20 Then he began to rebuke the cities in which most of his miracles were done, because they had not repented. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had happened in Tyre and Sidon which happened in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 Nevertheless, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, you will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that happened in you had happened in Sodom, it would have remained until today. 24 Nevertheless, I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.” 25 At that time, answering, Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you concealed these things from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for thus it was well-pleasing before you. 27 All things were entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father and no one knows the Father except the Son, and to whoever the Son desires to reveal {him}. 28 Come to me, all the ones laboring and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke on you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke {is} easy and my burden is light.” Chapter 12 1 At that time Jesus went on the Sabbaths through the grainfields, but his disciples were hungry and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat {them}. 2 But the Pharisees, having seen this, said to him, “Behold, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.” 3 But he said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and the ones with him— 4 how he went into the house of God and ate the loaves of bread of the presence, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for the ones with him, except only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbaths the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, but are innocent? 6 But I say to you that one greater than the temple is here. 7 But if you had known what this is, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” 9 And having departed from there, he went into their synagogue. 10 And behold, a man having a withered hand, and they questioned him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbaths?” so that they might accuse him. 11 But he said to them, “What man will there be among you who will have one sheep, and if it might fall into a pit on the Sabbaths, will not grasp hold of it and lift {it} out? 12 How much more valuable, then, {is} a man than a sheep? Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbaths.” 13 Then he says to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched {it} out, and it was restored to health, just like the other. 14 But having gone out, the Pharisees took counsel against him how they might put him to death. 15 But Jesus, having perceived this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all, 16 and he commanded them that they might not make him known, 17 so that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, 18 “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will announce justice to the Gentiles. 19 He will not strive nor cry aloud; neither will anyone hear his voice in the streets. 20 He will not break a bruised reed; and he will not quench a smoking flax, until he leads justice to victory, 21 and in his name Gentiles will hope.” 22 Then one being demon-possessed was brought to him, blind and mute, and he healed him, so that the mute one spoke and saw. 23 And all the crowds were amazed and were saying, “Is this not the Son of David?” 24 But the Pharisees, having heard this, said, “He does not cast out demons except by Beelzebul, ruler of the demons.” 25 But having known their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is made desolate, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26 And if Satan casts out Satan, he has been divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. 28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 Or how is anyone able to enter into the house of the strong man and steal his belongings if he has not first bound the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. 30 The one not being with me is against me, and the one not gathering with me scatters. 31 For this reason I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy of the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 And whoever speaks word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this age, nor in the one coming. 33 Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is recognized by its fruit. 34 You offspring of vipers, being evil, how are you able to say good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good man from his good treasure brings forth good things, and the evil man from his evil treasure brings forth evil things. 36 But I say to you that every careless word that men will speak, they will give an account concerning it in the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” 38 Then certain scribes and Pharisees responded to him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” 39 But answering, he said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. 40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the big fish, in this manner the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and will condemn it. For they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah {is} here. 42 The Queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon {is} here. 43 Now when the unclean spirit departs from the man, it passes through waterless places, seeking rest and not finding {it}. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I departed.’ And having come, it finds {it} being empty, having been swept out and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes along with itself seven other spirits more evil than itself, and having entered, they live there. And the end of that man becomes worse than the first. It will be the same way also with this evil generation.” 46 {While} he is still speaking to the crowds, behold, his mother and his brothers standing outside, seeking to speak to him. 47 Now someone said to him, “Behold, your mother and your brothers stand outside, seeking to speak to you.” 48 But answering, he said to the one speaking to him, “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” 49 And having stretched out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Behold, my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in the heavens, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.” Chapter 13 1 On that day, Jesus, having gone out of the house, was sitting beside the sea. 2 And very large crowds were gathered around him. As a result, having stepped into a boat, he sat down, and the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed it, some fell beside the road, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 But others fell on the rocky ground, where it did not have much soil. And immediately it sprang up, because the soil had no depth. 6 But when} {the sun had risen, it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered. 7 But others fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 But others fell on good soil and produced a crop, some 100 {times as much}, and some 60, and some 30. 9 The one having ears, let him hear.” 10 And having approached, the disciples said to him, “For what reason do you speak to them in parables?” 11 But he, answering, said to them, “To you has been given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens, but to those it has not been given. 12 For whoever has, it will be given to him, and he will have an abundance. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 13 For this reason I speak to them in parables; because seeing, they do not see; and hearing, they do not hear nor understand. 14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘In hearing you will hear, but you will certainly not understand; and seeing, you will see, but you will certainly not perceive. 15 For the heart of this people was made dull, and their ears heard with difficulty, and they closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn back, and I will heal them.’ 16 But blessed {are} your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear. 17 For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous ones longed to see what you see, and did not see them, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear them. 18 You, therefore, listen to the parable of the sower. 19 Everyone hearing the word of the kingdom and not understanding, the evil one comes and snatches away {what} had been sown in his heart. This is {what} was sown beside the road. 20 Now the one having been sown on the rocky ground, this is the one hearing the word and immediately receiving it with joy; 21 but he has no root in himself, but is temporary; but tribulation or persecution having happened because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 22 Now the one having been sown among the thorns, this is the one hearing the word, but the worry of this age and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 23 Now the one having been sown on the good soil, this is the one hearing the word and understanding {it}, who indeed produces a crop and yields, some 100 {times}, and some 60, and some 30.” 24 He set before them another parable, saying, “The kingdom of the heavens is compared to a man having sown good seed in his field. 25 But while the men slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel among the wheat and went away. 26 Now when the blades sprouted and produced a crop, then the darnel became visible also. 27 Now the servants of the landowner, having approached, said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? From where then does it have darnel?’ 28 But he was saying to them, ‘A hostile man did this.’ But the servants say to him, ‘Do you therefore desire that, having gone out, we would gather them?’ 29 But he says, ‘Certainly not, lest gathering up the darnel, you might uproot the wheat along with them. 30 Permit both to grow together until the harvest, and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the darnel and tie them in bundles to burn them up, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’” 31 He set before them another parable, saying, “The kingdom of the heavens is similar to a mustard seed which, having taken, a man sowed in his field; 32 which is indeed the smallest of all the seeds. But when it grows, it is greater than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.” 33 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of the heavens is similar to yeast which, a woman having taken, mixed with three measures of flour until it all was leavened.” 34 All these things Jesus spoke in parables to the crowds, and he was speaking nothing to them without a parable, 35 so that {what} had been said through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, “I will open my mouth in parables. I will declare {what} has been hidden from the foundation of the world.” 36 Then, having left the crowds, he went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the darnel of the field.” 37 Now answering, he said, “The one sowing the good seed is the Son of Man, 38 and the field is the world, and the good seed—these are the sons of the kingdom. And the darnel are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy having sowed them is the devil. And the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Therefore, just as the darnel are gathered up and burned with fire, thus will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather up from his kingdom all the stumbling blocks and the ones doing lawlessness. 42 And they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and grinding of the teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. The one having ears, let him hear. 44 The kingdom of the heavens is similar to a treasure hidden in a field, which, having found, a man hid. And from his joy, he goes and sells everything, as much as he has, and buys that field. 45 Again, the kingdom of the heavens is similar to a man, a merchant, seeking fine pearls. 46 And having found one very valuable pearl, having gone away, he sold everything, as much as he possessed, and bought it. 47 Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a net having been cast into the sea, and having gathered from every kind, 48 which, when it had been filled, they dragged onto the beach, and having sat down, they gathered the good things into containers, but the worthless things they threw away. 49 Thus it will be at the end of the age: The angels will go out and will separate the wicked from among the righteous, 50 and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and grinding of the teeth. 51 Have you understood all these things?” They say to him, “Yes.” 52 Now he said to them, “For this reason, every scribe having been discipled for the kingdom of the heavens is like a man, an owner of a house, who draws out new and old from his treasure.” 53 And it happened that when Jesus finished these parables, he departed from there. 54 And having entered into his hometown, he taught them in their synagogue so as to astonish them, and they say, “From where to this one {is} this wisdom and these miracles? 55 Is not this the son of the carpenter? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 And are not all his sisters with us? From where, therefore, to this one {are} all these things?” 57 And they were offended by him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his house.” 58 And he did not do many miracles there, because of their unbelief. Chapter 14 1 At that time, Herod the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus. 2 And he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead, and because of this the powers are at work in him.” 3 For Herod, having arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of Philip, his brother. 4 For John was saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 And wanting to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they were regarding him as a prophet. 6 But the birthday of Herod having come about, the daughter of Herodias danced in the midst and pleased Herod, 7 because of which he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8 Now she, having been urged beforehand by her mother, said, “Give me here, on a platter, the head of John the Baptist.” 9 And the king grieved because of the oaths and the ones reclining to eat with him, commanded {it} to be granted to her. 10 And having sent, he beheaded John in the prison. 11 And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl and she carried {it} to her mother. 12 And having come up, his disciples took away the corpse, and buried it. And having come, they reported {it} to Jesus. 13 Now having heard, Jesus withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. And having heard of {it}, the crowds followed him on foot from the cities. 14 And having come out, he saw a large crowd, and had compassion on them, and healed their sick. 15 Now evening having come, the disciples came to him, saying, “This place is desolate, and the hour is already late. Dismiss the crowds so that, having gone away to the villages, they might buy food for themselves.” 16 But Jesus said to them, “They have no need to go away. You give them to eat.” 17 But they say to him, “We have nothing here except five loaves and two fish.” 18 But he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 And having commanded the crowd to recline on the grass, having taken the five loaves and the two fish, having looked up to heaven, he blessed, and having broken {them}, he gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowds. 20 And they all ate and were filled. And they took up the remaining of the broken pieces—12 baskets full. 21 Now the ones eating were about 5,000 men, besides women and children. 22 And immediately he compelled the disciples to get into the boat and to go before him to the other side, while he sent away the crowds. 23 And having sent away the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. Now evening having come about, he was there alone. 24 But the boat, already in the middle of the sea, was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was contrary. 25 Now in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. 26 But the disciples, having seen him walking on the sea, were greatly troubled, saying, “It is a ghost,” and they cried out from fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.” 28 But answering him, Peter said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 And he said, “Come.” And Peter, having gotten out from the boat, walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But seeing the strong wind, he became afraid, and having begun to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” 31 But immediately, Jesus, having stretched out his hand, took hold of him, and says to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And {when} they had gotten into the boat, the wind ceased blowing. 33 And the disciples in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” 34 And having crossed over, they came to the land at Gennesaret. 35 And having recognized him, the men in that place sent into all that surrounding area, and they brought to him all the ones having sickness. 36 And they were begging him so that they might only touch the edge of his garment, and as many as touched {it} were healed. Chapter 15 1 Then Pharisees and scribes come to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying, 2 “Why do your disciples violate the traditions of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” 3 But he, answering, said to them, “Why do you also violate the commandment of God because of your traditions? 4 For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and ‘The one reviling his father or mother, let him end in death.’ 5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother “Whatever from me might have been helpful {is} a gift,”’ 6 he will certainly not honor his father. And so you have made void the word of God [1] because of your traditions. 7 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying, 8 ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me. 9 But they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” 10 And having summoned the crowd, he said to them, “Listen and understand: 11 Nothing that enters into the mouth defiles the man, but {what} comes out from the mouth, this defiles the man.” 12 Then having come up, the disciples said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees, having heard this word, were offended?” 13 But he answering said, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 14 Let them go! They are blind guides. But if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.” 15 Now responding, Peter said to him, “Explain the parable to us.” 16 But he said, “Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not yet understand that everything that enters into the mouth passes into the stomach and is passed out into the latrine? 18 But the things proceeding out from the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. 19 For from the heart proceed evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, {and} slander. 20 These are the things defiling the man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.” 21 And having come out from there, Jesus withdrew into the regions of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman having come out from that region was crying out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.” 23 But he did not answer her a word. And having approached, his disciples were begging him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” 24 But he answering said, “I was not sent, except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she, having come, bowed down to him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 Now he answering said, “It is not good to take the bread of the children and to throw {it} to the little dogs.” 27 But she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat from the crumbs falling from the tables of their masters.” 28 Then answering, Jesus said to her, “Woman, great {is} your faith; let it be done for you just as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that hour. 29 And having left from there, Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee, and having gone up on a hill, he was sitting there. 30 And large crowds came up to him, having with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others. And they laid them at his feet, and he healed them, 31 so that the crowd marveled, seeing the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing, and they glorified the God of Israel. 32 But Jesus, having summoned his disciples, said, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have remained with me three days already and do not have anything to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they might faint on the way.” 33 And the disciples say to him, “From where {would be} to us in a wilderness so much bread so as to satisfy so large a crowd?” 34 And Jesus says to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” 35 And having commanded the crowd to recline on the ground, 36 he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks, he broke {them} and was giving {them} to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowds. 37 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took away seven baskets full of the remaining of the broken pieces. 38 But those eating were 4,000 men, besides women and children. 39 And having sent away the crowds, he got into the boat and went into the region of Magadan. 15:6 [1] The best ancient copies have the word of God but some other ancient copies have the commandment. It is difficult to choose the better reading. Chapter 16 1 And the Pharisees and Sadducees, having approached—testing {him}—asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 But he answering said to them, [1] [“When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ 3 And in early morning, ‘It will be stormy, for the sky is red, being overcast.’ You know to interpret the appearance of the sky, but the signs of the times you are not able.”] 4 “An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign, but a sign will not be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” And having left them, he went away. 5 And the disciples, having come to the other side, had forgotten to take bread. 6 Now Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 7 But they were reasoning among themselves, saying, “{It is} because we did not take bread.” 8 But Jesus, having known this, said, “You of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves that {it is because} you do not have bread? 9 Do you not yet understand nor remember the five loaves of the 5,000, and how many baskets you gathered up? 10 Or the seven loaves of the 4,000, and how many baskets you took up? 11 How do you not understand that I did not speak to you about bread? But beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that he had not told them to beware of the yeast of the bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 13 Now Jesus, having come to the regions of Caesarea Philippi, asked his disciples, saying, “Who do men say the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some, John the Baptist; and some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” 15 He says to them, “But who do you say I am?” 16 And answering, Simon Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Now answering, Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in the heavens. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19 I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, and whatever you have bound on the earth will be bound in the heavens, and whatever you have loosed on the earth will be loosed in the heavens.” 20 Then he commanded the disciples that they tell no one that he is the Christ. 21 From that time Jesus Christ began to explain to his disciples that it is necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and to suffer much from the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be killed and to be raised on the third day. 22 And having taken him aside, Peter began to rebuke him, saying, “Merciful to you, Lord; may this never be to you.” 23 But, he, having turned, said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, because you are not considering the things of God, but on the things of men.” 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life? 27 For the Son of Man is about to come in the glory of his Father with his angels. And then he will recompense each one according to his actions. 28 Truly I say to you that there are some of the ones standing here who will certainly not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” 16:2 [1] Some ancient manuscripts include the end of verse 2, and verse 3. Chapter 17 1 And six days later Jesus takes along Peter, and James, and John his brother, and brings them up onto a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became brilliant as the light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him. 4 And responding, Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you desire, I will make here three shelters—one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5 {While} he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice from the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased. Listen to him.” 6 And having heard that, the disciples fell on their face and were very afraid. 7 And Jesus, having approached and having touched them, said, “Get up and do not be afraid.” 8 But having lifted up their eyes, they saw no one except only Jesus himself. 9 And {as} they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man might have risen from the dead.” 10 And his disciples questioned him, saying, “Why then do the scribes say that it is necessary for Elijah to come first?” 11 But he, answering, said, “Elijah indeed is coming and will restore all things. 12 But I say to you that Elijah already came and they did not recognize him. Instead, they did whatever they wanted to him. In the same way also, the Son of Man is about to suffer by them.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he spoke to them about John the Baptist. 14 And having come to the crowd, a man came to him, kneeling before him 15 and saying, “Lord, have mercy on my son, because he is epileptic and has sickness, for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 And I brought him to your disciples, but they were not able to heal him.” 17 But answering, Jesus said, “O unbelieving and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I bear with you? Bring him here to me.” 18 And Jesus rebuked it, and the demon came out from him, and the boy was healed from that hour. 19 Then the disciples, having come to Jesus privately, said, “For what reason were we not able to cast it out?” 20 And he says to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly I say to you, if you would have faith like a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you. 21[1] [But this kind does not go out except with prayer and fasting.] 22 Now they being gathered together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be handed over into the hands of men, 23 and they will kill {him}, and on the third day he will be raised up.” And they became very upset. 24 Now {when} they had come to Capernaum, the ones collecting the two-drachma tax came to Peter and said, “Does not your teacher pay the two-drachma tax?” 25 He says, “Yes.” And having entered into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth receive taxes or tolls? From their sons or from strangers?” 26 But having said, “From strangers,” Jesus said to him, “Therefore, the sons are free.” 27 But in order that we might not offend them, having gone to the sea, throw in a fishhook, and draw in the first fish having come up. And having opened its mouth, you will find a shekel. Having taken that, give {it} to them on behalf of me and you.” 17:21 [1] Some ancient manuscripts include verse 21. Chapter 18 1 At that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of the heavens?” 2 And having called to himself a little child, he set him in the midst of them 3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like little children, you will certainly not enter into the kingdom of the heavens. 4 Therefore, whoever will humble himself like this little child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of the heavens. 5 And whoever receives a little child like this in my name receives me. 6 But whoever causes one of these little ones believing in me to stumble, it is better for him that a millstone of a donkey would have been hung about his neck and he would have been sunk into the depth of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of the stumbling blocks! For it is necessary that the stumbling blocks come, but woe to the man through whom the stumbling block comes! 8 Now if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw {it} away from you. It is better for you to enter into life maimed or lame than to be thrown into the eternal fire having two hands or two feet. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw {it} away from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye than to be thrown into the Gehenna of fire having two eyes. 10 See that you would not despise one of these little ones. For I say to you that in heaven their angels always look on the face of my Father in the heavens. 11[1] [For the Son of Man came to save the onethat had been lost.] 12 What do you think? If a certain man has 100 sheep, and one of them goes astray, having left the 99 on the hillside and having gone out, does he not seek the one wandering? 13 And if he happens to find it, truly I say to you that he rejoices over it more than over the 99 that have not gone astray. 14 In the same way, it is not the will before your Father in the heavens that one of these little ones would perish. 15 But if your brother sins against you, go, reprove him between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take with you yet one or two {others}, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word might be verified. 17 But if he refuses to listen to them, speak to the church. But if he also refuses to listen to the church, let him be to you even as the Gentile and the tax collector. 18 Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on the earth will be bound in heaven; and whatever you release on the earth will be released in heaven. 19 Again I truly say to you that if two of you agree together on the earth about any matter that they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in the heavens. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in their midst.” 21 Then having approached, Peter said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me and I will forgive him? Until seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. 23 For this reason, the kingdom of the heavens may be compared to a man, a king, who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 Now {when} he had begun to settle, one debtor of 10,000 talents was brought to him. 25 But, he not being able to repay, the master commanded him to be sold, together with his wife and children and everything, as much as he had, and repayment to be made. 26 So, having fallen down, the slave was bowing down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will repay you everything.’ 27 Now having felt compassion, the master of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But having gone out, that slave found one of his fellow slaves, who owed him 100 denarii, and having grasped him, he choked {him}, saying, ‘Repay whatever you owe.’ 29 Then having fallen down, his fellow slave begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will repay you.’ 30 But he was not willing. Instead, having gone out, he threw him into prison until he might repay {what} is owed. 31 Therefore, his fellow slaves, having seen {what} had happened, were very upset. And having come, they fully explained to their master everything that had happened. 32 Then, having called him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Was it not necessary for you to also have had mercy on your fellow slave, just as I also had mercy on you?’ 34 And having been provoked, his master handed him over to the torturers until he would repay all that is owed. 35 In this way also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you do not forgive his brother from your heart.” 18:11 [1] Some ancient manuscripts include verse 11. Chapter 19 1 And it happened that when Jesus had finished these words, he departed from Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2 And great crowds followed him, and he healed them there. 3 And Pharisees approached him, testing him, and saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?” 4 But he, answering, said, “Have you not read that the one having made {them} from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘On account of this, a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will be one flesh’? 6 So then, they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let man not separate.” 7 They say to him, “Why then has Moses commanded {us} to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” 8 He says to them, “For your hardness of heart, Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not that way. 9 But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and the one having been divorced, having married, commits adultery.” 10 The disciples say to him, “If thus is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” 11 But he said to them, “Not everyone can accept this word, but the ones to whom it has been given. 12 For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of the heavens. The one being able to accept this, let him accept {it}.” 13 Then little children were brought to him so that he would lay his hands on them and would pray, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 But Jesus said, “Permit the little children, and do not forbid them to come to me, for the kingdom of the heavens is of the ones such as these.” 15 And having placed his hands on them, he went on from there. 16 And behold, a {man}, having approached him, said, “Teacher, what good thing might I do in order that I might have eternal life?” 17 But he said to him, “Why do you ask me about {what} {is} good? One is good, but if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 18 He says to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “Do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, 19 honor your father and your mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man says to him, “All these things I have obeyed. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell {what} you possess, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in the heavens; and come, follow me.” 22 But the young man, having heard the word, went away being grieved, for he had many possessions. 23 Now Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I say to you, a rich {man} will enter with difficulty into the kingdom of the heavens. 24 And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through an eye of a needle than for a rich {man} to enter into the kingdom of God.” 25 Now having heard this, the disciples were very astonished, saying, “Who then is able to be saved?” 26 But Jesus, having looked at {them}, said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 27 Then answering, Peter said to him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed you. What then will there be for us?” 28 And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, in the renewal when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you, the ones have followed me, you will also sit upon 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or land for the sake of my name, will receive 100 times {as much} and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many first will be last, and last, first. Chapter 20 1 For the kingdom of the heavens is like a man, a landowner, who went out with the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 Now having agreed with the workers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And having gone out about the third hour, he saw others having stood idle in the marketplace. 4 And to them he said, ‘You also, go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ 5 So they went out. Having gone out again about the sixth and ninth hour, he did likewise. 6 Now having gone out about the eleventh {hour}, he found others having stood, and he says to them, ‘Why have you stood here idle the whole day?’ 7 They say to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He says to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ 8 And evening having come, the owner of the vineyard says to his manager, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, having begun from the last to the first.’ 9 And having come, the ones about the eleventh hour each received a denarius. 10 But having come, the first thought that they will receive more, but they also received a denarius each. 11 But having received {it}, they were murmuring against the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last ones have done one hour, but you made them equal to us, the ones having borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he, answering, said to one of them, ‘Friend, I am not wronging you. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take {what is} yours and go away. But I desire to give to these last as also to you. 15 Or is it not lawful for me to do what I desire with my things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’ 16 In the same way, the last will be first, and the first last.” [1] 17 And Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the 12 disciples aside by themselves, and on the way he said to them, 18 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death 19 and will hand him over to the Gentiles for them to mock and to flog and to crucify him. But on the third day he will be raised up.” 20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee approached him with her sons, bowing down and asking for something from him. 21 But he said to her, “What do you desire?” She says to him, “Say that these my two sons might sit, one at your right hand and one at your left hand, in your kingdom.” 22 But answering, Jesus said, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They say to him, “We are able.” 23 He says to them, “My cup you will drink. But to sit at my right hand and at my left hand is not mine to give, but to the ones that have been prepared by my Father.” 24 And having heard this, the ten {disciples} were very angry with the two brothers. 25 But Jesus, having called them to himself, said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It is not this way among you. Instead, whoever desires to become great among you will be your servant, 27 and whoever desires to be first among you will be your servant, 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom in exchange for many.” 29 And {as} they were proceeding from Jericho, a great crowd followed him. 30 And behold, two blind men are sitting beside the road. Having heard that Jesus is passing by, they cried out, saying, “Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David.” 31 Now the crowd rebuked them, so that they would be silent, but they cried out even more, saying, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David.” 32 And having stood still, Jesus called to them and said, “What do you want that I might do for you?” 33 They say to him, “Lord, that our eyes might be opened.” 34 Now having been moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes. And immediately they received their sight and followed him. 20:16 [1] The best ancient copies do not have Many are called, but few are chosen. Chapter 21 1 And when they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village {that is} in front of you, and you will immediately find a donkey tied up, and a colt with her. Having untied {them}, bring {them} to me. 3 And if anyone says anything to you, you will say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” 4 Now this had come about so that {what} was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, 5 “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, Humble and riding on a donkey— and on a colt, a foal of a beast of burden.’” 6 Now the disciples, having gone and having done just as Jesus had directed them, 7 brought the donkey and the colt and put their cloaks on them, and he sat upon them. 8 Now most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and were spreading {them} in the road. 9 Now the crowds going before him and following were crying out, saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one coming in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest {places}!” 10 And {when} he had entered into Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds answered, “This is Jesus the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.” 12 And Jesus entered into the temple and cast out all the ones buying and selling in the temple and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of the ones selling the doves. 13 And he says to them, “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” 14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 But the chief priests and the scribes, having seen the marvelous things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became very angry. 16 And they said to him, “Do you hear what they are saying?” But Jesus says to them, “Yes! Have you never read, ‘From the mouths of little children and nursing infants you have prepared praise’?” 17 And having left them, he went out from the city to Bethany and spent the night there. 18 Now in the morning, returning to the city, he was hungry. 19 And having seen one fig tree along the road, he went to it and found nothing on it except leaves only. And he says to it, “May there no longer be fruit from you to eternity,” and immediately the fig tree withered. 20 And having seen this, the disciples marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree immediately wither away?” 21 But answering, Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do {what was} of the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and be thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. 22 And everything, whatever you request in prayer, believing, you will receive.” 23 And {when} he had come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him {as} he is teaching, saying, “By what authority do you do these things, and who gave you this authority?” 24 But answering, Jesus said to them, “I also will ask you one word, that if you tell me, I also will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 25 The baptism of John—from where was it? From heaven or from men?” But they were debating among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the crowd, for they all regard John as a prophet.” 27 And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things. 28 But what do you think? A man had two sons, and having gone to the first, said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ 29 But he, answering, said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward, having changed his mind, he went. 30 But having gone to the second son, he said likewise. And he, answering, said, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They say, “The first one.” Jesus says to them, “Truly I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes enter into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, but you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. But you, having seen this, did not repent afterward to believe in him. 33 Listen to another parable. There was a man, a landowner, who planted a vineyard and put a hedge around it and dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower and rented it out to farmers and went into another country. 34 Now when the fruit season approached, he sent his servants to the farmers to receive his fruit. 35 But the farmers having taken hold of his servants, one they beat, and one they killed, and one they stoned. 36 Again, he sent other servants, more than the first, but they did to them likewise. 37 But afterward, he sent to them his own son, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But the farmers, having seen the son, said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, that we might kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And having laid hold of him, they threw him out from the vineyard and killed {him}. 40 Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?” 41 They say to him, “He will severely destroy those evil ones, and will rent out the vineyard to other farmers who will give him the fruit at their season.” 42 Jesus says to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘A stone which the builders rejected, this has become the head of the corner. This came about from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? 43 For this reason I say to you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and will be given to a nation producing its fruits. 44 And the one having fallen on this stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it falls, it will crush him.” 45 And the chief priests and the Pharisees, having heard his parables, understood that he is speaking about them. 46 And seeking to arrest him, they were afraid of the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet. Chapter 22 1 And answering, Jesus again spoke to them in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of the heavens is like a man, a king, who prepared a wedding feast for his son. 3 And he sent out his servants to call the ones that had been invited to the wedding feast, but they were not willing to come. 4 Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell the ones that have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and fattened calves have been killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding feasts.”’ 5 But they, having paid no attention, went away, one to his own field and one to his business. 6 But the others, having seized his servants, treated {them} shamefully and killed {them}. 7 But the king was provoked, and having sent his soldiers, he killed those murderers and burned their city. 8 Then he says to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but the ones that had been invited were not worthy. 9 Therefore, go to the crossings of the roads and invite as many as you find to the wedding feasts.’ 10 And those servants, having gone out to the roads, gathered together all whom they found, both evil and good, and the wedding hall was filled {with those} reclining to eat. 11 But the king, having come in to look at the ones reclining to eat, saw there a man not wearing wedding clothes. 12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here, not having wedding clothes?’ But he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Having bound him foot and hand, throw him out into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and grinding of the teeth.’ 14 For many are called, but few chosen.” 15 Then having gone, the Pharisees took counsel how they might entrap him in his words. 16 And they send to him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful, and you teach the way of God in truth, and it is not a concern to you about anyone, for you do not look at the face of men. 17 Therefore, tell us, what do you think? Is it lawful to give a poll tax to Caesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus, having perceived their wickedness, said, “Why are you testing me, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin of the poll tax.” And they brought a denarius to him. 20 And he says to them, “Whose image and inscription {is} this?” 21 They say, “Caesar’s.” Then he says to them, “Therefore, give to Caesar the things of Caesar, and to God the things of God.” 22 And having heard {it}, they marveled, and having left him, they went away. 23 On that day Sadducees, saying there is no resurrection, came to him, and questioned him, 24 saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If someone has died, not having children, his brother will marry his wife and will raise up seed for his brother.’ 25 But there were among us seven brothers, and the first, having married, died. And not having seed, he left his wife to his brother. 26 Likewise also, the second and the third, up to the seventh. 27 And last of all, the woman died. 28 Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her.” 29 But answering, Jesus said to them, “You have been led astray, not knowing the scriptures or the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but they are like angels in heaven. 31 But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read {what} was spoken to you by God, saying, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not of the dead, but of the living.” 33 And having heard this, the crowds were astonished at his teaching. 34 But the Pharisees, having heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, questioned {him}, testing him— 36 “Teacher, which commandment is} {the greatest in the law?” 37 But he said to him, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 Now a second {is} like it—’Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang the whole law and the prophets.” 41 Now the Pharisees having been gathered together, Jesus questioned them, 42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They say to him, “Of David.” 43 He says to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying, 44 ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I might put your enemies under your feet”’? 45 If David therefore calls him ‘Lord,’ how is he his son?” 46 And no one was able to answer him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day to question him any longer. Chapter 23 1 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees sat in the seat of Moses. 3 Therefore, all, whatever they command you, do and keep. But do not do according to their works, for they say, but do not do. 4 And they tie up loads, heavy and difficult to carry, and they put {them} on the shoulders of men, but they themselves are not willing with their finger to move them. 5 But they do all their deeds to be seen by men. For they broaden their phylacteries and they lengthen their tassels. 6 Now they love the chief places at the banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, 7 and the greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by men. 8 But you should not be called ‘Rabbi,’ for one is your teacher, and all you are brothers. 9 And you should not call any of you on the earth ‘father,’ for you have one heavenly Father. 10 And you should not be called ‘teacher,’ for your teacher is one—the Christ. 11 But the greatest among you will be your servant. 12 But whoever will exalt himself will be humbled, and whoever will humble himself will be exalted. 13 But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of the heavens in front of men. For you do not enter in, nor do you permit the ones entering to enter. 14[1] [Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, while you make a show of long prayers.] You will receive this greater condemnation. 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you go over the sea and the dry land to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of Gehenna as you. 16 Woe to you, you blind guides, you saying, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing. But whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obligated.’ 17 You fools and blind men! For which is greater, the gold or the temple having sanctified the gold? 18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing. But whoever swears by the gift on top of it, he is obligated.’ 19 You fools and blind {men}! For which {is} greater, the gift or the altar sanctifying the gift? 20 Therefore, the one having sworn by the altar swears by it and by everything {that is} on top of it. 21 And the one having sworn by the temple swears by it and by the one inhabiting it. 22 And the one having sworn by heaven swears by the throne of God and by the one sitting on it. 23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe the mint and the dill and the cumin, but you have neglected the weightier matters of the law—justice and mercy and faithfulness. But it was necessary to do these and not to neglect those. 24 You blind guides, the ones straining out the gnat but swallowing the camel! 25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! Clean first the inside of the cup and of the plate, so that the outside of it might become clean also. 27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside appear beautiful, but on the inside are full of bones of the dead and all uncleanness. 28 In the same way, you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. 29 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the tombs of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we were in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Therefore you testify against yourselves that you are sons of the ones having killed the prophets, 32 and you fill up the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how might you escape from the judgment of Gehenna? 34 For this reason, behold, I am sending to you prophets and wise men and scribes. From among them you will kill and crucify, and from among them you will whip in your synagogues and pursue {them} from city to city, 35 so that might come upon you all the righteous blood being shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous, as far as the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the temple and the altar. 36 Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. 37 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you {who} kill the prophets and stones the ones that have been sent to you! How often did I desire to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 38 Behold, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I say to you, You will certainly not see me from now on until you say, ‘Blessed is the one coming in the name of the Lord!’” 23:14 [1] Some ancient manuscripts include the first part of verse 14 (some copies add this phrase after verse 12). Chapter 24 1 And Jesus, having departed from the temple, was going on his way. And his disciples approached {him} to point out to him the buildings of the temple. 2 But he, answering, said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, stone upon stone will certainly not be left here that will not be torn down.” 3 Now {as} he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached him by themselves, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what {will be} the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 And answering, Jesus said to them, “Be careful that no one might lead you astray. 5 For many will come in my name saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will lead many astray. 6 And you are going to hear of wars and reports of wars. See that you are not troubled, for it is necessary for this to happen, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 But all these things are the beginning of birth pains. 9 Then they will hand you over to tribulation and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations for the sake of my name. 10 And then many will be caused to stumble, and will betray one another and will hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will be raised up and will lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one having endured to the end, he will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. 15 Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation having been spoken of by Daniel the prophet, set up in the holy place” (let the one reading understand), 16 “then let the ones in Judea flee to the mountains, 17 let the one on the housetop not go down to take anything from his house, 18 and let the one in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19 But woe to the ones having in the womb and to the ones nursing in those days! 20 But pray so that your flight would not occur in winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For then will be a great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, nor will ever happen again. 22 And if those days had not been shortened, no flesh would have been saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened. 23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here {is} the Christ!’ or, ‘Here!’ you should not believe {it}. 24 For false Christs and false prophets will be raised up and will give great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 Behold, I have told you beforehand. 26 Therefore, if they say to you, ‘Behold, he is in the wilderness,’ you should not go out there. Or, ‘Behold, in the inner rooms,’ you should not believe {it}. 27 For just as the lightning comes out from the east and shines as far as the west, in the same way will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will be gathered. 29 But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the heavens as far as the ends of them. 32 Now learn this parable from the fig tree. When its branch already becomes tender and it puts out {its} leaves, you know that the summer {is} near. 33 In the same way also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the gates. 34 Truly I say to you that this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 The heaven and the earth will pass away, but my words will certainly not pass away. 36 But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of the heavens, nor the Son, except the Father only. 37 For just as the days of Noah were, thus will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until that day Noah entered into the ark, 39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took {them} all away—thus also will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two {men} will be in the field—one is taken, and one is left. 41 Two {women} are grinding with the mill—one is taken, and one is left. 42 Therefore, be alert, for you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in which watch of night the thief is coming, he would have been alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44 For this reason you also be ready, for the Son of Man will come at the hour that you do not think. 45 Who then is the faithful and wise slave whom his master has appointed over his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed {is} that slave whom, his master having come, will find him doing thus. 47 Truly I say to you that he will appoint him over everything that he possesses. 48 But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow slaves, and eats and drinks with the ones being drunk, 50 the master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect and at an hour that he does not know. 51 And he will cut him in pieces and will assign his place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and grinding of the teeth. Chapter 25 1 Then the kingdom of the heavens will be compared to ten virgins who, having taken their lamps, went out to a meeting of the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were foolish and five wise. 3 For the foolish, having taken their lamps, did not take oil with themselves. 4 But the wise took oil in the containers with their lamps. 5 Now, the bridegroom delaying, they all became sleepy and were sleeping. 6 But in the middle of the night there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Go out to the meeting.’ 7 Then all those virgins were awakened and trimmed their lamps. 8 Now the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us from your oil, because our lamps are going out.’ 9 But answering, the wise said, ‘Perhaps there will certainly not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the ones selling and buy for yourselves.’ 10 But {while} they were going away to buy, the bridegroom came, and the prepared entered with him into the wedding feasts, and the door was shut. 11 But afterward the other virgins also come, saying, ‘Master, master, open for us.’ 12 But he, answering, said, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 Therefore, stay alert, for you do not know the day nor the hour. 14 For {it is} like a man going to another country. He called his own slaves and handed over to them his possessions. 15 And to one he gave five talents, and to one, two, and to one, one—to each according to his own ability. And immediately he went to another country. 16 {When} he had gone, the one having received the five talents traded with them and gained another five talents. 17 Likewise, the one with the two also gained another two. 18 But the one having received the one, having gone away, dug in the ground and hid the money of his master. 19 Now after a long time, the master of those slaves comes and settles accounts with them. 20 And having approached, the one having received the five talents brought another five talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents. But behold, I gained five talents.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful over a few things. I will appoint you over many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 The one with the two talents, having also approached, said, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents, but behold, I have gained two talents.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful over a few things. I will appoint you over many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 But the one that had received the one talent, having also approached, said, ‘Master, I know you, that you are a strict man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter. 25 And having become afraid, having gone away, I hid your talent in the ground. Behold, you have {what is} yours.’ 26 But answering, his master said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You have known that I reap where I did not sow and harvest where I did not scatter. 27 Therefore, it was necessary for you to have placed my money at the bankers, and having come, I would have received back my money with interest. 28 Therefore, take away the talent from him and give it to the one having the ten talents. 29 For to the one having, all will be given—even more abundantly. But from the one not having, even what he has will be taken away from him. 30 And throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and grinding of the teeth.’ 31 But when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 And before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them from one another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on his left. 34 Then the King will say to the ones at his right, ‘Come, you that have been blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited me in; 36 I was naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you cared for me; I was in prison, and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed {you}? Or thirsty and give {you} to drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and invite {you} in? Or naked and clothe {you}? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ 40 And answering, the King will say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did {it} for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did {it} for me.’ 41 Then he also will say to the ones on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels, 42 for I was hungry, and you did not give me to eat; I was thirsty, and you did not give me to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite me in; naked, and you did not clothe me; sick and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ 44 Then they will also answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not serve you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do {it} for one of the least of these, you did not do {it} for me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Chapter 26 1 And it happened that when Jesus had finished all these words, he said to his disciples, 2 “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is being handed over to be crucified.” 3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people were gathered together in the palace of the high priest, named Caiaphas. 4 And they plotted together in order that they might arrest Jesus stealthily and might kill him. 5 But they were saying, “Not during the festival, so that a riot does not happen among the people.” 6 Now {while} Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, 7 a woman came to him having an alabaster jar of very expensive perfumed ointment, and she poured {it} upon his head as he is reclining to eat. 8 Now having seen this, the disciples became angry, saying, “For what {is} this waste? 9 For this was able to have been sold for much and to be given to the poor.” 10 But Jesus, knowing this, said to them, “Why are you causing trouble for the woman? For she has done a good work for me. 11 For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me. 12 For {when} she poured this ointment on my body, she did {it} for my burial. 13 Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.” 14 Then one of the Twelve, named Judas Iscariot, having gone to the chief priests, 15 said, “What are you willing to give me, and I will betray him to you?” And they weighed out 30 shekels of silver for him. 16 And from that moment he began to seek an opportunity in order that he might betray him. 17 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where do you want that we might prepare for you to eat the Passover?” 18 And he said, “Go into the city to such a man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is near. I am doing the Passover at your {house} with my disciples.”’” 19 And the disciples did as Jesus directed them, and they prepared the Passover. 20 Now evening having come, he was reclining to eat with the Twelve. 21 And as they were eating, he said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will betray me.” 22 And being very grieved, each one began to ask him, “Surely not I, Lord?” 23 But he, answering, said, “The one having dipped his hand with me in the dish, he will betray me. 24 The Son of Man will depart just as it is written about him. But woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It was better for him if that man had not been born.” 25 But answering, Judas, the one betraying him, said, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said {it} yourself.” 26 Now {as} they are eating, Jesus, having taken bread and having blessed {it}, he broke {it}. And having given {it} to the disciples, he said, “Take, eat. This is my body.” 27 And having taken a cup and having given thanks, he gave {it} to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is my blood of the covenant that is being poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 But I say to you, I will certainly not drink again from this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in the kingdom of my Father.” 30 And having sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 31 Then Jesus said to them, “You all will be caused to stumble in me in this very night, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ 32 But after I am raised up, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.” 33 But answering, Peter said to him, “{Even} if all will be caused to stumble in you, I will never be caused to stumble.” 34 Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you, in this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” 35 Peter says to him, “Even if it is necessary for me to die with you, I will certainly not deny you.” And all the disciples said likewise. 36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane and says to the disciples, “Sit here while, having gone over there, I pray.” 37 And having taken along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be grieved and to be troubled. 38 Then he says to them, “My soul is deeply sorrowful, to the point of death. Remain here and watch with me.” 39 And having gone a little farther, he fell on his face, praying and saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me. Yet, not as I will, but as you.” 40 And he comes to the disciples and finds them sleeping, and he says to Peter, “So, were you not able to watch with me for one hour? 41 Watch and pray so that you do not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed {is} willing, but the flesh {is} weak.” 42 Again, having gone away a second time, he prayed, saying, “My Father, if this is not able to pass away unless I drink it, let your will be done.” 43 And having come again, he found them sleeping, for their eyes were weighed down. 44 And having left them again, having gone away, he prayed a third time, having said the same words again. 45 Then he comes to the disciples and says to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour has approached, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Get up, that we might go. Behold, the one betraying me has approached.” 47 And {as} he is still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the Twelve, came, and with him, a large crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and elders of the people. 48 Now the one betraying him gave them a signal, saying, “Whomever I kiss is him. Seize him.” 49 And immediately, having come up to Jesus, he said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and he kissed him. 50 But Jesus said to him, “Friend, for that which you are here.” Then having come, they laid hands on Jesus and seized him. 51 And behold, one of the ones with Jesus, having stretched out his hand, drew his sword, and having struck the servant of the high priest, cut off his ear. 52 Then Jesus says to him, “Return your sword to its place, for all the ones having taken up a sword will perish by a sword. 53 Or do you think that I am not able to call upon my Father, and he will send me more than 12 legions of angels at once? 54 How then would the Scriptures be fulfilled, that this must happen?” 55 At that hour Jesus said to the crowd, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to seize me, as against a robber? Every day I was sitting teaching in the temple, and you did not arrest me. 56 But all this has happened so that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples, having left him, fled. 57 Now the ones having seized Jesus led {him} away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had been gathered together. 58 But Peter was following him from a distance to the courtyard of the high priest. And having entered inside, he sat down with the guards to see the outcome. 59 Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus so that they might put him to death. 60 But they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. But later two, having come forward, 61 said, “This one said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild {it} in three days.’” 62 And having stood up, the high priest said to him, “Do you answer nothing? What {is it that} they are testifying against you?” 63 But Jesus was silent. And the high priest said to him, “I command you by the living God, so that you might tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” 64 Jesus says to him, “You have said {it} yourself. But I say to you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” 65 Then the high priest tore his robe, saying, “He has blasphemed! Why do we still have need of witnesses? Behold, now you have heard the blasphemy. 66 What do you think?” And they, answering, said, “He is deserving of death.” 67 Then they spit in his face and beat him, and they slapped him, 68 saying, “Prophesy to us, Christ. Who is the one having struck you?” 69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and one servant girl came to him, saying, “You were also with Jesus of Galilee.” 70 But he denied {it} in front of {them} all, saying, “I do not know what you are saying.” 71 But when he had gone out to the gateway, another {girl} saw him and says to the ones there, “This one was with Jesus of Nazareth.” 72 And he again denied {it} with an oath, “I do not know the man!” 73 But after a little {while}, the ones that had been standing by, having approached, said to Peter, “Surely you are also from among them, for even your speech makes you evident.” 74 Then he began to curse and to swear, “I do not know the man,” and immediately a rooster crowed. 75 And Peter remembered the words of Jesus that he had said, “Before a rooster crows you will deny me three times.” And having gone outside, he wept bitterly. Chapter 27 1 Now {when} it had become morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus so as to put him to death. 2 And having bound him, they led {him} away and handed {him} over to Pilate the governor. 3 Then Judas, the one betraying him, having seen that he was condemned, having repented, he returned the 30 shekels of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 saying, “I have sinned, having betrayed innocent blood.” But they said, “What {is that} to us? See to that yourself.” 5 And having thrown down the shekels of silver in the temple, he departed and having gone out, he hanged himself. 6 Now the chief priests, having taken the shekels of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put this into the treasury, because it is the price of blood.” 7 But having taken counsel, they bought with them the field of the potter for a burial place for strangers. 8 For this reason that field has been called “Field of Blood” to this day. 9 Then {what} had been spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying, “And they took the 30 shekels of silver, the price of the one whose price had been set by the sons of Israel, 10 and they gave it for the field of the potter, as the Lord had directed me.” 11 Now Jesus was stood before the governor, and the governor questioned him, saying, “Are you the King of the Jews?” But Jesus said, “It {is as} you say.” 12 And when he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he answered nothing. 13 Then Pilate says to him, “Do you not hear everything they are bringing against you?” 14 But he did not answer him not even with one word, so as to amaze the governor greatly. 15 Now at the festival it had become the custom of the governor to release to the crowd one prisoner whom they chose. 16 Now at that time they were holding a notorious prisoner named Barabbas. 17 Therefore {when} they were gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Who do you want that I would release for you? Barabbas, or Jesus, called Christ?” 18 For he had known that they had handed {him} over to him because of envy. 19 But {while} he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, saying, “Nothing to you and to that righteous one. For I suffered much today by way of a dream about him.” 20 Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds so that they would ask for Barabbas, but would kill Jesus. 21 But answering, the governor said to them, “Which from the two do you want that I would release to you?” But they said, “Barabbas.” 22 Pilate says to them, “What then should I do with Jesus, called Christ?” They all answer, “Crucify him.” 23 But he said, “For what evil did he do?” But they cried out even louder, saying, “Crucify {him}.” 24 But Pilate, having seen that he is not helping, but instead a riot is starting, having taken water, washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent from the blood of this one. See to {it} yourselves.” 25 And answering, all the people said, “His blood {be} on us and on our children!” 26 Then he released Barabbas to them, but having scourged Jesus, he handed {him} over so that he would be crucified. 27 Then the soldiers of the governor, having taken Jesus into the Praetorium, gathered before him the whole cohort. 28 And having stripped him, they put a scarlet robe on him. 29 And having woven together a crown of thorns, they put {it} on his head and a reed in his right hand, and having knelt down before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 And having spat on him, they took the reed and kept striking {him} on his head. 31 And when they had mocked him, they took the robe off him and put his own garments on him and led him away to crucify {him}. 32 Now coming out, they found a man from Cyrene named Simon, whom they forced so that he would carry his cross. 33 And having come to a place called Golgotha, which is saying, “The Place of a Skull,” 34 they gave him wine mixed with gall to drink. But having tasted {it}, he was not willing to drink {it}. 35 Now having crucified him, they divided up his garments by casting lots, 36 and sitting down, they kept guard over him there. 37 And above his head they placed the charge against him, which had been written, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” 38 Then two robbers are being crucified with him, one at his right and one at his left. 39 But the ones passing by were insulting him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You destroying the temple and rebuilding {it} in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!” 41 Likewise also the chief priests, mocking {him} with the scribes and elders, said, 42 “He saved others; he is not able to save himself. He is the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He has trusted in God; let him rescue {him} now, if he wants him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 In the same way, the robbers being crucified with him also were reviling him. 45 Now from the sixth hour darkness happened over all the land until the ninth hour. 46 But about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 47 But some of the ones that had been standing there, having heard {it}, were saying, “He calls for Elijah.” 48 And immediately one of them, having run and having taken a sponge, having both filled {it} with sour wine and having put {it} on a reed, gave {it} to him to drink. 49 But the rest were saying, “Leave {him} alone. We may see whether Elijah comes to save him.” 50 But Jesus, having cried out again with a loud voice, released his spirit. 51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was split in two from top to bottom, and the earth shook, and the rocks were split apart. 52 And the tombs were opened, and many of the bodies of the saints that had fallen asleep were raised. 53 And having come out from the tombs after his resurrection, they entered into the holy city and appeared to many. 54 Now the centurion and the ones with him watching Jesus, having seen the earthquake and the {things that} had happened, became very afraid, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God.” 55 Now many women who had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for him were there looking on from a distance. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. 57 Now {when} it became evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was discipled by Jesus. 58 He, having approached Pilate, asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded {it} to be given to him. 59 And Joseph, having taken the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and laid it in his own new tomb that he had cut into the rock. And having rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, he went away. 61 Now Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb. 62 Now the next day, which was after the Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees were gathered together with Pilate, 63 saying, “Sir, we remember that that deceiver, yet living, said, ‘After three days I am being raised up.’ 64 Therefore, command the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise his disciples, having come, might steal him and might say to the people, ‘He has been raised up from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” 65 And Pilate said to them, “Take a guard. Go, make {it} as secure as you know how.” 66 And they, having gone, made the tomb secure, having sealed the stone with the guard. Chapter 28 1 Now late on the Sabbath, at the dawning toward the first {day} of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. 2 And behold, a great earthquake happened, for an angel of the Lord, having descended from heaven and having come near, rolled away the stone and sat on it. 3 Now his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white like snow. 4 But the guards were shaken from the fear of him and became like dead men. 5 But answering, the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, the one that has been crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has been raised up, just as he said. Come see the place where he was lying. 7 And having gone quickly, tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised up from the dead. And behold, he is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see him.’ Behold, I have told you.” 8 And having quickly left the tomb with fear and great joy, they ran to tell his disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Greetings!” But they, having approached, took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus says to them, “Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers so that they would depart to Galilee, and there they will see me.” 11 Now {while} they were going, behold, some of the guards, having gone into the city, told the chief priests all the {things that} had happened. 12 And having gathered together with the elders and having taken counsel, they gave a large amount of money to the soldiers, 13 saying, “Say, ‘His disciples, having come by night, stole him {while} we are sleeping.’ 14 And if this {report} is heard by the governor, we will persuade {him} and keep you free from care.” 15 And they, having taken the money, did as they had been instructed. And this report was reported widely among the Jews even until today. 16 Now the 11 disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. 17 And having seen him, they worshiped {him}, but some doubted. 18 And having come, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on the earth. 19 Having gone, therefore, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; 20 teaching them to obey all things that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you all the days, even to the end of the age.” Mark Chapter 1 1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 Just as it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I am sending my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way; 3 a voice crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’” 4 John came, the one baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins. 5 And the whole region of Judea and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. 6 And John was clothed with camel hair and a leather belt around his waist, and eating locusts and wild honey. 7 And he was proclaiming, saying, “One mightier than I is coming after me, of whom I am not worthy, stooping down, to untie the strap of his sandals. 8 I baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” 9 And it happened that in those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and he was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And immediately, coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens being split open and the Spirit coming down on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came out of the heavens, “You are my beloved Son. I am well pleased with you.” 12 And immediately, the Spirit compelled him to go out into the wilderness. 13 And he was in the wilderness 40 days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were serving him. 14 But after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God 15 and saying, “The time has been fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the gospel.” 16 And walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, were net-casting into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.” 18 And immediately, having left the nets, they followed him. 19 And having gone on a little farther, he saw James, the {son} of Zebedee, and John, his brother, and they are mending the nets in the boat. 20 And immediately, having called them and they having left their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired servants, they went away after him. 21 And he enters into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbaths, having entered into the synagogue, he began to teach. 22 And they were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as having authority and not as the scribes. 23 And immediately there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, 24 saying, “What to us and to you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” 25 And Jesus rebuked it, saying, “Be silenced and come out from him!” 26 And having thrown him down and having cried out with a loud voice, the unclean spirit went out from him. 27 And they all were amazed, so they discussed among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching according to authority! He even commands the unclean spirits, and they obey him!” 28 And the news of him immediately went out everywhere into the whole surrounding region of Galilee. 29 And immediately, having come out from the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, along with James and John. 30 Now the mother-in-law of Simon was lying down, being sick with a fever, and immediately they speak to him concerning her. 31 And having come near, he raised her up, having taken hold of her hand, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them. 32 Now having become evening, after the sun had set, they were bringing to him all the ones having sickness and the ones possessed by demons. 33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34 And he healed many having sickness with various diseases and cast out many demons, but he was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew him. 35 And while still dark before dawn, having gotten up, he left and went away to a solitary place, and there he began to pray. 36 And Simon and the ones with him searched for him 37 and found him and say to him, “Everyone is seeking you.” 38 And he says to them, “Let us go elsewhere, into the surrounding towns, so that I may preach there also, because I came for this.” 39 And he went in all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out the demons. 40 And a leper comes to him, begging him and kneeling down, saying to him, “If you are willing, you are able to make me clean.” 41 And having been moved with compassion, having reached out his hand, he touched him, and says to him, “I am willing. Be cleansed.” 42 And immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was made clean. 43 But having strictly warned him, he immediately sent him away. 44 And he says to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.” 45 But he, having gone out, began to proclaim often and to spread the word widely, so that he was able no longer to enter into a town openly, but he was out in desolate places, and they were coming to him from all sides. Chapter 2 1 And having entered again into Capernaum after {some} days, it was heard that he is in a house. 2 And many gathered so that there {was} no more space, not even at the door, and he began to speak the word to them. 3 And they come bringing to him a paralytic, being carried by four men. 4 And not being able to approach him because of the crowd, they removed the roof where he was, and having dug an opening, they lower the mat where the paralytic was lying. 5 And Jesus, having seen their faith, says to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” 6 But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this one speak this way? He is blaspheming! Who is able to forgive sins except God alone?” 8 And immediately, Jesus, having perceived in his spirit that they are thinking in this manner within themselves, says to them, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or to say, ‘Get up and take up your mat, and walk’? 10 But in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on the earth to forgive sins,” he says to the paralytic, 11 “I say to you, get up, take up your mat, and go away to your house.” 12 And having gotten up and immediately having taken up the mat, he went out in front of everyone, so that they are all amazed and glorify God, saying, “We never saw thus.” 13 And he went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 And passing by, he saw Levi the {son} of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s tent, and he says to him, “Follow me.” And having gotten up, he followed him. 15 And he happened to recline to eat in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and his disciples, for many also were following him. 16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, having seen that he was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, began to say to his disciples, “Why is he eating with the tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And having heard this, Jesus says to them, “The ones being healthy do not have need of a physician, but the ones having sickness. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” 18 And the disciples of John and the Pharisees were fasting, and they come and say to him, “Because of what are the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fasting, but your disciples are not fasting?” 19 And Jesus said to them, “The sons of the wedding chamber are not able to fast while the bridegroom is still with them, are they? As much time as they have the bridegroom with them, they are not able to fast. 20 But days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and in those days, then they will fast. 21 No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, but if not, the filler pulls away from it, the new from the old, and there is a worse tear. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins, but if not, the wine will burst the wineskins and the wine and the wineskins will be destroyed, but new wine into fresh wineskins.” 23 And he happened on the Sabbaths to pass through the grainfields, and his disciples began to make their way, picking the heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbaths?” 25 And he says to them, “Have you never read what David did when he had need and was hungry—he and the ones with him— 26 how he went into the house of God during Abiathar the high priest and ate the bread of the presence, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and he also gave to the ones being with him?” 27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28 Therefore, the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath.” Chapter 3 1 And he entered into a synagogue again, and there was a man having a withered hand. 2 And they were watching him closely, if he will heal him on the Sabbaths, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he says to the man having the withered hand, “Stand up in the midst.” 4 And he says to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbaths to do good or to do harm; to save a life or to kill?” But they were keeping silent. 5 And having looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their heart, he says to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 And the Pharisees, having gone out, immediately were making counsel with the Herodians against him as to how they might kill him. 7 And Jesus, with his disciples, withdrew to the sea, and a great crowd followed from Galilee and from Judea 8 and from Jerusalem and from Idumea and beyond the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon. A great crowd, hearing how much he was doing, came to him. 9 And he spoke to his disciples so that a small boat might be waiting for him because of the crowd, so that they might not press against him. 10 For he healed many, so then as many as had diseases pressed against him so that they might touch him. 11 And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they were falling down before him and crying out, saying, “You are the Son of God.” 12 And he was often rebuking them so that they might not make him known. 13 And he goes up on the mountain and summons those whom he himself wanted, and they went to him. 14 And he appointed 12 (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and so that he might send them to preach 15 and to have authority to cast out the demons. 16 And he appointed the Twelve [1] , and he added to Simon the name Peter; 17 and James the {son} of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, to whom he also added the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder; 18 and Andrew and Philip and Bartholomew and Matthew and Thomas and James the {son} of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus and Simon the Zealot 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. 20 And he comes into a house, and the crowd gathers together again, so that they are not able even to eat bread. 21 And the ones beside him, having heard about it, went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.” 22 And the scribes having come down from Jerusalem were saying, “He has Beelzebul” and “By the ruler of the demons he casts out the demons.” 23 But having called them to himself, in parables he was saying to them, “How is Satan able to cast out Satan? 24 And if a kingdom has been divided against itself, that kingdom is not able to stand. 25 And if a house has been divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan rose up against himself and was divided, he is not able to stand, but he has an end. 27 But no one is able, having entered into the house of the strong man, to steal his possessions unless he would tie up the strong man first, and then he will plunder his house. 28 Truly I say to you that all the sins of the sons of men will be forgiven, even the blasphemies, whatever they may blaspheme, 29 but whoever has blasphemed against the Holy Spirit does not have forgiveness to eternity but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.” 31 And his mother and his brothers come, and standing outside, they sent to him, summoning him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they say to him, “Behold, your mother and your brothers seek you outside.” 33 And answering them, he says, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And having looked around at the ones sitting in a circle around him, he says, “Behold, my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, this is my brother and sister and mother.” 3:16 [1] Some ancient manuscripts do not include he appointed the Twelve Chapter 4 1 And again, he began to teach beside the sea, and a large crowd is gathered around him. Therefore, he had stepped into a boat on the sea to sit in it, and the whole crowd was on the shore beside the sea. 2 And he was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in his teaching, 3 “Listen! Behold, the sower went out to sow. 4 And it happened that as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 And other fell on the rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, because it did not have deep soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and because it had no root, it was dried up. 7 And other fell into the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it did not produce a crop. 8 And other fell into the good soil, and it was producing a crop, growing up and being increased and yielding one, 30, and one, 60, and one, 100.” 9 And he said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear!” 10 And when he was alone, the ones around him with the Twelve were asking him about the parables. 11 And he began to say to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to those, the ones outside, everything is in parables, 12 so that looking, they may look but may not see, and hearing, they may hear but may not understand, so that they might not turn, and it might be forgiven to them.” 13 And he says to them, “Do you not understand this parable? And how will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 Now these are the ones beside the road, where the word is being sown, but whenever they have heard it, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 And in the same manner, these are the ones being sown on the rocky ground, who, whenever they have heard the word, immediately receive it with joy, 17 and they have no root in themselves, but are temporary. Then, tribulation or persecution having come because of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are the ones being sown into the thorns. These are the ones having heard the word, 19 but the cares of the age and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires concerning other things, entering in, choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 And those are the ones sown in the good soil, who hear the word and receive it and produce a crop—one, 30, and one, 60, and one, 100.” 21 And he was saying to them, “The lamp does not come so that it might be put under a basket or under the bed, does it? Is it not so that it might be put on the lampstand? 22 For nothing is hidden except so that it will be revealed, and nothing secret has happened except so that it will come to exposure. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!” 24 And he was saying to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. In what measure you use, it will be measured to you, and it will be added to you. 25 For he who has, it will be given to him, and he who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” 26 And he was saying, “Thus is the kingdom of God: As a man throws the seed on the ground, 27 and he sleeps and gets up, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. 28 The soil produces a crop of its own accord: first a blade, then a head, then a mature grain in the head. 29 And whenever it has delivered the crop, he immediately sends forth the sickle, because the harvest has come.” 30 And he was saying, “How will we compare the kingdom of God, or in what parable will we present it? 31 {It is} like a mustard seed, which, when it has been sown in the soil, being the smallest of all the seeds on the earth, 32 and when it has been sown, it grows and becomes greater than all the edible plants, and it makes large branches, so that the birds of the sky are able to make their nests in its shade.” 33 And with many such parables he was speaking the word to them, to the degree that they were able to hear; 34 but he was not speaking to them without a parable, but by himself he was explaining everything to his own disciples. 35 And he says to them on that day, evening having come, “Let us cross over to the other side.” 36 And having left the crowd, they take him with {them}, as he was, in the boat, and other boats were with him. 37 And a great storm of wind happens, and the waves were breaking into the boat so as to already be filling the boat. 38 And he himself was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. And they wake him up and say to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And having been awakened, he rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Be silent! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you not yet have faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and were saying to one another, “Who then is this, for even the wind and the sea obey him?” Chapter 5 1 And they came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 And {when} he had gotten out from the boat, immediately a man with an unclean spirit came from the tombs to meet him, 3 who had his dwelling in the tombs, and no one was able to bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4 because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles had been shattered, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 And throughout every night and day in the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6 And having seen Jesus from a distance, he ran to him and bowed down to him. 7 And crying out in a loud voice, he says, “What to me and to you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you by God, do not torment me.” 8 For he was saying to him, “Come out from the man, unclean spirit.” 9 And he was asking him, “What {is} your name?” And he says to him, “My name {is} Legion, for we are many.” 10 And he was begging him repeatedly that he would not send them out of the region. 11 But there was a great herd of pigs being fed on the hill, 12 and they begged him, saying, “Send us into the pigs, so that we might enter into them.” 13 And he permitted them, and having come out, the unclean spirits entered into the pigs, and the herd—about 2,000—rushed down the steep slope into the sea and drowned in the sea. 14 And the ones feeding them ran away and reported this in the city and in the countryside, and they went out to see what it is that had happened. 15 And they come to Jesus and see the one being demon-possessed, sitting, clothed and being in his right mind—the one that had had the Legion—and they became afraid. 16 And the ones having seen how it happened to the one being demon-possessed explained {it} to them, and about the pigs. 17 And they began to beg him to depart from their region. 18 And {when} he is getting into the boat, the one having been demon-possessed was begging him so that he might be with him. 19 But he did not permit him, but says to him, “Go to your house, to your {people}, and report to them how much the Lord has done for you and had mercy on you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus did for him, and everyone was marveling. 21 And {when} Jesus had crossed over again to the other side in the boat, a great crowd was gathered around him, and he was beside the sea. 22 And behold, one of the leaders of the synagogue, named Jairus, comes, and having seen him, he falls at his feet. 23 And he begs him repeatedly, saying, “My little daughter is at the extreme; come, so that you might lay your hands on her in order that she might be healed, and she might live.” 24 And went with him, and a great crowd was following him and was pressing around him. 25 And a woman, being with a flow of blood for 12 years, 26 and having suffered much from many doctors, and having spent everything that she had, and not having been helped, but instead having become worse, 27 having heard the things about Jesus, having come up behind him in the crowd, she touched his cloak. 28 For she was saying, “If I touch just his clothes, I will be saved.” 29 And immediately the flow of her blood was dried up, and she knew in her body that she had been healed from the disease. 30 And immediately Jesus, having realized in himself that} {his power had gone out from him, having turned around in the crowd, was saying, “Who touched my clothes?” 31 And his disciples were saying to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you, and you say, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 But he was looking around to see the one having done this. 33 And the woman, having become afraid and trembling, having known what had happened to her, came and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. 34 But he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be healed from your disease.” 35 {While} he is still speaking, they come from the synagogue leader’s {house}, saying, “Your daughter died. Why trouble the teacher any longer?” 36 But Jesus, having heard the word being spoken, says to the leader of the synagogue, “Do not fear. Only believe.” 37 And he did not permit anyone to accompany him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. 38 And he comes to the house of the leader of the synagogue and sees a commotion and weeping and much wailing. 39 And entering, he says to them, “Why are you upset and weeping? The child has not died but is sleeping.” 40 And they were laughing at him, but he, having put {them} all outside, takes along the father of the child and the mother and the ones with him, and he enters where the child was. 41 And having taken the hand of the child, he says to her, “Talitha, koum!” which is translated: “Little girl, I say to you, rise up.” 42 And immediately the little girl rose up and was walking (for she was 12 years {of age}), and they were immediately astonished with great amazement. 43 And he strictly ordered them that no one should know about this, and he told them to give her something to eat. Chapter 6 1 And he went out from there and comes to his hometown, and his disciples are following him. 2 And a Sabbath having come, he began to teach in the synagogue. And many of the ones hearing him were amazed, saying, “From where {are} these things, and what {is} this wisdom that has been given to this one, and these miracles happening by his hands? 3 Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary and a brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are his sisters not here with us?” And they were offended by him. 4 And Jesus was saying to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own house.” 5 And he was not able to do any mighty work there, except, having laid his hands on a few sick people, he healed {them}. 6 And he was amazed because of their unbelief, and he was going around the villages teaching. 7 And he calls the Twelve and began to send them out two by two, and he was giving them authority over the unclean spirits 8 and commanded them that they should take nothing for the journey except only a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— 9 but having put on sandals, and, “You may not wear two tunics.” 10 And he was saying to them, “Whenever you enter into a house, remain there until you go out from there. 11 And whatever place does not receive you nor listen to you, going out from there, shake off the dust that {is} under your feet for a testimony against them.” 12 And having gone out, they proclaimed that {people} should repent. 13 And they were casting out many demons and anointing many sick {people} with oil and healing them. 14 And King Herod heard this, for his name became well known, and some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and because of this, miraculous powers are working in him.” 15 But others were saying, “He is Elijah.” But others were saying, “A prophet, like one of the prophets.” 16 But Herod, having heard this, was saying, “John, whom I beheaded—he has been raised.” 17 For Herod himself, having sent, seized John and he bound him in prison on account of Herodias (the wife of his brother Philip), because he married her. 18 For John was saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have the wife of your brother.” 19 But Herodias was angry with him and was wanting to kill him, but she was not able, 20 for Herod was fearing John, knowing him {to be} a righteous and holy man, and he was keeping him safe, and having heard him, he was greatly perplexed, yet he was listening to him gladly. 21 And an opportune day having come when Herod made his birthday dinner for his officials and for the commanders and for the leaders of Galilee, 22 and his daughter Herodias having entered and having danced and having pleased Herod and the ones reclining to eat with {him}, the king said to the girl, “Ask me whatever you desire, and I will give {it} to you.” 23 And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you, up to half of my kingdom.” 24 And having gone out, she said to her mother, “What should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” 25 And immediately, having entered in with haste to the king, she requested, saying, “I desire that you would give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26 And the king, having become deeply grieved, he did not want to refuse her because of his oaths and the ones reclining to eat with him, 27 and the king, immediately having sent an executioner, commanded {him} to bring his head, and so having departed, he beheaded him in the prison. 28 And he brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 And his disciples, having heard of this, came and took his body and placed it in a tomb. 30 And the apostles are gathered together with Jesus and reported to him all that they did and what they taught. 31 And he says to them, “You yourselves, come away by yourself to a desolate place and rest a little while.” For the ones coming and the ones going were many, and they were not even having opportunity to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. 33 But many saw them leaving and recognized {them}, and they ran there together on foot from all the towns, and they arrived before them. 34 And having gotten out, he saw a great crowd and had compassion on them because they were like sheep not having a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things. 35 And the hour already having become late, his disciples, having come to him, were saying, “This place is desolate, and the hour {is} already late. 36 Send them away so that, having gone away into the surrounding countryside and villages, they might buy something for themselves to eat.” 37 But he, answering, said to them, “You give them to eat.” And they say to him, “Having gone away, might we buy 200 denarii of bread and give {it} to them to eat?” 38 But he says to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go. See.” And having found out, they say, “Five, and two fish.” 39 And he commanded them all to recline group by group on the green grass. 40 And they reclined group by group according to hundreds and according to fifties. 41 And having taken the five loaves and the two fish, having looked up to heaven, he blessed and broke the loaves and was giving them to his disciples so that they might set them before them, and he divided the two fish among {them} all. 42 And they all ate and were satisfied. 43 And they took up 12 full baskets of broken pieces, and from the fish. 44 And the ones having eaten the loaves were 5,000 men. 45 And immediately he compelled his disciples to get into the boat and to go ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he sends the crowd away. 46 And having sent them away, he went to the mountain to pray. 47 And having become evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he {was} alone on the land. 48 And having seen them being tormented as they rowed—for the wind was against them—and about the fourth watch of the night, he comes to them, walking on the sea, and he intended to pass by them. 49 But they, having seen him walking on the sea, thought that he is a ghost, and they cried out, 50 for they all saw him and were troubled. But immediately he spoke with them and says to them, “Take courage! It is I! Do not be afraid!” 51 And he went up into the boat with them, and the wind stilled, and they were very much amazed within themselves. 52 For they did not understand about the loaves, but their heart had been hardened. 53 And having crossed over to the land, they came to Gennesaret and anchored there. 54 And {when} they had come out from the boat, immediately having recognized him, 55 they ran throughout that whole region and began to carry on their mats the ones having sickness where they were hearing that he is. 56 And wherever he was entering into villages or into cities or into the countryside, they were placing the sick in the marketplaces and were begging him so that at least they might touch the edge of his garment, and as many as touched him were being healed. Chapter 7 1 And the Pharisees and some of the scribes, having come from Jerusalem, are being gathered around him. 2 And they had seen some of his disciples that eat bread with defiled hands, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they would wash their hands with a fist, holding to the tradition of the elders; 4 and from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash, and there are many other things which they received to observe: washing of cups, and pots, and copper vessels.) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes ask him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but they eat their bread with unwashed hands?” 6 But he, answering, said to them, “Isaiah prophesied well about you hypocrites. As it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7 But they worship me in vain, teaching commandments of men as doctrines.’ 8 Having abandoned the commandment of God, you hold fast to the tradition of men.” 9 And he was saying to them, “You do well at rejecting the commandment of God so that you may keep your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘The one speaking evil of his father or mother—let him end in death.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have profited from me {is} Corban”’ (that is, a gift), 12 you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother, 13 nullifying the word of God by your tradition which you handed down, and you do many such similar things.” 14 And having summoned the crowd again, he was saying to them, “Listen to me, all {of you}, and understand: 15 there is nothing from outside the man, entering into him, that is able to defile him; but the things that come out from the man are the things defiling the man.” 16[1] [If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.] 17 And when he entered into a house from the crowd, his disciples were asking him about the parable. 18 And he says to them, “Are you also thus without understanding? Do you not understand that everything that is entering into the man from outside is not able to defile him, 19 because it does not go into his heart, but into the stomach, and passes out into the latrine (making all foods clean).” 20 But he was saying, “What is coming out from the man, that defiles the man. 21 For from within, from the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, an evil eye, slander, pride, {and} folly. 23 All these evils come out from within, and they defile the man.” 24 Now having gotten up from there, he went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon, and having entered into a house, he was wanting no one to know {it}, but he was not able to hide. 25 But immediately, having heard about him, a woman, of whom her little daughter had an unclean spirit, having come, fell down at his feet. 26 Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by descent, and she was asking him that he would cast out the demon from her daughter. 27 And he was saying to her, “Permit the children first to be fed, for it is not good to take the bread of the children and to throw {it} to the dogs.” 28 But she answered and says to him, “Yes, Lord, and the little dogs under the table eat from the crumbs of the children.” 29 And he was saying to her, “Because of this word, go! The demon has gone out from your daughter.” 30 And having gone away to her house, she found the child lying on the bed, and the demon had gone out. 31 And again having gone out from the region of Tyre, he went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the midst of the region of the Decapolis. 32 And they bring to him a deaf {man} and a stammerer, and they beg him that he would lay his hand on him. 33 And having taken him aside from the crowd by himself, he put his fingers into his ears, and having spit, he touched his tongue. 34 And having looked up to heaven, he sighed and says to him, “Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”). 35 And his ears were opened, and the band of his tongue was released, and he began speaking plainly. 36 And he ordered them so that they would tell {it} to no one. But as much as he ordered them, the more abundantly they were proclaiming {it}. 37 And they were extremely astonished, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.” 7:16 [1] Some ancient manuscripts include verse 16. Chapter 8 1 In those days, there again being a great crowd, and not having anything to eat, having summoned his disciples, he says to them, 2 “I have compassion on the crowd because they are remaining with me already for three days and do not have anything to eat. 3 And if I would send them away to their home hungry, they will faint on the way, and some of them have come from far way.” 4 And his disciples answered him, “From where will anyone be able to feed these {people} with bread here in a desolate place?” 5 And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.” 6 And he commands the crowd to recline on the ground, and having taken the seven loaves, having given thanks, he broke them and was giving {them} to his disciples so that they might serve them, and they served the crowd. 7 And they had a few small fish, and having blessed them, he said to serve these also. 8 And they ate and were satisfied, and they picked up an abundance of broken pieces—seven baskets. 9 Now there were about 4,000, and he sent them away. 10 And immediately, having gotten into the boat with his disciples, he went into the region of Dalmanutha. 11 And the Pharisees came out and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven, testing him. 12 And having sighed greatly in his spirit, he says, “Why does this generation seek for a sign? Truly I say to you, if a sign will be given to this generation …” 13 And having left them, having boarded a boat again, he went away to the other side. 14 And they forgot to bring bread, and except for one loaf, they did not have {any} with them in the boat. 15 And he was warning them, saying, “Keep watch! Be on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” 16 And they were discussing with each other that they have no bread. 17 And having known this, Jesus says to them, “Why are you reasoning that you do not have bread? Do you not yet perceive, nor understand? Have your hearts become hardened? 18 Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves among the 5,000, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They say to him, “12.” 20 “And when the seven among the 4,000, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they say to him, “Seven.” 21 And he said to them, “How do you not yet understand?” 22 And they come to Bethsaida, and they bring to him a blind {man} and beg him that he would touch him. 23 And having taken hold of the hand of the blind man, he led him out from the village. And having spit into his eyes, having laid his hands on him, he was asking him, “Do you see anything?” 24 And having looked up, he was saying, “I see men who look like walking trees.” 25 Then he again laid his hands upon his eyes, and he looked intently and was restored, and he was seeing everything clearly. 26 And he sent him away to his home, saying, “You may not even enter into the town.” 27 And Jesus and his disciples went out into the villages of Caesarea Philippi, and on the way he was questioning his disciples, saying to them, “Who do men say that I am?” 28 But they spoke to him, saying, “John the Baptist, and others, Elijah, but others, one of the prophets.” 29 And he was questioning them, “But who do you say that I am?” And answering, Peter says to him, “You are the Christ.” 30 And he warned them that they might tell no one about him. 31 And he began to teach them that it is necessary for the Son of Man to suffer many things and to be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and to be killed and to rise up after three days. 32 And he was speaking this word openly. And Peter, having taken him aside, began to rebuke him. 33 But Jesus, having turned and having looked at his disciples, rebuked Peter and says, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men.” 34 And having summoned the crowd along with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for the sake of me and of the gospel will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and to forfeit his soul? 37 For what might a man give as an exchange for his soul? 38 For if anyone is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” Chapter 9 1 And he was saying to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some of the ones standing here who will certainly not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.” 2 And after six days, Jesus takes Peter and James and John and leads them up on a high mountain by themselves, alone, and he was transfigured before them. 3 And his garments became radiantly, extremely white, such as no launderer on the earth is able thus to make them white. 4 And Elijah with Moses were seen by them, and they were talking with Jesus. 5 And answering, Peter says to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here, and let us make three shelters, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 (For he did not know what he should answer, for they were terrified.) 7 And a cloud came, overshadowing them, and a voice came from the cloud, “This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him.” 8 And suddenly, having looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them, but only Jesus. 9 And {as} they were coming down from the mountain, he ordered them so that they would relate to no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 And they kept the word to themselves, discussing together what it is “to rise from the dead.” 11 And they were questioning him, saying, “Why do the scribes say that it is necessary for Elijah to come first?” 12 But he was saying to them, “Elijah has come first to restore all things. And how has it been written about the Son of Man that he would suffer many things and would be despised? 13 But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come, and they did whatever they wanted to him, just as it is written about him.” 14 And having come to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them and scribes arguing with them. 15 And immediately, the whole crowd, having seen him, were amazed, and running up to {him}, they were greeting him. 16 And he asked them, “What are you arguing with them about?” 17 And one from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, having a mute spirit. 18 And wherever it might seize him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth, and he becomes rigid, and I asked your disciples that they might cast it out, but they were not strong enough.” 19 But answering them, he says, “You unbelieving generation, until when will I be with you? Until when will I bear with you? Bring him to me.” 20 And they brought him to him, and having seen him, the spirit immediately threw him into a convulsion, and having fallen on the ground, he was rolling around, foaming at the mouth. 21 And he asked his father, “How much time is it while this has been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 And it has often thrown him both into a fire and into waters in order that it might destroy him, but if you are able to do anything, help us, having compassion on us.” 23 But Jesus said to him, “‘If you are able’? All things are possible for the one believing.” 24 And immediately the father of the child, having cried out, was saying, “I believe! Help my unbelief!” 25 And Jesus, having seen that a crowd is running to {them}, rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out from him, and never enter into him again.” 26 And having cried out and convulsed him greatly, it came out, and he became like a dead {person}, so that many said, “He has died.” 27 But Jesus, having taken {him} by his hand, lifted him up, and he stood up. 28 And {when} he had gone into a house, his disciples asked him by himself, “Why could we not cast it out?” 29 And he said to them, “This kind is able to come out by nothing except by prayer and fasting.” [1] 30 And having gone out from there, they were passing through Galilee, but he was not wanting that anyone would know it, 31 for he was teaching his disciples and saying to them, “The Son of Man is being handed over into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And having been killed, he will rise again after three days.” 32 But they were not understanding this statement, and they were afraid to ask him. 33 And they came to Capernaum, and having come into the house, he was asking them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 34 But they were silent, for they had been arguing with one another on the way about who {was} greatest. 35 And having sat down, he called the Twelve together and says to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he will be last of all and a servant of all.” 36 And having taken a little child, he placed him in their midst, and having taken him in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever receives one of these little children in my name receives me; and whoever receives me does not receive me but the one having sent me.” 38 John was saying to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we were preventing him because he was not following us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not prevent him, for there is no one who will do a mighty work in my name and will be able soon afterwards to speak evil about me. 40 For whoever is not against us is for us. 41 For whoever gives you a cup of water in the name because you are Christ’s, truly I say to you that he will certainly not lose his reward. 42 And whoever causes one of these little ones believing in me to stumble, it is better for him instead if a large millstone is put around his neck and he is thrown into the sea. 43 And if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than, having two hands, to go away into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. 44[2] [where their worm does not end, and the fire is not quenched.] 45 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life lame than, having two feet, to be thrown into Gehenna. 46[3] [where their worm does not end, and the fire is not quenched.] 47 And if your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out. It is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than, having two eyes, to be thrown into Gehenna, 48 where their worm does not end, and the fire is not quenched. 49 For everyone will be salted with fire. 50 Salt is good, but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” 9:29 [1] Some manuscripts do not include, and fasting, but the best manuscripts include it. 9:44 [2] Some ancient manuscripts include verse 44. 9:46 [3] Some ancient manuscripts include verse 46. Chapter 10 1 And having gotten up, he goes from that place to the region of Judea and the other side of the Jordan, and the crowds come together to him again. And he was teaching them again, as he had been accustomed {to do}. 2 And having approached, the Pharisees were questioning him whether it is lawful for a husband to divorce a wife, testing him. 3 But he, answering, said to them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 And they said, “Moses permitted him to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” 5 But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart, he wrote this commandment to you. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘He made them male and female.’ 7 ‘On account of this a man will leave his father and mother, [1] 8 and the two will be one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore, what God joined together, let man not separate.” 10 And in the house again, the disciples asked him about this. 11 And he says to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. 12 And if she, having divorced her husband, marries another, she commits adultery.” 13 And they were bringing little children to him so that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 But having seen this, Jesus was indignant and said to them, “Permit the little children to come to me, and do not prevent them, for of the ones such as these is the kingdom of God. 15 Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will certainly not enter into it.” 16 And having taken them into his arms, he blessed {them}, placing his hands on them. 17 And {as} he is proceeding on the journey, someone ran up to {him} and, having knelt before him, was asking him, “Good Teacher, what should I do in order that I might inherit eternal life?” 18 But Jesus said to him, “Why are you calling me good? No one {is} good except God alone. 19 You have known the commandments: ‘Do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not testify falsely, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’” 20 But he was saying to him, “Teacher, all these things I have obeyed from my youth.” 21 But Jesus, having looked at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack; go away, sell as much as you have, and give {it} to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me.” 22 But he, having become downcast at this word, went away grieving, for he was having many possessions. 23 And having looked around, Jesus says to his disciples, “How difficult {it is} for the ones having riches to enter into the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were astonished at his words, but again answering, Jesus says to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter into the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich {person} to enter into the kingdom of God.” 26 And they were greatly astonished, saying to him, “And who is able to be saved?” 27 Having looked at them, Jesus says, “With men {it is} impossible, but not with God. For all things {are} possible with God.” 28 Peter began to speak to him, “Behold, we have left everything and have followed you.” 29 Jesus was saying, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for the sake of me and of the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundred times {as much} now in this time: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions, and in the age that is coming, eternal life. 31 But many {who are} first will be last, and the last, first.” 32 Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going ahead of them. And they were amazed, but the ones following behind were afraid. And having taken the Twelve aside again, he began to tell them {what} is about to happen to him. 33 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles. 34 And they will mock him and spit on him and whip him and kill {him}, but after three days, he will rise.” 35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approach him, saying to him, “Teacher, we desire that whatever we ask you, you do for us.” 36 And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant to us that we might sit in your glory, one at your right hand and one at your left hand.” 38 But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup which I drink or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am being baptized?” 39 And they said to him, “We are able.” But Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am being baptized, you will be baptized. 40 But to sit at my right hand or at my left hand is not mine to give, but {it is} for whom it has been prepared.” 41 And having heard this, the ten began to be very angry with James and John. 42 And having summoned them, Jesus says to them, “You know that the ones considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it is not this way among you. Instead, whoever wishes to become great among you will be your servant, 44 and whoever wishes to be first among you will be a slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom in exchange for many.” 46 And they come into Jericho, and {as} he is going out from Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, son of Timaeus, was sitting beside the road. 47 And having heard that it is Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and to say, “Son of David, Jesus, have mercy on me!” 48 And many were rebuking him so that he might be silent, but he was crying out much more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 And having stood still, Jesus said, “Call him.” And they call the blind {man}, saying to him, “Take courage! Get up! He is calling you.” 50 And having thrown aside his coat, having sprung up, he came to Jesus. 51 And answering him, Jesus said, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, that I regain my sight.” 52 And Jesus said to him, “Go. Your faith has healed you.” And immediately he regained his sight, and he was following him on the road. 10:7 [1] Some manuscripts add, and be united with his wife, but the best manuscripts do not. Chapter 11 1 And when they come near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, to the Mount of Olives, he sends out two of his disciples 2 and says to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately, entering into it, you will find a colt having been tied up, on which no man has yet sat. Untie it and bring it {here}. 3 And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and immediately he sends it back here.’” 4 And they left and found a colt having been tied up at a door outside on the street, and they untie it. 5 And some of the ones standing there began to say to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 And they spoke to them just as Jesus told them, and they let them go. 7 And they brought the colt to Jesus and throw their cloaks upon it, and he sat on it. 8 And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others, branches they had cut from the fields. 9 Both the ones going before and the ones following were crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one coming in the name of the Lord. 10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” 11 And he entered into Jerusalem, into the temple; and having looked around at everything, the hour already being late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve. 12 And the next day, {when} they had come out from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 And having seen from far away a fig tree having leaves, he went, if perhaps he will find anything on it. But having come to it, he found nothing except leaves, for it was not the season of figs. 14 And answering, he said to it, “No one will any longer eat fruit from you to eternity.” And his disciples heard {it}. 15 And coming to Jerusalem, and having entered into the temple, he began to cast out the ones selling and the ones buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of the ones selling pigeons, 16 and he was not permitting that anyone would carry containers through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying, “Has it not been written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard this, and they were seeking a way they might kill him, for they feared him because the entire crowd was amazed at his teaching. 19 And when evening came, they were departing from the city. 20 And passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree had been withered from the roots. 21 And having been reminded, Peter says to him, “Rabbi, behold! The fig tree that you cursed has been withered away.” 22 And answering, Jesus says to them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly I say to you that whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is happening, it will be for him. 24 Because of this, I say to you, whatever you pray and ask, believe that you have received {it}, and it will be to you. 25 And when you stand praying, if you have something against anyone, forgive so that your Father who {is} in the heavens may also forgive you your trespasses.” 26[1] [But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who {is} in the heavens forgive your trespasses.] 27 And they come to Jerusalem again, and as he is walking around in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders come to him. 28 And they were saying to him, “By what authority do you do these things, and who gave you this authority, so that you might do these things?” 29 But Jesus said to them, “I also will ask you one word, and you answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or from men? Answer me.” 31 And they began to discuss between themselves, saying, “What should we say? If we would say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Because of what then did you not believe him?’ [2] 32 But {if} we say, ‘From men,’?” (They were afraid of the crowd, for they all held that John really was a prophet.) 33 And answering Jesus, they say, “We do not know.” And Jesus says to them, “Neither do I say to you by what authority I do these things.” 11:26 [1] Some ancient manuscripts include verse 26 (See: Mt. 6:15). 11:31 [2] Some manuscripts do not include, What should we say? but the best manuscripts include it. Chapter 12 1 And he began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard and put a hedge around it and dug a pit for a winepress and built a watchtower and rented it to farmers and went away on a journey. 2 And at the season, he sent a slave to the farmers so that he might receive from the farmers from the fruit of the vineyard. 3 But having seized him, they beat {him}, and sent {him} away empty. 4 And again he sent to them another slave, and that one, they wounded in the head and treated shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and that one they killed, and many others—beating some but killing others. 6 Having one more, a beloved son, he sent him to them last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those farmers said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And having seized {him}, they killed him, and threw him outside of the vineyard. 9 Therefore, what will the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the farmers and will give the vineyard to others. 10 And have you not read this scripture? ‘The stone which the builders rejected, this has become the head of the corner. 11 This came about from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes.’” 12 And they were seeking to seize him, but they feared the crowd, for they knew that he spoke the parable against them. And having left him, they went away. 13 And they send some of the Pharisees and the Herodians to him in order to trap him with a word. 14 And having come, they say to him, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful, and it is not a concern to you about anyone, for you do not look at the face of men, but you teach the way of God according to truth. Is it lawful to give taxes to Caesar or not? Should we give, or should we not give?” 15 But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why do you test me? Bring to me a denarius so that I might look at {it}.” 16 And they brought one, and he says to them, “Whose {is} this image and inscription?” And they said to him, “Caesar’s.” 17 And Jesus said to them, “The things of Caesar, give back to Caesar, and the things of God, to God.” And they were marveling at him. 18 And Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, come to him and began questioning him, saying, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if someone’s brother dies and leaves behind a wife but does not leave a child, his brother should take the wife and should raise up seed to his brother. 20 There were seven brothers, and the first took a wife and dying, did not leave seed, 21 and the second took her and died, not having left seed, and the third likewise. 22 And the seven did not leave seed. Last of all, the woman also died. 23 In the resurrection, when they rise again, of which of them will she be a wife? For the seven had her {as} wife.” 24 Jesus said to them, “Are you not being led astray because of this, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but they are like angels in the heavens. 26 But concerning the dead that are raised, did you not read in the book of Moses, at the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not the God of the dead but of the living. You are being quite deceived.” 28 And one of the scribes, having come up, having heard them discussing this together, having seen that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which is the first commandment of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you will love the Lord your God from your whole heart, and from your whole soul, and from your whole mind, and from your whole strength.’ 31 The second {is} this, ‘You will love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other greater commandment than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “Good, Teacher! According to truth you have said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 33 And to love him from the whole heart and from the whole understanding and from the whole strength, and to love the neighbor as oneself is even more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And Jesus, having seen him, that he had answered wisely, said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one any longer was daring to question him. 35 And answering, Jesus, teaching in the temple, said, “How do the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? 36 David himself, in the Holy Spirit, said, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I place your enemies under your feet.”’ 37 David himself calls him ‘Lord,’ and how is he his son?” And a large crowd was listening to him gladly. 38 And in his teaching, he was saying, “Watch out for the scribes, desiring to walk in long robes and {receive} greetings in the marketplaces 39 and {to have} first seats in the synagogues and first places at the banquets. 40 They are devouring the houses of the widows, and as a pretext, offering long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.” 41 And having sat down across from the treasury, he was watching how the crowd puts money into the treasury. And many rich were putting in much. 42 And having come, one poor widow put in two lepta, which are a quadrans. 43 And having called his disciples, he said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of the ones putting into the treasury. 44 For all {of them} gave from their abundance, but she, from her poverty, put in everything, as much as she had, all of her livelihood.” Chapter 13 1 And {as} he is walking away from the temple, one of his disciples says to him, “Teacher, look! What manner of stones and what manner of buildings!” 2 And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? A stone upon a stone will certainly not be left here, which will certainly not be torn down.” 3 And {as} he is sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew were asking him by himself, 4 “Tell us, when will these things be? And what {is} the sign when all these things are about to be fulfilled?” 5 Now Jesus began to say to them, “Be careful that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will deceive many. 7 But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not worry; it is necessary for it to happen, but {it is} not yet the end. 8 For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in {various} place; there will be famines. These things} {are} {the beginning of birth pains. 9 But you, watch yourselves! They will hand you over to councils and to synagogues; you will be beaten, and you will be made to stand before governors and kings because of me, for a testimony to them. 10 And first, it is necessary for the gospel to be proclaimed to all the nations. 11 And when they lead you away, handing {you} over, do not worry about what you will say. But whatever is given to you in that hour, speak that; for you are not the ones speaking, but the Holy Spirit. 12 And brother will hand over brother to death, and a father, his child. And children will rise up against parents and put them to death. 13 And you will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one having endured to the end, that one will be saved. 14 But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be (Let the one reading understand.), then let the ones in Judea flee to the mountains, 15 but let the one on the housetop not go down nor go in to take anything from his house, 16 and let the one in the field not turn back to the things behind to get his cloak. 17 But woe to the ones having in the womb, and to the ones nursing in those days! 18 But pray that it might not happen in winter. 19 For there will be in those days tribulation—such as this kind has not happened from the beginning of creation which God created until now and will certainly not happen {again}. 20 And if the Lord did not cut short the days, no flesh would be saved. But for the sake of the elect whom he chose, he cut short the days. 21 And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here {is} the Christ! Look, there!’ do not believe {it}. 22 For false Christs and false prophets will be raised up and will give signs and wonders, to deceive, if possible, the elect. 23 But you, watch out! Behold, I have told you everything beforehand. 24 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; 25 and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the skies will be shaken. 26 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then he will send the angels and he will gather together his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky. 28 Now learn the parable from the fig tree. When already its branch becomes tender and puts forth {its} leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also, when you see these things happening, know that he is near, at the doors. 30 Truly I say to you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things occur. 31 The heaven and the earth will pass away, but my words will certainly not pass away. 32 But concerning that day or the hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, except the Father. 33 Be alert! Stay awake and pray, because you do not know when the time is. 34 As a man on a journey, having left his house, and having given to each of his servants authority over his work, and he commanded the doorkeeper that he should stay alert; 35 therefore, stay alert, because you do not know when the lord of the house is coming—whether evening or midnight or at rooster crowing or at morning— 36 lest, having come suddenly, he might find you sleeping. 37 But what I say to you I say to everyone: Stay alert!” Chapter 14 1 Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread was in two days, and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how, having seized him by stealth, they might kill him. 2 For they were saying, “Not during the festival, so that there will not be a riot of the people.” 3 And {while} he is in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, {while} he is reclining to eat, a woman came, having an alabaster jar of very precious perfumed oil of pure nard. Having broken the jar, she poured it on his head. 4 But there were some being angry within themselves, “For what has this waste of the perfumed oil happened? 5 For this perfumed oil was able to be sold for more than 300 denarii and given to the poor.” And they were scolding her. 6 But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why are you causing trouble for her? She did a good work for me. 7 For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you desire, you are able to do good to them, but you do not always have me. 8 What she could, she did. She anticipated to anoint my body for burial. 9 And truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will also be spoken of, in remembrance of her.” 10 And Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went away to the chief priests so that he might betray him to them. 11 And they, having heard {it}, rejoiced and promised to give him silver. And he was seeking how to conveniently hand him over. 12 And on the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when they were sacrificing the Passover lamb, his disciples say to him, “Where do you want {us}, having gone away, to prepare so that you may eat the Passover?” 13 And he sends two of his disciples and says to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. 14 And wherever he enters, say to the master of that house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’ 15 And he will show you a large upper room, furnished {and} ready, and make the preparations for us there.” 16 And the disciples left and went to the city, and they found {it} just as he said to them, and they prepared the Passover. 17 And, evening having arrived, he came with the Twelve. 18 And {as} they were reclining to eat and eating, Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, one from among you, one eating with me, will betray me.” 19 They began to be grieved, and to say to him one by one, “Surely not I?” 20 And he said to them, “{It is} one of the Twelve, the one dipping with me into the bowl. 21 For the Son of Man is going away just as it is written about him, but woe to that man through whom the Son of Man is being betrayed! It would have been good for him if that man had not been born.” 22 And {as} they were eating, having taken bread, having blessed {it}, he broke {it}, and gave {it} to them and said, “Take {it}. This is my body.” 23 And having taken a cup, having given thanks, he gave {it} to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many. 25 Truly I say to you that I will certainly not any longer drink from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” 26 And having sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 27 And Jesus says to them, “You all will fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.’ 28 But after I am raised up, I will go before you into Galilee.” 29 But Peter was saying to him, “Even if all will fall away, yet not I.” 30 And Jesus says to him, “Truly I say to you, that today—this very night—before a rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” 31 But he was saying emphatically, “Even if it is necessary for me to die with you, I will certainly not deny you.” And they all also were speaking in the same manner. 32 And they come to a place, the name of which {is} Gethsemane, and he says to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 And he takes along Peter and James and John with him and began to be distressed and greatly troubled. 34 And he says to them, “My soul is greatly grieved, even to death. Remain here and stay alert.” 35 And having gone a little farther, he fell to the ground and was praying that, if it is possible, the hour might pass from him. 36 And he was saying, “Abba, Father, all things {are} possible with you. Remove this cup from me. But not what I will, but what you will.” 37 And he comes and finds them sleeping, and he says to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Were you not able to stay alert for one hour? 38 Stay alert and pray, so that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed {is} willing, but the flesh {is} weak.” 39 And again, having gone away, he prayed, having said the same thing. 40 And again, having come, he found them sleeping, for their eyes were weighed down, and they did not know what to answer to him. 41 And he comes the third time and says to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough! The hour has come. Behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Get up, let us go. Behold, the one betraying me is near.” 43 And immediately, {while} he is still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrives, and a crowd with him with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. 44 Now his betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “Whomever I kiss, he it is. Seize him and lead {him} away securely.” 45 And having arrived, immediately having come up to him, he says, “Rabbi,” and he kissed him. 46 And they laid hands on him and seized him. 47 But a certain one of the ones standing by, having drawn his sword, struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. 48 And answering, Jesus said to them, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to seize me? 49 Every day I was with you teaching in the temple, and you did not seize me. But so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled.” 50 And having left him, they all ran away. 51 And a certain young man was following him, wearing a linen garment over his naked body. And they seize him, 52 but he, having left behind the linen garment, ran away naked. 53 And they led Jesus away to the high priest, and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes gather together. 54 Now Peter followed him from a distance, as far as into the courtyard of the high priest, and he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire. 55 Now the chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, and they were not finding {any}. 56 For many were testifying falsely against him, but their testimony was not the same. 57 And certain ones, having stood up, were testifying falsely against him, saying, 58 “We heard him saying, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’” 59 And not even in this manner was their testimony the same. 60 And having stood up in the midst, the high priest questioned Jesus, saying, “Do you not answer at all? What these are testifying against you?” 61 But he was silent and did not answer at all. Again the high priest was questioning him and saying to him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” 62 And Jesus said, “I am; and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven.” 63 And the high priest, having torn his garments, says, “What need do we still have of witnesses? 64 You heard the blasphemy. What is evident to you?” And they all condemned him to be deserving of death. 65 And certain ones began to spit on him and to blindfold his face and to strike him and to say to him, “Prophesy!” And the officers received him with slaps. 66 And {while} Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest comes to {him}. 67 And having seen Peter warming himself, having looked closely at him, she says, “You were also with the Nazarene, Jesus.” 68 But he denied {it}, saying, “Neither have I known, nor do I understand what you are saying.” And he went out, outside into the courtyard. [1] 69 And the servant girl, having seen him {there}, began to say again to the ones standing around, “This one is from among them!” 70 But he was denying {it} again. And after a little {while} the ones standing around again were saying to Peter, “Truly you are from among them, for you also are a Galilean.” 71 And he began to curse and to swear, “I do not know this man whom you are talking about.” 72 And immediately a rooster crowed a second time, and Peter remembered the word that Jesus said to him: “Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times,” and having broken down, he was weeping. 14:68 [1] Some ancient copies add, “Then the rooster crowed,” but the best ancient copies do not have this phrase. Chapter 15 1 And immediately at dawn, having held a consultation, the chief priests with the elders and scribes and the entire Sanhedrin, having bound Jesus, led {him} away and handed {him} over to Pilate. 2 And Pilate questioned him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” But he, answering him, says, “You say so.” 3 And the chief priests were accusing him of many things. 4 Now Pilate again was questioning him, saying, “Do you not answer at all? See how many things they are accusing you!” 5 But Jesus no longer answered anything, so that Pilate was amazed. 6 Now during the festival, he usually released to them one prisoner whom they were requesting. 7 Now there was the one called Barabbas, bound with the rebels, who had committed murder in the insurrection. 8 And having come up, the crowd began to request {of him} just as he usually did for them. 9 And Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you desire that I would release to you the King of the Jews?” 10 For he knew that the chief priests had handed him over because of envy. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd so that he would release Barabbas to them instead. 12 And answering again, Pilate, said to them, “What therefore should I do {to the one} you call the King of the Jews?” 13 But they cried out again, “Crucify him!” 14 But Pilate was saying to them, “What wrong has he done?” But they cried out even more, “Crucify him.” 15 Now Pilate, wanting to do {what} was pleasing to the crowd, released Barabbas to them and handed over Jesus, having flogged {him}, so that he might be crucified. 16 Now the soldiers led him inside the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and call together the whole cohort 17 and put on him a purple robe and place on him a crown of thorns they had twisted together, 18 and they began to salute him: “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him, and bending the knee, they were bowing down to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they took off from him the purple robe and put his own garments on him and led him out so that they might crucify him. 21 And they pressed into service a certain passerby, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), coming from the country, so that he might carry his cross. 22 And they bring him to Golgotha (a place which is translated, “Place of a Skull”). 23 And they were offering him wine having been mixed with myrrh, but he did not drink it. 24 And they crucified him and divided his garments, casting lots for them, who would take what. 25 Now it was the third hour, and they crucified him. 26 And this was the inscription of the charge against him having been written: “The King of the Jews.” 27 And they crucify two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left. 28[1] [And the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘And he was counted with lawless ones.’] 29 And the ones passing by were blaspheming him, shaking their heads, and saying, “Aha! The one destroying the temple and rebuilding {it} in three days, 30 save yourself, having come down from the cross!” 31 In the same way also, the chief priests, mocking him to each other, along with the scribes, were saying, “He saved others; he is not able to save himself. 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross so that we might see and might believe,” and the ones that had been crucified with him were taunting him. 33 And the sixth hour having arrived, darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 35 And some of the ones that had been standing by, having heard him, were saying, “Look, he is calling for Elijah.” 36 And someone, having run and having filled a sponge with vinegar, having put {it} on a reed, was giving {it} to him to drink, saying, “Let him alone! Let us see if Elijah comes to take him down!” 37 And Jesus, having cried out with a loud voice, breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 Now the centurion that had stood in front of him, having seen that he had breathed his last in this way, said, “Truly this man was the Son of God.” 40 Now there were also women looking on from a distance, among whom {were} both Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses and Salome, 41 who, when he was in Galilee, were following him and serving him, and many other {women} who had come up with {him} to Jerusalem. 42 And {when} evening had already come, because it was the Day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph, the one from Arimathea, a respected member of the council who also was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, having come, he boldly went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Now Pilate was wondering if he had already died, and having called the centurion, he questioned him, whether he had already died. 45 And having learned this from the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph. 46 And having bought a linen cloth, having taken him down, he wrapped {him} in the linen cloth, and laid him in a tomb that was cut from a rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 Now Mary Magdalene and Mary the {mother} of Joses were watching where he was laid. 15:28 [1] Some ancient manuscripts include verse 28 (compare Luke 22:37). Chapter 16 1 And the Sabbath having passed, Mary Magdalene and Mary the {mother} of James and Salome bought spices so that, having come, they might anoint him. 2 And very early on the first of the week, they arrive at the tomb, the sun having come up. 3 And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 And having looked up, they see that the stone has been rolled away, for it was extremely large. 5 And having entered into the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. 6 But he says to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus, the Nazarene, the one having been crucified. He has been raised! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’” 8 And having gone out, they ran from the tomb, for trembling and amazement was gripping them. And they said nothing to anyone because they were afraid. 9[1] [Now early on the first {day} of the week, having arisen, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. 10 That one went {and} told the ones with him, {while} they were mourning and weeping. 11 And they heard that he was alive and that he had been seen by her, {but} they did not believe. 12 Now after these things, he appeared in a different form to two of them as they were walking, going out into the country. 13 And they, having gone, told the rest of the disciples, {but} they did not believe them. 14 Now later, he appeared to the eleven {as} they were reclining to eat, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe the ones having seen him {after} he rose from the dead. 15 And he said to them, “Having gone into all the world, preach the gospel to the entire creation. 16 The one having believed and having been baptized will be saved, and the one having not believed will be condemned. 17 Now these signs will go with the ones having believed: In my name they will cast out demons. They will speak in new languages. 18 They will pick up snakes, and if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will get well.” 19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 Now those, having gone out, preached everywhere, {while} the Lord worked with them {and} confirmed the word by the signs that went with {them}. Amen.] 16:9 [1] Some ancient manuscripts include Mark 16:9-20. Luke Chapter 1 1 Since many have attempted to compile an account concerning the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as the ones having been from the beginning eyewitnesses and servants of the word handed them down to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, to write for you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you might know the certainty concerning the things that you have been taught. 5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a certain priest named Zechariah, from the division of Abijah. And his wife {was} from the daughters of Aaron, and her name {was} Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous in front of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7 But they did not have a child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in their days. 8 And it happened that in his performing as priest before God, in the order of his division, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, he came up by lot to enter into the temple of the Lord to burn incense. 10 And the whole crowd of the people was praying outside at the hour of the incense offering. 11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And Zechariah was troubled, having seen {him}, and fear fell on him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will call his name John. 14 And there will be joy and gladness to you, and many will rejoice at his birth. 15 For he will be great before the Lord, and he must never drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of fathers back to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” 18 Then Zechariah said to the angel, “How will I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in her days.” 19 And answering, the angel said to him, “I am Gabriel, the one standing before God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, you will be silent and not able to speak until that day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” 21 And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delaying in the temple. 22 But having come out, he was not able to speak to them and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he was making signs to them and remained unable to speak. 23 And it happened that, when the days of his priestly service were fulfilled, he went away to his home. 24 And after these days, his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she hid herself, saying, 25 “Thus the Lord has done for me, in the days in which he looked upon {me}, to take away my disgrace among men.” 26 And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee whose name {was} Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name {was} Joseph, of the house of David, and the name of the virgin {was} Mary. 28 And coming to her, the angel said, “Rejoice, favored one! The Lord {is} with you.” 29 But she was troubled by the words and she was considering what kind of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David. 33 And he will reign over the house of Jacob to eternity, and there will be no end of his kingship.” 34 But Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I have not known a man?” 35 And answering, the angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one being born will be called the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth—she also has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her, the one called barren. 37 For every word will not be impossible for God.” 38 Then Mary said, “Behold, the female servant of the Lord. May it happen to me according to your word.” Then the angel went away from her. 39 Then Mary arose in those days {and} went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, 40 and she entered into the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And it happened that, when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby in her womb leaped, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 And she exclaimed in a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And from where {is} this to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? 44 For behold, as soon as the sound of your greeting was in my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed {is} the one having believed that there would be a fulfillment of the {things that} had been spoken to her from the Lord.” 46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. 48 For he has looked upon the low condition of his female servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and his name {is} holy, 50 and his mercy {is} unto generation and generation to the ones fearing him. 51 He has done mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 52 He has thrown down rulers from their thrones and he has raised up the lowly. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things, but the rich he has sent away empty. 54 He has helped Israel his servant, to remember his mercy, 55 as he spoke to our fathers—to Abraham and to his seed in the ages {past}.” 56 And Mary stayed with her about three months, and returned to her house. 57 And the time was fulfilled for Elizabeth for her to deliver, and she gave birth to a son. 58 And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had magnified his mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. 59 And it happened that, on the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call {him} after the name of his father, Zechariah. 60 But answering, his mother said, “No. Rather, he will be called John.” 61 But they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.” 62 Then they made signs to his father as to what he wanted to call him. 63 And asking for a writing tablet, he wrote, saying, “His name is John.” And they all were astonished. 64 Then immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue, and he spoke, blessing God. 65 And fear came on all the ones living around them, and all these matters were being talked about throughout all the hill country of Judea. 66 And all the ones having heard stored in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child become?” For indeed the hand of the Lord was with him. 67 And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, 68 “Blessed be} {the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited and has accomplished redemption for his people. 69 And he has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David 70 (as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from eternity), 71 salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all the ones hating us; 72 to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, 73 the oath that he swore to Abraham our father, to grant us 74 to serve him fearlessly, having been delivered out of the hand of our enemies, 75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. 76 And indeed, you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his paths; 77 to give the knowledge of salvation to his people through forgiveness of their sins, 78 because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the sunrise from on high will visit us, 79 to shine on the ones sitting in darkness and a shadow of death; to guide our feet into a path of peace.” 80 And the child was growing and was being strengthened in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel. Chapter 2 1 And in those days, it happened that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus for all the world to register. 2 This first registration happened {while} Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 And everyone was traveling to register himself, each one to his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David. 5 He registered himself with Mary, the one that had been engaged to him, being pregnant. 6 And it happened that, while they were there, the days were fulfilled for her to deliver. 7 And she delivered her firstborn son, and she wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. 8 And there were shepherds in that area, staying in the open and keeping watch over their flock at night. 9 And an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they feared a great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be to all the people. 11 For today has been born for you in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord! 12 And this {will be} the sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly a multitude of the heavenly army was with the angel, praising God, and saying, 14 “Glory in the highest to God, and on earth, peace among men of good pleasure.” 15 And it happened that, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let us indeed go over as far as Bethlehem, and let us see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went hastening and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby, lying in the manger. 17 And having seen him, they made known about the message that had been told to them about this child. 18 And all the ones having heard {it} were amazed concerning the things that were spoken to them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for everything that they had heard and seen, just as it had been spoken to them. 21 And when eight days had been fulfilled to circumcise him, then his name was called Jesus, {which} he had been called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. 22 And when the days of their purification had been fulfilled, according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present {him} to the Lord 23 (just as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb will be called holy to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to {what} had been said in the law of the Lord, “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” 25 And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name {was} Simeon, and this man {was} righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus for them to do according to the custom of the law concerning him, 28 and he took him into his arms and blessed God, and he said, 29 “You are now dismissing your servant in peace, Lord, according to your word. 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared before the face of all the peoples: 32 A light for revelation to the Gentiles and glory to your people Israel.” 33 And his father and mother [1] were amazed at what is being said about him. 34 And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother, “Behold, this one is appointed for the downfall and rising up of many in Israel and for a sign that is spoken against— 35 and a sword will also pierce your own soul—so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” 36 And Anna was there, a prophetess, a daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher. She had advanced much in days, having lived with her husband for seven years after her virginity, 37 and she {was} a widow for 84 years who never left the temple, serving with fastings and prayers night and day. 38 And coming up at that very hour, she began giving thanks to God and speaking about him to all the ones waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. 39 And when they had completed everything {that was} according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and was strengthened, being filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. 41 And his parents went every year to Jerusalem to the Feast of the Passover. 42 And when he was 12 years old, they went up according to the custom of the feast. 43 And the days having been completed, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know {it}. 44 But thinking that he was with the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey and they sought him among their relatives and friends. 45 And not finding {him}, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. 46 And it happened that, after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers and listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all the ones hearing him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 And having seen him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us thus? Behold, your father and I have been tormented searching for you.” 49 And he said to them, “Why {is it} that you were searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in the things of my Father?” 50 But they did not understand the word that he spoke to them. 51 Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subjected to them. But his mother kept all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus was increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. 2:33 [1] The most reliable ancient manuscripts readhis father and mother . Some other manuscripts read Joseph and his mother . Chapter 3 1 And in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—Pontius Pilate governing Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip being tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias being tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas—the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “A voice of one calling out in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5 Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be made low, and the crooked roads will become straight, and the rough roads {will become} smooth, 6 and all flesh will see the salvation of God.’” 7 So he said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “Offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Therefore, produce fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say within yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I say to you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. 9 But indeed, the ax is already set against the root of the trees. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into a fire.” 10 And the crowds kept asking him, saying, “What therefore should we do?” 11 So answering, he said to them, “The one having two tunics must share with the one not having, and the one having food, let him do the same.” 12 Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?” 13 So he said to them, “Collect nothing more than {what} you have been ordered.” 14 Then soldiers also asked him, saying, “And us, what should we do?” And he said to them, “Take nothing by force, and do not accuse falsely, and be contented with your wages.” 15 And the people were expecting and were all wondering in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ. 16 John answered, saying to them all, “I indeed baptize you with water, but one more powerful than I is coming, of whom I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire, 17 whose winnowing fork {is} in his hand to thoroughly clear off his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his storehouse, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” 18 Therefore, also exhorting many other things, he preached good news to the people. 19 But Herod the tetrarch, having been rebuked by him concerning Herodias, the wife of his brother, and concerning all the evil things that Herod had done, 20 added even this to {them} all: He locked John up in prison. 21 And it happened that when all the people were being baptized, Jesus also was baptized and, {as} he was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit in bodily form came down on him like a dove, and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son. With you I am well pleased.” 23 And Jesus himself was beginning about 30 years old, being the son (as it was assumed) of Joseph, of Heli, 24 of Matthat, of Levi, of Melchi, of Jannai, of Joseph, 25 of Mattathias, of Amos, of Nahum, of Esli, of Naggai, 26 of Maath, of Mattathias, of Semein, of Josech, of Joda, 27 of Joanan, of Rhesa, of Zerubbabel, of Salathiel, of Neri, 28 of Melchi, of Addi, of Cosam, of Elmadam, of Er, 29 of Joshua, of Eliezer, of Jorim, of Matthat, of Levi, 30 of Simeon, of Judah, of Joseph, of Jonam, of Eliakim, 31 of Melea, of Menna, of Mattatha, of Nathan, of David, 32 of Jesse, of Obed, of Boaz, of Salmon, of Nahshon, 33 of Amminadab, of Admin, of Arni, of Hezron, of Perez, of Judah, 34 of Jacob, of Isaac, of Abraham, of Terah, of Nahor, 35 of Serug, of Reu, of Peleg, of Eber, of Shelah, 36 of Cainan, of Arphaxad, of Shem, of Noah, of Lamech, 37 of Methuselah, of Enoch, of Jared, of Mahalaleel, of Cainan, 38 of Enos, of Seth, of Adam, of God. Chapter 4 1 Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 for 40 days being tempted by the devil. And he did not eat anything during those days, and he was hungry {when} they were completed. 3 Then the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, speak to this stone so that it might become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered to him, “It is written, ‘Man will not live on bread alone.’” 5 Then he led him up {and} showed him all the kingdoms of the world in an instant of time. 6 And the devil said to him, “I will give to you all this authority and their glory, for it has been handed over to me, and I can give it to anyone I want. 7 So then, if you will bow in worship before me, it will all be yours.” 8 But answering, Jesus said to him, “It is written, ‘You will worship the Lord your God, and you will serve only him.’” 9 Then he led him to Jerusalem and put {him} on the highest point of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written, ‘He will command his angels regarding you, to protect you,’ 11 and, ‘They will lift you up in their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” 12 But answering, Jesus said to him, “It is said, ‘You will not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 13 And having finished every temptation, the devil went away from him until an opportune time. 14 And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him went out throughout the entire surrounding region. 15 And he began to teach in their synagogues, being glorified by all. 16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been raised, and according to his custom, he entered into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read aloud. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him and, opening the scroll, he found the place where it was written, 18 “The Spirit of the Lord {is} upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” 20 And having rolled up the scroll {and} having given it back to the attendant, he sat down. And all the eyes in the synagogue were gazing on him. 21 Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your ears.” 22 And everyone spoke well of him and they were amazed at the gracious words that were coming out of his mouth, and they said, “Is this not the son of Joseph?” 23 And he said to them, “Surely you will say this proverb to me, ‘Doctor, heal yourself. Whatever we heard happened in Capernaum, also do here in your hometown.’” 24 But he said, “Truly I say to you that no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 But in truth I say to you that there were many widows in Israel during the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came upon all the land. 26 But Elijah was sent to none of them except to Zarephath in Sidon, to a widow woman. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel during {the time of} Elisha the prophet, but none of them were cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” 28 And all in the synagogue were filled with rage, having heard these things. 29 And rising up, they drove him out of the town, and they led him to the edge of the hill on which their town was built, so as to throw him off. 30 But he, passing through the midst of them, went on his way. 31 And he went down to Capernaum, a city in Galilee, and he was teaching them on the Sabbaths. 32 And they were astonished at his teaching, because his word was with authority. 33 And in the synagogue there was a man having a spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 “Ha! What to us and to you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” 35 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silenced, and come out of him!” And having thrown him down in their midst, the demon came out of him, not hurting him. 36 And astonishment came upon everyone, and they were talking to one another, saying, “What {is} this word, that he commands the unclean spirits with authority and power, and they come out?” 37 And news about him went out into every part of the surrounding region. 38 Then arising from the synagogue, he entered into the house of Simon. And Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering with a high fever, and they asked him concerning her. 39 And standing over her, he rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately having gotten up, she began to serve them. 40 And {as} the sun was setting, everyone having ones being sick with various diseases brought them to him and, laying his hands on each of them, he was healing them. 41 And demons also were coming out from many, crying out, and saying, “You are the Son of God!” But he was rebuking them, not permitting them to speak, because they knew he was the Christ. 42 And day having come, having departed, he went to a solitary place, but the crowds were looking for him and came to him, and they restrained him not to go away from them. 43 But he said to them, “I must also proclaim the gospel about the kingdom of God to other cities, because for this I was sent.” 44 And he was preaching in the synagogues in Judea. Chapter 5 1 And it happened that the crowd was pressing in on him and listening to the word of God, and he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. 2 And he saw two boats standing by the lake, but the fishermen had gotten out of them {and} were washing their nets. 3 Then he got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, {and} asked him to put out a little from the land. Then he sat down {and} was teaching the crowds from the boat. 4 Then when he stopped speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 But answering, Simon said, “Master, we worked through the entire night {and} caught nothing, but at your word, I will let down the nets.” 6 And having done this, they caught a very large number of fish, and their nets began to break. 7 And they signaled to their partners in the other boat that they should come to help them, and they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But Simon Peter, having seen {it}, he fell down at the knees of Jesus, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord.” 9 For amazement had seized him and all the ones with him at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10 and likewise also James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” 11 And having brought the boats to the land, they left everything {and} followed him. 12 And it happened that he was in one of the cities, and behold, a man full of leprosy. And seeing Jesus, he fell on his face {and} begged him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you are able to make me clean.” 13 And having reached out his hand, he touched him, saying, “I am willing. Be clean.” And immediately the leprosy went away from him. 14 And he commanded him to tell no one, but, “Go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing as Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.” 15 But the word about him spread even more, and large crowds came together to hear him and to be healed from their sicknesses. 16 But he was withdrawing into the deserted places and praying. 17 And it happened on one of those days that he was teaching, and there were Pharisees and law teachers sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem, and power of the Lord was upon him to heal. 18 And behold, men carrying on a mat a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him inside and to set him before him. 19 And not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd, having gone up to the housetop, they let him down through the tiles on his mat into the midst before Jesus. 20 And seeing their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” 21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to debate, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who is able to forgive sins except God alone?” 22 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, answering said to them, “Why are you debating in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk?’ 24 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on the earth to forgive sins,”—he said to the one that had been paralyzed—“I tell you, get up, and pick up your mat, {and} go to your house.” 25 And immediately he got up before them, picked up that on which he had been lying, and went away to his house glorifying God. 26 And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God, and they were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen astonishing things today.” 27 And after these things, he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax collector’s office, and he said to him, “Follow me.” 28 And having left everything behind, he got up and began to follow him. 29 And Levi made a great banquet in his house for him, and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others, who were reclining to eat with them. 30 But the Pharisees and their scribes were murmuring to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 And answering, Jesus said to them, “The ones being well do not have need of a physician, but the ones having sickness. 32 I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” 33 Then they said to him, “The disciples of John often fast and make prayers, and likewise the ones of the Pharisees. But the ones of yours eat and drink.” 34 Then he said to them, “You are not able to make the sons of the bridal chamber fast while the bridegroom is with them, are you? 35 But days will indeed come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them. Then, in those days, they will fast.” 36 Then he also spoke a parable to them. “No one, having torn a piece of cloth from a new garment, sews it onto an old garment. But if not, the new will tear, and the old will not match the piece that is from the new. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. But if not, the new wine will burst the wineskins, and it will be spilled out, and the wineskins will be destroyed. 38 But one must put new wine into new wineskins. 39 No one, having drunk the old, wants the new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’” Chapter 6 1 And it happened that, on a Sabbath he was going through grainfields, and his disciples were picking and eating the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful on the Sabbaths?” 3 And answering them, Jesus said, “Have you not read this, what David did when he was hungry, he and the ones being with him: 4 how he entered into the house of God and took the bread of the presence, ate it, and gave it to the ones with him, which is not lawful to eat except only for the priests?” 5 And he said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” 6 And it happened that, on another Sabbath, he entered into the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there, and his right hand was withered. 7 But the scribes and the Pharisees were watching him closely, whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find to accuse him. 8 But he knew their thinking and he said to the man having the withered hand, “Get up, and stand in the midst.” So he got up {and} stood. 9 Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you if {it is} lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save a life or to destroy?” 10 And having looked around at them all, he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did, and his hand was restored. 11 But they were filled with rage and they were talking to each other about what they might do to Jesus. 12 And it happened that, in those days, he went out to the mountain to pray, and he was spending the whole night in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he called his disciples, and he chose 12 from them, whom he also named apostles: 14 Simon (whom he also named Peter) and his brother Andrew; and James and John; and Philip and Bartholomew; 15 and Matthew and Thomas; and James son of Alphaeus; and Simon, the one called the Zealot; 16 and Judas son of James; and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. 17 And having come down with them, he stood on a level place with a large crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon. 18 They had come to listen to him and to be healed from their diseases. And the ones being troubled by unclean spirits were being healed. 19 And the whole crowd was seeking to touch him because power was coming out from him and healing everyone. 20 And he, having lifted up his eyes upon his disciples, said, “Blessed {are} the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed {are} the ones being hungry now, for you will be filled. Blessed {are} the ones weeping now, for you will laugh. 22 Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man. 23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward {is} great in heaven. For their fathers did according to the same things to the prophets. 24 But woe to you, the rich, for you have received your comfort. 25 Woe to you, the ones being filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to the ones laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. 26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers did according to the same things to the false prophets. 27 But I say to you, the ones listening, love your enemies {and} do good to the ones hating you. 28 Bless the ones cursing you {and} pray for the ones mistreating you. 29 To the one striking you on the cheek, offer also the other, and from the one taking away your cloak, also do not withhold your tunic. 30 Give to everyone asking you, and from the one taking away what {is} yours, do not ask for it back. 31 And as you desire that men would do to you, do the same to them. 32 And if you love the ones loving you, what credit is that to you? For even the sinners love the ones loving them. 33 For if indeed you do good to the ones doing good to you, what credit is that to you? Even the sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to {the ones} from whom you expect to receive back, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, so that they may receive back the same things. 35 But love your enemies and do good to {them}, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind toward the ungrateful and evil. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. 37 And do not judge, and you will certainly not be judged. And do not condemn, and you will certainly not be condemned. Release, and you will be released. 38 Give, and it will be given to you: a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, spilling over—they will pour into your lap. For with the measure by which you measure, it will be measured back to you.” 39 Then he also told them a parable. “A blind man is not able to guide a blind man, is he? Would not both fall into a pit? 40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone having been fully trained will be like his teacher. 41 And why do you look at the speck of wood that {is} in the eye of your brother, but you do not notice the log that {is} in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck of wood that {is} in your eye,’ you yourself not seeing the log in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take out the log from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck of wood {that is} in the eye of your brother. 43 For there is no good tree that produces rotten fruit, nor, on the other hand, any rotten tree that produces good fruit. 44 For each tree is known by {its} own fruit. For they do not gather figs from a thornbush, nor do they gather grapes from a briar bush. 45 The good man from the good treasure of his heart produces {what is} good, and the evil man from evil produces {what is} evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. 46 And why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I say? 47 Everyone coming to me and hearing my words, and doing them, I will show you what he is like. 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug down and dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock. Then a flood having come, the torrent of water flowed against that house, but it could not shake it, because it had been built well. 49 But the one having heard and not having done, he is like a man having built a house on the ground without a foundation, against which the torrent of water flowed, and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.” Chapter 7 1 When he had finished all his words in the hearing of the people, he entered into Capernaum. 2 And a certain servant of a centurion, who was highly regarded by him, being sick, was about to die. 3 And having heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come so that he might save his servant. 4 And the ones having come to Jesus asked him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy that you will grant this to him, 5 because he loves our nation, and he built the synagogue for us.” 6 And Jesus went with them. But he already not being far away from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, because I am not worthy that you would come under my roof. 7 Therefore I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But speak with a word and let my servant be healed. 8 For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me, and I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another one, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does {it}.” 9 And Jesus, having heard this, marveled at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” 10 And having returned to the house, the ones having been sent found the servant was well. 11 And it happened on the next day that he went into a city called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd were going with him. 12 And as he approached the gate of the city, and behold, one that had died was being carried out, the one and only son of his mother (and she was a widow), and a rather large crowd from the city was with her. 13 And having seen her, the Lord felt compassion for her, and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 And having approached, he touched the bier, and the ones carrying it stood still. Then he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and he gave him to his mother. 16 Then fear seized all {of them}, and they were glorifying God, saying, “A great prophet has been raised among us” and “God has visited his people.” 17 And this word about him went out throughout the whole of Judea and all the surrounding region. 18 And his disciples reported to John concerning all these things. And calling two of his disciples, John 19 sent to the Lord to say, “Are you the one coming, or should we expect another?” 20 And having come to him, the men said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you to say, ‘Are you the one coming, or should we expect another?’” 21 In that hour he healed many from sicknesses and afflictions and evil spirits, and to many blind {people} he granted to see. 22 And answering, he said to them, “Having gone, report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind are seeing again, the lame are walking, lepers are being cleansed and the deaf are hearing, the dead are being raised back to life, the poor are being told the gospel, 23 and blessed is anyone not offended by me.” 24 Then after the messengers of John had gone away, he began to say to the crowds concerning John, “What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 25 But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothes? Behold, the ones in expensive clothing and living in luxury are in kings’ palaces. 26 But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. 27 This is he concerning whom it is written, ‘Behold, I am sending my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’ 28 I say to you, among those born of women, no one is greater than John, but the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” 29 (And all the people having heard, including the tax collectors, declared God to be righteous, having been baptized with the baptism of John. 30 But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.) 31 “To what, then, will I compare the men of this generation? And what are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in a marketplace and calling to one another, saying, ‘We played a flute for you, and you did not dance. We sang a funeral song, and you did not wail.’ 33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a man, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and of sinners!’ 35 But wisdom is justified by all her children.” 36 Then one of the Pharisees requested him to eat with him. So entering into the house of the Pharisee, he reclined to eat. 37 And behold, a woman who was in the city {was} a sinner. And having found out that he was reclining to eat in the house of the Pharisee, she brought an alabaster jar of perfumed oil 38 and stood behind him near his feet, weeping. She began to wet his feet with her tears, and she was wiping them with the hair of her head and kissing his feet and anointing {them} with the perfumed oil. 39 And the Pharisee who had invited him, having seen this, he said to himself, saying, “If this {man} were a prophet, he would know who and of what type {is} the woman who is touching him, that she is a sinner.” 40 And answering, Jesus said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he says, “Say it, Teacher!” 41 “There were two debtors to a certain moneylender. The one owed 500 denarii, and the other 50. 42 {When} they did not have enough to repay, he forgave {them} both. Therefore, which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answering said, “I suppose that the one to whom he forgave the most.” Then he said to him, “You have judged correctly.” 44 And turning to the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered into your house. You did not give me water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but from when I came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with perfumed oil. 47 Therefore I say to you, her sins, the many, have been forgiven—for she loved much. But the one to whom little is forgiven loves little.” 48 Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 And those reclining with {him} to eat began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” 50 Then he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” Chapter 8 1 And it happened that soon afterward, he also began traveling through city and village, preaching and proclaiming the gospel {about} the kingdom of God, and the Twelve {were} with him, 2 and certain women who had been healed from evil spirits and diseases: Mary called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out; 3 and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s manager; and Susanna; and many others; who were ministering to them out of their possessions. 4 And {when} a large crowd was gathering, and coming to him from each city, he spoke in a parable: 5 “The sower went out to sow his seed, and as he sowed, some fell along the road, and it was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the sky devoured it. 6 And other seed fell on the rock, and having grown up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 And other seed fell in the midst of the thorns, and having grown up with {it}, the thorns choked it. 8 And other seed fell on the good soil, and having grown up, it produced fruit a hundred times greater.” Saying these things, he called out, “The one having ears to hear, let him hear.” 9 Then his disciples questioned him, “What is this parable?” 10 And he said, “To you has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest in parables, so that, ‘Seeing, they may not see; and hearing, they may not understand.’ 11 And the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 And the ones along the path are the ones having heard, but then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so they may not believe {and} be saved. 13 And the ones on the rock {are} the ones, when they hear, receive the word with joy. But they have no root; they believe for a time, and in a time of testing they go away. 14 And the ones having fallen among the thorns, these are the ones having heard, but as they go on their way, they are choked by cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and they do not produce mature fruit. 15 But the ones on the good soil, these are the ones who, having heard the word with an honest and good heart, hold it securely and bear fruit with endurance. 16 And no one, having lit a lamp, covers it with a bowl or puts {it} under a bed. Rather, he puts {it} on a lampstand so that those who enter may see the light. 17 For nothing is hidden that will not become visible, nor secret that will certainly not be known and come into visibility. 18 So be careful how you listen, for whoever has, it will be given to him, but whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him.” 19 Then his mother and brothers came to him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. 20 Then it was reported to him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” 21 But answering, he said to them, “My mother and my brothers are those hearing and doing the word of God.” 22 And it happened that, on one of those days, both he and his disciples got into a boat, and he said to them, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they put out. 23 But as they voyaged, he fell asleep. Then a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were being filled and were in danger. 24 Then they approached {and} woke him up, saying, “Master! Master! We are perishing!” But he awoke, he rebuked the wind and the waves of the water, and they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 Then he said to them, “Where {is} your faith?” Then having become afraid, they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?” 26 And they sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 And {when} he came out onto the land, a certain man from the city, having demons, met him. And for a long time he had not worn clothes, and he did not live in a house, but in the tombs. 28 And having seen Jesus, he cried out, fell down before him, and said in a loud voice, “What to me and to you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” 29 For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out from the man. For many times it had seized him, and he was bound with chains and shackles {and} kept under guard, and breaking his bonds, he would be driven by the demon into the wilderness. 30 Then Jesus questioned him, “What is your name?” and he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered into him. 31 And they were begging him that he would not command them to go away into the abyss. 32 And a large herd of pigs was there feeding on the hillside, and they begged him to permit them to go into them. And he gave them permission. 33 Then the demons, having come out from the man, entered into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep slope into the lake and was drowned. 34 And having seen what had happened, the ones tending the pigs ran off and reported it in the city and in the countryside. 35 Then they went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and being sound-minded, and they were afraid. 36 Then the ones having seen reported to them how the one having been possessed by demons had been saved. 37 And all the multitude of the region of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized by great fear. Then he got into the boat to return. 38 And the man from whom the demons had gone out begged him to be with him, but he sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your house and describe all that God has done for you.” So he went on his way, proclaiming throughout the whole city all that Jesus had done for him. 40 Then when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. 41 And behold, a man came whose name {was} Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And falling at the feet of Jesus, he begged him to come to his house, 42 because he {had} a one and only daughter, who was about 12 years old, and she was dying. And as he was going, the crowds were crowding around him. 43 And there was a woman with a flow of blood for 12 years, who, having spent all her living on doctors, [1] was not able to be healed by anyone. 44 Having approached from behind, she touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her flow of blood stopped. 45 And Jesus said, “Who {is} the one having touched me?” But {when} all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds are crowding around and pressing against you.” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I know power has gone out from me.” 47 Then the woman, having seen that she could not hide, came trembling and having fallen down before him, she declared before all the people for what reason she had touched him, and how she had been healed immediately. 48 Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” 49 {While} he was still speaking, someone comes from the synagogue leader, saying, “Your daughter has died. Do not trouble the Teacher any longer.” 50 But Jesus, having heard this, answered him, “Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be saved.” 51 And having come to the house, he did not allow anyone to enter with him, except Peter and John and James, and the father of the child, and the mother. 52 And they were all mourning and beating their breasts for her, but he said, “Do not wail, for she has not died, but sleeps.” 53 And they laughed at him, knowing that she had died. 54 But he, taking hold of her hand, called out, saying, “Child, arise!” 55 And her spirit returned, and she rose up immediately, and he ordered something to be given to her to eat. 56 And her parents were astonished, but he commanded them to tell no one what had happened. 8:43 [1] Scholars are divided whether this phrase should be included here: having spent all her living on doctors . Chapter 9 1 And having called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority over all the demons, and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 And he said to them, “Take nothing for the road—neither staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor silver—nor have two tunics. 4 And whatever house you enter into, stay there and go out from there. 5 And wherever they do not receive you, going out from that city, shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” 6 Then they went out {and} were going through the villages, proclaiming the gospel and healing everywhere. 7 And Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, 8 and by some that Elijah had appeared, but by others that one of the ancient prophets had risen. 9 But Herod said, “I beheaded John, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” So he was seeking to see him. 10 And the apostles, having returned, described to him as much as they had done. Then taking them, he withdrew by himself to a city called Bethsaida. 11 But the crowds, having come to know, followed him. And he welcomed them {and} spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and he was healing the ones having need of healing. 12 And the day began to end, and the Twelve, having come, said to him, “Send the crowd away so that, going into the surrounding villages and countryside, they may find lodging and food, because we are here in a desolate place.” 13 But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” But they said, “There are not more than five loaves and two fish with us—unless we go {and} buy food for all these people.” 14 (For there were about 5,000 men.) Then he said to his disciples, “Have them recline to eat in groups of about 50 each.” 15 And thus they did, and made {them} all recline to eat. 16 Then having taken the five loaves and the two fish, looking up to heaven, he blessed them and broke {them} into pieces, and he gave them to the disciples to serve to the crowd. 17 And they all ate and were satisfied, and what was left over to them was picked up—12 baskets of broken pieces. 18 And it happened that, while he was praying alone, the disciples were with him, and he questioned them, saying, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” 19 So answering, they said, “John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and others that one of the ancient prophets has risen.” 20 Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Then Peter answering said, “The Christ of God.” 21 But he strongly warned them, commanding them to tell this to no one, 22 saying, “It is necessary for the Son of Man to suffer many things and to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and to be killed, and to be raised on the third day.” 23 Then he said to {them} all, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake, this one will save it. 25 For what is a man profited, having gained the whole world, but destroying or losing himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of this one when he comes in his own glory, and of the Father and of the holy angels. 27 But I say to you truly, there are some of the ones standing here who will certainly not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.” 28 And it happened that, about eight days after these words, taking along Peter and John and James, he went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And it happened that, as he was praying, the appearance of his face became different, and his clothing flashed white like lightning. 30 And behold, two men began talking with him, who were Moses and Elijah, 31 who were seen in glory, speaking about his departure, which he was about to fulfill in Jerusalem. 32 And Peter and the ones with him were weighted with sleep, but having become fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. 33 And it happened that, as they were going away from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here, so let us make three tents, one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah” (not knowing what he says). 34 But as he was saying this, a cloud appeared and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered into the cloud. 35 And there was a voice from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, the chosen one; listen to him.” 36 And when the voice had happened, Jesus was found alone. Then they were silent and told no one in those days anything of {the things} they had seen. 37 And it happened that, on the next day, they having come down from the mountain, a large crowd met him. 38 And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, saying, “Teacher, I beg you to look upon my son, for he is my one and only {child}. 39 And behold, a spirit seizes him and he suddenly cries out, and it throws him into convulsions with foam. And it departs from him with difficulty, crushing him. 40 And I begged your disciples so that they would cast it out, but they were not able.” 41 Then answering, Jesus said, “O unbelieving and perverted generation, until when will I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” 42 And while he was coming, the demon threw him down and shook {him} with convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy and gave him back to his father. 43 Then they were all amazed at the majesty of God. But {while} all were marveling at everything that he was doing, he said to his disciples, 44 “You put these words in your ears: For the Son of Man is going to be handed over into the hands of men.” 45 But they did not understand this word, and it was hidden from them, so they could not understand it, and they were afraid to question him about this word. 46 Then an argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest. 47 But Jesus, knowing the reasoning in their hearts, took a little child, put him next to him, 48 and said to them, “Whoever welcomes this child in my name, welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me, welcomes the one having sent me. For the one being least among you all, he is great.” 49 Then answering, John said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we prevented him, because he does not follow with us.” 50 But Jesus said to him, “Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you.” 51 And it happened that, when the days of his being taken up were being fulfilled, then he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers before his face, and they went {and} entered into a Samaritan village so as to prepare for him. 53 But they did not welcome him, because his face was going to Jerusalem. 54 And the disciples James and John, having seen this, said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 55 But having turned, he rebuked them, 56 and they went on to another village. 57 And as they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have dens, and the birds of the sky, nests, but the Son of Man does not have anywhere to lay his head.” 59 Then he said to another, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me to go first to bury my father.” 60 But he said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead. But you, go {and} proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Then still another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first permit me to say goodbye to the ones in my home.” 62 But Jesus replied, “No one, having put his hand on a plow, yet looking to the things behind, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Chapter 10 1 And after these things, the Lord also appointed 72 [1] others, and sent them out by twos before his face to every city and place where he himself was about to go. 2 And he said to them, “Indeed the harvest {is} plentiful, but the laborers {are} few. Therefore urge the Lord of the harvest that he would send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go. Behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 Do not carry a money bag, nor a sack, nor sandals, and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter into, first say, ‘Peace {be} to this house!’ 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him; but if not, it will return to you. 7 And remain in that house, eating and drinking {what is} from them, for the laborer {is} worthy of his wages. Do not move around from house to house. 8 And whatever city you enter into, and they receive you, eat {what} is served to you, 9 and heal the sick in it, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come close to you.’ 10 And into whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets {and} say, 11 ‘Even the dust that clings to us from your city on our feet we wipe off against you! But know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I say to you that on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that city. 13 Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works that happened in you had happened in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and for Sidon at the judgment than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, you will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be brought down as far as Hades. 16 The one listening to you listens to me, and the one rejecting you rejects me, and the one rejecting me rejects the one having sent me.” 17 Then the 72 returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subjected to us in your name.” 18 And he said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will harm you at all. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subjected to you, but rejoice that your names are written in the heavens.” 21 At that hour he rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you concealed these things from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for thus it was well pleasing before you. 22 All things have been handed over to me from my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and to whomever the Son desires to reveal him.” 23 And having turned around to the disciples, he said privately, “Blessed {are} the eyes that see what you see! 24 For I say to you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear.” 25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up to test him, saying, “Teacher, doing what, will I inherit eternal life?” 26 But he said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read {it}?” 27 And answering, he said, “You will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.” 29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Then answering, Jesus said, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers {who}, both having stripped him and having laid on blows, went away, leaving him half dead. 31 Then by coincidence a certain priest was going down on that road, and having seen him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite also, having come to the place and having seen {him}, passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled along, came upon him, and having seen {him}, he felt compassion. 34 And having approached, he bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then, having put him on his own animal, he brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And on the next day, taking out two denarii, he gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, when I return, I will repay you.’ 36 Which of these three do you think became a neighbor to the one having fallen among the robbers?” 37 And he said, “The one having shown mercy to him.” Then Jesus said to him, “You go and do likewise.” 38 And as they were traveling along, he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha welcomed him. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, and she was sitting at the feet of Jesus, [2] listening to his word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much service, and coming up, she said, “Lord, are you not concerned that my sister has left me alone to serve? Therefore, speak to her so that she might help me.” 41 But answering, the Lord said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. For Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her.” 10:1 [1] Here and in 10:17, some ancient manuscripts read, 72 , while others read 70. Scholars are divided as to which is the correct reading. 10:39 [2] Many of the best ancient manuscripts readJesus, but some read the Lord. Chapter 11 1 And it happened that, when he was praying in a certain place, when he stopped, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.” 2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say, ‘Father, let your name be made holy. Let your kingdom come. 3 Give us our daily bread each day. 4 And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone owing us. And may you not lead us into temptation.’” 5 And he said to them, “Which of you will have a friend and will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend three loaves to me, 6 since my friend has come to me from the road, and I do not have anything to serve to him’? 7 And answering from inside, he may say, ‘Do not cause me trouble. The door has already been shut, and my children are in the bed with me. I am not able to get up to give to you.’ 8 I say to you, even if he does not get up to give {it} to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence, rising up, he will give to him as much as he needs. 9 I also say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone asking receives; and the one seeking finds; and to the one knocking, it will be opened. 11 And which father among you, his son will ask for a fish, and instead of a fish, he will give him a snake? [1] 12 Or also he will ask for an egg, he will give him a scorpion? 13 Therefore, if you being evil know to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father from heaven give the Holy Spirit to the ones asking him?” 14 And he was casting out a mute demon. And it happened that, the demon having gone out, the mute {man} spoke, and the crowd marveled. 15 But some of them said, “By Beelzebul, the ruler of demons, he is casting out the demons.” 16 And others tested {him}, seeking from him a sign from heaven. 17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is made desolate, and house against house falls. 18 But if Satan is also divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say I cast out the demons by Beelzebul. 19 But if I cast out the demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Because of this, they will be your judges. 20 But if I cast out the demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you. 21 When the strong man {who} has been fully armed is guarding his own courtyard, his possessions are at peace, 22 but when a stronger than he attacks him, he will overcome him, take away his armor in which he trusted, and divide his spoils. 23 The one not being with me is against me, and the one not gathering with me scatters. 24 When the unclean spirit has gone out from the man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 And having come, it finds {it} swept out and put in order. 26 Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself and they having entered in, it resides there. And the last things of that man become worse than the first things.” 27 And it happened that, as he was saying these things, a certain woman from the crowd, lifting up her voice, said to him, “Blessed {is} the womb that bore you and the breasts that you nursed at.” 28 But he said, “Rather, blessed {are} the ones hearing the word of God and keeping {it}.” 29 And as the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, but a sign will not be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will stand up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, greater than Solomon {is} here. 32 The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, greater than Jonah {is} here. 33 No one, having lit a lamp, puts {it} in a hidden place, nor under the measure, but on the lampstand, so that the ones entering may see the light. 34 The lamp of the body is your eye. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is also illuminated. But when it is evil, your body {is} also dark. 35 Therefore, beware that the light {that is} in you is not darkness. 36 If therefore your whole body {is} illuminated, not having any part dark, it will all be illuminated, as when the lamp with {its} brightness illuminates you.” 37 And when he had spoken, a Pharisee asks him that he would dine with him. And having gone in, he reclined to eat. 38 And the Pharisee, having seen this, marveled that he did not first wash before the meal. 39 But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the bowl, but the inside of you is full of greed and evil. 40 You foolish ones! Did not the one having made the outside also make the inside? 41 But give as charity {what} is inside, and behold, all things are clean to you. 42 But woe to you Pharisees, because you tithe the mint and the rue and every garden herb, but you neglect the justice and the love of God. But it is necessary to do these things {and} not to neglect those things. 43 Woe to you Pharisees, for you love the first seats in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces. 44 Woe to you, for you are like the unseen graves, and the men walking over them do not know it.” 45 Then answering, one of the lawyers says to him, “Teacher, saying these things, you insult us too.” 46 But he said, “Woe also to you lawyers! For you burden men with burdens difficult to carry, but you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 Woe to you, because you build the tombs of the prophets, but your fathers killed them. 48 So you testify and consent to the works of your fathers, for they indeed killed them, but you are building. 49 Because of this, the wisdom of God also said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute’ 50 that the blood of all the prophets that has been shed from the foundation of the world may be required from this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the one having perished between the altar and the house. Yes, I say to you, it will be required from this generation. 52 Woe to you lawyers, because you have taken away the key of knowledge; you have not entered yourselves, and you have hindered the ones entering.” 53 {After} he went out from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to oppose him fiercely and to argue against him about many things, 54 lying in wait for him to trap something from his mouth. 11:11 [1] Some ancient manuscripts have a longer reading here, which also is found in Matthew 7:9: Which father among you, if your son asks for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone? Or a fish, will give him a snake? Chapter 12 1 When myriads of the crowd were gathered together so that they trampled on each other, he began to say to his disciples first, “Guard yourselves from the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 But nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. 3 Therefore, whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon the housetops. 4 But I say to you, my friends, you should not be frightened of the ones killing the body, and after that not having anything more to do. 5 But I will show you whom to fear. Fear the one, after he has killed, having authority to throw into Gehenna. Yes, I say to you, fear him. 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two assaria? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 But even the hairs of your head have all been numbered. Do not fear: you are more valuable than many sparrows. 8 But I say to you, everyone who confesses me before men, the Son of Man will also confess him before the angels of God, 9 but the one having denied me before men will be denied before the angels of God. 10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him, but to the one having blasphemed against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven. 11 And when they bring you to the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not worry about how or what you should speak in your defense or what you should say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that hour what is necessary to say.” 13 Then someone from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who appointed me a judge or a mediator over you?” 15 Then he said to them, “See and keep yourselves from all covetousness, because one’s life is not in the abounding to him of his possessions.” 16 Then he spoke to them a parable, saying, “The land of a certain rich man yielded abundantly, 17 and he reasoned with himself, saying, ‘What should I do, since I do not have anywhere to gather my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will take down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will gather all of my grain and good things. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many good things lying in store for many years. Relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Foolish one, this night they are demanding your soul from you, and what you have prepared, whose will it be?’ 21 Thus {is} the one storing up treasure for himself, and not being rich toward God.” 22 Then he said to his disciples, “Because of this I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat—and not about your body, what you will wear. 23 For life is more than food, and the body {than} clothes. 24 Consider the ravens, that they neither sow nor reap, to whom is neither storeroom nor barn, but God feeds them. How much more valuable you are than the birds! 25 But which of you by being anxious is able to add a cubit to his lifespan? 26 If then you are not able to do the least, why do you worry about the rest? 27 Consider the lilies—how they grow. They do not labor, neither do they spin. But I say to you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 28 And if God so clothes the grass in the field, existing today and tomorrow being thrown into the oven, how much more you, ones of little faith! 29 And you, do not seek what you might eat and what you might drink, and do not be anxious. 30 For all the nations of the world seek these things, but your Father knows that you need them. 31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. 32 Do not fear, little flock, because your Father is very pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give alms. Make for yourselves purses that do not wear out—unfailing treasure in the heavens, where thief does not come near, nor moth destroy. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 35 Let your loins be girded, and the lamps be kept burning, 36 and you {be} like men waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that {when} he comes and knocks, they may immediately open for him. 37 Blessed {are} those servants whom the master will find watching {when} he comes. Truly I say to you that he will gird himself and have them recline to eat, and he will come {and} serve them. 38 Even if he comes in the second, or even in the third watch, and finds them thus, blessed are those. 39 But understand this, that if the master of the house had known at which hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also be ready, because in that hour you do not expect, the Son of Man is coming.” 41 Then Peter said, “Lord, are you speaking this parable to us, or also to everyone?” 42 And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful, wise manager whom the master will appoint over his care, to give them their portion of food at the right time? 43 Blessed {is} that servant whom his master will find doing so {when} he comes. 44 Truly I say to you that he will appoint him over all his possessions. 45 But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master delays to return,’ and begins to beat the male servants and the female servants, and to eat and drink, and to become drunk, 46 the master of that servant will arrive in a day that he does not expect, yes, in an hour that he does not know, and will cut him in two and appoint his place with the unfaithful. 47 Now that servant, the one having known the will of his master and not having gotten ready or having done according to his will, will be beaten much. 48 But the one not having known and having done things worthy of blows will be beaten little. But everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required from him, and to whom much has been provided, even more will be asked of him. 49 I came to throw fire upon the earth, and how I wish that it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how I am distressed until it is completed! 51 Do you think that I came to give peace on the earth? No, I say to you, but rather division. 52 For from now on there will be five in one house divided—three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against her daughter and daughter against her mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” 54 And he was also saying to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and it happens thus. 55 And when a south wind is blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. 56 Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the face of the sky and of the earth, but how do you not know how to interpret this time? 57 And why do you not even judge for yourselves {what is} righteous? 58 For as you are going with your adversary to a magistrate, make an effort on the way to be released from him so that he might not drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. 59 I say to you, you will certainly not come out from there until you have paid the very last lepton.” Chapter 13 1 And some were present at that time reporting to him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 And answering, he said to them, “Do you think that these Galileans were more sinful than all the Galileans because they suffered this? 3 No, I say to you. But if you do not repent, you will all perish in the same way. 4 Or those 18 on whom the tower fell in Siloam and killed them: Do you think that they were worse debtors than all the men residing in Jerusalem? 5 No, I say to you. But if you do not repent, you will all likewise perish.” 6 Then he spoke this parable: “Someone had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it, but did not find any. 7 And he said to the gardener, ‘Behold, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and have not found any. Cut it down. For what {reason} is it even idling the ground?’ 8 But answering, he says to him, ‘Master, leave it this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9 If it indeed bears fruit in the coming one … but if not, you will cut it down!’” 10 And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbaths, 11 and behold, a woman having a spirit of weakness for 18 years, and she was bent over and was not able to straighten up to the complete. 12 And having seen her, Jesus called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are released from your weakness.” 13 And he placed his hands on her, and immediately she was straightened up, and she glorified God. 14 But answering, the synagogue ruler, being indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, “There are six days on which it is necessary to work. Therefore come {and} be healed on them, and not on the day of the Sabbath.” 15 But the Lord answered him and said, “Hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it away to drink? 16 But this one, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan bound, behold, for 18 years, ought she not to have been released from this bond on the day of the Sabbath?” 17 And {as} he was saying these things, all the ones opposing him were put to shame, but the whole crowd was rejoicing at all the glorious things being done by him. 18 Then he said, “What is the kingdom of God like, and to what will I compare it? 19 It is like a mustard seed that a man took {and} threw into his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the sky nested in its branches.” 20 And again he said, “To what will I compare the kingdom of God? 21 It is like yeast that a woman took {and} mixed with three seahs of flour until it was all leavened.” 22 And he was traveling through cities and villages, teaching and making his journey toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, if the ones being saved {are} few?” And he said to them, 24 “Struggle to enter through the narrow door, because many, I say to you, will seek to enter, but will not be able. 25 After the master of the house gets up and closes the door, then you will begin to stand outside and to knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open for us.’ But he will answer {and} say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank before you, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 And he will speak, saying to you, ‘I do not know where you are from. Get away from me, all you workers of unrighteousness!’ 28 In that place, there will be wailing and the grinding of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you are thrown outside. 29 And they will come from east and west and from north and south and will recline to eat in the kingdom of God. 30 And behold, there are last ones who will be first, and there are first ones who will be last.” 31 At that hour, certain Pharisees approached, saying to him, “Leave and go away from here, because Herod wants to kill you.” 32 And he said to them, “Go {and} tell that fox, ‘Behold, I am casting out demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third {day} I will be finished.’ 33 Nevertheless, it is necessary for me to journey today, and tomorrow, and the following {day}, for it is not possible for a prophet to perish outside of Jerusalem. 34 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kills the prophets and stones the ones that have been sent to her! How often I have desired to gather your children the way a hen her own brood under her wings, but you were not willing. 35 Behold, your house has been left to you. And I say to you, you will certainly not see me until it comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one coming in the name of the Lord.’” Chapter 14 1 And it happened that, when he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a Sabbath to eat bread, they were also watching him closely. 2 And behold, a certain man who was edematous {was} before him. 3 And answering, Jesus spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” 4 But they kept silent. And, taking hold of him, he healed him and sent him away. 5 And he said to them, “Of which of you will a son or an ox fall into a well, and he will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?” 6 And they were not able to give an answer to these things. 7 Then he was speaking a parable to the ones that had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the first places, {and} saying to them, 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not recline to eat in the first place, lest a more honorable than you may have been invited by him, 9 and {when} the one having invited you and him arrives, he will say to you, ‘Give your place to this one,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the last place. 10 But when you are invited, go {and} recline to eat in the last place, so that when the one that had invited you comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, come up higher.’ Then there will be glory to you before all the ones reclining to eat with you. 11 For everyone exalting himself will be humbled, and the one humbling himself will be exalted.” 12 Then he also said to the one that had invited him, “When you make a lunch or a supper, do not invite your friends, nor your brothers, nor your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and repayment happen to you. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, {and the} blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they do not have to repay you. For it will be repaid to you in the resurrection of the righteous.” 15 And one of the ones reclining to eat, having heard these things, said to him, “Blessed {is} whoever will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” 16 But he said to him, “A certain man made a large supper and invited many. 17 And he sent his servant at the hour of the supper to say to the ones that had been invited, ‘Come, because it is now ready.’ 18 And they all from one began to excuse themselves. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I have need to go out to see it. I ask you, have me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have bought five pairs of oxen, and I am going to try them out. I ask you, have me excused.’ 20 And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and because of this I am not able to come.’ 21 And the servant came {and} reported these things to his master. Then becoming angry, the master of the house said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ 22 And the servant said, ‘Master, what you commanded has happened, and there is still room.’ 23 And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the roads and hedges and compel {them} to come in, so that my house may be filled. 24 For I say to you that none of those men that had been invited will taste of my supper.’” 25 And large crowds were journeying with him, and he turned {and} said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters and also even his own life, he is not able to be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry his cross and come after me is not able to be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down {and} calculate the cost—whether he has for completion? 29 Otherwise, he having laid a foundation and not being able to finish, all who see it will begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going to fight with another king in war, will not sit down {and} first determine whether he is able with 10,000 to meet the one coming against him with 20,000? 32 But if not, while he is still far away, sending a delegation, he asks the things for peace. 33 In the same way, then, every one of you who does not renounce all the {things that} he himself possesses is not able to be my disciple. 34 Salt then {is} good, but if the salt indeed is made tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? 35 It is useful neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. They throw it outside. The one having ears to hear, let him hear.” Chapter 15 1 And all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming to him to listen to him. 2 And both the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling, saying, “This one receives sinners and eats together with them.” 3 And he spoke this parable to them, saying, 4 “Which man among you, having 100 sheep and having lost one of them, does not leave the 99 in the wilderness and go after the lost one until he finds it? 5 And having found {it}, he lays {it} on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And coming to the house, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice together with me, for I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I say to you that in the same way, there will be joy in heaven over one sinner repenting, more than over 99 being righteous having no need of repentance. 8 Or what woman, having ten drachmas, if she loses one drachma, would not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she has found {it}? 9 And having found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice together with me, for I have found the drachma that I lost.’ 10 In the same way, I say to you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner repenting.” 11 Then he said, “A certain man had two sons, 12 and the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of the wealth that falls to {me}.’ And he distributed his livelihood to them. 13 And after not many days, having gathered everything together, the younger son went to a distant country, and there he wasted his wealth, living recklessly. 14 And {when} he had spent everything, a severe famine happened throughout that country, and he began to be in need. 15 And he went {and} attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he was longing to be satisfied from the carob pods that the pigs were eating, and no one gave to him. 17 But coming to himself, he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father have more than enough bread, but I am perishing from hunger here! 18 I will get up {and} go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired servants.”’ 20 And having gotten up, he went to his own father. But he being still far away, his father saw him and felt compassion, and he ran, fell upon his neck, and kissed him. 21 Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Quickly, bring the first robe and clothe him, and put a ring on his hand, and sandals on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf, kill {it}, and let us eat {and} celebrate! 24 For this son of mine was dead, and has come back to life; he was lost, and he has been found.’ Then they began to celebrate. 25 And his older son was in the field, and {as} he came {and} approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And summoning one of the servants, he asked what these things might be. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back in good health.’ 28 But he became angry and was not willing to go in, and his father came out {and} entreated him. 29 But answering, he said to his father, ‘Behold, for so many years I am slaving for you, and I have never disregarded your command, and you never gave a young goat to me so that I might celebrate with my friends, 30 but when this son of yours came, the one having devoured your livelihood with prostitutes, you killed for him the fattened calf.’ 31 But he said to him, ‘Child, you are always with me, and all {that is} mine is yours. 32 But it was proper to celebrate and to rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead, and lived, and he had been lost, and was found.’” Chapter 16 1 And he also said to the disciples, “There was a certain rich man who had a manager, and he was reported to him as wasting his possessions. 2 And having called him, he said to him, ‘What {is} this I hear about you? Give a report of your management, for you are no longer able to manage.’ 3 Then the manager said to himself, ‘What should I do, since my master is taking away the management from me? I am not strong to dig. I am ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from the management, they will welcome me into their houses.’ 5 And having summoned each one of the debtors of his master, he said to the first one, ‘How much do you owe to my master?’ 6 And he said, ‘100 baths of olive oil.’ Then he said to him, ‘Take your bill and, sitting down, quickly write 50.’ 7 Then to another he said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘100 cors of wheat.’ He says to him, ‘Take your bill, and write 80.’ 8 And the master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the sons of this age are shrewder than the sons of the light in their own generation. 9 And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails, they may welcome you into the eternal dwellings. 10 The one {who is} faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and the one {who is} unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much. 11 If therefore you have not been faithful in unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true to you? 12 And if you have not been faithful in {what} belongs to another, who will give to you {what is} your own? 13 No servant is able to serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and he will love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and he will despise the other. You are not able to serve God and wealth.” 14 And the Pharisees, being lovers of money, heard all these things, and they were ridiculing him. 15 And he said to them, “You are the ones justifying yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For {what is} exalted among men {is} an abomination before God. 16 The Law and the Prophets {were} until John. From then on, the kingdom of God is proclaimed as good news, and everyone is forcing their way into it. 17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of the law to fall. 18 Everyone divorcing his wife and marrying another commits adultery, and the one marrying one that has been divorced from a husband commits adultery. 19 Now there was a certain rich man, and he was putting on purple and fine linen, feasting sumptuously every day. 20 But a certain poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, afflicted with sores, 21 and longing to be fed from the things falling from the table of the rich man. But even the dogs were coming {and} licking his sores. 22 Then it happened that the poor man died, and he was carried away by the angels to the bosom of Abraham. Then the rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, lifting up his eyes, being in torment, he sees Abraham from afar, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And crying out, he said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus likewise bad things. But now he is comforted here, and you are tormented. 26 And with all these things, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that the ones wanting to cross from here to you may not be able, nor may they go across from there to us.’ 27 Then he said, ‘I beg you then, Father, that you would send him to the house of my father— 28 for I have five brothers—in order that he might warn them, so that they may not also come to this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham says, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them.’ 30 But he said, ‘No, Father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.’” Chapter 17 1 Then he said to his disciples, “It is impossible for traps not to come, but woe {to the one} through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were lying around his neck and he were thrown into the sea than that he should trap one of these little ones. 3 Pay attention to yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 And if he sins against you seven times in the day, and seven times returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you will forgive him.” 5 And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase faith to us.” 6 So the Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted, and be planted in the sea,’ and it would listen to you. 7 But which of you {is it}, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, who will say to him, having come in from the field, ‘Come immediately {and} recline to eat’? 8 Instead, will he not say to him, ‘Prepare something I may eat and, girding yourself, serve me while I eat and drink, and after these things you will eat and drink’? 9 He does not have gratitude to the servant because he did the things commanded, does he? 10 Thus also you, when you have done all the things commanded to you, say, ‘We are worthless servants. We have done what we ought to do.’” 11 And it happened in the journeying to Jerusalem that he was passing through between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And {as} he entered into a certain village, ten leprous men, who stood at a distance met {him} 13 and they lifted up their voice, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14 And having seen {them}, he said to them, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And it happened that, as they went away, they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, having seen that he had been healed, returned, glorifying God with a loud voice. 16 And he fell on his face at his feet, giving thanks to him. And he was a Samaritan. 17 Then answering, Jesus said, “Were not ten cleansed? But where {are} the nine? 18 Were they not found returning to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19 And he said to him, “Rise up, {and} go. Your faith has saved you.” 20 And having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, he answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with observation. 21 Neither will they say, ‘Behold, here!’ or ‘There!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” 22 Then he said to the disciples, “Days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see {it}. 23 And they will say to you, ‘Behold, there!’ or ‘Behold, here!’ Do not go out or run after them, 24 for just as the lightning flashing from a {place} under the sky shines to a place under the sky, so will the Son of Man be. [1] 25 But first it is necessary for him to suffer many things and to be rejected by this generation. 26 And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will also be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 They were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage—until that day Noah entered into the ark and the flood came and destroyed {them} all. 28 Likewise, just as it happened in the days of Lot—they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building. 29 But in the day Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from heaven and destroyed {them} all. 30 It will be according to these things in the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 In that day, whoever is on the housetop and his goods are in the house, let him not go down to take them away; and the one in the field, likewise let him not turn to the things behind. 32 Remember the wife of Lot. 33 Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, but whoever will lose {it} will preserve it. 34 I say to you, in that night there will be two in one bed. The one will be taken, and the other will be left. 35 There will be two grinding in the same {place}. The one will be taken, but the other will be left.” 36[2] [Two in a field; one will be taken and the other will be left.] 37 And answering, they say to him, “Where, Lord?” So he said to them, “Where the body {is}, there also the vultures will be gathered together.” 17:24 [1] Some manuscripts includein his day, but the best manuscripts do not. 17:36 [2] Some ancient manuscripts include verse 36. Chapter 18 1 Then he spoke a parable to them to {show that} it was necessary for them always to pray and not to become discouraged, 2 saying, “In a certain city there was a certain judge, not fearing God and not respecting man. 3 And there was a widow in that city, and she was coming to him, saying, ‘Vindicate me against my opponent.’ 4 And for a time he was not willing, but after these things he said to himself, ‘Even if I do not fear God or respect man, 5 yet because this widow causes me trouble, I will vindicate her, so that she will not beat me up by coming to the end.’” 6 Then the Lord said, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God do the vindication of his elect, the ones crying out to him day and night, and he delays long over them? 8 I say to you that he will do the vindication of them quickly. Nevertheless, the Son of Man having come, will he indeed find faith on the earth?” 9 Then he also spoke this parable to some of the ones that had been persuaded in themselves that they were righteous and were disdaining others: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray—the one a Pharisee, and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing, was praying these things about himself, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of men—robbers, unrighteous, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week. I tithe all that I acquire.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing at a distance, did not even want to lift up his eyes toward heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, have mercy on me, the sinner.’ 14 I say to you, this one went down to his house justified rather than that one. For everyone exalting himself will be humbled, but the one humbling himself will be exalted.” 15 And they were bringing even the infants to him so that he might touch {them}, but the disciples, having seen {it}, were rebuking them. 16 But Jesus summoned them, saying, “Permit the little children to come to me, and do not forbid them. For of such is the kingdom of God. 17 Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will certainly not enter into it.” 18 And a certain ruler asked him, saying, “Good Teacher, doing what will I inherit eternal life?” 19 But Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one {is} good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments—do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not testify falsely, honor your father and mother.” 21 But he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” 22 But Jesus, hearing, said to him, “One thing is still lacking to you. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in the heavens—and come, follow me.” 23 But he, hearing these things, became extremely sad, for he was very rich. 24 Then Jesus, having looked at him, [1] said, “How difficultly the ones having riches are entering into the kingdom of God! 25 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich {person} to enter into the kingdom of God.” 26 Then the ones having heard said, “Then who is able to be saved?” 27 Then he said, “The impossible with men is possible with God.” 28 Then Peter said, “Behold, we have left everything [2] and have followed you.” 29 So he said to them, “Truly I say to you that there is no one who has left a house or a wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30 who will by no means not receive much more in this time—and in the age that is coming, eternal life.” 31 Then having taken the Twelve aside, he said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all the {things that} have been written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. 32 For he will be given over to the Gentiles, and he will be mocked, and will be mistreated, and will be spit upon. 33 And having whipped {him}, they will kill {him}, and on the third day he will rise up.” 34 And they understood none of these things, and this word was hidden from them, and they did not understand the things being spoken. 35 And it happened that, as he came near to Jericho, a certain blind man was sitting by the road begging. 36 And hearing a crowd going by, he was asking what this might be. 37 And they reported to him, “Jesus the Nazarene is passing by.” 38 And he cried out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” 39 And the ones walking ahead were rebuking him, so that he would be silent. But he kept crying out much more, “Son of David, have mercy on me.” 40 Then having stood still, Jesus commanded him to be brought to him. Then {when} he had come near, he asked him, 41 “What do you wish I should do for you?” So he said, “Lord, that I might see again.” 42 And Jesus said to him, “See again. Your faith has saved you.” 43 And immediately he saw again, and he followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, seeing this, gave praise to God. 18:24 [1] Scholars are divided whether the phrase: [he] became very sad should be included here. Compare verse 23. 18:28 [2] Some manuscripts readour own possessions, but the best manuscripts read everything. Chapter 19 1 And he entered {and} was passing through Jericho. 2 And behold a man, called Zacchaeus by name, and he was a chief tax collector, and he {was} rich. 3 And he was trying to see Jesus, who he was, but he was not able from the crowd, because he was small in stature. 4 And running on ahead, he climbed into a sycamore tree so that he might see him, because he was about to pass through that {way}. 5 And when he came to the place, looking up, Jesus said to him, “Zacchaeus, hastening, come down, for it is necessary for me to stay in your house today.” 6 And hastening, he came down and welcomed him, rejoicing. 7 And having seen this, they all complained, saying, “He has gone in to lodge with a sinful man.” 8 But having stood, Zacchaeus said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my possessions I give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anything from anyone, I will restore four-fold.” 9 Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” 11 And {as} they were listening to these things, he proceeded to speak a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and they thought that the kingdom of God was about to appear immediately. 12 Therefore he said, “A certain well-born man journeyed to a distant country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. 13 So calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas and said to them, ‘Conduct business in that I go.’ 14 But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this one to rule over us.’ 15 And it happened that, when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded to be called to him those servants to whom he had given the silver, so that he might know what they had gained by doing business. 16 Then the first came {and} said, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten minas.’ 17 And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you were faithful in very little, be having authority over ten cities.’ 18 And the second came {and} said, ‘Your mina, master, has made five minas.’ 19 So he also said to this one, ‘And you be over five cities.’ 20 And the other one came saying, ‘Master, behold your mina, which I have been keeping put away in a cloth, 21 for I feared you, because you are a harsh man. You take up what you did not put down, and you reap what you did not sow.’ 22 He says to him, ‘By your mouth I will judge you, wicked servant! Did you know that I am a harsh man, taking up what I did not put down, and reaping what I did not sow? 23 And for what {reason} did you not put my silver in a bank, and I, having returned, would have collected it with interest?’ 24 And he said to the ones standing by, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one having the ten minas.’ 25 And they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas.’ 26 ‘I say to you that to everyone having, it will be given, but from the one not having, even what he has will be taken away. 27 But these enemies of mine, the ones not having wanted me to reign over them, bring {them} here and kill them before me.’” 28 And having said these things, he journeyed ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 And it happened that, when he had come near to Bethphage and Bethany, to the hill that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village opposite, in which, entering, you will find a colt tied up, on which no one of men has ever sat. Having untied it, bring it here. 31 And if anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ thus you will say, ‘The Lord has need of it.’” 32 So the ones that had been sent went {and} found {it} just as he had said to them. 33 And {as} they were untying the colt, the owners of it said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 So they said, “The Lord has need of it.” 35 And they brought it to Jesus, and having thrown their cloaks upon the colt, they mounted Jesus on {it}. 36 And {as} he was going along, they were spreading their cloaks on the road. 37 And {as} he was already coming near to the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice {and} praise God with a loud voice concerning all of the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the king coming in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 And answering, he said, “I say to you that if these were silent, the stones would cry out.” 41 And as he approached, having seen the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things toward peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. 43 For days will come upon you, and your enemies will build a barricade around you, and they will surround you and press in on you from every side. 44 And they will dash you to the ground and your children within you. And they will not leave stone upon stone in you because you did not know the time of your visitation.” 45 And entering into the temple, he began to cast out the ones selling, 46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house {will be} a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of robbers.’” 47 And he was teaching each day in the temple. And the chief priests and the scribes and the first of the people were seeking to kill him, 48 And they were not finding something that they might do, for all the people were hanging on him listening. Chapter 20 1 And it happened that, on one of the days {when} he was teaching the people in the temple and proclaiming the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes approached with the elders. 2 And they spoke, saying to him, “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things, or who the one is having given you this authority.” 3 But answering, he said to them, “I also will ask you a word, and you say to me: 4 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or from men?” 5 Then they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘For what {reason} did you not believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From men,’ the whole people will stone us, for it is persuaded that John was a prophet.” 7 And they answered that they did not know from where. 8 And Jesus said to them, “Nor will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.” 9 Then he began to speak this parable to the people: “A man planted a vineyard and rented it out to farmers and went away for a long time. 10 And at the time he sent a servant to the farmers, so that they would give him of the fruit of the vineyard. But the farmers sent him away, having beaten {him}, empty. 11 And he proceeded to send another servant, but they also beat that one and treated {him} shamefully {and} sent {him} away empty. 12 And he proceeded to send a third, but they also wounded this one {and} threw {him} out. 13 So the lord of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I will send my beloved son. Perhaps they will respect him.’ 14 But having seen him, the farmers discussed among themselves, saying, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him so that the inheritance may become ours.’ 15 And having thrown him out of the vineyard, they killed {him}. What then will the lord of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and kill these farmers and will give the vineyard to others.” But having heard this, they said, “May it not be!” 17 But he, having looked at them, said, “What then is this that is written: ‘The stone that the builders rejected, this has become the head of the corner’? 18 Everyone having fallen on that stone will be broken to pieces. and on whomever it may fall, it will crush him.” 19 And the scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him in that hour, and they feared the people, for they knew that he had spoken this parable against them. 20 And having watched {him} carefully, they sent spies pretending themselves to be righteous, so that they might take hold of his word, in order to hand him over to the rule and to the authority of the governor. 21 And they asked him, saying, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and you do not receive a face, but you teach the way of God in truth. 22 Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” 23 But perceiving their craftiness, he said to them, 24 “Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription does it have?” And they said, “Caesar’s.” 25 Then he said to them, “Therefore give back the things of Caesar to Caesar, and the things of God to God.” 26 And they were not able to take hold of his word in front of the people, and marveling at his answer, they became silent. 27 Then some of the Sadducees came, the ones saying that there is no resurrection, {and} they questioned him, 28 saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us, if a brother of anyone should die, having a wife, and he is childless, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed for his brother. 29 Therefore, there were seven brothers, and the first, having taken a wife, died childless; 30 and the second 31 and the third took her; and likewise the seven also left no children, and died. 32 Afterward the woman also died. 33 Therefore, in the resurrection, of which of them will she be the wife? For the seven had her {as} wife.” 34 And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But the ones having been considered worthy to obtain that age and the resurrection {that is} from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36 For neither are they able to die anymore, for they are {like} angels; and they are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. 37 But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 38 And he is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all are alive to him.” 39 Then answering some of the scribes said, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” 40 For they no longer dared to ask him anything. 41 Then he said to them, “How do they say that the Christ is the son of David? 42 For David himself says in the book of Psalms, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right, 43 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’ 44 David therefore calls him ‘Lord.’ And how is he his son?” 45 And {while} all the people were listening, he said to his disciples, 46 “Beware of the scribes, desiring to walk in long robes and loving greetings in the marketplaces and first seats in the synagogues and first places at the banquets. 47 They devour the houses of widows, and for a pretext they pray at length. These will receive greater condemnation.” Chapter 21 1 And having looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury. 2 And he saw a certain poor widow putting two lepta there. 3 And he said, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all. 4 For all these put in the gifts out of their abundance. But she, out of her poverty, put in all the livelihood that she had.” 5 And {as} some were speaking about the temple, that it was decorated with beautiful stones and offerings, he said, 6 “These things that you are looking at, days will come in which stone upon stone will not be left, which will not be torn down.” 7 So they questioned him, saying, “Teacher, when therefore will these things be, and what {will be} the sign when these things are about to happen?” 8 Then he said, “Be careful that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time has come near.’ Do not go after them. 9 But when you hear of wars and rebellions, do not be terrified, for these things must happen first, but not immediately the end.” 10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be both great earthquakes, and famines and plagues in various places. There will be both terrifying events and great signs from heaven. 12 But before all of these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute {you}, handing {you} over to the synagogues and prisons, bringing {you} before kings and governors for the sake of my name. 13 It will turn out for you for a testimony. 14 But put in your hearts not to prepare to be defended, 15 for I will give to you a mouth and wisdom that all the ones opposing you will not be able to resist or contradict. 16 But you will be handed over even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put to death some of you. 17 And you will be hated by all because of my name. 18 And a hair of your head will not at all perish. 19 By your endurance, you will gain your souls. 20 But when you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. 21 Then let the ones in Judea flee to the mountains, and let the ones in the midst of it leave, and let the ones in the fields not enter into it. 22 For these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all the things that have been written. 23 But woe to the ones having in the womb and to the ones nursing in those days! For there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people. 24 And they will fall by the mouth of the sword, and they will be led captive into all the nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled by the nations until the times of the nations are fulfilled. 25 And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and distress of nations on the earth in perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. 26 Men will be fainting from fear and expectation of the things coming upon the inhabited world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and much glory. 28 But {when} these things begin to happen, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is coming near.” 29 And he spoke a parable to them: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. 30 When they already sprout, seeing for yourselves you know that the summer is already near. 31 Thus also you, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 Truly I say to you, this generation will certainly not pass away until they all happen. 33 The heaven and the earth will pass away, but my words will certainly not pass away. 34 But pay attention to yourselves, so that your hearts may not be burdened with hangover and drunkenness, and everyday worries, and that sudden day may come upon you 35 like a trap, for it will come upon all the ones sitting on the face of the whole earth. 36 But stay awake in every time, praying, so that you may be strong enough to escape all these things that are about to happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.” 37 And during the days, he was teaching in the temple, but during the nights, he went out {and} lodged on the hill that is called Olivet. 38 And all the people were getting up early to him to hear him in the temple. Chapter 22 1 And the Festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was coming near. 2 And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how they might kill him, for they were fearing the people. 3 Then Satan entered into Judas, the one called Iscariot, being from the number of the Twelve. 4 And having gone, he spoke with the chief priests and captains {about} how he might hand him over to them. 5 And they rejoiced, and they agreed to give him silver. 6 And he agreed and began seeking an opportunity to hand him over to them away from the crowd. 7 Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, on which it was necessary to sacrifice the Passover. 8 And he sent Peter and John, saying, “Going, prepare for us the Passover, so that we may eat {it}.” 9 And they said to him, “Where do you wish that we should prepare {it}?” 10 And he answered them, “Behold, {when} you have entered into the city, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him into the house into which he enters. 11 And say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’ 12 And that one will show you a large upper room, furnished. Prepare {it} there.” 13 And having gone, they found {it} just as he had said to them, and they prepared the Passover. 14 And when the hour came, he reclined to eat, and the apostles with him. 15 And he said to them, “With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I say to you that I will certainly not eat it until when it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And having taken a cup {and} having given thanks, he said, “Take this, and divide {it} among yourselves. 18 For I say to you, from now on I will certainly not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And having taken bread {and} having given thanks, he broke it, and gave to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in my remembrance.” 20 And the cup in the same way after the supper, saying, “This cup {is} the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. 21 But behold, the hand of the one betraying me {is} with me on the table. 22 For the Son of Man indeed goes according to {what} has been determined. But woe to that man through whom he is betrayed!” 23 And they began to discuss among themselves {about} which of them therefore might be the one going to do this. 24 Then a quarrel also happened among them {about} which of them seems to be greater. 25 But he said to them, “The kings of the nations lord it over them, and the ones having authority over them are called Benefactors. 26 But you {be} not thus. Instead, let the greater among you become like the younger. and the one leading like the one serving. 27 For who {is} greater, the one reclining to eat or the one serving? {Is it} not the one reclining to eat? But I am in the midst of you as one serving. 28 But you are the ones having continued with me in my trials. 29 And I grant to you, just as my Father has granted to me, a kingdom, 30 so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel. 31 Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has asked to sift you like wheat. 32 But I have asked concerning you that your faith may not fail. And you, when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” 33 But he said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.” 34 But he said, “I say to you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today before you deny three times that you know me.” 35 And he said to them, “When I sent you out without a money bag and sack and sandals, you did not lack anything, did you?” And they said, “Nothing.” 36 Then he said to them, “But now, the one having a money bag, let him take {it}, and likewise a sack. And the one not having a sword, let him sell his cloak and buy one. 37 For I say to you, this that is written must be accomplished in me, ‘And he was reckoned with the lawless.’ For indeed the thing concerning me has an accomplishment.” 38 Then they said, “Lord, behold! Here are two swords.” And he said to them, “It is enough.” 39 And having gone out, he went according to his custom to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples also followed him. 40 And having come to the place, he said to them, “Pray not to enter into temptation.” 41 And he went away from them about the throw of a stone, and having put down his knees, he was praying, 42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. But let not my will, but yours, happen.” 43[1] [And an angel from heaven appeared to him, strengthening him. 44[2] And being in agony, he was praying more earnestly, and his sweat became like drops of blood falling on the ground.] 45 And having risen up from the prayer, he came to the disciples, {and} found them sleeping from the sorrow. 46 And he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise up {and} pray, so that you may not enter into temptation.” 47 {While} he was still speaking, behold, a crowd, and the one called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. And he came near to Jesus to kiss him. 48 But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” 49 And the ones around him, having seen {what} was going to happen, said, “Lord, if we will strike with a sword?” 50 And a certain one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. 51 But answering, Jesus said, “Allow up to this!” And touching his ear, he healed him. 52 Then Jesus said to the ones having come out against him—chief priests and captains of the temple and elders—“Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? 53 {When} I was with you each day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the authority of the darkness.” 54 Then having seized him, they led {him} away and brought {him} into the house of the high priest. And Peter was following from a distance. 55 And they having kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and having sat down together, Peter was sitting in the midst of them. 56 Then a certain female servant, having seen him sitting towards the light and looking steadily at him, said, “This one also was with him.” 57 But he denied {it}, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” 58 And after a little while another, having seen him, said, “You are also of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” 59 And about one hour having passed, a certain other one was insisting, saying, “In truth, this one was also with him, for he is also a Galilean.” 60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are saying.” And immediately, {while} he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. 61 And the Lord turned {and} looked at Peter, and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before a rooster crows today you will deny me three times.” 62 And going outside, he wept bitterly. 63 And the men holding him were mocking {and} beating him. 64 And having blindfolded {him}, they were questioning him, saying, “Prophesy! Who is the one having hit you?” 65 And they were saying many other things to him, blaspheming {him}. 66 And when it became day, the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes, and they led him into their Sanhedrin, 67 saying, “If you are the Christ, tell us.” But he said to them, “If I told you, you would certainly not believe; 68 and if I questioned you, you would certainly not answer. 69 But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” 70 Then they all said, “Therefore are you the Son of God?” And he said to them, “You are saying that I am.” 71 And they said, “What further need do we have of testimony? For we ourselves have heard from his own mouth.” 22:43 [1] Some ancient manuscripts include verses 43 and 44. 22:44 [2] See the note on the previous verse. Chapter 23 1 And the whole multitude of them rose up {and} brought him to Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this one perverting our nation and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.” 3 Then Pilate questioned him, saying, “Are you the King of the Jews?” But answering him, he said, “You say {so}.” 4 Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no cause in this man.” 5 But they were insisting, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, indeed, beginning from Galilee as far as here.” 6 And Pilate, having heard this, asked whether the man was a Galilean. 7 And having learned that he was under the authority of Herod, he sent him to Herod, being also in Jerusalem himself in those days. 8 And Herod, having seen Jesus, rejoiced greatly, for he had been desiring to see him for a long time, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign happen by him. 9 Then he questioned him in many words, but he answered him nothing. 10 And the chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. 11 Then Herod, with his soldiers, also despised him and mocked {him}. Having put elegant clothing around {him}, he sent him back to Pilate. 12 Then both Herod and Pilate became friends with each other on that day, for they were previously being in hostility between themselves. 13 Then Pilate called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, 14 {and} said to them, “You brought this man to me as turning the people away, and behold, I, having examined him before you, found nothing in this man as cause for what you are accusing against him. 15 But neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us, and behold, nothing that is worthy of death has been done by him. 16 Therefore, having punished him, I will release him.” 17[1] [But he had obligation to release to them one {prisoner} at every feast.] 18 But they cried out all together, saying, “Take away this one, but release to us Barabbas!” 19 (He had been put in prison for a certain rebellion that happened in the city, and for murder.) 20 Then Pilate again addressed them, desiring to release Jesus. 21 But they were shouting, saying, “Crucify, crucify him.” 22 Then he spoke to them a third time, “For what evil has this one done? No cause for death have I found in him. Therefore, having punished him, I will release him.” 23 But they were insisting with loud voices, demanding for him to be crucified, and their voices prevailed. 24 And Pilate decreed for their demand to happen. 25 Then he released the one that had been put in prison for rebellion and murder, whom they were requesting, but he handed over Jesus to their will. 26 And as they led him away, seizing Simon, a certain Cyrenean coming from the country, they put the cross on him, to carry behind Jesus. 27 And a great crowd of the people was following him, and of women mourning and wailing for him. 28 But turning to them, Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For behold, days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed {are} the barren, yes, the wombs that did not give birth and breasts that did not nurse.’ 30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ 31 For if they do these things in the moist tree, what will happen in the dry?” 32 And others, two criminals, were also being led away with him to be put to death. 33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals—one at the right and one at the left. 34[2] [But Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”] But, dividing up his garments, they threw lots. 35 And the people stood by watching, and the rulers were also ridiculing him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.” 36 Then the soldiers also mocked him, coming up {and} offering him vinegar, 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself.” 38 And there was also an inscription over him, “This {is} the King of the Jews.” 39 Then one of the criminals having been hung blasphemed him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us.” 40 But answering, the other, rebuking him, said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same judgment? 41 And we justly, for indeed we are receiving worthy of what we did, but this one did nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” 44 And it was already about the sixth hour, and darkness was over the whole land until the ninth hour. 45 The sun failed, and the curtain of the temple was torn in the middle. 46 And crying out with a loud voice, Jesus said, “Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.” And having said this, he breathed out. 47 And the centurion, having seen the thing having happened, glorified God, saying, “Truly this man was righteous.” 48 And all the crowds that had come together for this spectacle, having seen the things having happened, returned, beating their breasts. 49 But all the ones acquainted with him, and the women following him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. 50 And behold, a man named Joseph was a council member, a good and righteous man, 51 (he had not agreed with the council and their action) from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God. 52 This one, approaching Pilate, requested the body of Jesus. 53 And taking {it} down, he wrapped it in a linen cloth, and placed it in a hewn tomb where no one ever had lain. 54 And it was the Day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was dawning. 55 And the women who had come out of Galilee with him, having followed after, saw the tomb and how his body was laid. 56 Then, having returned, they prepared spices and ointments. And on the Sabbath they rested, according to the commandment. 23:17 [1] Some ancient manuscripts include verse 17. 23:34 [2] Some ancient manuscripts include the first part of verse 34. Chapter 24 1 Then on the first of the week, deeply at dawn, they came to the tomb, bringing spices that they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but having entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 And it happened that, while they were perplexed about this, and behold, two men in flashing clothing stood by them. 5 And as they became terrified and bowed their faces toward the ground, they said to them, “Why are you seeking the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has been raised! Remember how he spoke to you, still being in Galilee, 7 saying that it was necessary for the Son of Man to be handed over into the hands of sinful men and to be crucified, and on the third day to rise up.” 8 And they remembered his words, 9 and having returned from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the rest. 10 And they were Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the {mother} of James, and the other {women} with them, telling these things to the apostles. 11 And these words seemed before them like nonsense, and they disbelieved them. 12 But Peter, having risen up, ran to the tomb, and having stooped down, he sees only the linen cloths. So he went away to his {home}, wondering {what} had happened. 13 And behold, on that same day, two of them were going to a distant village that {was named} Emmaus, 60 stadia from Jerusalem, 14 and they were talking to each other about all these things that had happened. 15 And it happened, while they talked and discussed, that Jesus himself, approaching, was going with them. 16 But their eyes were being held so as not to recognize him. 17 Then he said to them, “What {are} these words that you are exchanging with each other as you are walking?” And they stood still, gloomy. 18 Then, answering, one named Cleopas said to him, “Are you alone visiting Jerusalem and have not known the things having happened in her in these days?” 19 And he said to them, “What kind?” And they said to him, “The things concerning Jesus the Nazarene, who was a man, a prophet powerful in work and word in front of God and all the people, 20 and how the chief priests and our rulers handed him over to a judgment of death and crucified him. 21 But we were hoping that he was the one going to redeem Israel. But indeed also with all these things, he is spending this third day since these things happened. 22 But indeed, some women among us astonished us, having been at the tomb early 23 and not finding his body, they came saying they had also seen a vision of angels, saying he was alive. 24 And some of the ones with us went to the tomb and they found thus, just as the women had indeed said, but they did not see him.” 25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones and slow in heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things, and to enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he explained to them the things concerning himself in all the Scriptures. 28 And they drew near to the village where they were going, and he acted as if he would travel further. 29 And they urged him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day has already declined.” And he went in to stay with them. 30 And it happened that, when he had reclined to eat with them, taking the bread, he blessed {it}, and having broken {it}, he was giving {it} to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he became invisible from them. 32 And they said to one another, “Was not our heart burning as he spoke to us on the way, as he opened to us the Scriptures?” 33 And having risen up that same hour, they returned to Jerusalem. And they found the Eleven having been gathered, and the ones with them, 34 saying, “Truly the Lord has been raised, and he has been seen by Simon!” 35 And they related the things on the way, and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread. 36 And as they were saying these things, he himself stood in the midst of them and said to them, “Peace to you.” 37 But having been frightened and becoming terrified, they thought they were seeing a spirit. 38 And he said to them, “Why have you been troubled, and why are doubts arising in your heart? 39 See my hands and my feet, that I myself am. Touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see me having.” 40 And having said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 And as they were still disbelieving and wondering from the joy, he said to them, “Do you have something eatable here?” 42 So they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, 43 and taking {it}, he ate {it} before them. 44 Then he said to them, “These {are} my words that I spoke to you {when} I was still with you, that all the things having been written about me in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their mind to understand the Scriptures, and he said to them, 46 “Thus it has been written: The Christ would suffer, and rise up from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And I am sending upon you the promise of my Father. But you stay in the city until you put on power from heaven.” 50 Then he led them out as far as towards Bethany, and lifting up his hands, he blessed them. 51 And it happened that, while he was blessing them, he separated from them and was carried up into heaven. 52 And they, having worshiped him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and they were through all in the temple, blessing God. John Chapter 1 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him came into being not one thing that has come into being. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. 6 There was a man—having been sent from God—his name {was} John. 7 He came as a witness in order that he might testify about the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 That one was not the light, but {came} so that he might testify about the light. 9 The true light, which gives light to all men, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, and the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own did not receive him. 12 But as many as received him, he gave to them the authority to become children of God, to the ones believing in his name, 13 the ones not born from bloods, nor from the will of the flesh, nor from the will of a man, but from God. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelled among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the One and Only from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John testifies about him and has cried out, saying, “This was the one of whom I said, ‘The one coming after me has become greater than me, for he was before me.’” 16 For from his fullness we have all received even grace after grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time. The One and Only God, the one being in the bosom of the Father, that one has made {him} known. 19 And this is the testimony of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem so that they might ask him, “Who are you?” 20 And he confessed—and he did not deny, but confessed—“I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he says, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 Then they said to him, “Who are you, so that we might give an answer to the ones having sent us? What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am a voice, crying out in the wilderness: ‘Make the way of the Lord straight,’ just as Isaiah the prophet said.” 24 And the ones that had been sent were from the Pharisees, 25 and they asked him and said to him, “Why do you baptize then if you are not the Christ nor Elijah nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, saying, “I baptize in water. In the midst of you stands one you do not know, 27 the one coming after me, of whom I am not worthy that I might untie the strap of his sandal.” 28 These things came about in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. 29 The next day he sees Jesus coming to him and says, “Behold, the Lamb of God, the one taking away the sin of the world! 30 This is he concerning whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who has become greater than me, for he was before me.’ 31 And I did not know him, but so that he might be revealed to Israel, because of this, I came baptizing in water.” 32 And John testified, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending like a dove from heaven, and it remained upon him. 33 And I did not recognize him, but the one having sent me to baptize in water, that one said to me, ‘Upon whomever you might see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, he is the one baptizing in the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.” 35 The next day, John was standing again with two of his disciples, 36 and having seen Jesus walking by, he says, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 And his two disciples heard {him} speaking, and they followed Jesus. 38 But Jesus, having turned and having seen them following, says to them, “What do you seek?” And they said to him, “Rabbi (which being translated means Teacher), where are you staying?” 39 He says to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he is staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two having heard from John and having followed him was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. 41 This one first finds his own brother Simon and says to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated “Christ”). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus, having looked at him, said, “You are Simon, the son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which is translated “Peter”). 43 The next day Jesus wanted to go away to Galilee, and he finds Philip and says to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, from the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip finds Nathaniel and says to him, “We have found the one whom Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets—Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” 46 And Nathaniel said to him, “Is any good thing able to be from Nazareth?” Philip says to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him and says about him, “Behold, a true Israelite, in whom is no deceit!” 48 Nathaniel says to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, being under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathaniel replied to him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are King of Israel!” 50 Jesus replied and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you underneath the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he says to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” Chapter 2 1 And on the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Now Jesus also was invited, and his disciples, to the wedding. 3 And having run out of wine, the mother of Jesus says to him, “They do not have wine.” 4 And Jesus says to her, “Woman, what to me and to you? My hour is not yet come.” 5 His mother says to the servants, “Whatever he might say to you, do.” 6 Now there were six stone water pots standing there for the ceremonial washing of the Jews, each containing two or three metretes. 7 Jesus says to them, “Fill the water pots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he says to them, “Draw now and take {it} to the head waiter.” And they carried {it}. 9 But as the head waiter tasted the water that had become wine (and he did not know where it was from, but the servants—the ones that had drawn the water—knew), the head waiter calls the bridegroom 10 and says to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and the cheaper wine when they have become drunk. You have kept the good wine until now.” 11 This beginning of the signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and he revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him. 12 After this he and his mother and brothers and his disciples went down to Capernaum, and they stayed there not many days. 13 And the Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 And he found in the temple the ones selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money changers sitting there. 15 And having made a whip from cords, he drove {them} all out from the temple, and the sheep and the oxen, and he scattered the coins of the money changers and overthrew their tables. 16 And to the ones selling pigeons, he said, “Take these things away from here. Do not make the house of my Father a house of commerce.” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 Then the Jews responded and said to him, “What sign do you show us, since you are doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 Then the Jews said, “This temple was built in 46 years, and you will raise it up in three days?” 21 But that one was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. 23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, at the festival, many believed in his name, seeing his signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus himself did not trust himself to them because he knew all {men} 25 and because he did not have need that anyone would testify about man, for he himself knew what was in man. Chapter 3 1 Now there was a man from the Pharisees, Nicodemus {was} his name, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This one came to him at night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher, for no one is able to do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus replied and said to him, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless someone would be born again, he is not able to see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus says to him, “How is a man able to be born, being an old man? He is not able to enter a second time into the womb of his mother and to be born, is he?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone would be born from water and Spirit, he is not able to enter into the kingdom of God. 6 {What} has been born from the flesh is flesh, and {what} has been born from the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘It is necessary for you to be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So is everyone having been born from the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus replied and said to him, “How are these things able to happen?” 10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you that we speak {what} we know, and we testify about {what} we have seen, and you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 And no one has ascended into heaven except the one having descended from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, thus it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up 15 so that everyone believing in him may have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his One and Only Son, so that everyone believing in him would not perish but would have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world so that he might condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through him. 18 The one believing in him is not condemned, but the one not believing has already been condemned because he has not believed in the name of the One and Only Son of God. 19 Now this is the judgment: that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone is doing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, so that his deeds might not be exposed. 21 But the one doing the truth comes to the light, so that his deeds might be revealed, that they have been worked in God.” 22 After these things, Jesus and his disciples went into the land of Judea, and he tarried there with them and was baptizing. 23 Now John was also baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because much water was there, and they were coming and were being baptized— 24 for John had not yet been thrown into prison. 25 Then a dispute came about from the disciples of John with a Jew concerning ceremonial washing. 26 And they went to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the one who was with you beyond the Jordan, about whom you had testified, behold, he is baptizing, and they are all going to him.” 27 John replied and said, “A man is not able to receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven. 28 You yourselves testify to me that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before that one.’ 29 The one having the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom, the one having stood and hearing him, rejoices with joy because of the voice of the bridegroom. Therefore, this my joy has been made complete. 30 It is necessary for that one to increase, but for me to decrease. 31 The one coming from above is above all things. The one being from the earth is from the earth and speaks from the earth. The one coming from heaven is above all things. 32 He testifies about that which he has seen and heard, but no one receives his testimony. 33 The one having received his testimony has set his seal that God is true. 34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God. For he does not give the Spirit by measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. 36 The one believing in the Son has eternal life, but the one disobeying the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” Chapter 4 1 Then when Jesus knew that the Pharisees heard that Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself was not baptizing, but his disciples), 3 he left Judea and went back again to Galilee. 4 Now it was necessary for him to go through Samaria. 5 Then he comes to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the piece of land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now the well of Jacob was there. Then Jesus, having grown weary from the journey, was sitting right beside the well. It was about the} sixth hour. 7 A woman from Samaria comes to draw water. Jesus says to her, “Give me to drink,” 8 for his disciples had gone away into the city so that they might buy food. 9 Then the Samaritan woman says to him, “How do you, being a Jew, ask from me to drink, being a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews do not have dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you had known the gift of God and who is the one saying to you, ‘Give me to drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman says to him, “Sir, you do not have a vessel and the well is deep. From where then do you have the living water? 12 You are not greater, are you, than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, and his sons and his cattle?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone drinking from this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never thirst into eternity. Instead, the water that I will give him will become a fountain of water in him, springing up to eternal life.” 15 The woman says to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I might not thirst and might not come here to draw {water}.” 16 He says to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered and said to him, “I do not have a husband.” Jesus says to her, “You have rightly said, ‘I do not have a husband,’ 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said is true.” 19 The woman says to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where it is necessary to worship.” 21 Jesus says to her, “Believe me, woman, that an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You worship what you do not know. We worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 However, an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for indeed the Father seeks such ones worshiping him. 24 God is spirit, and it is necessary for the ones worshiping him to worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman says to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (the one called Christ). When he comes, that one will declare everything to us.” 26 Jesus says to her, “I am, the one speaking to you.” 27 And at this, his disciples came, and they were amazed that he was speaking with a woman. Nevertheless, no one said, “What are you seeking?” or “Why are you speaking with her?” 28 Then the woman left her water pot and went back into the town and says to the men, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all things, as much as I have done. This is not the Christ, is it?” 30 They went out from the town and came to him. 31 In the meantime, the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know.” 33 So the disciples said to each other, “No one brought him to eat, did he?” 34 Jesus says to them, “My food is that I might do the will of the one having sent me and might complete his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are still four months, and the harvest comes’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and see the fields, for they are already white for harvest! 36 The one harvesting receives wages and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that the one sowing and the one harvesting might rejoice together. 37 For in this the saying is true, ‘One is the one sowing, and another, the one harvesting.’ 38 I sent you to harvest that on which you have not labored. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” 39 Now many of the Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the report of the woman, testifying, “He told me all things that I have done.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 And they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of your speech, for we ourselves have heard, and we know that this one is truly the Savior of the world.” 43 Now after the two days, he departed from there into Galilee; 44 for Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. 45 When therefore he came into Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all {the things}, as much as he had done in Jerusalem at the festival, for they had also gone to the festival. 46 Then he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine, and there was a certain royal official whose son in Capernaum was ill. 47 He, having heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, went to him and asked that he would come down and heal his son, for he was about to die. 48 Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you would see signs and wonders, you would certainly not believe.” 49 The royal official says to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus says to him, “Go. Your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went away. 51 Now while he was going down, his servants met him and reported {to him}, saying that his son lives. 52 So he asked from them the hour in which he began to improve. Therefore, they replied to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” 53 Then the father realized {that it was at that} hour in which Jesus had said to him, “Your son lives.” And he himself and his whole household believed. 54 Now Jesus again did this second sign, having come from Judea to Galilee. Chapter 5 1 After these things, there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, in Hebrew being called Bethesda, having five roofed porches. 3 In these were lying a crowd of the ones being sick, blind, lame, {or} paralyzed. [1] 4[2] [For an angel of the Lord went down into the pool and stirred up the water at certain times, {and} then the one having first stepped in after the stirring of the water was healed from whatever disease he suffered from.] 5 Now a certain man was there, having 38 years in his illness. 6 Jesus, having seen this one lying there and having known that he already is there a long time, says to him, “Do you want to be healthy?” 7 The sick one replied to him, “Sir, I do not have a man so that, when the water is stirred up, he might put me into the pool. But as I am going into it, another goes down before me.” 8 Jesus says to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” 9 And immediately the man became healthy, and he took up his bed and began to walk. Now that day was a Sabbath. 10 So the Jews said to the one healed, “It is the Sabbath and not permitted for you to carry your bed.” 11 But he replied to them, “The one having made me healthy, that one said to me, ‘Pick up your bed and walk.’” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man having said to you, ‘Pick {it} up and walk’?” 13 But the one having been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had gone away secretly, a crowd being in the place. 14 After these things, Jesus finds him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become healthy! No longer sin, so that something worse might not happen to you.” 15 The man went away and announced to the Jews that Jesus is the one having made him healthy. 16 And because of this, the Jews began to persecute Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17 But he replied to them, “My Father is working even now, and I am working.” 18 Because of this, therefore, the Jews sought even more to kill him, because he not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God. 19 Therefore, Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son is able to do nothing from himself except only what he would see the Father doing, for whatever that one would do, these things also the Son does in the same way. 20 For the Father loves the Son and he shows him everything that he himself does, and he will show him greater works than these so that you might be amazed. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and makes {them} alive, so also the Son makes alive whom he desires. 22 For not even the Father judges anyone, but he has given all judgment to the Son 23 so that all will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The one not honoring the Son does not honor the Father having sent him. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you that the one hearing my word and believing the one having sent me has eternal life and does not come into judgment, but he has passed from death to life. 25 Truly, truly, I say to you that an hour is coming, and is now, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and the ones having heard will live. 26 For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he gave to the Son to have life in himself, 27 and he gave him authority to do judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not be amazed at this, for an hour is coming in which all the ones in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and will come out—the ones having done good, to a resurrection of life, but the ones having practiced evil, to a resurrection of judgment. 30 I am able to do nothing from myself. Just as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous because I do not seek my own will but the will of the one having sent me. 31 If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another one testifying about me, and I know that the testimony that he testifies about me is true. 33 You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. 34 But I do not receive the testimony from man, but I say these things so that you might be saved. 35 That one was the lamp that was burning and shining, but you desired to exult in his light for an hour. 36 But I have the testimony that is greater than that of John: for the works that the Father has given me so that I would accomplish them—the very works that I do—testify about me that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father having sent me has himself testified about me. You have neither heard his voice nor have seen his form at any time. 38 And you do not have his word remaining in you, for the one whom he has sent, this one you do not believe. 39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, and these are the ones testifying about me, 40 and you are not willing to come to me so that you might have life. 41 I do not receive glory from men, 42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. 43 I have come in the name of my Father, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you receive that one. 44 How are you able to believe, receiving glory from one another, and are not seeking the glory that is from the only God? 45 Do not think that I myself will accuse you before the Father. The one accusing you is Moses, in whom you have hoped. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, because that one wrote about me. 47 But if you do not believe the writings of that one, how will you believe my words?” 5:3 [1] The best ancient copies do not have the phrase waiting for the moving of the water. 5:4 [2] Some ancient manuscripts include verse 4. Chapter 6 1 After these things, Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (of Tiberias). 2 Now a great crowd was following him because they were seeing the signs that he was doing on the ones being sick. 3 Now Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4 (Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near.) 5 Then Jesus, having lifted up his eyes and having seen that a great crowd is coming to him, says to Philip, “From where might we buy bread so that these might eat?” 6 (But he said this, testing him, for he himself knew what he was going to do.) 7 Philip answered him, “200 denarii {worth} of bread is not sufficient for them, so that each one might receive a little.” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, says to him, 9 “Here is a little boy who has five barley bread loaves and two small fish, but what are these to so many?” 10 Jesus said, “Make the men sit down.” (Now there was a lot of grass in the place.) So the men sat down, about 5,000 in number. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and having given thanks, he gave them to the ones reclining to eat; likewise also with the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 But as they were filled, he says to his disciples, “Gather up the remaining broken pieces, so that nothing might be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up and filled 12 baskets of broken pieces from the five barley loaves which were left over by the ones having eaten. 14 Therefore, the men, having seen the sign he did, said, “This truly is the Prophet coming into the world.” 15 Then Jesus, having realized that they were about to come and to seize him so that they might make {him} king, withdrew again onto the mountain by himself alone. 16 Now as it became evening, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 and having gotten into a boat, they were going over the sea to Capernaum, and darkness had already happened, but Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 A strong wind was blowing, and the sea was being aroused. 19 Then, having rowed about 25 or 30 stadia, they see Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. 20 But he says to them, “It is I! Do not be afraid.” 21 Then they were willing to receive him into the boat, and immediately the boat came to the land to which they were going. 22 The next day, the crowd that had been standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there except one and that Jesus had not entered into the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had departed alone. 23 Other boats came from Tiberias close to the place where they had eaten the bread loaves after the Lord had given thanks. 24 Therefore, when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples are there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum seeking Jesus. 25 And having found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus replied to them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate from the bread loaves and were filled. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life which the Son of Man will give you, for God the Father has set his seal on this one.” 28 Then they said to him, “What should we do, so that we might work the works of God?” 29 Jesus replied and said to them, “This is the work of God: that you would believe in the one whom that one has sent.” 30 So they said to him, “What sign then do you do, so that we might see and might believe you? What will you work? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Then Jesus replied to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, Moses has not given you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the one coming down from heaven and giving life to the world.” 34 So they said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. The one coming to me will certainly not hunger, and the one believing in me will certainly not ever thirst. 36 But I told you that you have both seen me and do not believe. 37 Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me, and the one coming to me I will certainly not throw out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not in order that I might do my own will, but the will of the one having sent me. 39 But this is the will of the one having sent me, that I would not lose from it anyone whom he has given me, but will raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone seeing the Son and believing in him would have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” 41 Then the Jews began to murmur about him because he said, “I am the bread having come down from heaven.” 42 And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus replied and said to them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. 44 No one is able to come to me unless the Father having sent me would draw him, and I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And all will be taught by God.’ Everyone having heard and having learned from the Father comes to me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the one being from God—he has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, the one believing has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, so that a {person} might eat from it and might not die. 51 I am the living bread that has come down from heaven. If anyone eats from this bread, he will live into eternity. Now my flesh is also the bread that I will give for the life of the world.” 52 Then the Jews began to argue among themselves, saying, “How is this one able to give us his flesh to eat?” 53 Therefore, Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you would eat the flesh of the Son of Man and would drink his blood, you do not have life in yourselves. 54 The one eating my flesh and drinking my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up in the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 The one eating my flesh and drinking my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so the one eating me, he will also live because of me. 58 This is the bread that has come down from heaven, not just as the fathers ate and died. The one eating this bread will live into eternity.” 59 He said these things in a synagogue, teaching in Capernaum. 60 Then many of his disciples, having heard, said, “This word is hard; who is able to listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were murmuring about this, said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then if you would see the Son of Man going up to where he was before…? 63 The Spirit is the one making alive; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit, and they are life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who are the ones not believing and who is the one that will be betraying him. 65 And he said, “Because of this, I have said to you that no one is able to come to me unless it would have been granted to him by the Father.” 66 From this {time}, many of his disciples stayed behind and no longer were walking with him. 67 Therefore, Jesus said to the Twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom will we go? You have words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.” [1] 70 Jesus replied to them, “Did not I choose you, the Twelve, and one of you is a devil?” 71 (Now he was speaking of Judas, {son} of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him.) 6:69 [1] The phrase the Holy One of God is in the best ancient copies. Some later copies add an additional description, and they read: the Christ, the Holy One of God. Chapter 7 1 And after these things, Jesus traveled about in Galilee, for he did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. 2 (Now the festival of the Jews, the Shelter Festival, was near.) 3 Then his brothers said to him, “Leave this place and go to Judea, so that your disciples also will see your works that you do. 4 For no one does anything in secret and seeks himself to be in openness. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For not even his brothers were believing in him. 6 Jesus therefore says to them, “My time is not yet come, but your time is always ready. 7 The world is not able to hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that the works of it are evil. 8 You go up to the festival; I am not yet going to this festival, because my time has not yet been fulfilled.” 9 Now having said these things to them, he remained in Galilee. 10 But when his brothers had gone up to the festival, then he also went up, not publicly, but as in secret. 11 Therefore, the Jews were looking for him at the festival and saying, “Where is that one?” 12 And there was much murmuring among the crowds about him. Some were saying, “He is good.” But others were saying, “No, but he leads the crowd astray.” 13 However, no one was speaking openly about him, because of the fear of the Jews. 14 Now the festival already being half over, Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach. 15 Therefore, the Jews marveled, saying, “How does this one know letters, not being educated?” 16 Then Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not mine, but of the one having sent me. 17 If anyone desires to do his will, he will know about this teaching, whether it is from God, or I speak from myself. 18 The one speaking from himself seeks his own glory, but the one seeking the glory of the one having sent him, this one is true, and there is no unrighteousness in him. 19 Did not Moses give you the law? Yet none of you does the law. Why do you seek to kill me?” 20 The crowd answered, “You have a demon. Who seeks to kill you?” 21 Jesus answered and said to them, “I did one work, and you all marvel. 22 Because of this, Moses has given you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and on the Sabbath you circumcise a man. 23 If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses might not be broken, why are you angry with me because I made a man completely healthy on the Sabbath? 24 Do not judge according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” 25 Then some from the Jerusalemites said, “Is not this the one they seek to kill? 26 And see, he speaks openly, and they say nothing to him. The rulers do not truly know that this is the Christ, do they? 27 But we know where this one is from. But when the Christ would come, no one knows where he is from.” 28 Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know me and know where I am from. And I have not come from myself, but the one having sent me is true, whom you do not know. 29 I know him because I am from him, and he sent me.” 30 Therefore, they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 31 But many from among the crowd believed in him, and they were saying, “When the Christ may come, he will not do more signs than what this one has done, will he?” 32 The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things about him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers so that they might arrest him. 33 Therefore, Jesus said, “I am still with you for a short time, and then I go away to the one having sent me. 34 You will seek me, but you will not find {me}, and where I am, you will not be able to come.” 35 The Jews therefore said among themselves, “Where is this one about to go that we will not find him? He is not about to go to the dispersion of the Greeks and to teach the Greeks, is he? 36 What is this word that he said, ‘You will seek me, but will not find {me}, and where I am, you will not be able to come’?” 37 But on the last, great day of the festival, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 The one believing in me, just as the scripture says, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his stomach.’” 39 (Now he said this about the Spirit, whom the ones having believed in him were about to receive; for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.) 40 Then some from the crowd, having heard these words, said, “This is truly the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Indeed, the Christ does not come from Galilee, does he? 42 Has the Scripture not said that the Christ will come from the seed of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” 43 So a division happened in the crowd because of him. 44 (Now some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.) 45 Then the officers came back to the chief priests and Pharisees, and those ones said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46 The officers answered, “Never has a man spoken like this.” 47 So the Pharisees replied to them, “You have not also been deceived, have you? 48 None from the rulers have believed in him, or from the Pharisees, have they? 49 But this crowd not knowing the law, they are accursed.” 50 Nicodemus (the one having come to him earlier, being one from them) says to them, 51 “Our law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he does, does it?” 52 They answered and said to him, “You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no prophet rises up from Galilee.” 53[1] [Then each went to his {own} house. 7:53 [1] Some ancient manuscripts include John 7:53-8:11. Chapter 8 1[1] Now Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Now early in the morning he came to the temple again, and all the people came to him. 3 Now the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and they placed her in the middle. 4 The priests say to him, testing him in order to have an accusation against him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such ones, but what do you say now?” 6 But Jesus, having bent down, began to write on the ground with his finger. 7 But when they continued asking him questions, he stood up and said to them, “Let the blameless one among you throw a stone at her first.” 8 And again, having stooped down, he wrote on the ground with his finger. 9 But each of the Jews went out, beginning with the oldest, so that they all went out, and he was left alone, with the woman being in the midst. 10 And Jesus, having stood up, said to the woman, “Where are they? Did no one condemn you?” 11 And she said to him, “No one, Lord.” And he said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, from now sin no longer.”] 12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world; the one following me may certainly not walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.” 13 Then the Pharisees said to him, “You testify about yourself; your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I testify about myself, my testimony is true. For I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I came from or where I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh; I do not judge anyone. 16 But even if I judge, my judgment is true, because I am not alone, but I and the Father having sent me. 17 But even in your law it is written that the testimony of two men is true. 18 I am the one testifying about myself, and the Father having sent me testifies about me.” 19 Therefore, they said to him, “Where is your father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father; if you had known me, you would have known my Father also.” 20 He said these words in the treasury, teaching in the temple, and no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come. 21 Then again he said to them, “I go away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go away, you are not able to come.” 22 Then the Jews said, “He will not kill himself, will he? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you are not able to come’?” 23 And he said to them, “You are from the things below; I am from the things above. You are from this world; I am not from this world. 24 Therefore, I said to you that you will die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins.” 25 Therefore, they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “What have I even been saying to you from the beginning? 26 I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you. But the one having sent me is true; and the things that I heard from him, these things I say to the world.” 27 (They did not understand that he was speaking to them about the Father.) 28 Then Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then will you know that I am, and that I do nothing from myself. But just as the Father taught me, I speak these things. 29 And the one having sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to him.” 30 {As} he is speaking these things, many believed in him. 31 Then Jesus said to the Jews having believed in him, “If you remain in my word, you are truly my disciples; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will free you.” 33 They replied to him, “We are the seed of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone; how can you say, ‘You will be free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, that everyone committing sin is a slave of sin. 35 Now the slave does not remain in the house into eternity; the son remains into eternity. 36 Therefore, if the Son frees you, you will be truly free. 37 I know that you are the seed of Abraham, but you seek to kill me, because my word has no place in you. 38 What I have seen with the Father, I say; and therefore, what you heard from the father, you do.” 39 They answered and said to him, “Our father is Abraham.” Jesus says to them, “If you were children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham. 40 But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. 41 You do the works of your father.” Then they said to him, “We have not been born from sexual immorality; we have one Father: God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would have loved me, for I came from God and am here; for neither have I come from myself, but that one sent me. 43 Because of what do you not understand my speech? It is because you are not able to hear my words. 44 You are from your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. That one was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he would speak a lie, he speaks from his own {nature}, because he is a liar and the father of it. 45 But because I speak the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me concerning sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 He who is from God hears the words of God; because of this you do not hear, because you are not from God.” 48 The Jews answered and said to him, “Do we not rightly say that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. 50 Now I do not seek my glory; there is one seeking and judging. 51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will certainly not see death into eternity.” 52 The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham and the prophets died; but you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will certainly not taste death into eternity.’ 53 You are not greater than our father Abraham who died, are you? The prophets also died. Who do you make yourself out to be?” 54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing; my Father is the one glorifying me—about whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ 55 And you have not known him, but I know him. And if I would say that I do not know him, I would be like you, a liar. However, I know him and keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he might see my day, and he saw and was glad.” 57 Therefore the Jews said to him, “You do not yet have 50 years, and you have seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham came into existence, I am.” 59 Therefore, they picked up stones in order to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out from the temple. 8:1 [1] See the note about John 7:53-8:11 on 7:53 above. Chapter 9 1 And passing by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this one or his parents, so that he might be born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither did this one sin, nor his parents, but so that the works of God might be revealed in him. 4 It is necessary for us to work the works of the one having sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one is able to work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud from the saliva and smeared on him the mud on his eyes. 7 And he said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam,” (which is translated “Sent”). So he went away and washed and came back seeing. 8 Then the neighbors and the ones seeing him previously, that he was a beggar, began saying, “Is not this the one sitting and begging?” 9 Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “Not at all, but that one is like him.” He kept saying, “It is me.” 10 Therefore, they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?” 11 That one answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and smeared {it} on my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So having gone and having washed, I received my sight.” 12 And they said to him, “Where is that one?” He said, “I do not know.” 13 They bring him, the one formerly blind, to the Pharisees. 14 (Now it was a Sabbath on the day Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.) 15 Then again the Pharisees also began asking him how he received his sight. But he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” 16 Then some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God because he does not keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How is a man, a sinner, able to do such signs?” And there was a division among them. 17 Therefore, they ask the blind man again, “What do you say about him, since he opened your eyes?” And he said, “He is a prophet.” 18 Therefore, the Jews did not believe about him that he was blind and received his sight until they called the parents of him having received sight. 19 And they asked them, saying, “Is this your son, whom you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 So his parents answered and said, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 But how he now sees, we do not know, or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him; he has full maturity. He will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said these things because they were afraid of the Jews. For the Jews had already agreed that if anyone would confess him as} {the Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. 23 Because of this, his parents said, “He has full maturity; ask him.” 24 Therefore, for a second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 Then that one replied, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I know: that being blind, now I see.” 26 Then they said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I have told you already, and you did not listen! Why do you want to listen again? You do not want to become his disciples also, do you?” 28 And they reviled him and said, “You are a disciple of that one, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but we do not know where this one is from.” 30 The man answered and said to them, “Now this is a remarkable thing, that you do not know where he is from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not hear sinners, but if someone is devout and does his will, he hears this one. 32 From eternity it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of one having been born blind. 33 If this one were not from God, he would not be able to do anything.” 34 They answered and said to him, “You were completely born in sins, and you are teaching us?” And they put him out. 35 Jesus heard that they had put him out, and having found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 That one replied and said, “And who is he, sir, so that I might believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have both seen him, and that one is the one speaking with you.” 38 Now he said, “Lord, I believe” and he worshiped him. 39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those not seeing might see and those seeing might become blind.” 40 {Some} of the Pharisees being with him heard these things and asked him, “We are not also blind, are we?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin, but now you say, ‘We see.’ Your sin remains.” Chapter 10 1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, the one not entering through the gate into the sheep pen but climbing up some other way, that one is a thief and a robber. 2 But the one entering through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens for this one, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 Now they will certainly not follow a stranger, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus spoke this parable to them, but those ones did not understand what it was that he was saying to them. 7 Therefore, Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the gate of the sheep. 8 Everyone who came before me is a thief and a robber, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the gate. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved, and he will go in and go out and will find pasture. 10 The thief does not come except in order that he might steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they might have life and might have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 And the hired man, not being a shepherd, of whom the sheep are not his own, sees the wolf coming and abandons the sheep and escapes, and the wolf seizes and scatters them, 13 because he is a hired man, and it is not a concern to him about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd, and I know the ones of mine, and the ones of mine know me, 15 just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not from this sheep pen. It is necessary for me to bring them also, and they will hear my voice and there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 Because of this the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I might take it up again. 18 No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down from myself. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. I received this command from my Father.” 19 A division again occurred among the Jews because of these words. 20 Now many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to him?” 21 Others were saying, “These are not the words of a demon-possessed man. A demon is not able to open the eyes of the blind, is he?” 22 Then the Festival of Dedication in Jerusalem happened. It was winter, [1] 23[2] and Jesus was walking in the temple on the porch of Solomon. 24 Then the Jews surrounded him and began saying to him, “How long are you taking away our life? If you are the Christ, tell us openly.” 25 Jesus replied to them, “I told you, but you do not believe. The works that I do in the name of my Father, these testify concerning me. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not from my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they will certainly not perish into eternity, and no one will snatch any of them from my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them from the hand of the Father. 30 I and the Father are one.” 31 The Jews took up stones again so that they might stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of those works are you stoning me?” 33 The Jews answered him, “We are not stoning you for a good work, but for blasphemy, and because you, a man, are making yourself God.” 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods”’? 35 If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture is not able to be broken), 36 do you say to the one the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, do not believe me. 38 But if I am doing them, even if you do not believe me, believe in the works so that you might know and might understand that the Father {is} in me, and I in the Father.” 39 Therefore, they were seeking to seize him again, but he went away out of their hand. 40 And he went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John first was baptizing, and he stayed there. 41 And many came to him and were saying, “John indeed did no sign, but all that John said about this one was true.” 42 And many believed in him there. 10:22 [1] Some versions place It was winter at the beginning of verse 23. 10:23 [2] Some versions place It was winter at the beginning of verse 23 instead of at the end of verse 22. Chapter 11 1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, from the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 Now Mary was the one having anointed the Lord with myrrh and having wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3 Therefore, the sisters sent to him, saying, “Sir, behold, he whom you love is sick.” 4 But having heard {it}, Jesus said, “This sickness is not to death but for the glory of God so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.” 5 (Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.) 6 Therefore, when he heard that he was sick, he then indeed stayed two days in the place where he was. 7 Then after this, he says to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8 The disciples say to him, “Rabbi, right now the Jews are seeking to stone you, and you are going back there again?” 9 Jesus answered, “Are there not 12 hours in the day? If someone walks in the daytime, he does not stumble, because he sees by the light of this world. 10 But if someone walks at night, he stumbles because the light is not in him.” 11 He said these things, and after this, he says to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going so that I may wake him out of sleep.” 12 Therefore, the disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13 (Now Jesus had spoken about his death, but those ones thought that he is speaking about the sleep of slumber.) 14 Therefore, Jesus then said to them plainly, “Lazarus died. 15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 Therefore, Thomas, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, so that we may die with him.” 17 Therefore, having come, Jesus found him having already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about 15 stadia away. 19 And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary so that they might comfort them about their brother. 20 Then Martha, when she heard, “Jesus is coming,” went to meet him, but Mary was sitting in the house. 21 Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if you were here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now, I know that whatever you would ask from God, God will give to you.” 23 Jesus says to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha says to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; the one believing in me, even if he dies, will live; 26 and everyone living and believing in me may certainly not die into eternity. Do you believe this?” 27 She says to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, coming into the world.” 28 And having said this, she went away and called her sister Mary privately, having said, “The Teacher is here and is calling you.” 29 Now when she heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 (Now Jesus had not yet come into the village but was still in the place where Martha had met him.) 31 Then the Jews being with her in the house and comforting her, having seen that Mary got up quickly and went out, followed her, having thought that she was going to the tomb so that she might weep there. 32 Then as soon as Mary came {to the place} where Jesus was, having seen him, she fell down at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you were here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When therefore Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews having come with her weeping, he was deeply disturbed in the spirit and he troubled himself. 34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They say to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, “Behold how much he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Was this one, having opened the eyes of the blind man, not able to act so that this one also would not die?” 38 Therefore, Jesus again, being deeply disturbed in himself, went to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus says, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the one that had died, says to him, “Lord, he will already stink, for it is four days.” 40 Jesus says to her, “Did I not say to you that, if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” 41 Therefore, they took away the stone. Then Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you heard me. 42 Now I have known that you always hear, but because of the crowd that is standing around I spoke, so that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 And having said this, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his feet and hands having been bound with cloths, and his face having been bound with a cloth. Jesus says to them, “Untie him, and let him go.” 45 Therefore, many of the Jews, having come to Mary and having seen what he did, believed in him. 46 But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Therefore, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Sanhedrin together and said, “What will we do, for this man does many signs? 48 If we leave him alone like this, all will believe in him, and the Romans will come and will take away both our place and nation.” 49 But one certain man among them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You do not know anything. 50 You do not consider that it is better for you that one man would die for the people, and the whole nation would not perish.” 51 (Now this he said not from himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, 52 and not only for the nation, but so that also the children of God having been scattered would be gathered together into one.) 53 Therefore, from that day they plotted so that they might put him to death. 54 Therefore, Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but he departed from there into the country near the wilderness, into a town called Ephraim. There he stayed with the disciples. 55 Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up to Jerusalem from the country before the Passover so that they might purify themselves. 56 So they were looking for Jesus and speaking one with another as they stood in the temple, “What does it seem to you? That he may certainly not come to the festival?” 57 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given an order so that if anyone might know where he was, he should report it so that they might seize him. Chapter 12 1 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they made him a dinner there, and Martha was serving, but Lazarus was one of the ones reclining to eat with him. 3 Then Mary, having taken a litra of perfumed oil of very precious pure nard, anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. Now the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfumed oil. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, the one going to betray him, says, 5 “For what reason was this perfumed oil not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor?” 6 (Now he said this, not because it was a concern to him about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having the moneybag, he was stealing the things being put in it.) 7 Therefore Jesus said, “Leave her alone so that she might have kept it for the day of my burial. 8 For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” 9 Then a large crowd of the Jews learned that he is there, and they came, not only for Jesus, but also so that they might see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 But the chief priests plotted so that they might also put Lazarus to death; 11 for because of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus. 12 On the next day the great crowd, the one having come to the festival, having heard that Jesus is coming to Jerusalem, 13 took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet him and cried out, “Hosanna! Blessed {is} the one coming in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.” 14 Now Jesus, having found a young donkey, sat on it, just as it is written, 15 “Do not fear, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, sitting on a colt of a donkey.” 16 His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him. 17 Then testified the crowd being with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him up from the dead. 18 Because of this also the crowd went out to meet him: because they heard that he had done this sign. 19 Therefore, the Pharisees said among themselves, “You see that you are accomplishing nothing! Behold, the world has gone after him!” 20 Now certain Greeks were among the ones going up so that they might worship at the festival. 21 Then these men went to Philip, the one from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.” 22 Philip goes and speaks to Andrew; Andrew and Philip go and speak to Jesus. 23 Now Jesus answers them, saying, “The hour has come so that the Son of Man might be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat, having fallen into the earth, dies, it remains by itself; but if it would die, it bears much fruit. 25 The one loving his life loses it, but the one hating his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone would serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there will my servant also be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. 27 Now my soul has been troubled, and what might I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But because of this I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have both glorified {it}, and I will glorify {it} again.” 29 Then the crowd that had stood by, also having heard it, were saying that thunder had occurred. Others were saying, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come for me, but for you. 31 Now is the judgment of this world: Now will the ruler of this world be thrown out. 32 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw everyone to myself.” 33 Now he was saying this to indicate what kind of death he was about to die. 34 Then the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the law that the Christ remains into eternity. And how do you say that it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” 35 Jesus then said to them, “The light will be with you yet a short time. Walk while you have the light, so that darkness might not overtake you. And the one walking in the darkness does not know where he goes. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light so that you may be sons of light.” Jesus said these things, and having departed, was hidden from them. 37 Although he had done so many signs before them, they were not believing in him 38 so that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, in which he said: “Lord, who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” 39 Because of this they were not able to believe, for Isaiah had again said, 40 “He has blinded their eyes, and he has hardened their heart; so that they might not see with their eyes and might understand with their heart, and might turn, and I will heal them.” 41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke about him. 42 But nevertheless, even many of the rulers believed in him; but because of the Pharisees, they were not confessing {it} so that they would not be put out of the synagogue. 43 For they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God. 44 Now Jesus cried out and said, “The one believing in me believes not only in me but also in the one having sent me, 45 and the one seeing me sees the one having sent me. 46 I have come {as} a light to the world, so that everyone believing in me might not remain in the darkness. 47 And if anyone hears my words but does not keep {them}, I do not judge him; for I have not come so that I might judge the world, but so that I might save the world. 48 The one rejecting me and not receiving my words has one judging him. The word which I have spoken, this will judge him on the last day. 49 For I did not speak from myself, but the Father himself, having sent me, has given me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. 50 And I know that his command is eternal life. Therefore, what I say, just as the Father has spoken to me, thus I speak.” Chapter 13 1 Now before the Festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come so that he might depart from this world to the Father. Having loved his own in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 And supper happening, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas, {son} of Simon Iscariot, so that he might betray him, 3 knowing that the Father had given all things to him, into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4 he gets up from supper and takes off his outer clothing. And having taken a towel, he wrapped {it} around himself. 5 Then he pours water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples and to dry them with the towel that was tied around himself. 6 Then he comes to Simon Peter. He says to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not understand now, but you will understand after these things.” 8 Peter says to him, “You may certainly not wash my feet into eternity.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter says to him, “Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” 10 Jesus says to him, “The one that has been washed has no need, except to wash his feet, but he is completely clean, and you are clean, but not all.” 11 (For he knew the one betraying him; because of this he said, “Not all are clean.”) 12 So when he had washed their feet and taken his garments and sat down again, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done for you? 13 You call me ‘The Teacher’ and ‘The Lord,’ and you are speaking correctly, because I am. 14 If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash the feet of one another. 15 For I have given you an example so that you also would do just as I did to you. 16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor {is} a messenger greater than the one having sent him. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. 18 I am not speaking about all of you; I know whom I have chosen—but so that the scripture might be fulfilled: ‘The one eating bread with me lifted up his heel against me.’ 19 From this moment I tell you, before it happens, so that when it happens, you may believe that I am. 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, the one receiving whomever I might send receives me, and the one receiving me receives the one having sent me.” 21 Having said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit, and he testified and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you that one of you will betray me.” 22 The disciples began looking at each other, wondering about whom he was speaking. 23 Now one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining to eat against the chest of Jesus. 24 Therefore, Simon Peter motioned to this one to ask, “Who is it about whom he is speaking?” 25 So having thus leaned back against the chest of Jesus, that one says to him, “Lord, who is it?” 26 Jesus answered, “It is that one to whom I, having dipped the piece of bread, will hand it over and give it to him.” Then having dipped the bread, he gave {it} to Judas, {son} of Simon Iscariot. 27 And after the bread, Satan then entered into him. Therefore, Jesus says to him, “What you are doing, do quickly.” 28 (Now none of the ones reclining to eat knew why he said this to him. 29 For some were thinking, since Judas had the moneybag, that Jesus says to him, “Buy the things we need to have for the festival,” or so that he might give something to the poor.) 30 Therefore, having received the bread, he went out immediately. Now it was night. 31 Therefore, when he had gone out, Jesus says, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32 And God will glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him immediately. 33 Little children, I am with you for still a short time. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I go, you are not able to come.’ Now I also say this to you. 34 I give to you a new commandment, so that you would love one another; just as I have loved you, so also you would love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another.” 36 Simon Peter says to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I go, you are not able to follow me now, but you will follow later.” 37 Peter says to him, “Lord, why am I not able to follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster may certainly not crow before which you will deny me three times.” Chapter 14 1 “Do not let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In the house of my Father are many dwelling places. But if not, I would have told you, for I am going to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. 4 And you know the way where I am going.” 5 Thomas says to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How are we able to know the way?” 6 Jesus says to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you have known me, you will know my Father also. And from now on you know him and have seen him.” 8 Philip says to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” 9 Jesus says to him, “So long a time I am with you, and you do not know me, Philip? The one that has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak from myself, but the Father remaining in me is doing his work. 11 Believe me that I {am} in the Father, and the Father {is} in me. But if not, believe because of the works themselves. 12 Truly, truly, I say to you, the one believing in me, the works that I do, he also will do, and he will do greater than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And whatever you ask in my name, this I will do so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. 15 If you love me, you will keep my commandments, 16 and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper so that he may be with you into eternity— 17 the Spirit of Truth whom the world is not able to receive, because it does not see him nor know him. You know him, for he remains with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you. 19 Yet a short time and the world no longer sees me, but you see me. Because I live, you will also live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you {are} in me, and I {am} in you. 21 The one having my commandments and keeping them, this is the one loving me, and the one loving me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and I will show myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) says to him, “Lord, what has happened that you are about to show yourself to us and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. And my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and we will make a dwelling place with him. 24 The one not loving me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine, but of the Father having sent me. 25 I have said these things to you, remaining with you. 26 Now the Helper—the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything, and he will remind you of everything that I said to you. 27 I leave you peace; I give you my peace. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid. 28 You heard that I said to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I am. 29 And now I have told you before it happens so that, when it may happen, you will believe. 30 I will no longer speak many things with you, for the ruler of the world is coming. And he has nothing in me, 31 but so that the world might know that I love the Father, and just as the Father commanded me, thus I do. Get up. Let us go from here.” Chapter 15 1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. 2 Every branch in me not bearing fruit, he takes it away; and every one that bears fruit, he prunes it so that it might bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean through the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is not able to bear fruit from itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine; you {are} the branches. The one remaining in me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for without me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown outside like a branch and is dried up, and they gather them and throw {them} into the fire, and they are burned up. 7 If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father was glorified in this, that you would bear much fruit and you would be my disciples. 9 Just as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept the commandments of the Father and remain in his love. 11 I have spoken these things to you so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete. 12 This is my commandment, that you would love one another just as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this—that he would lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, for all the things I heard from my Father, I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you would go and would bear fruit, and your fruit would remain, so that whatever you would ask of the Father in my name, he would give it to you. 17 These things I command you so that you would love one another. 18 If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before you. 19 If you were from the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not from the world, but I chose you from the world, on account of this the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But they will do all these things to you because of my name, because they do not know the one having sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 The one hating me also hates my Father. 24 If I had not done the works that no one else did among them, they would have no sin, but now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is so that the word that is written in their law might be fulfilled, ‘They hated me without a cause.’ 26 When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of Truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. 27 But you also testify because you are with me from the beginning.” Chapter 16 1 “I have spoken these things to you so that you might not fall away. 2 They will cause you to be put out of the synagogues. But an hour is coming for everyone having killed you to think he offers a service to God. 3 And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4 But I have spoken these things to you so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you about them. But I did not tell you these things in the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I go to the one having sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sadness has filled your heart. 7 But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I would go away. For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And having come, that one will reprove the world about sin and about righteousness and about judgment— 9 about sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 and about righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will no longer see me; 11 and about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. 12 I have many more things to say to you, but you are not able to bear {them} now. 13 But when that one, the Spirit of Truth, comes, he will guide you into the whole truth, for he will not speak from himself, but he will say whatever he will hear, and he will announce to you the things coming. 14 That one will glorify me, because he will take from the things of mine, and he will announce {it} to you. 15 Everything, as much as the Father has, is mine. Therefore, I said that he will take from the things of mine and he will announce {it} to you. 16 And in a little {while} you no longer see me, and again a little {while} and you will see me.” 17 Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little {while} and you do not see me, and again a little {while} and you will see me,’ and, ‘Because I go to the Father’?” 18 Therefore they were saying, “What is this ‘A little {while}’? We do not know what he is saying.” 19 Jesus knew that they wanted to question him, and he said to them, “Are you seeking among yourselves concerning this, that I said, ‘A little {while} and you do not see me, and again a little {while} and you will see me’? 20 Truly, truly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will be glad. You will be grieved, but your sorrow will become joy. 21 When a woman gives birth, she has pain because her hour has come, but when she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers her suffering, because of the joy that a man has been born into the world. 22 And so you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your heart will be glad, and no one takes away your joy from you. 23 And in that day you will ask me nothing. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give {it} to you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive so that your joy may be fulfilled. 25 I have said these things to you in figures of speech; an hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech, but instead I will tell you plainly about the Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on behalf of you, 27 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father, and I have come into the world. Again, I am leaving the world, and I am going to the Father.” 29 His disciples say, “See, now you are speaking plainly, and you are not speaking in figures of speech. 30 Now we know that you know all things, and you do not have need that anyone would question you. In this we believe that you have come from God.” 31 Jesus answered them, “Just now do you believe? 32 Behold, an hour is coming—and has come—that you might be scattered, each one to his own, and you might leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. 33 I have spoken these things to you so that you might have peace in me. In the world you have troubles, but have courage. I have conquered the world.” Chapter 17 1 Jesus said these things and, having lifted up his eyes to the heaven, he said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so that the Son might glorify you, 2 since you gave him authority {over} all flesh so that everyone whom you have given him, he would give to them eternal life. 3 Now this is eternal life, that they would know you, the only true God, and the one you sent, Jesus Christ. 4 I glorified you on the earth, having completed the work that you have given me so that I might do it. 5 And now, Father, glorify me along with yourself with the glory that I had with you before the world was made. 6 I revealed your name to the men whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you, 8 for I have given them the words that you gave me, and they received {them} and truly knew that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I ask on behalf of them. I do not ask on behalf of the world, but on behalf of whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 And all my things are yours, and your things {are} mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me so that they would be one, just as we are. 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name that you have given me. And I protected them, and not one of them perished, except for the son of destruction, so that the scripture would be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you, and I am saying these things in the world so that they would have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not from the world, just as I am not from the world. 15 I do not ask that you would take them away from the world, but that you would keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not from the world, just as I am not from the world. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 Just as you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I have sanctified myself, so that they themselves may also be sanctified in truth. 20 But I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of the ones believing in me through their word, 21 that they would all be one, just as you, Father, {are} in me, and I in you, that they also would be in us so that the world would believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you gave to me, I also have given to them so that they would be one, just as we are one: 23 I in them, and you in me so that they may be made complete as one so that the world may know that you sent me and you loved them just as you loved me. 24 Father, the one you have given me, I desire that they also may be with me where I am, in order to see my glory, which you gave me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 Righteous Father, even the world did not know you, but I know you; and these know that you sent me. 26 And I made your name known to them, and I will make {it} known so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” Chapter 18 1 Having spoken these things, Jesus went out with his disciples across the brook of the Kidron, where there was a garden into which he and his disciples entered. 2 Now Judas, the one betraying him, also knew the place, for Jesus often gathered there with his disciples. 3 So Judas, leading the cohort of soldiers and officers from the chief priests and from the Pharisees, comes there with lanterns and torches and weapons. 4 Then Jesus, knowing all the things happening to him, having gone out, asked them, “Whom do you seek?” 5 They answered him, “Jesus the Nazarene.” He says to them, “I am.” (Now Judas, the one betraying him, was also standing with them.) 6 So when he said to them, “I am,” they went backward and fell to the ground. 7 Then again he asked them, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.” 8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am. So if you are seeking me, allow these to go away.” 9 ({This was} so that would be fulfilled the word that he said: “Of those you have given me, I lost none from among them.”) 10 Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. Now the name of the servant was Malchus. 11 Then Jesus said to Peter, “Put the sword into the sheath. The cup which the Father has given me, should I certainly not drink it?” 12 Then the cohort of soldiers and the commander and the officers of the Jews seized Jesus and tied him up. 13 And they led him first to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. 14 (Now Caiaphas was the one having advised the Jews that it would be better for one man to die on behalf of the people.) 15 Now Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest. 16 But Peter was standing at the door outside, so the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the female doorkeeper, and he brought Peter in. 17 Then the female servant, the doorkeeper, says to Peter, “Are you not also from the disciples of this man?” He says, “I am not.” 18 (Now the servants and the officers were standing there, having made a charcoal fire, for it was cold, and they were warming themselves. But Peter was also with them, standing there and warming himself.) 19 Then the high priest asked Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. 20 Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I was always teaching in a synagogue and in the temple where all the Jews come together, and I said nothing in secret. 21 Why do you ask me? Ask the ones having heard what I said to them. Behold, these {people} know what I said.” 22 Now he having said these things, one of the officers standing there gave Jesus a slap, saying, “Do you answer the high priest in this manner?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If I spoke wrongly, testify about the wrong, but if rightly, why do you strike me?” 24 Then Annas sent him, tied up, to Caiaphas the high priest. 25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. Then they said to him, “Are you not also from among his disciples?” He denied {it} and said, “I am not.” 26 One from among the servants of the high priest, who was a relative of the one {whose} ear Peter had cut off, says, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” 27 Peter then denied {it} again, and immediately a rooster crowed. 28 Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the governor’s palace. (Now it was early in the morning, and they did not enter into the governor’s palace so that they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover.) 29 Therefore, Pilate went out to them and says, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” 30 They answered and said to him, “If this one were not an evildoer, we would not have handed him over to you.” 31 Therefore, Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.” 32 (This was so that the word of Jesus would be fulfilled which he spoke to indicate by what kind of death he was about to die.) 33 Then Pilate entered into the governor’s palace again and summoned Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you speak this from yourself, or did others speak to you about me?” 35 Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What did you do?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my servants would fight so that I would not be handed over to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here.” 37 Pilate then said to him, “So then, are you a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, so that I would bear witness to the truth. Everyone being from the truth hears my voice.” 38 Pilate says to him, “What is truth?” And having said this, he went out again to the Jews and says to them, “I find no guilt in him. 39 But it is your custom that I would release one {person} to you at the Passover. Therefore, do you desire that I would release the King of the Jews to you?” 40 Then they cried out again, saying, “Not this one, but Barabbas.” (Now Barabbas was a robber.) Chapter 19 1 Therefore, Pilate then took Jesus and whipped {him}. 2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown from thorns. They put {it} on his head and put a purple garment on him. 3 And they were coming to him and were saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and they were giving him slaps. 4 Pilate went out again and says to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you so that you might know that I find no guilt in him.” 5 Then Jesus went out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment. And he says to them, “Behold the man!” 6 Therefore, when the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate says to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to the law he ought to die, because he made himself to be the Son of God.” 8 Therefore, when Pilate heard this word, he became even more afraid, 9 and he entered into the governor’s palace again and says to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 Therefore, Pilate says to him, “Are you not speaking to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you, and I have authority to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered him, “You do not have any authority over me, except for what has been given to you from above. Therefore, the one having handed me over to you has a greater sin.” 12 At this, Pilate was seeking to release him, but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you release this one, you are not a friend of Caesar. Everyone making himself a king speaks against Caesar.” 13 Therefore, Pilate, having heard these words, brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place called “The Pavement,” but in Hebrew, “Gabbatha.” 14 (Now it was a day of preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour.) And he says to the Jews, “Behold your king!” 15 But they cried out, “Take {him} away! Take {him} away! Crucify him!” Pilate says to them, “Should I crucify your king?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king except Caesar.” 16 Therefore, he then handed him over to them so that he might be crucified, and they took Jesus {and} led {him} away. 17 And he went out, carrying the cross by himself, to the {place} called “The Place of a Skull,” which in Hebrew is called “Golgotha.” 18 They crucified him there, and with him two others, on this side and on that side, and Jesus in the middle. 19 Now Pilate also wrote a title and put it on the cross. Now on it was written: JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20 Therefore, many of the Jews read this title, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. And it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 Therefore, the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘That one said, “I am King of the Jews.”’” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” 23 Then, when the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four shares—a share for each soldier—and the tunic. Now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. 24 Therefore, they said to each other, “We should not tear it, but instead we should cast lots for it, whose it will be.” This happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled which says, “They divided my garments among themselves and cast lots for my clothing.” Therefore, the soldiers did this. 25 Now standing beside the cross of Jesus were his mother and the sister of his mother, Mary the {wife} of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 Then Jesus, having seen his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, says to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he says to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own {home}. 28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been completed, so that the scripture might be completed, says, “I thirst.” 29 A container full of sour wine was placed there, so having put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop, they lifted it up to his mouth. 30 Therefore, when Jesus took the sour wine, he said, “It is finished.” And having bowed his head, he gave up his spirit. 31 Then the Jews, because it was a day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross during the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was an especially important day), asked Pilate that their legs would be broken and they would be taken away. 32 Therefore, the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and of the other one having been crucified with him. 33 But having come to Jesus, as they saw that he had already died, they did not break his legs. 34 However, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 35 And the one that had seen this has testified, and his testimony is true. And that one knows that he speaks the truth so that you would also believe. 36 For these things happened in order that the scripture would be fulfilled, “Not one of his bones will be broken.” 37 And again, another scripture says, “They will look at him whom they pierced.” 38 Now after these things, Joseph from Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus (but secretly for fear of the Jews), asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. 39 Now Nicodemus also came—the one having come to him at first at night—bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about 100 litras in weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in linen cloths with the spices, just as was the custom of the Jews to prepare for burial. 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden, a new tomb in which no one had yet been buried. 42 Therefore, because of the day of preparation of the Jews and because the tomb was close by, they laid Jesus there. Chapter 20 1 Now early on the first of the week, being still dark, Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb and sees the stone having been rolled away from the tomb. 2 Therefore, she runs and comes to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and she says to them, “They took away the Lord from the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 Then Peter and the other disciple went out, and they went to the tomb. 4 Now the two were running together, and the other disciple quickly ran ahead of Peter and arrived at the tomb first. 5 And having stooped down, he sees the linen cloths lying there, but he did not enter. 6 Simon Peter then also comes following him and entered into the tomb. And he sees the linen cloths lying there 7 and the cloth that had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but having been folded up in one place by itself. 8 So then the other disciple, the one having first arrived at the tomb, also went in, and he saw and believed. 9 For they did not yet understand the scripture that it was necessary for him to rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went away again to their {own homes}. 11 But Mary was standing outside at the tomb, weeping. Then as she was weeping, she stooped down and looked into the tomb. 12 And she sees two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet of where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 And those ones say to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She says to them, “Because they took away my Lord, and I do not know where they put him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus says to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” She, thinking that he is the gardener, says to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you put him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus says to her, “Mary.” Having turned, she says to him in Hebrew, “Rabboni” (which means “Teacher”). 17 Jesus says to her, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet gone up to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I go up to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene comes, telling the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that he said these things to her. 19 Then, being evening on that day, the first of the week, and the doors of where the disciples were having been closed for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and says to them, “Peace to you.” 20 And having said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced, having seen the Lord. 21 Then he said to them again, “Peace to you. Just as the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 And having said this, he breathed on {them} and says to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 Whoever’s sins you forgive, they have been forgiven for them; whoever’s {sins} you retain, they have been retained.” 24 But Thomas, one of the Twelve, the one called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 Then the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails and put my finger into the mark of the nails and put my hand into his side, I will certainly not believe.” 26 And after eight days his disciples were inside again, and Thomas {was} with them. Jesus comes, the doors having been closed, and stood in their midst, and said, “Peace to you.” 27 Then he says to Thomas, “Place your finger here and see my hands. And reach out your hand and put it into my side. And do not be unbelieving, but believing.” 28 Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God.” 29 Jesus says to him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed {are} the ones not having seen, and having believed.” 30 Then Jesus also did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which have not been written in this book, 31 but these things have been written so that you would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and so that believing, you would have life in his name. Chapter 21 1 After these things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. Now in this manner he showed himself: 2 they were together—Simon Peter and Thomas called Didymus and Nathaniel from Cana of Galilee and the {sons} of Zebedee and two others from his disciples. 3 Simon Peter says to them, “I am going fishing.” They say to him, “We also are coming with you.” They went out and got into a boat, but they caught nothing during that night. 4 Now, when it was already early morning, Jesus stood on the beach, but the disciples did not know that it is Jesus. 5 Then Jesus says to them, “Children, you do not have any fish to eat, do you?” They answered him, “No.” 6 But he said to them, “Throw the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” Therefore, they threw {the net} and did not have the strength to draw it in, because of the large number of fish. 7 Then that disciple whom Jesus loved says to Peter, “It is the Lord.” Therefore, Simon Peter, having heard that it was the Lord, put on his outer garment (for he was undressed), and threw himself into the sea. 8 But the other disciples came in the boat (for they were not far from the land, but about 200 cubits away), dragging the net of the fish. 9 Then when they got out upon the land, they see a charcoal fire kindled and a fish laid on it and a bread loaf. 10 Jesus says to them, “Bring some of the fish that you just caught.” 11 Therefore, Simon Peter went up and pulled the net to the shore, full of large fish; 153. But being so many, the net was not torn. 12 Jesus says to them, “Come, eat breakfast.” But none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew that it is the Lord. 13 Jesus comes and takes the bread and gives {it} to them, and the fish in the same way. 14 This {was} already the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples, having been raised from the dead. 15 Then when they ate breakfast, Jesus says to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He says to him, “Yes Lord, you know that I love you.” He says to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He says to him again, a second {time}, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He says to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He says to him, “Take care of my sheep.” 17 He says to him the third {time}, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third {time}, “Do you love me?” And he says to him, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus says to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you become old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry {you} where you do not want.” 19 Now he said this, indicating with what manner of death he will glorify God. And having said this, he says to him, “Follow me.” 20 Having turned around, Peter sees the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, who indeed leaned back against his chest at the dinner and said, “Lord, who is the one betraying you?” 21 Therefore, having seen him, Peter says to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this one?” 22 Jesus says to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what {is that} to you? You follow me.” 23 So this word spread among the brothers, that that disciple does not die. But Jesus did not say to him that he does not die, but, “If I want him to remain until I come, what {is that} to you?” 24 This is the disciple testifying about these things and the one having written these things, and we know that his testimony is true. 25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did, which, if each one were written down, I imagine not even the world itself to have enough room for the books being written. Acts Chapter 1 1 I made the first account, O Theophilus, about all that Jesus began both to do and to teach, 2 until that day when he was taken up, having given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen, 3 to whom also, after he had suffered, he presented himself living with many proofs, appearing to them for 40 days and speaking things concerning the kingdom of God. 4 And meeting together with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to await the promise of the Father, “which you heard from me, 5 that John indeed baptized with water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit after these not many days.” 6 They therefore having assembled, they were asking him, saying, “Lord, if you are restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?” 7 But he said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And having said these things, as they were looking, he was raised up, and a cloud hid him from their eyes. 10 And while they were looking intently into heaven as he was going up, and behold, two men stood by them in white clothes. 11 And they said, “Men, Galileans, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, thus will come, the way you saw him going into heaven.” 12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill that is called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, having a journey of a Sabbath. 13 And when they arrived, they went up into the upper chamber where they were staying, both Peter and John, and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas of James. 14 They all were continuing unanimously in prayer, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brothers. 15 And in those days Peter, having stood up in the midst of the brothers, said (and the multitude of names to the same was about 120), 16 “Men, brothers, it was necessary for the scripture to be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to the ones arresting Jesus. 17 For he was numbered with us and received a share of this ministry.” 18 (Now indeed this one bought a field from the wage of unrighteousness, and having fallen headfirst, he burst open in the middle, and all his entrails were poured out. 19 And it became known to all those living in Jerusalem. Therefore that field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his habitation become desolate, and let not one dwelling be in it,’ and ‘Let another take his overseership.’ 21 Therefore it is necessary, of the men who accompanied us during all the time in which the Lord Jesus came in and went out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day on which he was taken up from us—one of these {is} to become a witness with us of his resurrection.” 23 And they stood up two, Joseph, called Barsabbas, who was named Justus, and Matthias. 24 And praying, they said, “You, Lord, heart-knower of all, show which one from these two you have chosen 25 to take this place of ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias, and he was chosen together with the 11 apostles. Chapter 2 1 And when the day of Pentecost was completely filled, they were all together to the same. 2 And suddenly a sound came from heaven, as of a strong wind being borne along, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And tongues as if of fire appeared to them, distributing themselves, and they sat upon each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit was giving them to speak out. 5 Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, godly men, from every nation of those under heaven. 6 And when this sound happened, the multitude came together and was confused, because each one was hearing them speaking in his own language. 7 And they were all amazed and were marveling, saying, “Behold, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how are we hearing, each in our own language in which we were born? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and those inhabiting Mesopotamia, Judea and also Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and also Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya that {are} near Cyrene, and Romans visiting, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians, we are hearing them speaking in our languages the great things of God.” 12 So they were all amazed and were perplexed, saying one to another, “What does this want to be?” 13 But others, mocking, were saying, “They are filled with sweet wine.” 14 But Peter, having stood with the eleven, raised up his voice and spoke out to them, “Men, Jews, and all who are inhabiting Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and take my words into your ears. 15 For these are not drunk as you are assuming, for it is the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: 17 ‘“And it will be in the last days,” God says, “I will pour out from my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy and your young men will see visions and your old men will dream dreams. 18 And even on my male servants and on my female servants in those days I will pour out from my Spirit, and they will prophesy. 19 And I will give wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood before the great and remarkable day of the Lord comes. 21 And it will be, everyone who may call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”’ 22 Men, Israelites, hear these words: Jesus the Nazarene {was} a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in the midst of you, as you yourselves know. 23 This one, given up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you killed by the hand of the lawless, having fastened, 24 whom God raised up, having loosed the agonies of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 25 For David says about him, ‘I saw the Lord before me through all, for he is at my right so that I should not be moved. 26 Because of this, my heart was glad and my tongue exulted. And indeed, my flesh will also dwell in hope. 27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will you allow your Holy One to see decay. 28 You made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with gladness with your face.’ 29 Men, brothers, it is possible to speak with confidence to you about the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet and having known that God had sworn to him with an oath to set from the fruit of his loins upon his throne, 31 having foreseen this, he spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was he abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see decay. 32 This Jesus, God has raised up, of which we all are witnesses. 33 Therefore, having been exalted to the right of God and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he has poured out this which you both see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend to the heavens, but he himself says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right 35 until I make your enemies a stool for your feet.”’ 36 Therefore, let all the house of Israel know certainly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” 37 And hearing this they were pierced in the heart, and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men, brothers, what should we do?” 38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children and to all who are at a distance, as many as the Lord our God may call.” 40 And with many other words he testified and urged them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” 41 Therefore, having received his word, they were baptized, and about 3,000 souls were added in that day. 42 And they were continuing in the teaching of the apostles and in fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayers. 43 And fear was coming on every soul, and many wonders and signs were happening through the apostles. 44 And all those believing were to the same and had all things in common, 45 and they were selling properties and possessions and they were distributing them to all, as anyone might have need 46 and, continuing unanimously every day in the temple and breaking bread in each house, they were sharing food with exultation and sincerity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with the whole people, and each day the Lord was adding the ones being saved to the same. Chapter 3 1 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2 And a certain man, being lame from the womb of his mother, was being carried, whom each day they placed at the gate of the temple that is called Beautiful to ask for alms from those going into the temple, 3 who, seeing Peter and John being about to enter into the temple, asked to receive alms. 4 But Peter, looking intently at him with John, said, “Look at us.” 5 So he paid attention to them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not possess, but what I have, this I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk.” 7 And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8 And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and he entered with them into the temple, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God. 10 And they recognized him, that he was the one sitting for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. 11 And as he was holding Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, marveling. 12 But Peter, seeing this, replied to the people, “Men, Israelites, why do you marvel at this? Or why do you look intently at us, as if we have made him to walk by our own power or godliness? 13 The God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his Servant Jesus, whom you indeed delivered up and rejected before the face of Pilate, when that one had decided to release him. 14 But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a man, a murderer, to be granted to you, 15 and you killed the Originator of Life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. 16 And by faith in his name, this one whom you see and know, his name has made strong. And the faith that {is} through him has given to him this complete health in the presence of all of you. 17 And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as also your rulers. 18 But what God foretold through the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he has fulfilled thus. 19 Repent, therefore, and turn back for your sins to be wiped away, 20 so that times of refreshment may come from the face of the Lord and he may send the one appointed for you, Christ Jesus, 21 whom it is necessary for heaven to receive until the times of the restoration of all things, about which God spoke from the age through the mouth of his holy prophets. 22 Moses indeed said, ‘The Lord our God [1] will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You will listen to him according to everything—whatever he may speak to you. 23 But it will be that every soul that does not listen to that prophet will be destroyed from the people.’ 24 And indeed, all the prophets from Samuel and those after him, as many as have spoken, have also announced these days. 25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed will all the families of the earth be blessed.’ 26 God, having raised up his Servant, sent him to you first, blessing you by turning each of you from your wickedness.” 3:22 [1] Some ancient manuscripts read The Lord our God, while other ancient manuscripts read The Lord your God and still others read The Lord God. Chapter 4 1 And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came up to them, 2 greatly troubled because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection that {is} from the dead. 3 And they laid hands on them and put them in custody until the next day, since it was already evening. 4 But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men became about 5,000. 5 And it happened that on the next day their rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem, 6 and Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were from the high priestly family. 7 And having set them in {their} midst, they asked them, “By what power or in what name have you done this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being questioned today concerning a good deed to a sick man, by what means he was made well, 10 let it be known to you all and to all the people of Israel that in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by this one this {man} stands before you healthy. 11 He is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the head of the corner. 12 And there is no salvation in anyone else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” 13 And seeing the boldness of Peter and John, and realizing that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they marveled, and they recognized them, that they had been with Jesus. 14 But seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in opposition. 15 But having commanded them to go outside the Sanhedrin, they conferred among themselves, 16 saying, “What should we do to these men? For it is evident to everyone living in Jerusalem that a notable sign has happened through them, and we are not able to deny it. 17 But so that it may not be spread unto more among the people, let us warn them no longer to speak in this name to any of men.” 18 And summoning them, they commanded them neither to speak nor to teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But answering, Peter and John said to them, “Whether it is right before God to listen to you rather than to God, you judge. 20 For we are not able not to speak what we have seen and heard.” 21 So, having warned them further, they released them, finding nothing for which they might punish them, on account of the people, for they were all glorifying God for what had happened. 22 For the man to whom this sign of healing had happened was more than 40 years old. 23 But having been released, they came to {their} own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 And having heard, they raised their voice unanimously to God and said, “Lord, you {are} the one having made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that {is} in them, 25 the one having said by the Holy Spirit from the mouth of our father David, your servant, ‘Why did the nations rage, and the peoples imagine useless things? 26 The kings of the earth took their stand and the rulers were gathered to the same against the Lord and against his Christ.’ 27 For in truth both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the nations and the people of Israel, were gathered together in this city against your holy Servant Jesus, whom you anointed, 28 to do all that your hand and your counsel had predetermined to happen. 29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness 30 as you stretch out your hand to heal and for signs and wonders to happen through the name of your holy Servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they were speaking the word of God with boldness. 32 Now the multitude of those who believed was one in heart and soul. And not one said that any of the things that were to him was his own, but everything was common to them. 33 And with great power the apostles were proclaiming the testimony of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34 For there was not anyone needy among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses, selling them, were bringing the price of the things being sold 35 and they were laying it at the feet of the apostles, and it was being distributed to each one, according as anyone had need. 36 Then Joseph, called Barnabas by the apostles (which, being translated, is Son of Encouragement), a Levite from Cyprus by birth, 37 selling a field that was to him, brought the money and laid it at the feet of the apostles. Chapter 5 1 Now a certain man, Ananias by name, with Sapphira his wife, sold a piece of land, 2 and he kept back from the price, {his} wife also knowing, and bringing a certain portion, he laid it at the feet of the apostles. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart for you to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back from the price of the land? 4 While it remained, did it not remain yours, and being sold, was it {not} in your authority? How {is it} that you placed this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God.” 5 And hearing these words, Ananias, falling down, expired, and great fear came upon all who heard. 6 So rising up, the young men wrapped him up and, carrying him out, they buried him. 7 And an interval of about three hours happened, and his wife, not knowing what had happened, came in. 8 And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” 9 So Peter said to her, “How {is it} that it was agreed together by you to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who buried your husband {are} at the door, and they will carry you out.” 10 And immediately she fell down at his feet and expired. And having come in, the young men found her dead, and carrying her out, they buried her beside her husband. 11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all those hearing these things. 12 And many signs and wonders were happening through the hands of the apostles among the people, and they were all unanimously at the Porch of Solomon. 13 But none of the others dared to join them; however, the people extolled them. 14 And more believers were being added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and of women, 15 so that they even carried the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, so that as Peter came by, at least {his} shadow might overshadow any one of them. 16 And a multitude also came together from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted by unclean spirits, who were all healed. 17 But rising up, the high priest and all those with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees) were filled with jealousy, 18 and they laid hands on the apostles and put them in the public prison. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison, bringing them out, and said, 20 “Go and, standing in the temple, speak to the people all the words of this life.” 21 And having heard this, they entered into the temple about daybreak and were teaching. And having arrived, the high priest and those with him called together the Sanhedrin, even all the elders of the sons of Israel, and sent to the prison to bring the apostles. 22 But having arrived, the officers did not find them in the prison, so having returned, they reported, 23 saying, “We found the prison shut in all security and the guards standing at the doors, but having opened, we found no one inside.” 24 And when both the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were perplexed concerning them, as to what this might become. 25 Then someone, having arrived, reported to them, “Behold, the men whom you put in the prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” 26 Then the captain, going with the officers, brought them back, not with violence, for they feared the people, lest they stone them. 27 And having brought them, they set them in the Sanhedrin, and the high priest interrogated them, 28 saying, “We commanded you with a command not to teach in this name, and behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you desire to bring upon us the blood of this man.” 29 But answering, Peter and the apostles said, “It is necessary to obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you killed, having hung him on a tree. 31 God has exalted this one to his right as Prince and Savior, to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. 32 And we are witnesses of these things, and the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those obeying him.” 33 But having heard this, they were furious and wanted to kill them. 34 But a certain Pharisee, Gamaliel by name, a law teacher, honored by all the people, rising up in the Sanhedrin, commanded to put the apostles outside for a little. 35 And he said to them, “Men, Israelites, pay attention to yourselves, what you are about to do to these men. 36 For before these days, Theudas rose up, saying himself to be somebody, to whom was joined a number of men, about 400, who was killed, and all, as many as were persuaded by him, were dispersed, and they came to nothing. 37 After this one, Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away people after him. That one also perished, and all, as many as were persuaded by him, were scattered. 38 And now I say these things to you: Keep away from these men and release them, for if this counsel or this work is from men, it will be destroyed, 39 but if it is from God, you will not be able to destroy them, lest you may even be found God-opposers.” And they were persuaded by him. 40 And summoning the apostles, having beaten them, they commanded them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and they released them. 41 Therefore, they indeed were going out from the face of the Sanhedrin rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name. 42 And every day, in the temple and in each house, they did not cease teaching and proclaiming the gospel—Jesus {is} the Christ. Chapter 6 1 Now in those days, when the disciples were multiplying, a complaint by the Hellenists happened against the Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving. 2 So summoning the multitude of the disciples, the Twelve said, “It is not acceptable for us to leave behind the word of God to serve tables. 3 So brothers, choose from among yourselves seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint over this task. 4 But we will continue in prayer and in the ministry of the word.” 5 And the statement was pleasing before the whole multitude. So they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte from Antioch. 6 They brought them before the apostles, and having prayed, they placed their hands upon them. 7 So the word of God kept spreading, and the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly, and a large crowd of the priests became obedient to the faith. 8 Now Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 But there arose some people who {were} from the synagogue that is called Freedmen, and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia. They were debating with Stephen. 10 But they were not able to stand against the wisdom and the Spirit by whom he spoke. 11 Then they bribed men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 They also stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and approaching him, they seized him and brought him to the Sanhedrin. 13 And they brought false witnesses, saying, “This man does not stop speaking words against the holy place and the law. 14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus the Nazarene will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.” 15 And looking intently at him, everyone sitting in the Sanhedrin saw his face as the face of an angel. Chapter 7 1 Then the high priest said, “Are these things thus?” 2 Then he said, “Men, brothers and fathers, listen to me: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, even before he lived in Haran; 3 and he said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’ 4 Then going out from the land of the Chaldeans, he lived in Haran. And from there, after the death of his father, he brought him into this land, in which you live now. 5 But he did not give him an inheritance in it—not even a footstep. But he promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him—although he did not have a child. 6 But God spoke to him like this, that his seed would be a stranger in a foreign land, and that they would enslave him and treat him badly for 400 years. 7 ‘But I will judge the nation that will enslave him,’ said God, ‘and after that they will come out and serve me in this place.’ 8 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision, and so he fathered Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac, Jacob; and Jacob, the 12 patriarchs. 9 And the patriarchs, envying Joseph, sold him into Egypt. But God was with him 10 and he rescued him from all his afflictions, and he gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he appointed him governor over Egypt and all his household. 11 Then came a famine over all Egypt and Canaan, and great tribulation, and our fathers did not find food. 12 But having heard there was grain in Egypt, Jacob sent our fathers first. 13 And during the second {time}, Joseph was made known to his brothers, and the family of Joseph became known to Pharaoh. 14 Then, sending them back, Joseph summoned Jacob, his father, and all {his} relatives, in souls 75. 15 So Jacob went down to Egypt, and he and our fathers died. 16 And they were carried over to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. 17 And as the time of the promise that God had sworn to Abraham approached, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt, 18 until another king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. 19 He, exploiting our people, mistreated {our} fathers, to make their babies exposed, in order not to keep them alive. 20 At that time Moses was born, and he was beautiful to God. He was raised for three months in the house of {his} father. 21 But when he was exposed, the daughter of Pharaoh took him up and raised him for herself as a son. 22 And Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and works. 23 But when a 40-year time was filled to him, it came up on his heart to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel. 24 And seeing a certain one being mistreated, he defended him and made vengeance for the one being oppressed, striking the Egyptian: 25 and he was thinking {his} brothers would understand that God was giving salvation to them by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 And on the next day he appeared to them as they were quarreling, and he urged them to peace, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why is it that you are hurting each other?’ 27 But the one injuring {his} neighbor pushed him away, saying, ‘Who appointed you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 You do not want to kill me the way you killed the Egyptian yesterday, do you?’ 29 Then Moses ran away at this word, and he became a foreigner in the land of Midian, where he fathered two sons. 30 And 40 years having been filled, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. 31 And Moses, seeing it, admired the sight; and as he approached to look, the voice of the Lord came: 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob.’ And Moses, becoming terrified, did not dare to look. 33 And the Lord said to him, ‘Untie the sandal of your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have certainly seen the oppression of my people who {are} in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. And now come, let me send you to Egypt.’ 35 This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who appointed you a ruler and a judge?’—this one God sent as both a ruler and a redeemer with the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 This one led them out, doing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness during 40 years. 37 This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘God will raise up a prophet like me for you from your brothers.’ 38 This is the one having been in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel {who was} speaking to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received living words to give to us, 39 to whom our fathers were not willing to be obedient; instead, they pushed him away and turned back in their hearts to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go ahead of us. For this Moses, who brought us from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’ 41 So they made an image of a calf in those days and brought a sacrifice to the idol and rejoiced in the works of their hands. 42 But God turned away and abandoned them to serve the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets, ‘You did not offer slain beasts and offerings to me for 40 years in the wilderness, did you, O house of Israel? 43 And you took up the tabernacle of Molech and the star of your god Rephan— the images that you made to worship them— and I will remove you beyond Babylon.’ 44 The tabernacle of the testimony was with our fathers in the wilderness, just as the one speaking to Moses had commanded, to make it according to the pattern that he had seen, 45 which also our fathers, having received it in turn, brought in with Joshua in the possessing of the nations that God drove out from the face of our fathers, until the days of David, 46 who found favor before God, and he asked to find a dwelling for the house of Jacob. [1] 47 However, Solomon built the house for him. 48 But the Most High does not live in {houses} made with hands, as the prophet says, 49 ‘Heaven {is} my throne, and the earth {is} the footstool for my feet. What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord, or what {is} the place for my rest? 50 Did my hand not make all these things?’ 51 O stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers, also you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed the ones foretelling about the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become, 53 who received the law by directions of angels, but did not keep it.” 54 Now hearing these things, they were cut to their hearts, and they ground {their} teeth at him. 55 But being full of the Holy Spirit, looking intently into heaven, he saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right of God.” 57 But shouting with a loud voice, they covered their ears and rushed at him unanimously. 58 And throwing him outside the city, they stoned him. And the witnesses laid aside their outer garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And they were stoning Stephen as he was calling out and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 But having put down {his} knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And having said this, he fell asleep. 7:46 [1] Some ancient manuscripts have the God of Jacob, but the best ancient manuscripts have the house of Jacob . Chapter 8 1 And Saul was agreeing with his execution. And on that day a great persecution began against the church that {was} in Jerusalem, and they all were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 And devout men carried away Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was harming the church. Entering by houses, dragging out both men and women, he was delivering them to prison. 4 Then the ones having been scattered went about proclaiming the word. 5 And Philip, going down to the city of Samaria, was proclaiming Christ to them. 6 And the crowds were paying attention unanimously to the things being spoken by Philip when they heard them and saw the signs that he was doing. 7 For many of those having unclean spirits, shouting with a loud voice, they were coming out. And many paralyzed and lame were healed. 8 And there was much joy in that city. 9 But a certain man, Simon by name, was already practicing sorcery in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, saying himself to be someone great, 10 to whom they all, from little to great, were paying attention, saying, “This is the power of God that is called Great.” 11 And they were paying attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with sorceries. 12 But when they believed Philip, proclaiming the gospel about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, both men and women. 13 And Simon himself also believed and, having been baptized, he was continuing with Philip. And seeing great signs and works happening, he marveled. 14 And the apostles in Jerusalem, having heard that Samaria had received the word of God, sent to them Peter and John, 15 who, having come down, prayed for them, so that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For he had not yet fallen upon any of them, but they had only been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they were laying {their} hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. 18 And Simon, seeing that the Spirit was being given through the laying on of the hands of the apostles, offered them money, 19 saying, “Give to me also this authority, so that on whomever I lay {my} hands, he may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver be with you unto destruction, because you thought to obtain the gift of God through money! 21 No part or share in this matter is to you, because your heart is not right before God. 22 Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord, if therefore the intention of your heart will be forgiven to you. 23 For I see you being in the gall of bitterness and the bond of unrighteousness.” 24 But answering, Simon said, “You pray to the Lord for me, so that nothing of which you have spoken may come upon me.” 25 Then the ones having testified and having spoken the word of the Lord were returning to Jerusalem and proclaiming the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. 26 Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south on the road going down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is desert.) 27 And arising, he went, and behold, a man, an Ethiopian, a eunuch, an official of the Kandake, the queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, who had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Approach and join this chariot.” 30 So having run to him, Philip heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and he said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “For how would I be able, unless someone will guide me?” And he invited Philip to sit with him, having come up. 32 Now the passage of Scripture that he was reading was this: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearer {is} silent, thus he does not open his mouth. 33 In humiliation his justice was taken away. Who will describe his generation? For his life is taken from the earth.” 34 And answering, the eunuch said to Philip, “I beg of you, about whom is the prophet saying this—about himself, or about some other?” 35 And Philip, opening his mouth and beginning with this scripture, proclaimed Jesus to him. 36 And as they were going along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch says, “Behold, water! What is preventing my being baptized?” 37[1] [And Philip said to him, “If you believe from your whole heart, you will be saved.” And answering he said, “I believe in Christ, the Son of God.”] 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up from the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him anymore, for he went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip was found at Azotus and, passing through, he was proclaiming the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea. 8:37 [1] Some ancient manuscripts include verse 37. Chapter 9 1 But Saul, still breathing threat and murder against the disciples of the Lord, going to the high priest, 2 requested letters from him to Damascus, to the synagogues, so that if he found any being of the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 And as he was traveling, it happened that he came near to Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven surrounded him; 4 and, falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he {said}, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting; 6 but get up and enter into the city, and it will be told to you what thing it is necessary for you to do.” 7 But the men traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 And Saul rose up from the ground, but his eyes being opened, he was seeing nothing. But leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. 9 And he was not seeing for three days, and he neither ate nor drank. 10 Now there was a certain disciple in Damascus named Ananias. And the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias!” And he said, “Behold, I, Lord.” 11 And the Lord {said} to him, “Arising, go to the street called Straight, and in the house of Judas seek Saul by name, from Tarsus, for behold, he is praying, 12 and in a vision he has seen a man, Ananias by name, coming in and laying hands on him so that he might see again.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how many evils he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all the ones calling upon your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for this is to me an instrument of choosing, to carry my name before the nations, and also kings, and the sons of Israel; 16 for I will show him how much it is necessary for him to suffer for my name.” 17 And Ananias departed, and entered into the house. And having laid {his} hands on him, he said, “Saul, brother, the Lord has sent me—Jesus, the one having appeared to you on the road on which you were going—so that you might see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately {something} like scales fell from his eyes, and he saw again, and rising up, he was baptized; 19 and having taken food, he was strengthened. And he was with the disciples in Damascus for some days. 20 And immediately in the synagogues he proclaimed Jesus, that this is the Son of God. 21 And all the ones hearing were marveling and were saying, “Is not this the one having destroyed in Jerusalem the ones calling on this name? And he had come here for this, that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?” 22 But Saul was becoming more powerful and stirring up the Jews living in Damascus, proving that Jesus is the Christ. 23 But when many days were filled, the Jews took counsel together to kill him. 24 But their plot became known to Saul. But they were even watching the gates both day and night in order to kill him. 25 But his disciples, taking him by night, let him down through the wall, lowering him in a basket. 26 And having come to Jerusalem, he was attempting to join the disciples, but they were all fearing him, not believing that he was a disciple. 27 But taking hold of him, Barnabas brought him to the apostles and told them how he had seen the Lord on the road and that he had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus. 28 And he was with them coming in and going out in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He was both speaking and debating with the Hellenists, but they were attempting to kill him. 30 But the brothers, having learned of this, brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus. 31 Then the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria was having peace; being built up and journeying in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it was multiplying. 32 Now it happened that Peter, going throughout all, came down also to the saints inhabiting Lydda. 33 And there he found a certain man, Aeneas by name, lying on a mat for eight years, who was paralyzed. 34 And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Arise and make your bed for yourself,” and immediately he arose. 35 And all the ones living in Lydda and in Sharon saw him, who turned to the Lord. 36 Now a certain disciple was in Joppa, Tabitha by name, which, being translated, is said “Dorcas.” She was full of good works and of almsgivings that she was doing. 37 And it happened in those days that, having been sick, she died. And having washed her, they laid her in an upper room. 38 And Lydda being near Joppa, the disciples, having heard that Peter was in it, sent two men to him, urging him, “Do not delay to come to us.” 39 So, arising, Peter went with them, whom, having arrived, they brought up to the upper room, and all the widows stood by him, weeping and showing him coats and garments, as many as Dorcas used to make, being with them. 40 But Peter, having put them all out and having put down {his} knees, prayed, and having turned to the body, he said, “Tabitha, arise!” Then she opened her eyes and, seeing Peter, she sat up. 41 And giving her {his} hand, he raised her up and, calling the saints and the widows, he presented her living. 42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord. 43 Now it happened that he stayed many days in Joppa with a certain Simon, a tanner. Chapter 10 1 Now a certain man was in Caesarea, Cornelius by name, a centurion from the regiment called Italian, 2 devout and fearing God with all his household, making many gifts of alms to the people and praying to God through all. 3 About the ninth hour of the day, he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming to him and saying to him, “Cornelius!” 4 But he, staring at him and having become terrified, said, “What is it, lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have gone up for a memorial offering before God. 5 And now, send men to Joppa and summon a certain Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is being hosted by a certain Simon, a tanner, to whom is a house by the sea.” 7 And when the angel speaking to him left, calling two of {his} house servants and a devout soldier of the ones serving him, 8 and having told them everything, he sent them to Joppa. 9 And on the next day, as those were traveling and approaching the city, Peter went up to the housetop to pray at about the sixth hour. 10 And he became hungry and was wanting to eat, but while they were preparing, a vision came upon him, 11 and he sees the sky opened and a certain container, like a large sheet, descending, being let down by {its} four corners to the earth, 12 in which were all the four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth and birds of the sky. 13 And a voice came to him: “Peter, arising, kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “Not at all, Lord; for I have never eaten anything common and unclean.” 15 And the voice {came} to him again, for a second {time}: “What God has cleansed, you, do not make common.” 16 And this happened three times, and the container was immediately taken back up to the sky. 17 And while Peter was doubting within himself what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men sent by Cornelius, having found by inquiry the house of Simon, stood before the gate. 18 And calling out, they were asking whether Simon, called Peter, was being hosted there. 19 And while Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are seeking you. [1] 20 But arising, go down and go with them, not hesitating, because I have sent them.” 21 So Peter, having gone down to the men, said, “Behold, I am {he} whom you are seeking. What {is} the reason for which you are here?” 22 And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a man righteous and fearing God and attested by the whole nation of the Jews, was directed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to hear words from you.” 23 Therefore, having invited them, he hosted them. And on the next day, arising, he went out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him. 24 And on the next day they came to Caesarea. And Cornelius was awaiting them, having called together his relatives and close friends. 25 And it happened that as Peter entered, Cornelius, meeting him {and} falling down at {his} feet, worshiped him. 26 But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Arise! I too am a man myself.” 27 And talking with him, he went in and finds many gathered together. 28 And he was saying to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to associate or to visit with a foreigner, but God has shown me not to call any man common or unclean. 29 And therefore, having been summoned, I came without objection. Therefore I ask you, for what reason did you summon me?” 30 And Cornelius was saying, “Four days ago, at this hour, I was praying at the ninth {hour} in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, 31 and he says, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your alms have been remembered before God. 32 Therefore, send to Joppa and summon Simon who is called Peter. He is being hosted in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.’ [2] 33 So immediately I sent for you, and you did well {in} coming. Now therefore, we are all here before God to hear all the things you have been instructed by the Lord {to say}.” [3] 34 And opening {his} mouth, Peter said, “In truth, I perceive that God is not a favoritism-shower. 35 Instead, in every nation the one fearing him and working righteousness is acceptable to him. 36 The word that he sent to the sons of Israel, proclaiming peace through Jesus Christ—he is the Lord of all— 37 you know the word having happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism that John announced; 38 Jesus, the one from Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all the ones being oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39 And we {are} witnesses of all that he did, both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they also killed, hanging him on a tree. 40 God raised this one up on the third day and caused him to be seen, 41 not by all the people, but by witnesses chosen beforehand by God—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 And he commanded us to announce to the people and to testify that he is the one chosen by God as a Judge of the living and the dead. 43 To this one all the prophets bear witness, that everyone believing in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” 44 While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all the ones listening to {his} word. 45 And the faithful from the circumcision—as many as had come with Peter—marveled, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out also on the Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in languages and praising God. Then Peter responded, 47 “No one is able to withhold water, is he, so that these are not baptized who have received the Holy Spirit as we also {did}?” 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for several days. 10:19 [1] Some ancient copies read two men are looking for you or some men are looking for you. 10:32 [2] Some ancient copies add When he comes, he will speak to you. 10:33 [3] Instead of instructed by the Lord, some ancient copies read instructed by God to say. Chapter 11 1 Now the apostles and the brothers being throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. 2 And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those from the circumcision were disputing with him, 3 saying that he went in to men having foreskins and ate with them. 4 But Peter, beginning, was explaining to them in order, saying, 5 “I was praying in the city of Joppa, and in a trance I saw a vision of a certain container coming down, like a large sheet being let down from the sky by {its} four corners, and it came unto me, 6 gazing into which I was looking closely and I saw the four-legged animals of the earth, and the wild beasts, and the creeping animals, and the birds of the sky. 7 Then I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Peter, arising, kill and eat!’ 8 But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for the common or unclean has never entered into my mouth.’ 9 But the voice answered for a second {time} from heaven, ‘What God has cleansed, you, do not make common!’ 10 And this happened three times, and everything was pulled up to the sky again. 11 And behold, immediately three men stood at the house in which we were, having been sent from Caesarea to me. 12 And the Spirit said to me to go with them, not hesitating. And these six brothers also went with me, and we entered into the house of the man. 13 Then he reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and summon Simon, called Peter. 14 He will speak words to you by which you will be saved—you and all your house.’ 15 But as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as also on us in the beginning. 16 Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how he was saying, ‘John indeed baptized with water; but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If, therefore, God gave to them the same gift as also to us having believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, I, who was I {to be} able to hinder God?” 18 And having heard these things, they became quiet and glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has given repentance unto life.” 19 Then indeed the ones having been scattered from the persecution having happened over Stephen spread to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except only to Jews. 20 But some of them were men, Cypriots and Cyrenians, who, having come to Antioch, were speaking also to the Greeks, proclaiming the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them; and a great number, believing, turned to the Lord. 22 And the report about them came to the ears of the church that was in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas as far as Antioch, 23 who, having come and having seen the grace of God, rejoiced and was encouraging {them} all to remain with the Lord with purpose of heart. 24 For he was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, and a considerable crowd was added to the Lord. 25 And he went out to Tarsus to search for Saul. 26 And having found him, he brought him to Antioch. And it happened to them that for even a whole year they were gathered together with the church and taught a considerable crowd. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. 27 Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 And one of them, Agabus by name, having arisen, signified through the Spirit {that} a great famine was about to occur over the whole world. This happened upon Claudius. 29 So they determined, just as any of the disciples was prospering, each of them to send {something} for assistance to the brothers living in Judea, 30 which indeed they did, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul. Chapter 12 1 Now at that time Herod the king laid on hands to harm some from the church. 2 And he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. 3 And seeing that this was pleasing to the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also (and those were the days of Unleavened Bread), 4 and whom, having arrested, he put in prison, handing him over to four quaternions of soldiers to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover. 5 So indeed Peter was being kept in the prison, but prayer was being made earnestly to God for him by the church. 6 And when Herod was going to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards before the door were watching the prison. 7 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison cell. And striking the side of Peter, he awakened him, saying, “Get up in haste,” and his chains fell away from {his} hands. 8 And the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals.” So he did thus. And he said to him, “Put on your outer garment and follow me.” 9 And going out, he followed him, but he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but he was thinking he was seeing a vision. 10 But having passed by the first guard and the second, they came to the iron gate leading into the city, which opened for them by itself. And having gone out, they went down one street, and suddenly the angel went away from him. 11 And Peter, having come to himself, said, “Now I truly know that the Lord sent out his angel and delivered me from the hand of Herod and all the expectation of the Jewish people.” 12 And having realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, called Mark, where many were gathered together and praying. 13 And when he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant girl, Rhoda by name, came to answer. 14 And having recognized the voice of Peter, from joy she did not open the gate, but running inside, she reported, “Peter is standing at the gate!” 15 But they said to her, “You are insane!” But she was insisting that it was thus. So they were saying, “It is his angel.” 16 But Peter was continuing knocking, and opening, they saw him and marveled. 17 And having motioned to them with {his} hand to be silent, he described how the Lord had led him out from the prison. And he said, “Report these things to James and the brothers.” And having gone out, he went to another place. 18 Now when day had come, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers, what then had Peter become. 19 And Herod, having searched for him and not having found him, having questioned the guards, ordered them to be put to death. And having gone down from Judea to Caesarea, he was staying there. 20 Now he was quarreling with the Tyrians and Sidonians. So they came to him unanimously, and having persuaded Blastus, the one over the bedchamber of the king, they were requesting peace, because their country was nourished from the king’s country. 21 And on the appointed day, Herod, having put on royal clothing and having sat on the throne, made a speech to them. 22 And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” 23 And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give the glory to God, and having become worm-eaten, he died. 24 But the word of God was increasing and was being multiplied. 25 Then Barnabas and Saul returned to Jerusalem, [1] having completed their service, bringing with them John, called Mark. 12:25 [1] Some ancient copies read, returned from Jerusalem Chapter 13 1 Now in Antioch, in the church being {there}, were prophets and teachers: both Barnabas and Simeon called Niger, and Lucius the Cyrenian; both Manaen, the foster brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 And while they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Separate, then, Barnabas and Saul to me for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, having fasted and prayed, and having laid {their} hands on them, they released them. 4 So they, having been sent out by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia; and from there they sailed away to Cyprus. 5 And having arrived in Salamis, they were proclaiming the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they also had John as an assistant. 6 And having passed through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a certain man, a magician, a Jewish false prophet, whose name {was} Bar Jesus, 7 who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus—an intelligent man. Summoning Barnabas and Saul, he sought to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas, “the Magician” (for thus is his name translated), opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9 But Saul, also Paul, being filled with the Holy Spirit, staring at him intently, 10 said, “O full of all deceit and all trickery, son of the devil, enemy of all righteousness, will you not stop turning aside the straight paths of the Lord? 11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord {is} upon you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and darkness fell upon him, and going around, he was seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the proconsul, having seen the {thing] having happened, believed, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord. 13 Now having put to sea from Paphos, the ones around Paul came to Perga of Pamphylia. But John, withdrawing from them, returned to Jerusalem. 14 But they, passing through from Perga, came to Antioch of Pisidia and, going into the synagogue on the day of the Sabbath, they sat down. 15 And after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue leaders sent to them, saying, “Men, brothers, if any word of exhortation for the people is in you, speak.” 16 So Paul, arising and motioning with {his} hand, said, “Men, Israelites and ones fearing God, listen. 17 The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and exalted the people when they sojourned in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm he led them out of it. 18 And for about a 40-year time, he endured them in the wilderness. [1] 19 And having destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land for an inheritance, 20 in about 450 years. And after these things, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. 21 And then they requested a king, and God gave them Saul, son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, for 40 years. 22 And having removed him, he raised up David for them for {their} king, about whom also he said, testifying, ‘I have found David, son of Jesse, a man according to my heart, who will do all my will.’ 23 From the seed of this one, according to promise, God brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, 24 John having announced beforehand, before the face of his entrance, a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John was completing {his} course, he was saying, ‘Who do you think me to be? I am not he. But behold, one is coming after me, of whom the sandals of {his} feet I am not worthy to untie.’ 26 Men, brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and the ones among you fearing God, to us the word of this salvation has been sent. 27 For the ones living in Jerusalem and their rulers, not recognizing this one and condemning him, fulfilled the voices of the prophets being read on every Sabbath. 28 And finding no reason for death, they asked Pilate for him to be killed. 29 And when they had completed all the things having been written about him, taking him down from the tree, they laid him in a tomb. 30 But God raised him from the dead, 31 who was seen for many days by the ones having come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who now are his witnesses to the people. 32 And we are proclaiming to you the promise having been to {our} fathers, 33 that God has completely fulfilled this for our children, raising up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘You are my Son; today I have fathered you.’ 34 And that he raised him up from the dead, never going to return to decay, he has spoken thus: ‘I will give you the holy, trustworthy things of David.’ 35 For in another {place} he also says: ‘You will not allow your Holy One to see decay.’ 36 For indeed David, having served the counsel of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw decay. 37 But he whom God raised up did not see decay. 38 So let it be known to you, men, brothers, that through this one release of sins is proclaimed to you and from everything of which you were not able to be justified in the law of Moses. [2] 39 In this one, everyone believing is justified. 40 Look, therefore that the thing spoken about in the prophets may not come upon you: 41 ‘Look, you despisers, and marvel and be destroyed! For I am doing a work in your days, a work that you would not believe at all, even if someone announced it to you.’” 42 And as they were leaving, they were begging these words to be spoken to them on the next Sabbath. 43 And when the synagogue meeting was ended, many of the Jews and the worshiping proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, urged them to continue in the grace of God. 44 And on the next Sabbath, almost the whole city was gathered together to hear the word of the Lord. 45 But seeing the crowds, the Jews were filled with jealousy, and they were speaking against the things being said by Paul, blaspheming. 46 And Paul and Barnabas, speaking boldly, said, “It was necessary for the word of God to be spoken to you first. Since you reject it and judge yourselves not worthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. 47 For thus the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have placed you as a light for the Gentiles, for you to be for salvation as far as the end of the earth.’” 48 But hearing this, the Gentiles were rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. 49 And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout the whole region. 50 But the Jews stirred up the influential worshiping women and the principal ones of the city and aroused a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and they threw them out from their boundaries. 51 But they, having shaken off the dust of {their} feet against them, went to Iconium. 52 But the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit. 13:18 [1] Some ancient copies read, For about 40 years he cared for them in the wilderness. 13:38 [2] Some ancient copies place and freedom from everything which could not be justified in the law of Moses in verse 39. Chapter 14 1 And it happened that in Iconium they entered together into the synagogue of the Jews and spoke in such a way that a great multitude, both of Jews and of Greeks, believed. 2 But the disobeying Jews stirred up and embittered the souls of the Gentiles against the brothers. 3 But indeed they stayed there for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who was testifying to the word of his grace by granting signs and wonders to happen by their hands. 4 But the multitude of the city was divided, and some indeed were with the Jews, but some with the apostles. 5 But when a plot happened of both the Gentiles and the Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat and stone them, 6 having become aware of it, they fled to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra and Derbe, and the surrounding region, 7 and there they were proclaiming the gospel. 8 And in Lystra a certain man was sitting, powerless in {his} feet, lame from the womb of his mother, who had never walked. 9 He heard Paul speaking, who looked intently at him and saw that he had faith to be healed. 10 He said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet,” and he jumped up and walked around. 11 And the crowds, seeing what Paul had done, raised their voice, saying in Lycaonian, “The gods, having been made like men, have come down to us.” 12 And they were calling Barnabas “Zeus,” and Paul “Hermes,” because he was the leader of the word. 13 And the priest of Zeus, being before the city, bringing oxen and wreaths to the gates, was wanting to sacrifice with the crowds. 14 But hearing this, the apostles Barnabas and Paul, tearing their clothing, rushed out into the crowd, crying out 15 and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, like-passioned to you. We are proclaiming the gospel to you to turn you from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 16 who in bygone generations allowed all the nations to go their own ways, 17 and yet he did not leave himself without witness: doing good, giving you rains from the sky and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.” 18 And saying these things they barely restrained the crowds, so that they did not sacrifice to them. 19 But Jews from Antioch and Iconium came and, having persuaded the crowds and having stoned Paul, they were dragging him out of the city, thinking him to have died. 20 But as the disciples surrounded him, arising, he entered into the city, and the next day he went with Barnabas to Derbe. 21 And having proclaimed the gospel in that city and having made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and {saying}, “It is necessary for us to enter into the kingdom of God through many afflictions.” 23 And having appointed elders for them by church, having prayed with fasting, they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had believed. 24 And having passed through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. 25 And having spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. 26 And from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had completed. 27 And having arrived and having gathered the church together, they were reporting how much God had done with them and that he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles. 28 And they were staying for not a little time with the disciples. Chapter 15 1 And certain ones coming down from Judea were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised in the custom of Moses, you are not able to be saved.” 2 And no little dispute and debate by Paul and Barnabas with them having happened, they appointed Paul and Barnabas and certain others from among them to go up to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem about this question. 3 Therefore indeed the ones having been sent out by the church were passing through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the Gentiles and producing great joy in all the brothers, 4 And having arrived in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported how much God had done with them. 5 But certain ones from the sect of the Pharisees, having believed, stood up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them and command them to keep the law of Moses.” 6 So the apostles and the elders were gathered together to see about this word. 7 And much debate having happened, Peter, arising, said to them, “Men, brothers, you know that from original days God chose among you: By my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 And God, the heart-knower, testified to them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just as also to us; 9 and he did not distinguish between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. 10 Now, therefore, why are you testing God, putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 But we believe ourselves to be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, according to the way they also.” 12 And the whole crowd kept silent and was listening to Barnabas and Paul describing how many signs and wonders God had worked among the Gentiles through them. 13 And after they stopped speaking, James answered, saying, “Men, brothers, listen to me. 14 Simeon has described how God first looked to take from the Gentiles a people for his name. 15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, as it is written, 16 ‘ "After these things I will return, and I will rebuild the fallen tent of David, and I will rebuild its ruins and restore it, 17 so that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles upon whom my name has been called upon them," says the Lord doing these things 18 known from eternity.’ [1] 19 Therefore, I judge not to trouble the ones from the Gentiles turning to God, 20 but to write to them to abstain from the pollution of idols and sexual immorality and the strangled and blood. 21 For Moses has by city, from ancient generations, ones proclaiming him, being read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.” 22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas chosen men from among them—Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers— 23 writing by their hand: “The apostles and the elders, brothers, to the brothers among the Gentiles throughout Antioch and Syria and Cilicia: Greetings! 24 Now we have heard that some, having gone out from us, have disturbed you with words, upsetting your souls, whom we did not commission; 25 it seemed good to us, having become unanimous, having chosen men, to send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men having handed over their souls for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 Therefore we have sent Judas and Silas, they also reporting the same thing by word. 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us for no greater burden to be laid upon you than these necessary things: 29 to abstain from things sacrificed to idols and blood and the strangled and sexual immorality, from which keeping yourselves, you will do well. Farewell.” 30 So they, having been dismissed, indeed came down to Antioch, and gathering the crowd together, they delivered the letter. 31 And having read it, they rejoiced at the encouragement. 32 Both Judas and Silas, also being prophets themselves, encouraged the brothers with many a word and strengthened them. 33 And having stayed some time, they were sent away with peace from the brothers to the ones having sent them. 34[2] [But it seemed good to Silas for them to remain there, so only Judas traveled.] 35 But Paul and Barnabas were staying in Antioch, teaching and proclaiming the word of the Lord, with many others also. 36 Then after some days, Paul said to Barnabas, “Returning, then, let us visit the brothers in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, how they are.” 37 But Barnabas was wanting also to take with them John called Mark. 38 But Paul was thinking it wise not to take with them this one having withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and not having accompanied them in the work. 39 And a dispute happened, so as for them to be separated from each other and for Barnabas, taking Mark with him, to sail away to Cyprus. 40 But Paul, having chosen Silas, went out, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41 And he was going through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. 15:18 [1] Some older versions read, This is what the Lord says, to whom are known all his deeds from eternity. 15:34 [2] Some ancient manuscripts include verse 34 (See: Acts 15:40). Chapter 16 1 And he also came down to Derbe and to Lystra, and behold, a certain disciple was there, Timothy by name, the son of a believing Jewish woman but of a father, a Greek, 2 who was being well attested by the brothers in Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted this one to go out with him and, taking him, he circumcised him because of the Jews being in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 And as they were going through the cities, they were delivering to them to keep the decrees that had been decided by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. 5 So indeed the churches were being strengthened in the faith and were increasing in number each day. 6 And they went through Phrygia and the Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 And having come near Mysia, they were attempting to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them. 8 So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul by night: A man, a certain Macedonian, was standing and calling him and saying, “Coming over into Macedonia, help us.” 10 So when he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go out into Macedonia, reasoning together that God had summoned us to proclaim the gospel to them. 11 So setting sail from Troas, we made a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is the first city in the district of Macedonia, a colony, and we were staying in this city for some days. 13 And on the day of the Sabbath, we went outside the gate by a river, where we thought a place of prayer to be. And having sat down, we spoke to the women having come together. 14 And a certain woman, Lydia by name, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, worshiping God, was listening, whose heart the Lord opened to pay attention to the things being said by Paul. 15 And when she was baptized, and her household, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, entering into my house, stay.” And she persuaded us. 16 And it happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a certain young female slave having a Python spirit met us, who, divining, was bringing much gain to her masters. 17 She, following after Paul and us, was shouting, saying, “These men are servants of the Most High God who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.” 18 And she was doing this for many days. But Paul, having become annoyed and having turned, said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out from her.” And it came out in the same hour. 19 But her masters, seeing that their hope of profit had gone, seizing Paul and Silas, dragged them into the marketplace to the rulers. 20 And having brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are greatly troubling our city, being Jews, 21 and they are proclaiming customs that are lawful for us neither to accept nor to practice, being Romans.” 22 And the crowd rose up together against them, and the magistrates, tearing off their garments, commanded them to be beaten with rods. 23 And having laid many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely, 24 who, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 But around midnight, Paul and Silas, praying, were singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 And suddenly a great earthquake happened, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and the chains of all were unfastened. 27 But the jailer became awake, and seeing the prison doors having been opened, having drawn {his} sword, he was about to kill himself, thinking the prisoners to have escaped. 28 But Paul shouted with a loud voice, saying, “Do not do harm to yourself, for we are all here.” 29 So having called for lights, he rushed in and, being terrified, he fell down to Paul and Silas, 30 and having brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what is necessary for me to do in order to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him, with everyone in his house. 33 And taking them at that hour of the night, he washed them from the blows, and he was baptized immediately—he and all the ones of him. 34 And bringing them up into {his} house, he set a table before them and rejoiced with {his} household, having believed in God. 35 Now when day came, the magistrates sent officers, saying, “Release those men.” 36 And the jailer reported the words to Paul, “The magistrates have sent that you may be released. Now therefore, coming out, go in peace.” 37 But Paul said to them, “Having beaten us in public without trial, men being Romans, they threw us into prison, and now they cast us out secretly? For not! Instead, coming themselves, let them lead us out.” 38 So the officers reported these words to the magistrates and they were terrified, hearing that they were Romans. 39 And coming, they entreated them, and bringing them out, they were asking them to go away from the city. 40 So going out from the prison, they came to Lydia. And seeing the brothers, they exhorted them and went out. Chapter 17 1 Now passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where a synagogue of the Jews was. 2 And according to the custom of Paul, he went to them, and on three Sabbaths he was reasoning with them from the Scriptures, 3 fully opening them and demonstrating that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and {saying}, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” 4 And some from them were persuaded and were associated with Paul and Silas, both a large number of worshiping Greeks and not a few of the leading women. 5 But the Jews, having become jealous, and having brought certain wicked men from the marketplace, and having gathered a crowd, they agitated the city. And attacking the house of Jason, they sought to lead them out to the people. 6 But not having found them, they dragged Jason and certain brothers to the city officials, shouting, “The ones having turned the world upside down, they are also present here, 7 whom Jason and all these men have welcomed. They are acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king, Jesus.” 8 And they agitated the crowd and the city officials hearing these things. 9 And having received a bond from Jason and the rest, they released them. 10 But the brothers immediately sent away both Paul and Silas by night to Berea, who, having arrived, went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 Now these were more noble than {those} in Thessalonica, who received the word with all readiness, examining the Scriptures each day, whether these things might be so. 12 Then indeed many of them believed, even influential Greek women and not a few men. 13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was also being proclaimed by Paul at Berea, they came there also, exciting and troubling the crowds. 14 So then the brothers immediately sent Paul away to go as far as to the sea, but both Silas and Timothy stayed there. 15 But the ones conducting Paul brought him as far as Athens and, having received a command to Silas and Timothy that they should come to him as quickly as possible, they departed. 16 Now while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him, seeing the city being full of idols. 17 So indeed he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the ones worshiping and in the marketplace every day with the ones meeting him. 18 But also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were disputing with him. And some were saying, “What might this word-picker want to say?” But others {said}, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,” because he was proclaiming Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And taking hold of him, they brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “Are we able to know what this new teaching {is} that is being spoken by you? 20 For you are bringing some startling things into our ears. Therefore, we wish to know what these things want to be.” 21 (Now all the Athenians and the sojourning foreigners were devoting their leisure to nothing other than either to say something or to hear something newer.) 22 And Paul, having been stood in the middle of the Areopagus, was saying, “Men, Athenians, I see how you are more religious in everything. 23 For passing through and observing your objects of worship, I even found an altar on which had been inscribed, 'To an Unknown God.' What therefore you worship not knowing, this I announce to you. 24 The God having made the world and everything in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in hand-built temples. 25 Neither is he cared for by hands of men, needing anything, himself giving life and breath and all things to all. 26 And from one he made every nation of men to live on all the face of the earth, having determined {their} appointed seasons and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 to seek God, if perhaps they might feel around for him and find him, yet indeed not being far from each one of us. 28 For 'in him we live and are moved and are,' and as some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are {his} offspring.’ 29 Therefore, being offspring of God, we ought not to consider the Divine to be similar to gold or silver or stone—images of the skill and imagination of man. 30 Therefore God, having indeed overlooked the times of ignorance, now to men commands everyone everywhere to repent, 31 because he has set a day in which he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has appointed, having provided assurance to all, having raised him from the dead.” 32 Now hearing of the resurrection of the dead, some indeed mocked, but others said, “We will hear you also again concerning this.” 33 So Paul went out from their midst. 34 But certain men, being joined to him, believed, among whom {were} even Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman, Damaris by name, and others with them. Chapter 18 1 After these things, having departed from Athens, he went to Corinth. 2 And having found a certain Jew, Aquila by name, a Pontian by birth, having recently come from Italy, also Priscilla, his wife, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to depart from Rome, he approached them, 3 and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and was working, for they were tentmakers by trade. 4 And he was reasoning in the synagogue on every Sabbath, persuading both Jews and Greeks. 5 But when both Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was constrained by the word, to the Jews solemnly attesting Jesus to be the Christ. 6 But as they were opposing and insulting him, shaking out {his} garments, he said to them, “Your blood {be} upon your head! I am clean! From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 7 And having departed from there, he went into the house of a certain one worshiping God, Titius Justus by name, whose house was adjoining to the synagogue. 8 But Crispus, the synagogue leader, believed in the Lord with his whole house, and many of the Corinthians, hearing, were believing and were being baptized. 9 And the Lord said to Paul by a vision in the night, “Do not fear, but speak and do not be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one will set upon you to harm you, for much people is to me in this city.” 11 So he stayed for a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. 12 But when Gallio was governor of Achaia, the Jews rose up unanimously against Paul and brought him to the judgment seat, 13 saying, “This one persuades men to worship God contrary to the law.” 14 But when Paul was going to open {his} mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “O Jews, if indeed it was some crime or evil wrongdoing, by reason I would have endured you, 15 but if the questions {are} about word and names and your law, you will see yourselves. I do not want to be a judge of these things.” 16 And he sent them away from the judgment seat. 17 But having seized Sosthenes, the synagogue leader, they were all beating him before the judgment seat, and none of these things mattered to Gallio. 18 But Paul, having stayed yet many days, leaving the brothers, sailed to Syria, Priscilla and Aquila also {being} with him, having shorn {his} head in Cenchrea, for he had a vow. 19 And they came down to Ephesus and them he left there, but he himself, having gone into the synagogue, reasoned with the Jews. 20 But when they asked him to stay for a longer time, he did not consent. 21 But leaving them and saying, “I will return again to you, God being willing,” he put to sea from Ephesus. 22 And having come down to Caesarea, having gone up and having greeted the church, he went down to Antioch. 23 And having stayed some time, he departed, going through the region of Galatia and Phrygia in succession, strengthening all the disciples. 24 Now a certain Jewish man, Apollos by name, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came down to Ephesus, being mighty in the Scriptures. 25 He had been taught the way of the Lord, and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, knowing only the baptism of John. 26 And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but hearing him, Priscilla and Aquila took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. 27 And when he desired to pass over into Achaia, the brothers, encouraging him, wrote to the disciples to welcome him, who, having arrived, greatly helped the ones having believed by grace. 28 For he was powerfully refuting the Jews in public, showing Jesus to be the Christ by the Scriptures. Chapter 19 1 And it happened that while Apollos was in Corinth, Paul, passing through the upper parts, came down to Ephesus and found certain disciples. 2 And he said to them, “If you received the Holy Spirit, having believed?” But they said to him, “No, we have not even heard if there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “Into the baptism of John.” 4 But Paul replied, “John baptized a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 And having heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And Paul having laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them and they were speaking in languages and prophesying. 7 And they all were about 12 men. 8 And going into the synagogue, he was speaking boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some were being hardened and disobeying, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, departing from them, he separated the disciples, reasoning each day in the school of Tyrannus. 10 And this happened for two years, so that all living in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. 11 And God was doing not ordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons from his skin were taken to the sick and {their} illnesses departed from them, and the evil spirits came out. 13 Now some of the traveling Jewish exorcists also tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over the ones having evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 (Now seven sons of Sceva, a certain Jewish chief priest, were doing this.) 15 But answering, the evil spirit said to them, “Jesus I acknowledge, and Paul I know, but you, who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit, leaping on them, overpowering them both, prevailed against them, so that they fled from that house naked and wounded. 17 And this became known to all living in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. 18 And many of the ones having believed were coming, confessing and declaring their deeds. 19 And many of the ones practicing the magical arts, bringing together {their} books, were burning them before everyone. And they calculated the value of them, and they found {it to be} five myriad pieces of silver. 20 So with power the word of the Lord was increasing and prevailing. 21 Now when these things were fulfilled, Paul determined in the Spirit to travel to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, “After I have been there, it is necessary for me also to see Rome.” 22 And sending to Macedonia two of the ones helping him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a time. 23 But at that time, no small disturbance happened concerning the Way. 24 For a certain silversmith making silver shrines of Artemis, Demetrius by name, was bringing not a little business to the craftsmen, 25 whom, having gathered together, and the workers about such things, said, “Men, you know that our prosperity is from this business. 26 And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul, having persuaded, has removed a considerable crowd, saying that the things coming into being through hands are not gods. 27 And not only is this in peril, our trade to come to disrepute, but even the temple of the great goddess Artemis to be considered as nothing. And indeed, her majesty is about to be destroyed, whom all Asia, indeed the world, worships.” 28 And hearing this and becoming full of anger, they were shouting, saying, “Great {is} Artemis of the Ephesians.” 29 And the city was filled with confusion, and they rushed unanimously into the theater, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, travel companions of Paul. 30 But when Paul was desiring to enter among the people, the disciples were not permitting him. 31 And also some of the Asiarchs, being friends to him, sending to him, were urging him not to give himself into the theater. 32 Then indeed different ones were shouting something different, for the assembly was confused, and the majority did not know for what reason they had come together. 33 And {some} from the crowd instructed Alexander, the Jews having pushed him forward, and Alexander, waving {his} hand, was wanting to give a defense to the people. 34 But recognizing that he was a Jew, one voice happened from {them} all, while shouting for two hours, “Great {is} Artemis of the Ephesians.” 35 But quieting the crowd, the city clerk says, “Men, Ephesians, for who is there of men who does not know the Ephesian city to be the temple keeper of the great Artemis and of the Zeus-fallen image? 36 These things, then, being undeniable, it is necessary for you to be calmed and to do nothing rash. 37 For you brought these men {who are} neither temple-robbers nor blasphemers of our goddess. 38 Therefore indeed, if Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a word against anyone, the courts are being conducted and there are proconsuls; let them accuse one another. 39 But if you seek anything about other matters, it will be settled in the regular assembly. 40 For indeed we are in danger of being accused of rioting concerning the today, there being no cause about which we will be able to give an account concerning this disorder.” [1] 41 And having said these things, he dismissed the assembly. [2] 19:40 [1] Here, instead of verse 41, some ancient copies add, When he had said this, he dismissed the assembly. 19:41 [2] Some ancient copies place this text at the end of verse 40. Chapter 20 1 And after the uproar had ended, Paul, having summoned the disciples and encouraged them, saying farewell, departed to go to Macedonia. 2 And having gone through those regions and having exhorted them with many a word, he came to Greece. 3 And having stayed three months there, a plot by the Jews happening against him being about to sail to Syria, it happened that he returned of a resolution through Macedonia. 4 And Sopater of Pyrrhus, a Berean, and Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius, a Derbean, and Timothy and Tychicus and Trophimus, Asians, were accompanying him. 5 But they, having gone ahead, were waiting for us at Troas. 6 And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them in Troas, where we stayed for seven days. 7 And on the first of the week, we having been gathered together to break bread, Paul was speaking with them. Being about to depart the next day, he was thus continuing the word until midnight. 8 And many lamps were in the upper room where we were gathered together. 9 And a certain young man, Eutychus by name, sitting on the window, being overcome by a deep sleep, Paul speaking even longer, having been overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was picked up dead. 10 But Paul, going down, stretched out on him and, having embraced him, said, “Do not be troubled, for his life is in him.” 11 And having gone up and having broken bread and having tasted, and having conversed for much {time} until dawn, thus he left. 12 But they brought the boy alive and were comforted not moderately. 13 Then we, having gone ahead to the ship, sailed away to Assos, intending to take Paul on board there, for thus he had arranged, intending to go on foot himself. 14 And when he met us at Assos, taking him on board, we went to Mitylene. 15 And having sailed from there, we came down on the next day opposite Chios, and on the other day, we arrived at Samos, and on the following day, we came to Miletus. 16 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that it would not happen to him to lose time in Asia, for he was hurrying, if it might be possible for him, to be in Jerusalem for the day of Pentecost. 17 And from Miletus, sending to Ephesus, he summoned the elders of the church. 18 And when they came to him, he said to them, “You know, from the first day from which I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, 19 serving the Lord with all humility and tears and trials happening to me in the plots of the Jews, 20 how I withheld nothing being useful in order not to declare it to you, and I taught you in public and by houses, 21 testifying to both Jews and Greeks repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus. 22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, having been bound by the Spirit, not knowing the things that will happen to me in her, 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me by city, saying that chains and afflictions await me. 24 But of no word do I consider my life valuable to myself, so as to finish my race and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to attest the gospel of the grace of God. 25 And now, behold, I know that you all, among whom I went about proclaiming the kingdom, will see my face no more. 26 Therefore I testify to you in the today day that I am innocent from the blood of all. 27 For I did not hold back in order not to declare to you all the counsel of God. 28 Guard yourselves and all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God, which he obtained through his own blood. 29 I know that after my departure, vicious wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Even from you yourselves, men will arise speaking perverted things in order to draw away the disciples after them. 31 So be alert, remembering that for three years I did not stop admonishing each one with tears night and day. 32 And now I am entrusting you to God and to the word of his grace being able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all the ones having been sanctified. 33 I coveted the silver or gold or clothing of no one. 34 You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my needs and to the ones being with me. 35 I showed you all things, that it is necessary, working hard in this way, to take hold of the ones being weak and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” 36 And having said these things, bowing his knees, he prayed with them all. 37 But much weeping happened among them all, and falling upon the neck of Paul, they were kissing him, 38 grieving mostly at the word that he had spoken, that they were going to see his face no more. Then they escorted him to the ship. Chapter 21 1 And it happened that as we put to sea, having been parted from them, running a straight course, we came to Cos, and on the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. 2 And finding a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, going aboard, we put to sea. 3 And having sighted Cyprus and having left it behind on the port side, we sailed to Syria and came down to Tyre, for there the ship was unloading {its} cargo. 4 And having found the disciples, we stayed there seven days, who were saying to Paul through the Spirit not to set foot in Jerusalem. 5 And when it happened that we had finished the days, having gone out, we were proceeding, everyone accompanying us with wives and children as far as outside the city, and having put down {our} knees on the shore {and} having prayed, 6 we said farewell to each other and we went up into the ship and those returned to {their} own homes, 7 but we, having finished the voyage from Tyre, came down to Ptolemais, and having greeted the brothers, we stayed with them for one day. 8 And on the next day, having departed, we went to Caesarea and, entering into the house of Philip the Evangelist, who was from the Seven, we stayed with him. 9 Now to this one were four daughters, virgins, prophesying. 10 And as we stayed for many days, a certain prophet, Agabus by name, came down from Judea. 11 And having come to us and having taken the belt of Paul, having bound his own feet and hands, he said, “The Holy Spirit says these things: ‘Thus will the Jews in Jerusalem bind the man of whom is this belt, and they will deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’” 12 And when we heard these things, both we and the locals were urging him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 And as he was not being persuaded, we kept quiet, saying, “Let the will of the Lord happen.” 15 And after these days, having equipped ourselves, we went up to Jerusalem. 16 And {some} of the disciples from Caesarea also came with us, bringing us to Mnason, a certain Cypriot, an early disciple, with whom we would be hosted. 17 And when we had arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us gladly. 18 And on the next day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. 19 And having greeted them, he was declaring, one by one, each of the things God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 And having heard it, they were glorifying God, and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many myriads of those having believed there are among the Jews, and they are all zealous for the law. 21 And they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews among the Gentiles apostasy from Moses, telling them not to circumcise {their} children, nor to walk in the customs. 22 What therefore is it? They will certainly hear that you have come. 23 So do this that we say to you. Four men are with us having a vow from themselves. 24 Taking these men, be purified with them and pay the expenses for them, so that they will shear {their} heads, and then everyone will know that there is nothing in the things they have been told about you, but that you conform, also keeping the law yourself. 25 But concerning the Gentiles having believed, having judged, we sent that they should guard the idol-sacrificed and blood and the strangled and sexual immorality.” 26 Then Paul, having taken the men, having been purified with them the next day, was going into the temple declaring the fulfillment of the days of purification, until the offering was offered for each one of them. 27 But when the seven days were about to be finished, the Jews from Asia, seeing Paul in the temple, were agitating the whole crowd, and they laid {their} hands on him, 28 shouting, “Men, Israelites, help! This is the man teaching all everywhere against the people and the law and this place. And he has even both brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” 29 For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, whom they were thinking that Paul had brought into the temple. 30 And the whole city was excited, and a mob of the people happened, and having taken hold of Paul, they were dragging him outside of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut. 31 And as they were seeking to kill him, a report came up to the chiliarch of the cohort that all Jerusalem was agitated, 32 who, immediately taking soldiers and centurions, ran down to them. And they, seeing the chiliarch and the soldiers, stopped beating Paul. 33 Then, approaching, the commander took hold of him and commanded him to be bound with two chains, and he was asking who he might be and what he had done. 34 But different ones in the crowd were shouting different things, and he, not being able to learn the certain because of the noise, ordered him to be brought into the fortress. 35 But when he came to the steps, it happened that he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd. 36 For the multitude of the people was following, shouting, “Take him away!” 37 And being about to be brought into the fortress, Paul says to the chiliarch, “If it is permitted for me to say something to you?” But he said, “Do you know Greek? 38 Then are you not the Egyptian having revolted before these days and having led 4,000 men of the Sicarii into the wilderness?” 39 But Paul said, “I am a Jewish man, a Tarsian of Cilicia, a citizen of a not undistinguished city. And I ask of you, allow me to speak to the people.” 40 And when he allowed, Paul, standing on the steps, motioned with {his} hand to the people. And when a deep silence happened, he spoke in the Hebrew language, saying, Chapter 22 1 “Men, brothers and fathers, hear my defense to you now.” 2 And when they heard that he was speaking to them in the Hebrew language, they granted more quietness. And he said, 3 “I am a Jewish man, born in Tarsus of Cilicia but educated in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed according to the strictness of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, as you all are today, 4 who persecuted this Way unto death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, 5 as also the high priest testifies for me, and all the elderhood, from whom also having received letters to the brothers, I was traveling to Damascus, going to bring back bound to Jerusalem even those being there so that they might be punished. 6 And it happened to me that, traveling and nearing Damascus about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me. 7 And I fell to the ground and I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ 8 And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ 9 Now the ones being with me saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of the one speaking to me. 10 But I said, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Arising, go into Damascus, and there it will be told to you about all that has been appointed to you to do.’ 11 And as I was not seeing clearly because of the glory of that light, being led by the hand by the ones being with me, I came into Damascus. 12 And Ananias, a certain devout man according to the law, being attested by all the Jews living there, 13 came to me and, standing by me, said to me, ‘Saul, brother, look up.’ And in the same hour I looked up to him. 14 And he said, ‘The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear the voice from his mouth, 15 for you will be a witness for him to all men of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now, why are you delaying? Arising, be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’ 17 And it happened to me that, having returned to Jerusalem, and as I was praying in the temple, I became in a trance. 18 And I saw him saying to me, ‘Hurry and go away in haste from Jerusalem, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ 19 And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that I was imprisoning and beating by synagogues those who believed in you. 20 And when the blood of Stephen your witness was spilled, I myself was also standing by and agreeing and guarding the outer garments of the ones killing him.’ 21 But he said to me, ‘Go, because I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’” 22 And they were listening to him until this word, and they lifted up their voice, saying, “Remove such a one from the earth, for it was not right for him to live.” 23 And as they were shouting and casting off {their} outer garments, and throwing dust into the air, 24 the chiliarch ordered him to be brought into the fortress, commanding him to be examined by scourges, so that he might know for what reason they were shouting thus against him. 25 But when they stretched him out for the whips, Paul said to the centurion standing by, “If it is lawful for you to scourge a man Roman and uncondemned?” 26 And hearing this. the centurion, going to the chiliarch, reported, saying, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman.” 27 So coming, the chiliarch said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And he said, “Yes.” 28 And the commander answered, “I bought this citizenship with a large sum of money.” But Paul said, “But I indeed was born.” 29 Then the ones being about to examine him drew back from him immediately, and the chiliarch also was afraid, having learned that he was a Roman, because indeed he had bound him. 30 And on the next day, wanting to know the certain, why he was being accused by the Jews, he released him and commanded the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to assemble. And having brought down Paul, he placed him among them. Chapter 23 1 And looking intently at the Sanhedrin, Paul said, “Men, brothers, I have conducted myself toward God in all good conscience up to this day.” 2 But Ananias the high priest commanded the ones standing by him to strike his mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him, “God is about to strike you, you whitewashed wall! And do you sit judging me by the law and, acting contrary to the law, command me to be struck?” 4 But the ones standing by said, “Are you insulting the high priest of God?” 5 And Paul said, “I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest. For it is written, 'You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.'” 6 Then Paul, realizing that one part was Sadducees and the other Pharisees, shouted in the Sanhedrin, “Men, brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged.” 7 And when he said this, an argument happened between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the multitude was divided. 8 For Sadducees say there is no resurrection, nor angels or spirits, but Pharisees confess both. 9 So a great uproar happened, and arising, some of the scribes of the party of the Pharisees were contending, saying, “We find nothing evil in this man. And if a spirit spoke to him, or an angel …” 10 And when a great argument happened, the chiliarch, fearing lest Paul be torn apart by them, ordered the soldiers to go down to seize him from the midst of them and to bring him into the fortress. 11 But on the following night, the Lord, having stood beside him, said, “Be courageous, for as you have attested the things concerning me in Jerusalem, so it is necessary also for you to testify in Rome.” 12 And when day came, the Jews, making a conspiracy, cursed themselves, saying neither to eat nor to drink until they had killed Paul. 13 And the ones having made this conspiracy were more than 40, 14 who, going to the chief priests and the elders, said, “We have cursed ourselves with a curse, to eat nothing until we have killed Paul. 15 Now, therefore, you, with the Sanhedrin, appear to the chiliarch as if you are going to examine more thoroughly the things concerning him, so that he may bring him down to you. But we are ready to kill him before he arrives.” 16 But hearing the ambush, the son of the sister of Paul, going and entering into the fortress, reported it to Paul. 17 So calling one of the centurions, Paul said, “Take this young man to the chiliarch, for he has something to report to him.” 18 So taking him, he brought him to the chiliarch and says, “The prisoner, Paul, having summoned me, asked me to bring to you this young man having something to say to you.” 19 So the chiliarch, taking hold of his hand and withdrawing, was asking him in private, “What is it that you have to report to me?” 20 So he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask you that tomorrow you might bring Paul down to the Sanhedrin, as if they were going to investigate something about him more thoroughly. 21 Therefore may you not be persuaded by them, because from them more than 40 men wait in ambush for him, who have cursed themselves neither to eat nor to drink until they have killed him. Even now they are ready, waiting for the promise from you.” 22 So the chiliarch dismissed the young man, commanding him to tell no one that "you have reported these things to me.” 23 And summoning a certain two of the centurions, he said, “Prepare 200 soldiers and 70 horsemen and 200 spearmen so that they might go to Caesarea at the third hour of the night,” 24 and to provide animals so that, having set Paul on them, they may bring him safely to Felix the governor, 25 writing a letter, having this form: 26 “Claudius Lysias to the most excellent Governor Felix: Greetings. 27 This man, having been seized by the Jews and about to be killed by them, coming with a detachment of soldiers, I rescued, having learned that he was a Roman. 28 And wanting to know the charge with which they were accusing him, I took him down to their Sanhedrin, 29 whom I found being accused about questions of their law but having no accusation worthy of death or chains. 30 And when a plot that was to be against the man was revealed to me, immediately I sent him to you, also commanding the accusers to speak against him to you.” 31 So the soldiers, according to the thing having been commanded to them, taking Paul, brought him by night to Antipatris. 32 And on the next day they returned to the fortress, allowing the horsemen to go away with him, 33 who, entering into Caesarea and delivering the letter to the governor, also presented Paul to him. 34 And having read the letter and having asked what province he was from and having learned that {he was} from Cilicia, 35 he said, “I will hear you fully when your accusers may also come,” commanding him to be guarded in the palace of Herod. Chapter 24 1 And after five days, Ananias, the high priest, with certain elders and a certain orator, Tertullus, came down, who appeared to the governor against Paul. 2 And when he had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, “As we are obtaining great peace through you, and as reforms are happening for this people through your foresight 3 both in every way and everywhere, we receive {these things}, most excellent Felix, with all thankfulness. 4 But so that I may not detain you further, I ask you to listen to us briefly in your fairness. 5 For having found this man a pest and one inciting rebellion among all the Jews throughout the world and a leader of the sect of the Nazarenes, 6 who even tried to desecrate the temple, whom also we arrested— [1] [We wanted to judge him according to our law. 7[2] But Lysias, the chiliarch, coming with much force, took him away from our hands, 8[3] commanding his accusers to come to you.] from whom, having inquired about all these things, you yourself will be able to learn of what things we are accusing him.” 9 And the Jews also agreed, affirming these things to be thus. 10 And Paul answered, the governor having motioned for him to speak, “Knowing you to have been a judge to this nation for many years, I gladly make my defense about the things concerning me, 11 you being able to learn that it is not more than 12 days for me from when I went up to Jerusalem to worship, 12 and they found me neither in the temple arguing with anyone, nor causing a rebellion of the crowd, not in the synagogues, and not throughout the city, 13 and they are not able to prove {the things} to you about which they are now accusing me. 14 But I confess this to you, that according to the Way that they call a sect, thus I serve the fathers' God, being faithful to all the things according to the law and the things written in the Prophets, 15 having a hope in God that these themselves also accept, that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous. 16 In this I myself also strive to have a blameless conscience before God and men continually. 17 Now after many years I came to my nation bringing alms and offerings, 18 in which they found me in the temple, having been cleansed, not with a crowd, nor with an uproar. 19 But certain Jews from Asia—who ought to be present before you and make accusations if they have anything against me. 20 Or let these themselves say what wrong they found when I stood before the Sanhedrin, 21 {other} than regarding this one utterance that I shouted out standing among them, ‘Concerning the resurrection of the dead I am being judged by you today!’” 22 Then Felix, knowing more accurately the things concerning the Way, adjourned them, saying, “When Lysias the chiliarch may come down, I will decide the things concerning you,” 23 commanding the centurion to guard him and for him to have freedom and to forbid none of his own to minister to him. 24 But after some days Felix, returning with Drusilla, his own wife, being a Jewess, summoned Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ Jesus. 25 But as he was reasoning about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix, becoming frightened, answered, “Go away for now, but having found time, I will summon you,” 26 also hoping at the same time that money would be given to him by Paul, and therefore summoning him often, he was speaking with him. 27 But two years being fulfilled, Felix received a successor, Porcius Festus, and wanting to gain favor with the Jews, Felix left Paul bound. 24:6 [1] Some ancient manuscripts include the end of verse 6, verse 7, and the first part of verse 8. 24:7 [2] See the note on the previous verse. 24:8 [3] See the note on verse 6. Chapter 25 1 Now Festus, having set foot in the province, went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem after three days. 2 And the chief priests and the first of the Jews appeared to him against Paul, and they were begging him, 3 requesting a favor against him, that he might summon him to Jerusalem, making an ambush to kill him along the way. 4 Then Festus answered that Paul was being held at Caesarea but that he himself was about to depart soon. 5 He said, “Therefore, the powerful among you, having come down together, if there is something wrong with the man, let them accuse him.” 6 And having stayed with them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea. On the next day, having sat in the judgment seat, he commanded Paul to be brought. 7 And when he had come, the Jews having come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges that they were not able to prove, 8 as Paul was saying in defense, “Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I committed any sin.” 9 But Festus, wanting to lay down a favor for the Jews, answering Paul, said, “Are you willing, having gone up to Jerusalem, to be judged before me there about these things?” 10 But Paul said, “I am standing before the judgment seat of Caesar, where it is necessary for me to be judged. I have done no harm to the Jews, as you also know very well. 11 Therefore, if I am doing harm and have done something worthy of death, I do not refuse to die. But if {the things} of which they are accusing me are nothing, no one is able to give me to them as a favor. I appeal to Caesar!” 12 Then Festus, having spoken with the council, answered, “To Caesar you have appealed, to Caesar you will go!” 13 Now after some days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice, having come down to Caesarea, greeted Festus. 14 And as they were staying there for many days, Festus presented to the king the things concerning Paul, saying, “A certain man has been left a prisoner by Felix, 15 about whom, when I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews appeared, requesting a judgment against him. 16 to whom I replied that the custom of the Romans is not to give any man as a favor before the one being accused may have the accusers by face and receive an opportunity of a defense concerning the accusation. 17 Therefore, when they had come together here, causing no delay, the next day, having sat in the judgment seat, I commanded the man to be brought, 18 about whom the accusers, having stood up, brought no charge of the evils that I was expecting. 19 Instead, they were having certain disputes with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, having died, whom Paul asserted to be alive. 20 And I, doubting the investigation about these things, asked if he might be willing to go to Jerusalem and be judged there about these things. 21 But when Paul appealed that he be kept for the decision of the August one, I commanded him to be kept until I might send him to Caesar.” 22 And Agrippa {replied} to Festus, “I myself was also wanting to hear this man.” “Tomorrow,” he says, “you will hear him.” 23 So on the next day, Agrippa and Bernice having come with much ceremony and having entered into the hall with both chiliarchs and men of distinction of the city, then, having been commanded by Festus, Paul was brought. 24 And Festus said, “King Agrippa and all the men being present with us, you see this one concerning whom the whole multitude of the Jews petitioned me both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. 25 But I learned that he had done nothing worthy of death. But this one himself having appealed to the August one, I decided to send him, 26 about whom I do not have anything definite to write to the lord. Therefore I have brought him before you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that, the examination having happened, I might have something that I might write. 27 For it seems unreasonable to me, sending a prisoner and not to signify the charges against him.” Chapter 26 1 And Agrippa said to Paul, “It is permitted to you to speak about yourself.” Then Paul, stretching out {his} hand, was defending himself: 2 “Concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, King Agrippa, I consider myself blessed to be about to defend myself before you today, 3 especially you being an expert in all the customs and controversies among the Jews. So I ask you to hear me patiently. 4 Indeed, then, all the Jews know the manner of my life from my youth, having happened from the beginning in my nation and in Jerusalem, 5 knowing me from the beginning, if they wished to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived as a Pharisee. 6 And now I stand here being judged because of hope of the promise made to our fathers by God, 7 to which our 12 tribes hope to attain, serving in earnestness night and day, concerning which hope I am being accused by the Jews, O King. 8 Why is it judged unbelievable among you if God raises the dead? 9 Indeed, for myself, I thought it to be necessary to do many things opposed to the name of Jesus the Nazarene, 10 which I did even in Jerusalem, and I even locked up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were being executed, I cast my vote against them. 11 And often punishing them in all the synagogues, I forced them to blaspheme, and being greatly enraged against them, I persecuted them even as far as to other cities, 12 in which things, traveling to Damascus with authority and a commission from the chief priests, 13 in the middle of the day, along the road, I saw, O King, a light from heaven, beyond the brightness of the sun, shining around me and the ones traveling with me. 14 And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against a goad.’ 15 And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 16 But get up and stand on your feet, because for this I have appeared to you, to appoint you a servant and a witness both of the things in which you have seen me and of the things in which I will be shown to you, 17 rescuing you from the people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, 18 to open their eyes to turn from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God, for them to receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among the ones having been sanctified by faith in me.’ 19 Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but first to the ones in Damascus and also in Jerusalem and the whole region of Judea and to the Gentiles I declared to repent and turn to God, doing deeds worthy of repentance. 21 Because of these things, the Jews, having seized me in the temple, were trying to kill me. 22 Therefore, having received help from God up to this day, I stand, testifying to both small and great, saying nothing except the things that both the prophets and Moses said were going to happen— 23 if the Christ would be a sufferer, if he, the first from the resurrection of the dead, was going to proclaim light both to the people and to the Gentiles.” 24 And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus says in a loud voice, “Paul, you are insane! Great learning is turning you to insanity.” 25 But Paul says, “I am not insane, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking words of truth and of sanity. 26 For the king knows about these things—to whom indeed, speaking boldly, I am talking—for I am not persuaded at all that any of these things eludes him, for this has not been done in a corner. 27 Do you believe the prophets, King Agrippa? I know that you believe.” 28 But Agrippa said to Paul, “In little are you persuading me to make me a Christian?” 29 But Paul replied, “I would wish to God, either in little or in much, that not only you but also all the ones hearing me today would become such as I also am—without these chains.” 30 Then the king got up, and the governor and Bernice and the ones sitting with them, 31 and having left, they were talking to one another, saying, “This man is not doing anything worthy of death or of chains.” 32 And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man was able to have been released if he had not appealed to Caesar.” Chapter 27 1 And when it was decided for us to sail to Italy, they were delivering both Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion, Julius by name, of the Augustan regiment. 2 And having boarded a ship from Adramyttium being about to sail to places along Asia, we put to sea, Aristarchus, a Macedonian, a Thessalonian, being with us. 3 And on the next day, we came down to Sidon, and Julius, treating Paul kindly, allowed him, going to {his} friends, to receive {their} care. 4 And from there, having put to sea, we sailed under Cyprus because the winds were contrary. 5 And having sailed across the sea along Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came down to Myra of Lycia. 6 And there, the centurion having found an Alexandrian ship sailing to Italy, he put us on it. 7 And sailing slowly for many days and having arrived with difficulty near Cnidus, the wind not permitting us further, we sailed along Crete opposite Salmone. 8 And sailing along it with difficulty, we came to a certain place called Fair Havens, which was near the city of Lasea. 9 But much time having passed, and the voyage already being dangerous because even the fast had already passed, Paul was warning them, 10 saying to them, “Men, I see that the voyage is about to be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” 11 But the centurion was being persuaded more by the pilot and by the captain than by the things being spoken by Paul. 12 But the harbor being unsuitable for wintering, the majority gave counsel to sail from there, if somehow they might be able to come down to Phoenix, a harbor in Crete looking according to the southwest wind and according to the northwest wind, to winter there. 13 And as a south wind was blowing gently, thinking to have obtained {their} purpose, having raised {the anchor}, they were sailing along close to Crete. 14 But after not long, a tempestuous wind called Eurakylon rushed down from it. 15 And the ship having been seized and not being able to face into the wind, having given way, we were driven along. 16 But running under a certain island called Cauda, we were able with difficulty to become controllers of the lifeboat, 17 which having hoisted up, they were using helps, undergirding the ship. And fearing lest they might fall into the Syrtis, lowering the gear, thus they were being driven along. 18 But we being exceedingly storm-tossed, on the next day they were doing a jettison. 19 And on the third day they threw the equipment of the ship {overboard} with their own hands. 20 But neither sun nor stars appearing for many days, and no small storm lying upon us, all hope for us to be saved was finally being taken away. 21 And as there had been much abstinence, then Paul, having stood up in the midst of them, said, “O men, it was indeed necessary, obeying me, not to put to sea from Crete and to avoid this damage and loss. 22 But now I urge you to take courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, only of the ship. 23 For this night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me, 24 saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. It is necessary for you to stand before Caesar, and behold, God has graciously granted to you all the ones sailing with you.’ 25 Therefore take courage, men! For I trust in God that it will be thus, according to the way it was told to me. 26 But it is necessary for us to fall upon some island.” 27 And when the fourteenth night happened, as we were being driven about in the Hadria, around the middle of the night the sailors were suspecting some land to be approaching them. 28 And taking soundings, they found 20 fathoms, but having gone a little farther and taking soundings again, they found 15 fathoms. 29 And fearing lest we might fall upon a rugged place somewhere, having lowered four anchors from the stern, they were praying for day to come. 30 But as the sailors were seeking to flee from the ship, and as they had lowered the lifeboat into the sea on a pretext as if intending to lower anchors from the bow, 31 Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “If these do not stay in the ship, you are not able to be saved.” 32 Then the soldiers cut the ropes of the lifeboat and let it fall away. 33 And until day was about to come, Paul was urging them all to take food, saying, “Anxiously waiting for a fourteenth day today, you are continuing fasting, having eaten nothing. 34 Therefore, I urge you to take food, for this is for your salvation. For a hair from the head of none of you will perish.” 35 And having said this and having taken bread, he gave thanks to God before everyone and, having broken bread, he began to eat. 36 And they were all encouraged and took food themselves. 37 Now we, all the souls in the ship, were 276. 38 And having been satisfied with food, they were lightening the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea. 39 And when day came, they were not recognizing the land, but they were noticing a certain bay having a beach, onto which they were discussing whether they might be able to drive the ship. 40 And having cut loose the anchors, they left them in the sea. At the same time, having loosened the bands of the rudders and having raised the topsail to the wind, they were heading to the beach. 41 But having fallen into a place between two seas, the ship ran aground, and the bow of the ship, having stuck there, remained immovable, but the stern was being loosed by the violence. 42 Now the plan of the soldiers was that they would kill the prisoners, lest any, swimming away, might escape. 43 But the centurion, wanting to save Paul, stopped their plan, and he commanded the ones being able to swim to depart first to the land, jumping overboard, 44 and the rest, some on planks, and some on certain things from the ship, and in this way it happened that all were brought safely to the land. Chapter 28 1 And having been brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta. 2 And the barbarians were offering no ordinary benevolence to us, for, lighting a fire because of the impending rain and because of the cold, they welcomed us all. 3 But when Paul had gathered a certain quantity of sticks and had placed them on the fire, a viper, coming out from the heat, seized his hand. 4 And as the barbarians saw the creature hanging from his hand, they were saying to one another, “This man is certainly a murderer, whom, having been saved from the sea, Justice has not permitted to live.” 5 Then he, shaking off the creature into the fire, suffered no harm. 6 But they were expecting him to begin to be inflamed or suddenly to fall down dead. But as they watched for a long time and saw nothing unusual happening to him, turning themselves around, they said he was a god. 7 Now in the {areas} around that place were lands of the first of the island, Publius by name, who, welcoming us, kindly entertained us for three days. 8 And it happened that the father of Publius was lying sick, being afflicted with fevers and dysentery, to whom having gone in and having prayed, having placed {his} hands on him, Paul healed him. 9 And this having happened, the others on the island having sicknesses were also coming and being healed. 10 They also honored us with many honors, and they gave to us as we were putting to sea the things for {our} needs. 11 And after three months, we put to sea in an Alexandrian ship with a Dioscouri figurehead having wintered at the island. 12 And having come down to Syracuse, we stayed for three days. 13 Having sailed from there, we came down to Rhegium, and after one day, a south wind having occurred, we came to Puteoli the next day, 14 where, having found brothers, we were begged to stay with them for seven days, and thus we went towards Rome. 15 From there, the brothers, having heard the things about us, came to a meeting with us as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns, whom seeing, Paul, thanking God, took courage. 16 And when we entered into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself with the soldier guarding him. 17 And it happened that after three days, he called together the ones being first among the Jews. And when they had come together, he said to them, “Men, brothers, having done nothing opposed to the people or to the fathers' customs, I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans, 18 who, having questioned me, were intending to release me because there was no reason in me for death. 19 But as the Jews were objecting, I was forced to appeal to Caesar—not as if having anything {of which} to accuse my nation. 20 Therefore for this reason I summoned you, to see and to speak with you. For on account of the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.” 21 But they said to him, “We have not received letters from Judea about you, nor have any of the brothers, coming, reported or said anything evil about you. 22 But we value to hear from you what you think, for concerning this sect, it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere.” 23 And having appointed a day for him, more came to him at his lodging, to whom he was explaining, testifying about the kingdom of God and persuading them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and the Prophets from morning until evening. 24 And while some were convinced by the things being said, others still did not believe. 25 And being discordant with one another, they were leaving, Paul having spoken one word, “The Holy Spirit spoke well through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, 26 saying, ‘Go to this people and say, “By hearing you will hear but you will not understand at all, and seeing you will see but you will not perceive at all.”’ 27 For the heart of this people has been thickened, and with {their} ears they have hardly heard, and they have shut their eyes, lest they might see with {their} eyes, and they might hear with {their} ears, and they might understand with {their} heart and turn back, and I would heal them.' 28 Therefore, let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear.” 29[1] [And when he had said these things, the Jews went away, having a great dispute among themselves.] 30 And he stayed for two whole years in his own rented house, and he was welcoming all the ones coming in to him, 31 proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching the things about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, without hindrance. 28:29 [1] Some ancient manuscripts include verse 29. Romans Chapter 1 1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, a called apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand by his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son—who was born from a seed of David according to the flesh, 4 who was designated the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection of dead ones—Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we received grace and apostleship for obedience of faith among all the Gentiles, for the sake of his name, 6 among whom you also are called ones of Jesus Christ. 7 To all those being in Rome, beloved of God, called saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ concerning all of you, because your faith is being proclaimed in the whole world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of his Son, how I continually make mention of you, 10 always requesting in my prayers if somehow now at last I will be successful by the will of God to come to you. 11 For I long to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gracious gift to strengthen you, 12 and that is to be mutually encouraged with you through each other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 Now I do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, that I often intended to come to you (but I was hindered until now), so that I might have some fruit among you also, just as also among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise ones and to foolish ones. 15 So, as it depends on me, {I am} eager to proclaim the gospel also to you who {are} in Rome. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, both to the Jew first and to the Greek. 17 For the righteousness of God is revealed in it from faith to faith, just as it is written, “But the righteous one will live by faith.” 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who in unrighteousness are holding back the truth, 19 because that which {is} known about God is visible to them, for God made it visible to them. 20 For his invisible qualities, both his eternal power and divine nature, are clearly seen from the creation of the world, being understood by the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For having known God, they did not glorify {him} as God, nor did they give {him} thanks. Instead, they became futile in their thoughts, and their senseless heart was darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise ones, they became foolish, 23 and exchanged the glory of the imperishable God for a likeness of an image of perishable man, and of birds, and of four-footed beasts, and of creeping things. 24 Therefore, God gave them over to the lusts of their hearts for uncleanness, to dishonor their bodies among themselves; 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie and worshiped and served the creation instead of the Creator, who is blessed to eternity. Amen. 26 For this reason, God gave them over to passions of dishonor, for both their females exchanged the natural use for that {which is} contrary to nature, 27 and likewise, the males also, having left the natural use of the female, burned in their lust for one another, male with male producing shameless acts and receiving in themselves the penalty which was necessary for their perversion. 28 And just as they did not approve of having God in their full awareness, God gave them over to a disapproved mind, to do those things that are not proper, 29 filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, {and} malice, they are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, {and} evil intent. {They are} gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 senseless, faithless, heartless, {and} merciless. 32 Who, having fully known the righteous decree of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do these things, but they also give consent to those who practice them. Chapter 2 1 Therefore, you are without excuse, O man—everyone judging—for in that which you judge the other you condemn yourself; for you, the one judging practice the same things. 2 Now we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. 3 But do you think this, O man, the one judging the ones practicing such things and you are doing the same things, that you will escape from the judgment of God? 4 Or do you scorn the wealth of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? 5 But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up for yourself wrath on the day of wrath and of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who will pay back to each one according to his deeds: 7 Indeed, eternal life to those who, according to endurance of good work, are seeking glory and honor and incorruptibility, 8 but to those who from selfish ambition are indeed being disobedient to the truth and becoming obedient to unrighteousness, wrath and anger. 9 Tribulation and distress {will be} on every soul of man that produces the evil, both to the Jew first and to the Greek. 10 But glory and honor and peace will be to everyone who works the good, both to the Jew first and to the Greek. 11 For there is no favoritism with God. 12 For as many as have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and as many as have sinned with the law will be judged by the law. 13 For the hearers of the law {are} not righteous with God, but the doers of the law will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature the things of the law, they, not having the law, are a law to themselves, 15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, the thoughts between themselves both accusing or even defending them 16 on the day when God will judge the secrets of men, according to my gospel, through Christ Jesus. 17 But if you name yourself a Jew and rely upon the law and boast in God, 18 and know his will and approve of the things that are excellent, being instructed from the law; 19 and you have convinced yourself that you are a guide to blind men, a light to those in darkness, 20 an instructor of foolish men, a teacher of little children, having in the law the form of the knowledge and of the truth, 21 then you, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You, who preach not to steal, do you steal? 22 You, who says not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You, who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You, who boast in the law, do you dishonor God through the transgression of the law? 24 For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” just as it is written. 25 For circumcision indeed benefits if you practice the law, but if you are a transgressor of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26 If, then, the uncircumcision keeps the requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be considered as circumcision? 27 And the uncircumcision by nature, fulfilling the law, will judge you who {are}, through letter and circumcision, a transgressor of the law! 28 For he is not a Jew who {is} one visibly; neither is this circumcision visible in the flesh. 29 But the one who {is} secretly a Jew, and circumcision of the heart in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose the praise {is} not from men but from God. Chapter 3 1 What then {is} the advantage of the Jew, or what {is} the benefit of the circumcision? 2 Great in every way! For indeed first, that they were entrusted with the sayings of God. 3 For what if some were unfaithful? Their unfaithfulness will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? 4 May it never be! Instead, let God be true, but every man a liar. Just as it is written, “So that you might be justified in your words and you will prevail when you are judged.” 5 But if our unrighteousness commends the righteousness of God, what will we say? God {is} not unrighteous for imposing his wrath, {is he}? (I speak according to men.) 6 May it never be! Otherwise, how will God judge the world? 7 But if the truth of God through my lie abounds to his glory, why am I still being judged as a sinner? 8 And not (just as we are blasphemed and just as some affirm us to say), “Let us do the evil things, so that the good things may come”?—whose judgment is just. 9 What then? Are we better off? Not at all. For we have already accused both Jews and Greeks, all of them, of being under sin. 10 Just as it is written: “There is none righteous, not even one. 11 There is none who understands. There is none who seeks out God. 12 All of them turned away. They together became useless. There is none doing kindness—there is not even one.” 13 “Their throat {is} an opened grave. They keep deceiving with their tongues. The poison of asps {is} under their lips,” 14 “whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet {are} swift to pour out blood. 16 Destruction and suffering {are} in their ways. 17 And they do not know a way of peace.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” 19 Now we know that as many things as the law says, it speaks to those with the law, so that every mouth may be shut and all the world may become accountable to God 20 because not any flesh will be justified by works of law before him; for full awareness of sin {is} through law. 21 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been made visible, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets; 22 but the righteousness of God {is} through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe, for there is no distinction. 23 For all sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that {is} in Christ Jesus; 25 whom God presented {as} a propitiation through faith in his blood for a demonstration of his righteousness, because of the overlooking of the sins that happened previously 26 in the forbearance of God, for the demonstration of his righteousness at this present time, so that he could be just, and justifying the one who {is} from faith in Jesus. 27 Where then {is} the boasting? It is excluded. Through what kind of law? Of the works? No! But through a law of faith. 28 For we reckon a man to be justified by faith apart from works of the law. 29 Or {is he} God of Jews only? {Is he} not also of Gentiles? Yes, also of Gentiles, 30 if, indeed, God {is} one, who will justify the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through the {same} faith. 31 Do we then nullify the law through the {same} faith? May it never be! Instead, we uphold the law. Chapter 4 1 What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has discovered? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has a boast, but not before God. 3 For what does the scripture say? “And Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, the wage is not counted according to grace, but according to obligation. 5 Now to the one who does not work, but who believes on the one who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness. 6 Even as David also speaks {of} the blessedness of the man to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: 7 “Blessed {are those} whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. 8 Blessed {is} a man whose sin the Lord does certainly not count.” 9 Then {is} this blessedness upon the circumcision, or also upon the uncircumcision? For we say, “His faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness.” 10 How then was it counted? Being in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? {It was} not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. 11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith that {he had} in his uncircumcision so that he would be the father of all those who believe through uncircumcision, so that the righteousness would be counted to them; 12 and the father of circumcision to those who {are} not only from the circumcision, but to those who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham in uncircumcision. 13 For the promise to Abraham or to his seed that he would be heir of the world {was} not through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if the heirs {are} from the law, the faith has been emptied, and the promise has been nullified. 15 For the law produces wrath, but where there is no law, neither {is there} transgression. 16 For this reason {it is} by faith in order that according to grace, so that the promise might be certain to all the seed—not only to the one from the law, but also to the one from the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 just as it is written, “I have appointed you the father of many nations,” in the presence of God whom he trusted, who makes the dead ones live and calls the things not existing as existing; 18 who against hope believed on the basis of hope, so that he might become the father of many nations, according to what {was} said, “So will your seed be.” 19 And not weakening in the faith, he considered his own body as already being dead (being about a hundred years old)—and the deadness of the womb of Sarah. 20 But toward the promise of God, he did not waver in the unbelief, but was strengthened in the faith, having given glory to God, 21 and having been fully convinced that what he had promised, he is also able to do. 22 And therefore, “it was counted to him as righteousness.” 23 Now it was not written only for his sake, “It was counted to him,” 24 but also for our sake, to whom it is about to be counted, to those who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead ones, 25 who was given up for the sake of our trespasses and was raised for the sake of our justification. Chapter 5 1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, let us have peace [1] with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we also have access by this faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast on the basis of hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only this, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that this suffering produces endurance; 4 and this endurance, character; and this character, hope. 5 And that hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who was given to us. 6 For we still being weak, yet at the right time Christ died on behalf of ungodly ones. 7 For someone will hardly die on behalf of a righteous {person}. Perhaps, though, someone might even dare to die on behalf of the good {person}. 8 But God commends his own love toward us, in that, we still being sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by his blood, we will be saved through him from the wrath. 10 For if, being enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. 11 Not only this, but we also are boasting in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we now have received the reconciliation. 12 For this reason, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and through sin, death, so also death spread to all men because of which all sinned. 13 For until law, sin was in the world, but sin is not charged, being no law. 14 Nevertheless, death ruled from Adam until Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a pattern of the one who is coming. 15 But not like the trespass, so also {is} the gracious gift. For if by the trespass of the one the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gift by grace that {is} of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many! 16 And the gift {is} not as through one who sinned. For indeed, the judgment from one, to condemnation, but the gracious gift from many trespasses, to justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one, death ruled through the one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of the grace and the gift of the righteousness rule in life through the one, Jesus Christ. 18 So then, as through one trespass to all men {led} to condemnation, so also through one righteous act to all men {led} to justification of life. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one will the many be made righteous ones. 20 Now the law slipped in so that the trespass might increase. But where the sin increased, the grace abounded even more 21 so that just as sin ruled in death, so also grace might rule through righteousness to everlasting life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 5:1 [1] Instead of let us have, some ancient manuscripts read we have. Chapter 6 1 What then will we say? Should we continue in the sin so that the grace might increase? 2 May it never be! We who died to sin, how will we still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried, then, with him through the baptism into his death so that just as Christ was raised from dead ones through the glory of the Father, so also we in newness of life might walk. 5 For if we have become planted together in the likeness of his death, we will also certainly become {part of} the resurrection; 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified together {with him}, in order that the body of sin might be nullified, {for it} to no longer enslave us to the sin. 7 For the one who died has been freed from the sin. 8 But if we died together with Christ, we believe that we will also live together with him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from dead ones, no longer dies; death no longer is lord over him. 10 For that which he died, he died to sin once and never again. But that which he lives, he lives to God. 11 In the same way, you also must consider yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore, do not let sin rule in your mortal body, in order to obey its lusts. 13 And do not keep presenting your members {as} tools of unrighteousness to sin. But present yourselves to God, as living from dead ones, and your members {as} tools of righteousness to God. 14 For sin must not be lord over you, for you are not under law, but under grace. 15 What then? Should we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? May it never be! 16 Do you not know that to what you keep presenting yourselves {as} slaves for obedience, you become slaves to what you obey—whether of sin {leading} to death, or of obedience {leading} to righteousness? 17 But thanks {be} to God that you were slaves of sin, but you listened from the heart to the pattern of teaching that you were given over to. 18 And having been freed from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness. 19 I speak as a man because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to uncleanness and to more and more lawlessness, so now present your members {as} slaves to righteousness {leading} to sanctification. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free with respect to righteousness. 21 So what fruit were you then having because of which things you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things {is} death. 22 But now, having been freed from sin and having been enslaved to God, you have your fruit {leading} to sanctification, and the outcome {is} eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin {is} death, but the gracious gift of God {is} eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Chapter 7 1 Or do you not know, brothers (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law is lord of the man for as long as he lives? 2 For the married woman remains bound by law to the living husband, but if the husband dies, she has been released from the law of the husband. 3 So then, the husband being alive, if she becomes {married} to another husband, she will be titled an adulteress. But if the husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress, having become {married} to another husband. 4 So then, my brothers, you yourselves were also made dead to the law through the body of Christ so that you might become {married} to another, to the one who was raised from dead ones, in order that we might produce fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions that {were} through the law were working in our members to produce fruit for death. 6 But now we have been released from the law, having died to that by which we were being held, so that we might serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. 7 What then will we say? {Is} the law sin? May it never be! But I would not have known sin, if not through the law. For I would not have known the covetousness unless the law said, “You will not covet.” 8 But sin, having taken opportunity through the commandment, produced all covetousness in me. For apart from law, sin {is} dead. 9 Now at one time I was alive without law, but the commandment having come, sin came to life again, 10 and I died. And the commandment that {was} for life, it was found {to be} for death to me. 11 For sin, having taken the opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it, killed {me}. 12 So then, the law {is} indeed holy, and the commandment {is} holy and righteous and good. 13 Therefore, did what {is} good become death to me? May it never be! But sin, in order that it might be shown {to be} sin through what {is} good, producing death in me, so that through the commandment, sin might become sinful beyond measure. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I myself am fleshly, sold into slavery under sin. 15 For what I produce, I do not understand. For what I do not want, this I practice. But what I hate, this I do. 16 But if what I do not want, this I do, I agree with the law that {it is} good. 17 But now no longer I myself produce it, but the sin living in me! 18 For I know that there does not live in me, (that is, in my flesh), good. For the wanting is present in me, but the producing of the good {is} not. 19 For I do not do the good I want; but the evil I do not want, this I practice. 20 Now if what I do not want, this I do, I myself no longer produce it, but the sin living in me. 21 I find, then, this law: in me the one wanting to do good, that evil is present in me. 22 For I delight in the law of God with the inner man. 23 But I see a different law in my members fighting against the law of my mind and taking me captive by the law of the sin that exists in my members. 24 I am a miserable man! Who will rescue me from the body of this death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve with the mind the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. Chapter 8 1 {There is} therefore now no condemnation at all for those who {are} in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law {was} unable {to do}, in that it was weak through the flesh, God {did}, having sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for the sake of sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the righteous deeds of the law might be fulfilled in us, those walking not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 5 For those existing according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those according to the Spirit, {on} the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mindset of the flesh {is} death, but the mindset of the Spirit {is} life and peace; 7 because the mindset of the flesh {is} hostility toward God, for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not able {to do so}. 8 But those existing in the flesh are not able to be pleasing to God. 9 However, you yourselves are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, since indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. But if someone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this one is not of him. 10 But if Christ {is} in you, the body {is} dead because of sin, but the Spirit {is} life because of righteousness. 11 If indeed the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from dead ones lives in you, the one who raised Christ Jesus from dead ones will also make alive your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. 12 So then, brothers, we are debtors—not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the practices of the body, you will live. 14 For as many as are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. 15 For you did not receive again a spirit of slavery {leading} to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by which we cry out, “Abba, Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. 17 Now if children, {then} also heirs: both heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer together with {him} so that we may also be glorified together with {him}. 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time {are} not worthy {to be compared} with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. 19 For the eager expectation of the creation is eagerly expecting the revelation of the sons of God. 20 For to the futility the creation was subjected, not willingly, but because of the one who subjected it, on the basis of hope 21 that also the creation itself will be freed from the slavery of the decay into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that all the creation groans and labors in pain together until now. 23 Not only that, but also we, having the firstfruit of the Spirit—even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly expecting our adoption, the redemption of our body. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope being seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with endurance we are eagerly expecting {it}. 26 Now in the same way, the Spirit also helps in our weakness. For the thing for which we should pray as we ought, we do not know, but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groans. 27 But the one who searches the hearts knows what {is} the mindset of the Spirit, because he intercedes on behalf of the saints in accordance with God. 28 And we know that for those who love God, God works all things together for good, [1] for those who are called ones according to his purpose. 29 Because those whom he foreknew, he also predestined {to be} a similar form to the image of his Son so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 Now those whom he predestined, these he also called. And those whom he called, these he also justified. And those whom he justified, these he also glorified. 31 What then will we say to these things? If God {is} for us, who {is} against us? 32 He who indeed did not spare his own Son but gave him up on behalf of us all, how will he not also with him freely give us all things? 33 Who will bring an accusation against God’s elect? God {is} the one who justifies. 34 Who {is} the one who condemns? Christ Jesus {is} the one who died—but more {than that}, he was raised [2] who also is at the right hand of God—who also intercedes on our behalf. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? [3] Tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or hunger, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 Just as it is written, “For your sake we are being put to death the whole day {long}. We were considered as sheep for slaughter.” 37 But in all these things we are more than conquerors through the one who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor governments, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which {is} in Christ Jesus our Lord. 8:28 [1] Instead of God works all things together for good, some older versions read all things work together for good. 8:34 [2] Some ancient manuscripts add from the dead, 8:35 [3] Instead of of Christ, some ancient manuscripts read of God Chapter 9 1 I speak truth in Christ. I do not lie—my conscience bearing witness with me in the Holy Spirit— 2 that for me there is great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart. 3 For I could wish myself to be accursed, {separated} from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race according to the flesh; 4 who are Israelites, of whom {is} the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the law-giving, and the service, and the promises; 5 of whom {are} the fathers, and from whom {is} the Christ—(that {is}, according to the flesh)—the one who {is} over all, blessed God to eternity. Amen. 6 But {it is} not such a thing that the word of God has failed. For not all the ones from Israel, these {are} Israel. 7 Neither that all the children are seed of Abraham. But, “In Isaac your seed will be called.” 8 That is, the children of the flesh, these {are} not children of God. But the children of the promise are considered as seed. 9 For this {is} the word of promise: “At this time I will come, and a son will be to Sarah.” 10 Now, not only this, but Rebekah also having conceived from one {man}, our father Isaac— 11 for not yet having been born, nor indeed having done anything good or bad, so that the purpose of God according to election might endure, 12 not by works, but by the one who calls—it was said to her, “The older will be enslaved to the younger.” 13 {It is} just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” 14 What then will we say? {There is} no unrighteousness with God{, is there}? May it never be! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy {on} whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion {on} whomever I will have compassion.” 16 So then, {it is} not of the one who wills, nor of the one who runs, but of God, who has mercy. 17 For the scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very {purpose} I raised you up: so that I might demonstrate my power in you, and so that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then, he has mercy on whom he wills, but whom he wills, he hardens. 19 You will say then to me, “Why then does he still find fault? For who has ever withstood his will?” 20 O man, who indeed are you, the one answering against God? The one molded will not say to the one having molded {it}, “Why did you make me this way?” will it? 21 Or does the potter not have authority over the clay to make from the same lump not only what {is} a vessel for honor, but also what {is} for dishonor? 22 But {what} if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction; 23 and so that he might make known the wealth of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us whom he called, not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles? 25 As he says also in Hosea: “I will call those {who were} not my people, ‘my people,’ and the one not loved, ‘Beloved.’ 26 And it will be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘You {are} not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’” 27 But Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “Though the number of the sons of Israel might be as the sand of the sea, the remnant will be saved, 28 for the Lord will carry out his word on the earth, finishing {it} and cutting {it} short.” 29 And just as Isaiah has said beforehand, “If the Lord of hosts did not leave us a seed, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been made like Gomorrah.” 30 What then will we say? That the Gentiles, who are not pursuing righteousness, obtained righteousness, but righteousness that {is} by faith. 31 But Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not attain {it} through the law. 32 Why? Because {it was} not by faith, but as by works. They stumbled over the stone of stumbling, 33 just as it is written, “Behold, I place in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and the one who believes on it will not be ashamed.” Chapter 10 1 Brothers, the good pleasure of my heart and my prayer to God {is} on behalf of them for salvation. 2 For I testify about them that they have a zeal of God, but not according to full knowledge. 3 For not knowing about the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit themselves to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ {is} the completion of the law for righteousness for everyone who believes. 5 For Moses writes {about} the righteousness that {is} from the law: “The man who does these things will live by it.” 6 But the righteousness by faith says thus, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down); 7 or, “Who will descend into the abyss?” (that is, to bring Christ up from dead ones). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.” This is the word of faith, which we proclaim. 9 For if with your mouth you confess, “Jesus {is} Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from dead ones, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses to salvation. 11 For the scripture says, “Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord {is} of all, being rich to all who call on him. 13 For “all, whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How then would they call on whom they have not believed? And how would they believe in whom they have not heard? And how would they hear without someone preaching? 15 And how would they preach, unless they would be sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful {are} the feet of those who proclaim good news {of} good things!” 16 But not all of them obeyed to the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” 17 So this faith {is} by hearing, and this hearing through the word of Christ. [1] 18 But I say, “Did they certainly not hear?” Yes, indeed. “Their sound went out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.” 19 But I say, “Did Israel certainly not know?” First Moses says, “I myself will provoke you to jealousy by a non-nation; by means of a senseless nation, I will provoke you to anger.” 20 Now Isaiah is very bold and he says, “I was found by those who were not seeking me; I appeared to those who were not asking for me.” 21 But to Israel he says, “The whole day I stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contradictory people.” 10:17 [1] Instead of Christ, some ancient manuscripts read God. Chapter 11 1 I say then, God did not reject his people, did he? May it never be! For I myself also am an Israelite, from the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Or do you not know what the scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? 3 “Lord, they killed your prophets, they tore down your altars, and I alone was left behind, and they seek my life.” 4 But what does the divine response say to him? “I have reserved for myself 7,000 men who have not bent a knee to Baal.” 5 In the same way, then, at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 6 But if by grace, {it is} no longer by works. Otherwise this grace becomes no longer grace. [1] 7 What then? The thing Israel diligently seeks, this it did not obtain, but the elect obtained, and the rest {of them} were hardened, 8 just as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of dullness, eyes not to see, and ears not to hear, until this very day.” 9 And David says, “Let their table become for a net and for a trap, and for a stumbling block and for a retribution to them. 10 Let their eyes be darkened to not see, and make their backs bend continually.” 11 I say then, “They did not stumble so that they might fall, did they?” May it never be! Instead, by their transgression, this salvation {is} to the Gentiles, in order to provoke them to jealousy. 12 Now if their transgression {is} wealth of the world, and their loss {is} wealth of the Gentiles, how much more {will} their fullness {be}? 13 Now I am speaking to you the Gentiles. As much therefore as I myself am an apostle to the Gentiles, I glorify my ministry, 14 if somehow I might provoke to jealousy {those who are} of my {own} flesh and might save some from them. 15 For if their rejection {is} reconciliation of the world, what {is their} acceptance if not life from dead ones? 16 Now if the firstfruit {is} holy, the lump {of dough} also. And if the root {is} holy, the branches also. 17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive branch, were grafted into them, and became partakers with them of the richness of the root of the olive tree, 18 do not boast over the branches. But if you boast, you yourself do not support the root, but the root, you. 19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I myself might be grafted in.” 20 {That is} true. They were broken off in unbelief, but you yourself stand firm in faith. Do not think arrogant things, but fear! 21 For if God did not spare of the natural branches, neither will he spare of you. 22 See, then, the kindness and the severity of God: severity on those who fell, but kindness of God on you, if you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you yourself also will be cut off. 23 But those, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in. For God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if you from what {is} by nature a wild olive tree were cut off, and contrary to nature were grafted into a good olive tree, how much more will these, who {are} according to nature, be grafted back into their own olive tree? 25 For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, in order that you might not be wise in yourselves, that a partial hardening has occurred in Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; 26 and thus all Israel will be saved, just as it is written: “From Zion will come the Deliverer. He will turn away ungodly things from Jacob. 27 And this {will be} for them the covenant with me, when I take away their sins.” 28 Indeed, according to the gospel, {they are} enemies for your sake, but according to election, {they are} beloved for the sake of their forefathers. 29 For the gracious gifts and the calling of God {are} without regret. 30 For just as you yourselves were formerly disobedient to God, but now were shown mercy in the disobedience of these, 31 thus also, these now were disobedient in your mercy so that they might also now be shown mercy. 32 For God shut up all {people} into disobedience, in order that he might show mercy on all the {people}. 33 O, the depth of the wealth and the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable {are} his judgments, and his ways beyond discovering! 34 For, “Who has known the mind of the Lord or who has become his advisor?” 35 Or, “Who gave to him, that he should be repaid by him?” 36 For from him and through him and to him {are} all things. To him {be} the glory to the ages. Amen. 11:6 [1] Some old copies add But if it is by works, then is it no more grace; otherwise work is no more work. Chapter 12 1 I urge you therefore, brothers, by the compassions of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, well-pleasing to God, which {is} your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of the mind, so that you can approve what {is} the good and well-pleasing and perfect will of God. 3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you to not think more highly of himself than what he ought to think, but to think with sound mind, as God has distributed to each one a measure of faith. 4 For just as we have many members in one body, but not all the members have the same function, 5 in the same way, we, the many, are one body in Christ and the {body} individually {are} members of one other. 6 But we have different gracious gifts according to the grace given to us: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; 7 if service, in the service; if the one teaching, in the teaching; 8 if the one encouraging, in the encouragement; the one giving, in generosity; the one leading, in diligence; the one showing mercy, with cheerfulness. 9 {Let} love {be} without hypocrisy, abhoring the wicked, holding on to the good; 10 in brotherly love, affectionate to one another; in honor, outdoing one another; 11 in diligence, not lazy; in the spirit, being eager; serving the Lord; 12 in hope, rejoicing; in suffering, being patient; in prayer, persisting; 13 in the needs of the saints, sharing; pursuing the hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse; 15 to rejoice with those who rejoice; to weep with those who weep; 16 thinking the same thing toward one another, not thinking the high things, but accepting the lowly ones. Do not be wise in yourselves; 17 paying back to no one evil for evil; giving careful thought to good things in the sight of all men; 18 if possible, what {is} from you, living at peace with all men; 19 not avenging yourselves, beloved, but give way to {God’s} wrath, for it is written, “‘Vengeance {is} for me; I will repay,’ says the Lord.” 20 But, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink. For doing this, you will heap coals of fire on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by the evil, but overcome the evil with the good. Chapter 13 1 Let every soul be subject to governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and the existing {authorities} are appointed by God. 2 So then, the one who resists that authority has opposed the command of God, and the ones who have opposed it will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to the good deed, but to the evil {deed}. Now do you want to not fear the authority? Do the good, and you will have praise from it, 4 for he is a servant of God to you for the good. But if you do the evil, fear; for he does not carry the sword in vain, for he is a servant of God, an avenger for wrath on the one who practices the evil. 5 Therefore, {it is} necessary to be subjected not only because of the wrath, but also because of the conscience. 6 For because of this you pay taxes also; for they are servants of God, persisting in this very thing. 7 Pay back to everyone your obligations: tax to whom tax, toll to whom toll, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. 8 Owe nothing to no one, except to love one another, for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 9 For this: “You shall not commit adultery, you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not covet,” and if any other commandment, it is summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love for a neighbor does not work evil. Therefore, love {is the} fulfillment of the law. 11 And this, knowing the time, that {it is} already the hour for you [1] to awake from sleep. For now our salvation {is} nearer than when we believed. 12 The night advanced, and the day has come near. Let us therefore put off the works of the darkness, and let us put on the weapons of the light. 13 Let us walk decently, as in the day, not in drunken celebrations or drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and uncontrolled lust, not in strife and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no forethought with regard to desires of the flesh. 13:11 [1] Instead of you, some ancient manuscripts read us. Chapter 14 1 Now accept the one who is weak in the faith, not for passing judgments on opinions. 2 One person believes to eat anything, but the one who is weak eats vegetables. 3 Let the one who eats not despise the one who does not eat, and let the one who does not eat not judge the one who eats. For God has accepted him. 4 Who are you who judges a household slave belonging to another? To his own master he stands or falls. But he will be made to stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 Indeed, one {person} judges day from day, but another person judges every day {alike}. Let each one be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who regards the day, regards it for the Lord; and the one who eats, eats for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God, and the one who does not eat, does not eat for the Lord; he also gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives for himself, and none dies for himself. 8 For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or whether we die, we are of the Lord. 9 For to this {purpose} Christ died and lived {again}, so that he might be Lord of both dead ones and of living ones. 10 But you, why do you judge your brother? And you also, why do you despise your brother? For we will all present ourselves before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written, “‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘to me every knee will bend, and every tongue will confess to God.’” 12 So then, each one of us will give an account concerning himself to God. 13 Therefore, let us no longer judge one another, but rather judge this: to not place a stumbling block for the brother or a trap. 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing {is} unclean by itself, except to the one who considers anything to be unclean, for that one {it is} unclean. 15 For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food that one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not allow your good to be blasphemed. 17 For the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 For the one who serves Christ in this way {is} well-pleasing to God and approved by men. 19 So then, let us pursue the things of peace and the things of the building up for one another. 20 Do not tear down the work of God on account of food. All things {are} indeed clean, but {it is} evil for the man who eats with a stumbling block. 21 {It is} good not to eat meat, nor to drink wine, nor {anything} by which your brother stumbles [or is offended or becomes weak]. [1] 22 The faith that you yourself have, keep according to yourself before God. Blessed {is} the one who does not judge himself in what he approves. 23 But the one who passes judgment is condemned if he eats, because {it is} not from faith. And all that {is} not from faith is sin. 14:21 [1] Some ancient manuscripts do not include or is offended or becomes weak. Chapter 15 1 Now we who {are} able ought to bear the weaknesses of the ones who are unable, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, toward his building up. 3 For even Christ did not please himself. Instead, just as it is written, “The insults of those who insult you fell on me.” 4 For whatever was previously written was written for our own instruction, in order that through the patience and through the encouragement of the scriptures we would have the hope. 5 Now may the God of patience and of encouragement grant you to think the same with each other according to Christ Jesus, 6 so that with one accord you might glorify with one mouth the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted you, to the glory of God. 8 For I say that Christ has become a servant of the circumcision because of the truth of God, to confirm the promises of the fathers, 9 and also for the Gentiles to glorify God because of his mercy, just as it is written, “For this {reason}, I will confess you among the Gentiles and sing psalms to your name.” 10 And again it says, “Rejoice, Gentiles, with his people.” 11 And again, “Praise the Lord, all {you} Gentiles; and let all the peoples extol him.” 12 And again, Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, even the one who rises to rule over the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles will hope.” 13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that you might abound in this hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. 14 But I myself am also persuaded about you, my brothers, that also you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to instruct one another. 15 But I wrote more boldly to you in part as reminding you, because of the grace given me by God, 16 in order for me to be a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest the gospel of God so that the offering of the Gentiles might become well-pleasing, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 Therefore, in Christ Jesus I have a boast {about} the things pertaining to God. 18 For I will not dare to speak anything {except} what Christ produced through me for the obedience of the Gentiles—by word and deed, 19 in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem, and round about as far as Illyricum, I have fulfilled the gospel of Christ; 20 but in this way, counting it honor to proclaim the gospel, not where Christ has been named, in order that I might not build upon another man’s foundation. 21 But just as it is written: “Those to whom it was not reported concerning him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.” 22 Therefore, I was also prevented these many times from coming to you. 23 But now, no longer having a place in these regions, and having a longing from a considerable {number} of years to come to you, 24 whenever I travel to Spain, I indeed hope, passing through, to see you, and to be sent ahead there by you, if I might first be satisfied for a while by you. 25 But now I am traveling to Jerusalem, ministering to the saints. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia were well-pleased to make a certain contribution to the poor ones of the saints in Jerusalem. 27 For they were pleased, and they are obligated to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are obligated also to minister to them in material things. 28 Therefore, having completed this and having sealed this fruit to them, I will go away through you to Spain. 29 But I know that coming to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. 30 Now I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in the prayers to God for me, 31 so that I might be delivered from the disobedient ones in Judea, and {so that} my service that {is} for Jerusalem might be acceptable to the saints; 32 so that I might come to you in joy through the will of God, {and} might be refreshed together with you. 33 Now the God of peace {be} with you all. Amen. Chapter 16 1 Now I commend to you Phoebe our sister, also being a servant of the church which {is} in Cenchrea, 2 in order that you might welcome her in the Lord, in a manner worthy of the saints, and might stand by her in whatever matter she might have need of you. For she has also become a benefactor of many, and of myself as well. 3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4 who for the sake of my life laid down their own neck, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles; 5 and the church {based in} their house. Greet Epaenetus my beloved, who is the firstfruit of Asia for Christ. 6 Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners who are prominent among the apostles, who also have been in Christ before me. 8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved. 10 Greet Apelles, the approved in Christ. Greet those who {are} from the {household} of Aristobulus. 11 Greet Herodion, my kinsman. Greet those from the household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord. 12 Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who work hard in the Lord. Greet Persis the beloved, who has worked much in the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, the elect in the Lord, and his mother and mine. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who {are} with them. 15 Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who {are} with them. 16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you. 17 Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who are causing divisions and traps, contrary to the teaching that you have learned, and turn away from them. 18 For ones such as these are not enslaved to our Lord Christ, but to their own stomach, and through their smooth speech and flattery they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting ones. 19 For your obedience reaches to everyone. I rejoice, therefore, over you, but I want you to be wise as to the good, but innocent as to the evil. 20 Now the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet with haste. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ {be} with you. 21 Timothy, my fellow worker, and Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen, greet you. 22 I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, greet you in the Lord. 23 Gaius, the host for me and for the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the steward of the city, greets you, and Quartus the brother. 24[1] [The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ {be} with all of you. Amen.] 25 Now to the one who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, kept secret for long ages, 26 but now having been revealed, and through the prophetic writings, according to the command of the eternal God, to the obedience of faith, to all the nations, having been made known, 27 to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom {be} the glory to eternity. Amen. 16:24 [1] Some ancient manuscripts include verse 24. (See: Romans 16:20). 1 Corinthians Chapter 1 1 Paul, called {to be} an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Sosthenes the brother, 2 to the church of God that is in Corinth, having been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints, with all the ones in every place calling on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, theirs and ours. 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I always give thanks to my God for you because of the grace of God, the one having been given to you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in everything you were made rich in him, in all word and all knowledge, 6 just as the testimony of Christ has been confirmed among you, 7 so that you do not lack in any gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will also confirm you to the end, blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God {is} faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 10 Now I urge you, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and that there might not be divisions among you, but that you might be joined together in the same mind and in the same purpose. 11 For it was made clear to me concerning you, my brothers, by those of Chloe, that there are factions among you. 12 Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” 13 Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank {God} that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one might say that you were baptized into my name. 16 (Now I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know if I baptized any others.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to proclaim the gospel—not with wise speech so that the cross of Christ would not be emptied. 18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to the ones perishing, but to us, the ones being saved, it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will frustrate the understanding of the intelligent.” 20 Where is} {the wise person? Where is} {the scholar? Where is} {the debater of this age? Has not God turned the wisdom of the world into foolishness? 21 For since in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save the ones believing through the foolishness of the preaching. 22 For indeed, Jews ask for signs and Greeks seek wisdom. 23 But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. 24 But to them, the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is} {the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God {is} stronger than men. 26 For consider your calling, brothers, that not many {were} wise according to the flesh, not many {were} powerful, {and} not many {were} of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world in order that he might shame the wise, and God chose the weak things of the world in order that he might shame the strong, 28 and God chose the base things and the despised things of the world, {and} the {things that} are not, in order that he might bring to nothing the {things that} are, 29 so that no flesh might boast before God. 30 But because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who was made for us wisdom from God, righteousness, and also sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, just as it is written, “Let the one boasting, boast in the Lord.” Chapter 2 1 And I, brothers, having come to you, did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the mystery of God. [1] 2 For I decided not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. 4 And my word and my proclamation {were} not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. 6 Now we speak wisdom among the mature, but not wisdom of this age nor of the rulers of this age, the ones passing away. 7 Instead, we speak the wisdom of God that has been hidden in a mystery that God predestined before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age understood, for if they had understood {it}, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But just as it is written, “What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and has not arisen in the heart of man, these things God has prepared for the one loving him.” 10 For God revealed them to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the deep things of God. 11 For who among men knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man {that is} within him? So also, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 But we did not receive the spirit of the world, but the Spirit from God, so that we might know the things freely given to us by God. 13 And we speak these things not in words taught by human wisdom but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual things with spiritual words. 14 But the natural person does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But the spiritual one discerns all things, but he himself is discerned by no one. 16 “For who has known the mind of the Lord—who will instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. 2:1 [1] Many other versions read proclaiming the testimony of God. Chapter 3 1 And I, brothers, was not able to speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly, as to infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, for you were not yet able. Indeed, even now, you are not able. 3 For you are still fleshly. For where {there is} jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly and walking according to men? 4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not men? 5 Who then is Apollos? And who is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave to each one. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused {it} to grow. 7 So then, neither the one planting nor the one watering is anything, but God {is} the one causing the growth. 8 Now the one planting and the one watering are one, and each will receive his own wages according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God that was given to me as a wise master builder, I laid a foundation, and another is building {on it}, but let each one be careful how he builds {on it}, 11 for no one is able to lay a foundation other than the one being laid, that is, Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 the work of each one will become evident, for the day will display {it}; for it is revealed in fire, and the fire itself will test of what sort is the work of each one. 14 If anyone’s work that he built will remain, he will receive a reward; 15 if anyone’s work will be burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but as though through fire. 16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and the Spirit of God lives in you? 17 If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy that {person}. For the temple of God is holy, which you are. 18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become a “fool,” that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness.” 20 And again, “The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are futile.” 21 So then, let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things coming. All {things are} yours, 23 and you {are} Christ’s, and Christ {is} God’s. Chapter 4 1 In this manner let a man regard us: as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 In this case, it is required in the stewards that one may be found faithful. 3 But to me it is a very small thing that I would be examined by you or by a human court. For I do not examine myself. 4 For I am aware of nothing against myself, but I am not justified by this; but the one judging me is the Lord. 5 Therefore, do not judge anything before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the purposes of the hearts. And then the praise from God will come to each one. 6 Now, these things, brothers, I applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that through us you might learn this: “Not beyond what is written,” so that no one would be puffed up in favor of the one against the other. 7 For who makes you superior? And what do you have that you did not receive? And if indeed you received {it}, why do you boast as if you did not receive {it}? 8 Already you are satisfied! Already you have become rich! You began to reign apart from us, and I wish you really did reign, so that we also might reign with you. 9 For I think God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as sentenced to death. For we have become a spectacle to the world—both to angels and to men. 10 We {are} fools for Christ’s sake, but you {are} wise in Christ. We {are} weak, but you {are} strong. You {are} honored, but we {are} dishonored. 11 Up to the present hour we are both hungry and thirsty and are poorly clothed and are brutally beaten and are homeless 12 and are working hard, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; 13 being slandered, we comfort. We have become as the scum of the world, the refuse of all things, even until now. 14 I do not write these things as shaming you, but as my beloved children, I correct {you}. 15 For if you would have myriads of guardians in Christ, yet {you would} not {have} many fathers; for I fathered you in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 16 Therefore, I urge you, become imitators of me. 17 Because of this I sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways {that are} in Christ Jesus, just as I teach everywhere in every church. 18 Now some have been puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not merely the word of the ones having been puffed up, but their power. 20 For the kingdom of God {is} not in word but in power. 21 What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod or with love and a spirit of gentleness? Chapter 5 1 It is actually reported {that there is} sexual immorality among you, and such immorality which {is} not even among the Gentiles—that someone has his father’s wife. 2 And you are puffed up, and you did not mourn instead, so that the one having done this deed might be removed from among you. 3 For even I, being absent in the body but being present in the spirit, have already passed judgment on the one having done such a thing, as if being present. 4 You and my spirit, having been assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. 6 Your boasting {is} not good. Do you not know that a little yeast leavens the whole loaf? 7 Clean out the old yeast so that you may be new dough, just as you are unleavened bread. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has also been sacrificed. 8 So then, we should celebrate the festival, not with old yeast, nor with yeast of evil and wickedness, but with unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 by no means the immoral people of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out from the world. 11 But now I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother {who} is sexually immoral or greedy or an idolater or verbally abusive or a drunkard or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person. 12 For what to me to judge the ones outside? Do you not judge the ones inside? 13 But God judges [1] the ones outside. “Remove the evil from among yourselves.” 5:13 [1] Instead of judges, some ancient manuscripts read will judge. Chapter 6 1 Do any of you dare, having a dispute with another, to go to court before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? 2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you unworthy of the smallest cases? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more, matters of this life? 4 So then, if you have legal disputes about things of this life, why do you appoint as judges these ones of no account in the church? 5 I speak to your shame. {Is it} thus that there is not any wise {man} among you who will be able to discern between his brothers? 6 But brother goes to court against brother, and this before unbelievers? 7 This, therefore, is indeed already a complete defeat for you, since you have lawsuits among yourselves. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 8 But you do wrong and cheat, and this to your brothers! 9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor practicing homosexuals 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that {is what} some of you were. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 12 “Everything is lawful for me,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is lawful for me,” but I will not be mastered by anything. 13 “Food {is} for the stomach, and the stomach for food,” but God will do away with both this and those. Now the body {is} not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body. 14 Now God indeed raised the Lord and will also raise up us by his power. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Therefore, having taken away the members of Christ, should I make {them} members of a prostitute? May it never be! 16 Or do you not know that the one being joined to the prostitute is one body? For it says, “The two will become as one flesh.” 17 But the one being joined to the Lord is one spirit. 18 Flee from sexual immorality! Every sin that a man might commit is outside the body, but the one being sexually immoral sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit in you, whom you have from God? And you are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body. [1] 6:20 [1] Some older copies read Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which belong to God. But the best copies do not have this reading. Chapter 7 1 Now concerning what you wrote: “{It is} good for a man not to touch a woman.” 2 But because of immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. 3 Let the husband give to the wife the duty and likewise the wife also to the husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband {does}. And likewise, the husband also does not have authority over his own body, but the wife {does}. 5 Do not deprive each other, except by mutual agreement for a season, so that you may devote {yourselves} to prayer, and then be together again, so that Satan might not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 But I say this as a concession, not as a command. 7 But I wish for all men to be even as myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one indeed this way, and another that way. 8 Now to the unmarried and to the widows I say that {it is} good if they remain as I also am. 9 But if they do not have self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn. 10 Now to the married I command—not I, but the Lord—a wife is not to be separated from her husband 11 (but even if she might be separated, let her remain unmarried, or let her be reconciled to the husband), and a husband is not to divorce a wife. 12 But to the rest I say—I, not the Lord—if any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she agrees to live with him, let him not divorce her. 13 And if any woman has an unbelieving husband, and he agrees to live with her, let her not divorce the husband. 14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through the brother. Otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy. 15 But if the unbeliever departs, let him go. In such cases, the brother or the sister is not bound, but God has called us to peace. 16 For how do you know, woman, whether you will save the husband? Or how do you know, man, whether you will save the wife? 17 However, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each one, thus let him walk. And in this way I direct in all the churches. 18 Was anyone called, having been circumcised? Let him not be uncircumcised. Was anyone called in uncircumcision? Let him not be circumcised. 19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but observance of the commandments of God. 20 Each one, in the calling in which he was called, let him remain in that. 21 Were you called {as} a slave? Let it not be a concern to you. But if indeed you are able to become free, then take advantage of {it}. 22 For the one having been called in the Lord {as} a slave is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise, the one having been called as a freeman is a slave of Christ. 23 You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men. 24 Brothers, each one in that which he was called, let him remain with God in this. 25 Now concerning the virgins, I do not have a command of the Lord. However, I give an opinion as having received mercy from the Lord to be trustworthy. 26 Therefore, I think this is good, because of the coming distress, that {it is} good for a man to remain as he is. 27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 28 But if indeed you would marry, you have not sinned; and if the virgin would marry, she has not sinned. But the ones of such kind will have distress in the flesh, and I want to spare you {from this}. 29 But this I say, brothers: The time is shortened, so that from now on, even the ones having wives should be as having none; 30 and the ones weeping, as not weeping; and the ones rejoicing, as not rejoicing; and the ones buying, as not possessing; 31 and the ones using the world, as not using it; for the present form of this world is passing away. 32 But I would like you to be free from concern. The unmarried {man} is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he might please the Lord. 33 But the married {man} is concerned about the things of the world, how to please the wife, and he is divided. And the unmarried woman or the virgin 34 is concerned about the things of the Lord, so that she might be holy both in the body and in the spirit. But the one having been married is concerned about the things of the world, how she might please the husband. 35 Now I say this for your own benefit, not in order to put any constraint on you, but toward what {is} appropriate and devoted to the Lord without any distraction. 36 But if anyone thinks he is acting improperly toward his virgin—if she is beyond the age of marriage and it must be so—he should do what he wants. He is not sinning; let them marry. 37 But he who stands firm in his heart, not under compulsion, but having authority over his own will, and he has decided this in his own heart—to keep his own virgin—he will do well. 38 So then, the one marrying his own virgin does well, and the one not marrying will do even better. 39 A wife is bound for as long as her husband lives. But if the husband dies, she is free to marry whomever she wishes, but only in the Lord. 40 Yet according to my judgment she would be happier if she would remain as she is. And I think that I also have the Spirit of God. Chapter 8 1 Now about the things sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2 If anyone thinks he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. 3 But if anyone loves God, that one is known by him. 4 So then, about the eating of the things sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol in the world {is} nothing and that {there is} no God except one. 5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, just as there are many “gods” and many “lords,” 6 yet for us {there is} one God the Father, from whom {are} all things and for whom we {are}, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all {things are}, and through whom we {are}. 7 However, this knowledge {is} not in everyone. Instead, some, {being} in the custom of the idols until now, eat things as sacrificed to idols, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8 But food will not bring us near to God; neither are we made to lack if we do not eat, nor do we abound if we eat. 9 But take care lest this authority of yours might become a stumbling block for the weak. 10 For if someone might see the one having knowledge reclining to eat in an idol’s temple, will his conscience, being weak, not be built up so as to eat the things sacrificed to idols? 11 So the one being weak, the brother for whom Christ died, is destroyed through your knowledge. 12 And thus sinning against your brothers and wounding their weak consciences, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will certainly not ever eat meat, so that I might not cause my brother to stumble. Chapter 9 1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? 2 If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you. For you are the proof of my apostleship in the Lord. 3 My defense to the ones examining me is this: 4 Do we certainly not have a right to eat and to drink? 5 Do we certainly not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? 6 Or do only Barnabas and I not have a right not to work? 7 Who serves as a soldier at any time at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who shepherds a flock and does not drink from the milk of the flock? 8 Am I not saying these things according to men, or does not the law also say these things? 9 For it is written in the law of Moses, “Do not muzzle an ox treading out grain.” God does not care about the oxen, does he? 10 Or is he speaking entirely for our sake? For it was written for our sake that the one plowing ought to plow in hope, and the one threshing, in hope of sharing the harvest. 11 If we sowed spiritual things among you, {is it} too much if we will reap material things from you? 12 If others shared the right over you, {do} we not even more? But we did not take advantage of this right. Instead we endured everything in order that we might not give any hindrance to the gospel of Christ. 13 Do you not know that the ones working in the temple eat from the things of the temple; the ones serving at the altar partake from the altar? 14 In the same way also, the Lord commanded the ones proclaiming the gospel to live from the gospel. 15 But I have not taken advantage of {any} of these things. Now I do not write these things so that thus it might be done for me, for {it would be} better for me to die rather than {anyone} will make my boast empty. 16 For if I proclaim the gospel, there is nothing for me to boast, because compulsion is placed upon me. For woe be to me if I would not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this willingly, I have a reward. But if unwillingly, I have been entrusted with a stewardship. 18 What then is my reward? That proclaiming the gospel without charge, I might offer the gospel so as not to take advantage of my right in the gospel. 19 For being free from all, I enslaved myself to all in order that I might gain the more {people}. 20 And to the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to gain Jews. To the ones under law, as under law, not being under law myself [1] in order to gain the ones under law. 21 To the ones without law, {I became} as without law (not being without the law of God, but under the law of Christ) so that I might gain the ones without law. 22 To the weak I became weak so that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to everyone so that I might by all means save some. 23 But I do all things for the sake of the gospel so that I might become a partaker of it. 24 Do you not know that the ones running in a stadium all run, but {only} one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you might obtain {it}. 25 But everyone competing in the games exercises self-control in all things. They therefore {do it} in order that they might receive a perishable wreath, but we, an imperishable one. 26 Therefore, I run thus, not as without purpose; I fight thus, not as boxing the air. 27 But I subdue my body and enslave it, lest having preached to others, I myself might be disqualified. 9:20 [1] The ULT and UST read not being under law myself. Some older versions leave out these words. Chapter 10 1 For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, 2 and they all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and they all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and they all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from a spiritual rock following {them}, and the rock was Christ. 5 But God was not well pleased with most of them, for they were scattered about in the wilderness. 6 Now these things became examples for us so that we would not be ones desiring evil things, just as they also desired. 7 Do not become idolaters, just as some of them {were}; even as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play.” 8 Nor should we commit sexual immorality, just as many of them committed sexual immorality, and 23,000 people fell in one day. 9 Nor should we put the Lord [1] to the test, just as many of them put {him} to the test and were destroyed by the snakes. 10 Do not grumble, even as many of them grumbled and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them {as} examples, but they were written for our admonition, on whom the end of the ages has come. 12 Therefore, the one thinking he stands, let him be careful that he might not fall. 13 No temptation has seized you except {what is} common to humanity; but God {is} faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape, {so that} you will be able to endure it. 14 Therefore, my beloved ones, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to sensible {people}. Judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing of the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing of the body of Christ? 17 Because {there is} one bread, we the many {are} one body; for we all partake from the one bread. 18 Look at Israel according to the flesh; are not the ones eating the sacrifices partakers of the altar? 19 What am I saying then: that {food} sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 Rather, that what the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. But I do not want you to be partakers with the demons! 21 You are not able to drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You are not able to partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons. 22 Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than him, are we? 23 “All {things are} lawful,” but not all {things are} beneficial. “All {things are} lawful,” but not all things build up. 24 Let no one seek his own good, but that of the other {person}. 25 Eat everything that is being sold in the market, without asking for the sake of the conscience. 26 For “the earth {is} the Lord’s, and the fullness of it.” 27 If any of the unbelievers invite you, and you want to go, eat everything being set before you, without asking questions for the sake of the conscience. 28 But if someone says to you, “This is offered in sacrifice,” do not eat {it}, for the sake of that one having informed you, and conscience— [2] 29 now I say the conscience, not your own, but that of the other {person}. For why {is} my freedom judged by another’s conscience? 30 If I partake with gratitude, why am I insulted for that which I give thanks? 31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, 33 just as I also please all {people} in all things, not seeking my own benefit but that of the many, so that they might be saved. 10:9 [1] Instead of Lord, many ancient manuscripts read Christ. 10:28 [2] Some older manuscripts add For the earth and everything in it belong to the Lord. But the best manuscripts do not have this. Chapter 11 1 Be imitators of me, just as I also {am} of Christ. 2 Now I praise you, because you remember me in all things and you hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you. 3 Now I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man {is} the head of a woman, and God {is} the head of Christ. 4 Every man praying or prophesying, having something on his head, dishonors his head. 5 But every woman praying or prophesying with her head uncovered dishonors her head. For it is one and the same thing as having been shaved. 6 For if a woman does not cover her head, let her hair also be cut off. But if {it is} disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or to be shaved, let her cover her head. 7 For a man ought not to cover his head, being the image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of man. 8 For man is not from woman, but woman {is} from man. 9 For indeed man was not created for the woman, but woman for the man. 10 Because of this the woman ought to have authority on the head, because of the angels. 11 Nevertheless, in the Lord, woman {is} not independent from man, nor {is} man independent from woman. 12 For even as the woman {is} from the man, so also the man {is} through the woman, but all {things are} from God. 13 Judge for your own selves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God uncovered? 14 Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man might have long hair, it is a disgrace for him, 15 but if a woman might have long hair, it is glory for her? For the long hair has been given to her as a covering. 16 But if anyone thinks to be contentious {about this}, we do not have any such practice, nor the churches of God. 17 But in commanding this, I do not praise you, for you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18 For first, I hear {that in} your coming together in the church, there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 19 For it is necessary indeed for there to be factions among you, so that also the ones approved may become evident among you. 20 So then, your coming together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. 21 For when eating, each one takes his own supper first; and one is indeed hungry, but one is drunk. 22 For do you certainly not have houses in {which} to eat and to drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate the ones having nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you for this? I do not praise you! 23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night in which he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and having given thanks, he broke {it} and said, “This is my body, {which is} for you. Do this in the remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also the cup after the supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink {it}, in the remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he would come. 27 Whoever, therefore, might eat the bread or might drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and in this way let him eat from the bread, and let him drink from the cup. 29 For the one eating and drinking without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment to himself. 30 Because of this many among you {are} weak and sick, and many are fallen asleep. 31 But if we were examining ourselves, we would not be judged. 32 But being judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we might not be condemned along with the world. 33 Therefore, my brothers, coming together to eat, wait for one another. 34 If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you might not come together for judgment. Now {about} the remaining things, I will give directions when I come. Chapter 12 1 Now about the spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. 2 You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, in whatever ways you were led. 3 Therefore, I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus {is} accursed,” and no one is able to say, “Jesus {is} Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. 4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are varieties of ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are varieties of workings, but the same God working all things in everyone. 7 Now to each one is given the outward display of the Spirit for the collective benefit. 8 For to one is given by the Spirit a word of wisdom, and to another, a word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; 9 to another, faith by the same Spirit; and to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit; 10 and to another, workings of power; to another, prophecy; to another, discernments of spirits; to another, kinds of tongues; and to another, interpretation of tongues. 11 But the one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing them to each one individually just as he desires. 12 For even as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also {is} Christ. 13 For indeed by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bound or free, and all were made to drink one Spirit. 14 For indeed the body is not one member, but many. 15 If the foot would say, “Since I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” not for this it is not of the body. 16 And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” not for this it is not of the body. 17 If the whole body {were} an eye, where {would} the hearing {be}? If the whole {were} an ear, where {would} the sense of smell {be}? 18 But now God appointed the members, each one of them, in the body just as he desired. 19 But if they were all one member, where {would} the body {be}? 20 But now {there are} many members, but one body. 21 Now the eye is not able to say to the hand, “I do not have need of you,” or again, the head to the feet, “I do not have need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the members of the body appearing to be weaker are much more essential; 23 and those of the body which we think to be less honorable, we bestow them greater honor; and our unpresentable members have more dignity; 24 but our presentable members do not have need. But God has combined the body together, giving more honor to the one lacking {it} 25 so that there may be no division within the body, but that the members should care for one another the same. 26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer together; if a member is honored, all the members rejoice with {it}. 27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of {it}. 28 And God has indeed appointed some in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, administration, {and} various kinds of tongues. 29 Not all {are} apostles, are they? Not all {are} prophets, are they? Not all {are} teachers, are they? Not all {do} miracles, do they? 30 Not all have gifts of healing, do they? Not all speak in tongues, do they? Not all interpret, do they? 31 But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And now, I show you a more excellent way. Chapter 13 1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but I do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but I do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body, so that I might boast, but I do not have love, I gain nothing. [1] 4 Love is patient {and} is kind; love does not envy; love does not boast; it is not puffed up. 5 It is not rude; it does not seek {its} own; it is not easily angered; it does not keep a count of the wrongs. 6 It does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails. But if {there are} prophecies, they will pass away; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 10 But when the perfect comes, {that which is} partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put away the things of the child. 12 For now we see unclearly in a mirror, but then, face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I also have been fully known. 13 But now these three remain: faith, hope, {and} love. But the greatest of these {is} love. 13:3 [1] The best ancient copies read I hand over my body, so that I might boast. Some other versions read I hand over my body to be burned. Chapter 14 1 Pursue love, but be zealous for the spiritual gifts, but especially that you might prophesy. 2 For the one speaking in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God; for no one understands, but he speaks mysteries in spirit. 3 But the one prophesying speaks to men for building up and encouragement and consolation. 4 The one speaking in a tongue builds up himself, but the one prophesying builds up the church. 5 Now I desire you all to speak in tongues, but even more, that you might prophesy. Now the one prophesying is greater than the one speaking in tongues (unless he would interpret, so that the church might receive building up). 6 But now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, what will I benefit you unless I speak to you either in revelation or in knowledge or in prophecy or teaching? 7 Even lifeless things giving sounds—whether flute or harp—if they would not give different sounds, how will the thing being played on the flute or the thing being played on the harp be known? 8 For indeed, if a trumpet gives an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle? 9 In the same way also you, unless you give intelligible speech with your tongue, how will the thing being spoken be understood? For you will be speaking into the air. 10 There are doubtless so many kinds of languages in the world, and none {is} without meaning. 11 If then I would not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the one speaking, and the one speaking {will be} a foreigner to me. 12 So also you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts for the building up of the church, seek that you would abound in them. 13 So let the one speaking in a tongue pray that he might interpret. 14 If I would pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. 15 What then is it? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind. I will sing with my spirit, and I will also sing with my mind. 16 Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will the one filling the place of the ungifted say the “Amen” at your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying? 17 For you certainly give thanks well, but the other {person} is not built up. 18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you; 19 but in the church I prefer to speak five words with my mind so that I might also instruct others, than myriads of words in a tongue. 20 Brothers, do not become children in your thoughts. Rather, be childlike in evil, but become mature in the thoughts. 21 In the Law it is written, “By {people} of other tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, but not even in this way will they hear me,” says the Lord. 22 So then, the tongues are for a sign, not to the ones believing, but to the unbelievers; but prophecy {is} not to the unbelievers, but to the ones believing. 23 If, therefore, the whole church might come together to the same place and they would all speak in tongues, but ungifted or unbelievers would come in, will they not say that you are insane? 24 But if they all would prophesy, but some unbeliever or ungifted person might come in, he is convicted by all, he is examined by all, 25 the secrets of his heart become visible, and so, having fallen on his face, he will worship God, declaring, “God is really among you.” 26 What then is to be, brothers? When you come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, {or} has an interpretation. Let all things happen for building up. 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, {it should be} by two or at most three, and in turn, and one must interpret. 28 But if there is not an interpreter, let him be silent in the church. Instead, let him speak to himself and to God. 29 But let two or three prophets speak, and let the others evaluate. 30 But if {something} is revealed to another sitting there, let the first be silent. 31 For all are able to prophesy one by one so that all may learn, and all may be encouraged. 32 Indeed, the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. 33 For God is not of confusion, but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints, 34 let the women be silent in the churches. For it is not permitted for them to speak, but to be in submission, just as also the law says. 35 But if they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home, for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in church. 36 Or did the word of God go out from you? Or did it come only to you? 37 If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that what I write to you is a command of the Lord. 38 But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant. [1] 39 So then, brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak in tongues. 40 But let all things be done properly and in order. 14:38 [1] Many of the best ancient manuscripts have let him be ignorant. Some ancient manuscripts have he is considered ignorant. Chapter 15 1 Now I make known to you, brothers, the gospel that I proclaimed to you, which also you received, on which also you stand, 2 by which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to what word I proclaimed to you, unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you among the first what I also received—that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, 4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he was seen by Cephas, then by the Twelve. 6 Then he was seen by more than 500 brothers at once, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Now last of all, he was seen by me also, as if to a child born at the wrong time. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace that {was} in me was not in vain. Instead, I labored harder than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. 11 Therefore, whether I or they, in this way we preach, and in this way you believed. 12 Now if Christ is proclaimed, that he was raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; 14 but if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching {is} in vain, and your faith {is} in vain. 15 But also, we are found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified concerning God that he raised Christ, whom he has not raised, if then the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; 17 but if Christ has not been raised, your faith {is} in vain; you are still in your sins. 18 Then also the ones having fallen asleep in Christ perished. 19 If only in this life we have hope in Christ, of all people we are most pitiful. 20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of the ones having fallen asleep. 21 For since death {is} by a man, by a man also resurrection of the dead. 22 For even as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; then at his coming, the ones of Christ. 24 Then {will be} the end, when he hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when he has abolished all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all the enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be abolished: death. 27 For “he has put everything under his feet.” But when it says, “he has put everything,” {it is} clear that the one having put everything in subjection to him {is} excepted. 28 Now when all the things have been subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one having subjected all the things to him, so that God might be all in all. 29 Otherwise, what will the ones being baptized for the dead do? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them? 30 Why also are we in danger every hour? 31 I die every day, by the boasting in you, brothers, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32 What {is} the profit to me, according to men, if I fought wild beasts at Ephesus? if the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” 33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” 34 Be sober, as is right! And do not keep sinning. For some have no knowledge of God—I say this to your shame. 35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised, and with what kind of body do they come?” 36 You foolish one! What you sow is not caused to live unless it dies. 37 And what you sow, you do not sow the body that will be, but a bare seed—perhaps wheat or something else. 38 But God gives it a body just as he desires, and to each of the seeds, its own body. 39 Not all flesh {is} the same flesh. Instead, {there is} one {flesh} of men, and another flesh of animals, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. 40 {There are} also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But the glory of the heavenly {is} one, and that of the earthly {is} another. 41 {There is} one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars. For star differs from star in glory. 42 So also {is} the resurrection of the dead. {What} is sown in decay is raised in immortality. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual {body}. 45 So also it is written, “The first man Adam became a living soul.” The last Adam {is} a life-giving spirit. 46 But the spiritual {is} not first, but the natural, then the spiritual. 47 The first man {is} of the earth, made of dust. The second man {is} from heaven. 48 As the earthly, so also {are} the ones of earth; and as the heavenly, so also {are} the ones of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly, let us also bear [1] the image of the heavenly. 50 Now this I say, brothers, that flesh and blood are not able to inherit the kingdom of God. Neither does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For it is necessary for this perishable to put on incorruptibility, and this mortal to put on immortality. 54 But when this perishable has put on incorruptibility, and this mortal has put on immortality, then will come about the word that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “Death, where {is} your victory? Death, where {is} your sting?” 56 But the sting of death {is} sin, and the power of sin {is} the law. 57 But thanks {be} to God, the one giving us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, become steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. 15:49 [1] Instead of let us also bear, some ancient manuscripts read we will also bear. Chapter 16 1 Now concerning the collection {that is} for the saints, even as I directed the churches of Galatia, so also you must do. 2 Every first of the week, let each of you put {something} aside, storing up from whatever he might have prospered, so that when I come, there will not be collections then. 3 Now when I arrive, whomever you might approve, I will send them with letters to carry your gift to Jerusalem. 4 But if it is appropriate for me to go also, they will go with me. 5 But I will come to you after I have passed through Macedonia, for I am going through Macedonia. 6 But perhaps I will stay with you, or even spend the winter, so that you may help me on my way wherever I might go. 7 For I do not desire to see you now only in passing; for I hope to remain with you for some time, if the Lord would permit. 8 But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, 9 for a wide and effective door has opened for me, and many are opposing {me}. 10 Now if Timothy comes, see that he would be unafraid with you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I {am.} 11 Therefore, let no one despise him. But help him on his way in peace, so that he may come to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers. 12 Now concerning the brother Apollos, I strongly encouraged him that he would come to you with the brothers, but it was not at all his will that he would come now. However, he will come when he might have the opportunity. 13 Stay alert; stand firm in the faith; act like men; be strong. 14 Let all your things happen in love. 15 Now I urge you, brothers (you know the household of Stephanas, that they are the firstfruits of Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to service of the saints), 16 that you also would be subject to the ones such as these and to everyone who is joining together in the work and laboring. 17 Now I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have supplied {what} was lacking from you; 18 for they refreshed my spirit and yours. So then, recognize the ones like these. 19 The churches of Asia send greetings to you. Aquila and Priscilla enthusiastically greet you in the Lord, with the church in their home. 20 All the brothers greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. 21 This greeting {is} in my own hand—Paul. 22 If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed. Maranatha! 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus {be} with you. 24 My love {be} with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen. [1] 16:24 [1] Some versions leave out Amen. 2 Corinthians Chapter 1 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God that is in Corinth, and to all the saints being in the whole of Achaia. 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed {be} the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, 4 the one comforting us in all our affliction, so that we are able to comfort the ones in every tribulation with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ abound toward us, in the same way also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 But if we are afflicted, {it is} for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, {it is} for your comfort {which} you are experiencing in endurance of the same sufferings that we ourselves also suffer. 7 And our hope concerning you {is} firm, knowing that as you are partakers of the sufferings, in the same way also of the comfort. 8 For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning the tribulation having happened to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our ability, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Indeed, we ourselves have within ourselves the sentence of death so that we would not be trusting in ourselves, but in God, the one raising the dead, 10 who rescued us from so great a deadly peril, and he will rescue {us}—on whom we have set our hope that he also will continue to rescue {us}, 11 you also joining in helping in supplication on our behalf—so that thanks may be given through many on our behalf for the gracious gift to us by many {people}. 12 For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience, that we conducted ourselves in the world in holiness and sincerity of God, and not in fleshly wisdom, but in the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you. 13 For we write no other things to you other than what you read or also understand, but I hope that you will understand until the end— 14 just as you also understood us in part—so that we are your boasting, just as you also {are} ours, on the day of our Lord Jesus. 15 And with this confidence, I was intending to come to you before so that you might have a second grace [1] , 16 and to pass through you into Macedonia and to come to you again from Macedonia and to be sent ahead to Judea by you. 17 Therefore, intending this, I did not then act in fickleness, did I? Or what I intend, do I intend according to the flesh, so that there would be with me “Yes, yes” and “No, no”? 18 But God {is} faithful, so that our word to you is not “Yes” and “No.” 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the one having been proclaimed among you by us—by me and Silvanus and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but it has become “Yes” in him. 20 For as many as promises of God {are} “Yes” in him, so also through him the “Amen” {is} through us to God for his glory. 21 Now the one establishing us with you in Christ and having anointed us {is} God, 22 the one also having sealed us and having given {us} the down payment of the Spirit in our hearts. 23 Now I invoke God as a witness to my soul that sparing you—I have not yet come to Corinth. 24 Not that we lord it over your faith, but we are fellow workers {for} your joy, for you stand firm in the faith. 1:15 [1] Instead of grace, some ancient manuscripts read joy Chapter 2 1 For I decided this for myself, not to come to you again in sorrow. 2 For if I myself grieve you, then who {is} the one cheering me up, except the one being grieved by me? 3 And I wrote this same thing so that, having come, I might not have sorrow from those whom it is necessary for me to rejoice, having confidence in all of you that my joy is {the joy} of all of you. 4 For I wrote to you out of much tribulation and anguish of heart, through many tears, not so that you would be grieved, but so that you might know the love that I have more abundantly for you. 5 But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved {only} me, but in part—in order that I might not burden all of you. 6 This punishment on such a {person} by the majority {is} sufficient, 7 so that, on the contrary, you should rather forgive and comfort {him} {so that} such a {person} might not be overwhelmed in his excessive sorrow. 8 So I urge you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 Indeed, I also wrote for this reason: so that I might know your proof, whether you are obedient in all things. 10 Now to whomever you forgive anything, I also {forgive}—for indeed the one I have forgiven (if I have forgiven anything), {is} for your sake in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we would not be taken advantage of by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes. 12 Now having come to Troas, and a door for the gospel of Christ having been opened to me in the Lord, 13 I had no relief in my spirit, as I did not find my brother Titus there. So having said farewell to them, I went on to Macedonia. 14 But thanks {be} to God, always leading us in triumphal procession in Christ and making known through us the aroma of the knowledge of him in every place. 15 For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among the ones being saved and among the ones perishing— 16 to the ones indeed, an aroma from death to death, but to the {others}, an aroma from life to life. And for these things, who {is} sufficient? 17 For we are not like the many peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the presence of God in Christ. Chapter 3 1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or we do not need, like some, letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we? 2 You yourselves are our letter written in our hearts, known and read by all men, 3 making known that you are a letter of Christ having been administered by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of hearts of flesh. 4 Now we have such confidence through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient from ourselves to consider anything as from ourselves. Instead, our sufficiency {is} from God, 6 who indeed made us competent {as} servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit makes alive. 7 Now if the ministry of this death—engraved in letters on stones—came in glory so that the sons of Israel were not able to look intently at the face of Moses because of the fading glory of his face, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit not be with much more glory? 9 For if the ministry of this condemnation {had} glory, the ministry of this righteousness abounds much more in glory! 10 For indeed, {what} had been glorified is not glorified in this part, because of {its} surpassing glory. 11 For if {what} is fading away {came} with glory, much more {what} remains {will come} with glory! 12 Therefore, having such a hope, we act with much boldness, 13 and not like Moses putting a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of {what} was fading away. 14 But their minds were hardened, for until the present day, the same veil remains at the reading of the old covenant, not being lifted, because in Christ is it fading away. 15 But until today, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart, 16 but whenever one might turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord {is}, {there is} freedom. 18 Now we all, with unveiled face reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. Chapter 4 1 Therefore, having this ministry, just as we received mercy, we do not become discouraged. 2 Instead, we have rejected the shameful hidden things, not walking in craftiness, nor distorting the word of God, but by the manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man’s conscience before God. 3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to the ones perishing, 4 to whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, does not appear {to them}. 5 For we do not proclaim ourselves, but the Lord Christ Jesus, and ourselves {as} your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God {is} the one who said, “From darkness a light will shine,” who shined in our hearts for the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that the surpassing greatness of the power might be from God and not from us; 8 in every {side} being pressed in, but not being crushed; being perplexed, but not despairing; 9 being persecuted, but not being forsaken; being thrown down, but not perishing; 10 always carrying around in the body the dying of Jesus so that the life of Jesus also might be revealed in our body; 11 for we being alive are always being handed over to death for the sake of Jesus so that also the life of Jesus might be revealed in our mortal flesh. 12 So then, death works in us, but life in you. 13 But having the same spirit of the faith according to {what} has been written: “I believed; therefore I spoke,” we also believe; therefore we also speak, 14 knowing that the one having raised Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and will present {us} with you. 15 For all these {things are} for your sake, so that the grace, having increased through more and more {people}, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. 16 So we do not become discouraged. Rather, even if our outer man is decaying, yet our inner {man} is being renewed day {by} day. 17 For our momentary, light affliction is producing in us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. 18 We are not watching the things being seen, but the things not being seen. For the things being seen {are} temporary, but the things not being seen {are} eternal. Chapter 5 1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tent is torn down, we have a building from God, an eternal house in the heavens, not made with hands. 2 For indeed, in this {house} we groan, longing to be fully clothed with our dwelling {that is} from heaven, 3 and if indeed having clothed ourselves, we will not be found naked. 4 For indeed, we, the ones being in this tent, groan, being burdened, because of which we do not want to be unclothed, but to be fully clothed, so that the mortal may be swallowed up by the life. 5 Now the one having prepared us for this very thing {is} God, the one having given us the down payment of the Spirit. 6 Therefore, always being courageous and knowing that being at home in the body, we are away from the Lord— 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Now we are confident and think it good rather to be away from the body and to be at home with the Lord. 9 And therefore we aspire, whether being at home or being away, to be well-pleasing to him. 10 For it is necessary for us all to be revealed before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may receive back the {things done} through the body, with regard to what things he did, whether good or bad. 11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men. But we are clearly known by God, and I hope also to be clearly known in your consciences. 12 We are not again commending ourselves to you but are giving you an opportunity of boasting on our behalf, so that you may have {an answer} for the ones boasting in appearance and not in heart. 13 For if we are out of our mind, {it is} for God; if we are of sound mind, {it is} for you. 14 For the love of Christ controls us, having judged this: that one died for the sake of all; therefore, all died. 15 And he died for all so that the ones living should live no longer for themselves, but for the one having died for them and having been raised. 16 Therefore, from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Even if we regarded Christ according to the flesh, yet now we no longer regard him {that way}. 17 Therefore, if anyone {is} in Christ, {he is} a new creation. The old things passed away; behold, new things have come. [1] 18 Now all these things {are} from God, the one having reconciled us to himself through Christ and having given us the ministry of this reconciliation, 19 namely, that God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and having placed in us the word of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God is appealing through us: We implore {you} on behalf of Christ: “Be reconciled to God!” 21 The one not having known sin he made sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. 5:17 [1] Some ancient manuscripts read all {things} have become new. Chapter 6 1 Now working together with {him}, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain— 2 for he says, “At an acceptable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now {is} a favorable time. Look, now {is} a day of salvation— 3 giving no cause for offense in anything, so that our ministry might not be blamed, 4 instead, we commend ourselves in everything as servants of God; in much endurance, in tribulations, in hardships, in distresses, 5 in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in hard labors, in sleeplessness {nights}, in hungers, 6 in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in sincere love, 7 in the word of truth, in the power of God; through the weapons of righteousness {for} the right hand and the left, 8 through honor and dishonor, through bad report and good report; as deceivers, yet true; 9 as being unknown, yet being well known; as dying yet—behold!—living; as being disciplined, yet not being put to death; 10 as being sorrowful, but always rejoicing; as poor, but making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing all things. 11 Our mouth has been opened toward you, Corinthians; our heart has been opened wide. 12 You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your affections; 13 and {in} the same exchange—I speak as to children—open yourselves wide also. 14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers, for what partnership {does} righteousness and lawlessness {have}? Or what fellowship {does} light {have} with darkness? 15 And what harmony {does} Christ {have} with Beliar? Or what share {does} a believer {have} with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement does} {the temple of God {have} with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said: “I will dwell among them, and walk {among them}; and I will be their God, and they themselves will be my people.” 17 Therefore, “Come out from the midst them, and be separate,” says the Lord, “and touch no unclean thing,” “and I will welcome you.” 18 “And I will be to you as a Father, and you will be to me as sons and daughters,” says the Lord Almighty. Chapter 7 1 Therefore, beloved, having these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 2 Make room for us! We wronged no one; we ruined no one; we took advantage of no one. 3 I do not speak for your condemnation; for I have already said that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together. 4 Great {is} my confidence in you; great {is} my boasting on your behalf. I have been filled with encouragement. I overflow with this joy in all our afflictions. 5 For even having come to Macedonia, our flesh had no relief at all, but being afflicted in every {way}—conflicts without, fears within. 6 But God, the one comforting the humble, comforted us by the arrival of Titus, 7 and not only by his arrival, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, reporting to us your longing, your mourning, {and} your zeal for my sake, so that I was caused to rejoice even more. 8 For even if I grieved you in the letter, I do not regret {it} (even though I did regret {it}, seeing that that letter grieved you, if only for an hour). 9 Now I rejoice, not that you were grieved, but that you were grieved to {the point of} repentance. For you were grieved with respect to God, so that you would not suffer loss in anything through us. 10 For the sorrow with respect to God works repentance towards salvation without regret. But the sorrow of the world produces death. 11 For behold how much earnestness this same thing produced in you, to be made sorrowful with respect to God: what defense, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, {and} what vindication! In everything you proved yourselves to be pure in this matter. 12 So even though I wrote to you, {it was} not for the sake of the one having done wrong, nor for the sake of the one having suffered wrong, but so that your earnestness which {is} on our behalf might be revealed to you before God. 13 Because of this we have been encouraged. Now in addition to our own encouragement, we rejoiced even more abundantly at the joy of Titus, because his spirit had been refreshed by all of you. 14 For if I had boasted anything to him about you, I was not ashamed, but as we spoke everything to you in truth, in the same way also our boasting became the truth to Titus. 15 And his affections towards you are more abundant, remembering the obedience of all of you, how you received him with fear and trembling. 16 I rejoice that in everything I am confident in you. Chapter 8 1 Now we make known to you, brothers, the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2 that during a severe trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded to the riches of their generosity. 3 For I testify that {they gave} according to their ability, and beyond their ability, of their own accord, 4 with much urging, they pleaded with us {for} the favor and the fellowship of this ministry {that is} to the saints. 5 And not as we hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and then to us, by the will of God. 6 So we urged Titus that, just as he begun, in the same way he would also complete for you this grace as well. 7 But even as you abound in everything—in faith and in speech and in knowledge and in all earnestness and in the love from us in you, [1] so also you should abound in this act of grace. 8 I say this not according to a command but also proving the genuineness of your love through the earnestness of others. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that he became poor for your sake, {though} being rich, so that by the poverty of that one, you might become rich. 10 And I give my opinion in this, for this is profitable for you who not only began to do this a year ago, but also to desire {to do it}. 11 But now also complete {what you began} to do, so that just as {there was} the readiness of the desire, so also {there may be} the completion, from what you have. 12 For if the readiness is already there, {it is} fully acceptable according to whatever one might have, not according to what he does not have. 13 For {this is} not so that {there is} relief for others {but} tribulation for you, but out of equality. 14 At the present time, your abundance {is} for the lack of those ones, so that also the abundance of those ones may be for your need, so that there may be equality, 15 just as it is written: “The one {gathering} much did not have too much, and the one {gathering} little did not have too little.” 16 But thanks {be} to God, the one placing the same earnestness on your behalf into the heart of Titus. 17 For he not only accepted our appeal, but being very eager, he has gone to you of his own accord. 18 Now we have sent together with him the brother of whom is the praise throughout all of the churches in the gospel, 19 And not only this, but he also was chosen by the churches as our traveling companion, along with this grace that is being administered by us to the glory of the Lord, and {to show} our readiness; 20 avoiding this, that no one might blame us concerning this generosity in the administration by us. 21 For we consider beforehand {what is} good, not only before the Lord, but also before men. 22 Now we sent our brother with them, whom we proved in many ways, {and} often being eager. But now he is even more eager {because of his} great confidence that {he has} in you. 23 As for Titus, {he is} my partner and fellow worker for you. As {for} our brothers, {they are} messengers of the churches, a glory of Christ. 24 Therefore, prove to them to the faces of the churches the proof of your love and of our boasting about you. 8:7 [1] The best manuscripts read, and in the love from us in you. Some other versions read and in your love for us. Chapter 9 1 For concerning the ministry {that is} to the saints, it is excessive for me to write to you. 2 For I know your readiness, {of} which I boast to the Macedonians concerning you, that Achaia has been ready since last year, and your zeal stirred up most {of them}. 3 But I sent the brothers so that our boasting which {is} about you might not be futile in this matter, so that you might be ready, as I was saying. 4 Otherwise, if Macedonians might come with me and might find you unprepared, we would be ashamed—not to mention you—by this confidence [1] 5 So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers that they should go to you beforehand and prepare in advance this promised gift of yours, to be ready in this way as a blessing and not as something forced. 6 Now this {I say}: the one sowing sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one sowing in blessings will also reap in blessings. 7 {Let} each one {give} just as he has decided beforehand in his heart, not from sorrow or from compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in everything, always, having all sufficiency, you may abound in every good work. 9 Just as it is written: “He distributed {alms}, he gave to the poor, his righteousness endures to eternity.” 10 Now the one supplying seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and will increase the fruits of your righteousness, 11 in every way enriching you for all generosity, which produces thanksgiving to God through us, 12 because the ministry of this service not only is fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also abounding with many thanksgivings to God. 13 Because of the proof of this ministry, they are glorifying God because of the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ and the generosity of the fellowship toward them and toward everyone, 14 and in their prayer on your behalf, longing for you because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. 15 Thanks {be} to God for his indescribable gift! 9:4 [1] Some ancient manuscripts add of boasting. Chapter 10 1 Now I, Paul, myself who {am} meek {when} face to face among you, but being absent, am bold toward you, appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. 2 Now I am pleading that, being present, {I will} not {need} to be bold with the confidence with which I plan to be courageous against some of the ones regarding us as walking according to the flesh. 3 For {though} walking in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare {are} not fleshly, but {are} powerful to God for the tearing down of strongholds {and for} tearing down strategies 5 and every high thing raising itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive into the obedience of Christ; 6 and being in readiness to avenge every act of disobedience, when your obedience would be complete. 7 You are looking at the things according to appearance. If anyone is convinced in himself that he is of Christ, let him consider this again concerning himself: that just as he {is} of Christ, so also {are} we. 8 For even if I might boast somewhat excessively about our authority, which the Lord gave for building up and not for your tearing down, I will not be ashamed, 9 so that I would not seem as if to terrify you through my letters. 10 Indeed, {someone} says, “His letters {are} weighty and forceful, but his bodily presence {is} weak, and his speech is despised.” 11 Let such {a person} consider this, that such as we are in our word through letters being absent, such {we are} also in our deed being present. 12 For we do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of the ones commending themselves. But these—measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves with themselves—do not understand. 13 We, however, will not boast about the immeasurable things, but according to the measure of the limit that God has assigned to us, a measure that reached even as far as you. 14 For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach to you, for we came even as far as you with the gospel of Christ. 15 Neither are we boasting beyond our limits in the labors of others, but having hope {for} your faith, being caused to increase according to our limit among you, to be enlarged to abundance 16 to preach the gospel in the {places} beyond you—not to boast in the things accomplished in another’s area. 17 “But let the one boasting, boast in the Lord.” 18 For that one commending himself is not approved, but whom the Lord commends. Chapter 11 1 I wish that you would bear with me in a little bit of foolishness, but you are indeed bearing with me! 2 For I am jealous {for} you with a godly jealousy, for I joined you to one husband, to present {you} {as} a pure virgin to Christ. 3 But I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds might be corrupted from the sincerity and the purity {that are} in Christ. 4 For if indeed one coming proclaims another Jesus whom we did not proclaim, or you receive a different spirit which you did not receive or a different gospel which you did not accept, you are bearing with {it} well! 5 For I consider {myself} not to fall short of the “super-apostles.” 6 But even if I am untrained in this speech, yet not in this knowledge, but in everything having made this clear to you in all things. 7 Or did I commit a sin, humbling myself so that you too might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you without payment? 8 I robbed other churches, having accepted a wage for the ministry {to} you. 9 And being present with you—and having lacked—I did not burden anyone. For the brothers having come from Macedonia completely met my need, and in everything, I kept and will {continue to} keep myself {from being} a burden to you. 10 The truth of Christ is in me, so that this boasting about myself will not be stopped in the regions of Achaia. 11 Why? Because I do not love you? God knows {I do}! 12 And what I do I will also {continue to} do so that I may cut off the opportunity of the ones desiring an opportunity, so that in what they are boasting about they may be found just as we also {are}. 13 For the ones of such kind {are} false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves {as} apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself disguises himself {as} an angel of light. 15 Therefore, {it is} no great thing if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works. 16 I say again: Let no one think me to be foolish. But if not, receive me at least as a fool so that I too may boast a little bit. 17 What I am saying, I am not saying according to the Lord, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of my boasting. 18 Since many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast. 19 For gladly you bear with the foolish, being wise. 20 For you bear with {it} if anyone enslaves you, if anyone devours {you}, if anyone takes advantage {of you}, if anyone exalts {himself}, if anyone hits you in the face. 21 According to dishonor, as {for that} I say that we ourselves have been weak! However, in whatever {way} anyone might be bold—I am speaking in foolishness—I too am bold. 22 Are they Hebrews? I {am} also. Are they Israelites? I {am} also. Are they offspring of Abraham? I {am} also. 23 Are they servants of Christ? (I speak {as} being insane.) I {am} more so: more abundantly in hard work, more abundantly in imprisonments, in beatings beyond measure, often in {danger of} deaths. 24 Five times I received from Jews 40 {lashes} minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day in the deep; 26 often on journeys, in dangers from rivers, in dangers from robbers, in dangers from {my own} countrymen, in dangers from Gentiles, in dangers in the city, in dangers in the wilderness, in dangers at sea, in dangers from false brothers; 27 in hard work and hardship, often in sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often in fasting, in cold and nakedness; 28 apart from these external things, {there is} the daily pressure on me {of} the concern {for} all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is caused to stumble, and I am not inflamed? 30 If it is necessary to boast, I will boast {about} the things of my weakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, the one being blessed to eternity, knows that I am not lying! 32 in Damascus, the ethnarch under Aretas the king was guarding the city of Damascus to arrest me. 33 But I was lowered in a basket through a window through the wall, and I escaped from his hands. Chapter 12 1 It is necessary to boast, {though} not profitable. But I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ—whether in the body, I do not know, or out of the body, I do not know, God knows—such a {man} having been snatched up to the third heaven 14 years ago. 3 And I know that such a man—whether in body, or out of the body, I do not know, God knows— 4 that he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words which are not permitted for a man to speak. 5 On behalf of such a {man} I will boast. But on behalf of myself I will not boast, except in my weaknesses. 6 For even if I desire to boast, I will not be a fool, for I will be speaking the truth; but I refrain, {so that} no one would think more of me than what he sees {in} me or hears from me. 7 And therefore, so that I would not become super arrogant by the surpassing {nature} of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me—a messenger of Satan—so that he might torment me, so that I would not become super arrogant. [1] 8 Three times I begged the Lord about this, that he would remove {it} from me. 9 But he has said to me, “My grace is enough for you, for my power is being made perfect in weakness.” So I will most gladly boast even more in my weakness so that the power of Christ might reside upon me. 10 Therefore I take delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions and distresses for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am powerful. 11 I have become a fool; you yourselves compelled me. For I ought to be commended by you, for I lacked nothing of the “super-apostles,” even if I am nothing. 12 Indeed, the signs of an apostle were performed among you with all endurance—both signs and wonders and miracles. 13 For what is {the way} that you were {treated} worse than the remaining churches, except that I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this injustice! 14 Behold! I am ready to come to you this third time, and I will not burden you. For I do not seek the things of yours, but you. For the children should not store up for the parents, but the parents for the children. 15 Now I will most gladly spend and be completely spent for the sake of your souls. If I love you more abundantly, am I to be loved less? 16 But let it be {so}, I myself did not burden you, but, being a crafty {person}, I caught you by deceit. 17 {There is} no one whom I have sent to you, that through him I took advantage of you, is there? 18 I urged Titus {to go} and sent the {other} brother with {him}. Unless Titus took advantage of you? Did we not walk in the same spirit? {Did we} not {walk} in the same footsteps? 19 Do you think all of this time that we are defending ourselves to you? Before God in Christ we are speaking, but all these things, beloved, {are} for the sake of your building up. 20 For I fear that perhaps somehow having come I might not find you such as I wish, and I might be found by you not such as you wish; perhaps somehow {there may be} quarreling, jealousy, ragings, rivalries, slanders, gossips, inflated egos, {and} riots, 21 {perhaps} having come to you again, my God might humble me before you, and I would grieved for many of the ones having sinned and not having repented from the impurity and sexual immorality and debauchery in which they engaged. 12:7 [1] Some ancient manuscripts do not include so that I would not become super arrogant. Chapter 13 1 This is} {the third time that I am coming to you. “Every matter must be established on the basis of the mouth of two or three witnesses.” 2 I have previously said when being present the second {time}, and {though} being absent, I also say now—to those who sinned before and to all the rest—that if I would come to them again, I will not spare {anyone}, 3 since you are seeking proof of the Christ speaking in me, who is not weak toward you but is powerful among you. 4 For he was also crucified as a result of weakness, but he lives as a result of God’s power. For we also are weak in him, but we will live with {him} as a result of God’s power toward you. 5 Test yourselves, whether you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Or do you not fully realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ {is} in you—unless you are unapproved? 6 And I hope that you will realize that we ourselves are not unapproved. 7 Now we pray to God that you may not do anything wrong, not so that we ourselves might be seen {as} approved, but so that you yourselves might do {what is} good, even if we ourselves might {seem to} be unapproved. 8 For we can not {do} anything against the truth, but only on behalf of the truth. 9 For we rejoice whenever we are weak, but you are powerful. We also pray {for} this: for your restoration. 10 Because of this, I write these things being absent so that being present, I would not treat {you} harshly according to the authority which the Lord gave to me for building up and not for tearing down. 11 Finally, brothers, rejoice! Be restored, be encouraged, think the same, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 Greet each other with a holy kiss. All of the saints greet you. [1] 13 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit {be} with all of you. [2] 13:12 [1] Some manuscripts move All of the saints greet you to verse 13, but the best manuscripts include it here. 13:13 [2] Some translations separate All of the saints greet you from verse 12 and place it this verse. The text of this verse then becomes verse 14. Galatians Chapter 1 1 Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God {the} Father, the one having raised him from {the} dead— 2 and all the brothers with me, to the churches of Galatia: 3 Grace to you and peace from God {the} Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 the one having given himself for our sins so that he might deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom {be} the glory forever {and} ever. Amen. 6 I am amazed that you are turning away so quickly to a different gospel from the one having called you in {the} grace of Christ, 7 which is not another, except there are certain ones causing you trouble and wanting to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven might proclaim to you a gospel other than the one we proclaimed to you, let him be cursed. 9 As we have said before, and now I say again, “If anyone proclaims to you a gospel other than the one you received, let him be cursed.” 10 For am I now trying to persuade men, or God? Or am I seeking to please men? If I were still pleasing men, I would not be a servant of Christ. 11 For I make known to you, brothers, {that} the gospel having been proclaimed by me is not according to man. 12 For neither I did receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but by revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard about my former manner of life in Judaism, that I was persecuting the church of God beyond measure, and I was destroying it. 14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of the same age among my race, being far more zealous for {the} traditions of my fathers. 15 But when the one having set me apart from the womb of my mother and having called {me} through his grace was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me, so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to the ones {being} apostles before me. Instead, I went to Arabia and again returned to Damascus. 18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and I stayed with him 15 days. 19 But I did not see any of the other apostles except James, the brother of the Lord. 20 Now what I write to you, behold, before God, I am not lying. 21 Then I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 Now I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea {that are} in Christ. 23 But they were only hearing, “The one formerly persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith which he formerly was destroying,” 24 and they were glorifying God in me. Chapter 2 1 Then after 14 years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, also taking Titus along with {me}. 2 Now I went up according to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, but privately to the ones seeming to be important, lest I might run—or had run—in vain. 3 But not even Titus, the one with me, being a Greek, was forced to be circumcised. 4 But it was because of the secretly brought in false brothers, who came in secretly to spy on our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus so that they will enslave us, 5 we did not even yield in submission to them for an hour, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you. 6 But from the ones seeming to be something (what sort they were formerly matters nothing to me; God does not accept {the} face of man)—for, the ones seeming important added nothing to me. 7 But on the contrary, having seen that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcision, just as Peter to the circumcision 8 (for the one having worked in Peter for apostleship to the circumcision also worked in me to the Gentiles), 9 and having understood the grace having been given to me, James and Cephas and John, the ones seeming to be pillars, gave {the} right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, so that we to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcision, 10 only that we should continue to remember the poor, this same {thing} that I was also eager to do. 11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain ones came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles. But when they came, he was withdrawing and was separating himself, being afraid of the ones from {the} circumcision. 13 And the rest of the Jews also joined with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were not walking correctly according to the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of all {of them}, “If you, being a Jew, live like a Gentile, and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews? 15 We {are} Jews by birth, and not sinners from {the} Gentiles; 16 but knowing that no man is justified by works of {the} law except through faith in Jesus Christ, we also believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of {the} law. For by works of {the} law not any flesh will be justified. 17 But if, seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves were also found {to be} sinners, {is} Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be! 18 For if I again rebuild those {things} which I destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For I, through {the} law, died to {the} law so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ, 20 and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And that which I now live in {the} flesh, I live by faith that {is in} the Son of God, the one having loved me and having given himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness {is} through {the} law, then Christ died for nothing!” Chapter 3 1 O foolish Galatians! Who bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed {as} crucified? 2 I want to learn only this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by works of {the} law or by hearing of faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by Spirit, are you now finishing by flesh? 4 Have you suffered so many {things} for nothing—if indeed it was really for nothing? 5 Therefore, the one providing the Spirit to you and working miracles among you, {is it} by works of {the} law, or by hearing of faith? 6 Just as Abraham “believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness,” 7 know, then, that the ones by faith, these are sons of Abraham. 8 But the scripture, having foreseen that God justifies the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, “In you all the nations will be blessed.” 9 So then, the ones by faith are blessed along with the faithful Abraham. 10 For as many as are of works of {the} law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed {is} everyone who does not abide by all the {things} written in the book of the law to do them.” 11 Now, that no one is justified before God by {the} law {is} clear, because, “The righteous will live by faith.” 12 Now the law is not by faith, but, “The one doing these {things} will live in them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed {is} everyone hanging on a tree”— 14 so that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that through faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. 15 Brothers, I speak according to man. Nevertheless, no one sets aside or adds to a covenant established by man. 16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. It does not say, “and to seeds,” as to many, but as to one, “and to your seed,” who is Christ. 17 Now I say this: The law, having come after 430 years, does not set aside {the} covenant previously established by God to nullify the promise. 18 For if the inheritance {is} from {the} law, {it is} no longer from promise. But God has shown kindness to Abraham through a promise. 19 What, then, {is} the law? It was added because of transgressions, having been put into effect through angels by {the} hand of a mediator until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made. 20 Now a mediator is not for one, but God is one. 21 Therefore {is} the law against the promises? May it never be! For if a law was given being able to make alive, then righteousness would have come by {the} law. 22 But the scripture imprisoned all {things} under sin so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to the ones believing. 23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under {the} law, imprisoned to the faith about to be revealed. 24 So then the law became our guardian until Christ, so that we might be justified by faith. 25 But faith having come, we are no longer under a guardian. 26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many as have been baptized into Christ put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 Now if you {are} of Christ, then you are seed of Abraham, heirs according to promise. Chapter 4 1 Now I say, for as much time as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, being master of all. 2 But he is under guardians and stewards until the date appointed by {his} father. 3 So also, when we were children, we were being enslaved by the elemental principles of the world. 4 But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth his Son, having been born from a woman, having been born under {the} law, 5 in order that he might redeem the ones under {the} law, so that we might receive the adoption as sons. 6 Now because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So then, you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, also an heir through God. 8 But at that time, not having known God, you were enslaved to the ones by nature not being gods. 9 But now, having come to know God, or rather, having come to be known by God, how are you turning again to the weak and worthless elemental principles, to which once more you want to be enslaved again? 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years! 11 I am afraid for you lest I have labored among you for nothing. 12 I beg you, brothers, become as I am, for I also {am} as you. You did me no harm. 13 Now you know that because of a weakness of the flesh I proclaimed the gospel to you the first time. 14 And you did not despise your trial in my flesh nor reject me, but you welcomed me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. 15 Where, then, {is} your blessing? For I testify to you that, if possible, having torn out your eyes, you would have given {them} to me. 16 So then, speaking truth to you, have I become your enemy? 17 They are zealous for you, not rightly, but they desire to separate you, so that you would be zealous for them. 18 Now {it is} always good to be zealous for good, and not only when I am present with you. 19 My little children, with whom I am in labor again until Christ would be formed in you— 20 but I am desiring to be present with you now and to change my tone, because I am perplexed about you. 21 Tell me, you desiring to be under law, do you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave girl and one by the free woman. 23 And the one was born from the slave girl according to flesh, but the {other}, from the free woman, through promise. 24 These are being spoken as an allegory, for they are two covenants. One {is} from Mount Sinai, giving birth to slavery; this is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponding to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother. 27 For it is written, “Rejoice, you barren not giving birth; break forth and shout, you not suffering the pains of childbirth; because the children of the desolate one {are} more than {those} of the one having a husband.” 28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 But just as then, the one having been born according to flesh was persecuting the one according to Spirit, so {it} also {is} now. 30 But what does the scripture say? “Throw out the slave girl and her son. For the son of the slave girl will certainly not inherit with the son of the free woman.” 31 Therefore, brothers, we are not children of a slave girl, but of the free woman. Chapter 5 1 For freedom Christ set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not again be subjected to a yoke of slavery. 2 Behold, I, Paul, say to you that if you would be circumcised, Christ will benefit you nothing. 3 Now I testify again to every man being circumcised that he is obligated to do the whole law. 4 You were cut off from Christ, whoever is being justified by law; you fell from grace. 5 For through {the} Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for {the} hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is capable of anything, but {only} faith working through love. 7 You were running well. Who hindered you, not to be persuaded by truth? 8 {This} persuasion {is} not from the one calling you! 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10 I am confident in you in {the} Lord that you will think nothing otherwise. But the one troubling you will bear the judgment, whoever he may be. 11 But brothers, if I still proclaim circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the stumbling block of the cross has been removed. 12 I wish the ones disturbing you will even castrate themselves! 13 For you have been called to freedom, brothers, only not the freedom for an opportunity for the flesh; rather, through love serve one another. 14 For all the law has been fulfilled in one command, in {this}, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you are biting and devouring one another, watch out {that} you might not be consumed by one another. 16 Now I say, walk by {the} Spirit and you would certainly not fulfill desires of {the} flesh. 17 For the flesh desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. For these oppose each other, so that you are not doing these {things} that you would desire. 18 But if you are led by {the} Spirit, you are not under {the} law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, depravity, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, rivalry, dissension, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and {things} like these, about which I warn you, just as I warned you before, that the ones practicing such things will not inherit {the} kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, {and} self-control; against such {things} there is no law. 24 But the ones of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the desires. 25 If we live by {the} Spirit, let us also walk by {the} Spirit. 26 Let us not become boastful, provoking one another, envying one another. Chapter 6 1 Brothers, even if a man is caught in any trespass, let you, the spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself, lest you also be tempted. 2 Carry one the burdens of another, and thus you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks {himself} to be something, being nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But let each one examine {his} own work, and then he will have reason to boast in himself alone and not in someone else. 5 For each one will carry {his} own burden. 6 But let the one being taught the word share in all good {things} with the one teaching. 7 Do not be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man may sow, that he will also reap. 8 For the one sowing to {his} own flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction. But the one sowing to the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 But we should not become discouraged in doing good, for in due time, not becoming weary, we will reap. 10 So then, as we have time, we should do good to all, but especially to the ones of {the} household of the faith. 11 See what large letters I wrote to you with my own hand. 12 As many as desire to make a good impression in {the} flesh, they compel you to be circumcised, only so that they might not be persecuted for the cross of Christ Jesus. 13 For not even the ones circumcised keep {the} law themselves, but they want you to be circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh. 14 But may it never be to me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which {the} world has been crucified to me, and I to {the} world. 15 For neither circumcision is anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 16 And as many as will walk in this standard, peace and mercy upon them and upon the Israel of God. 17 From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I carry in my body the marks of Jesus. 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ {be} with your spirit, brothers. Amen. Ephesians Chapter 1 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, to the saints, the ones being [in Ephesus] [1] and faithful in Christ Jesus. 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed {be} the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one having blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly {places} in Christ, 4 just as he chose us in him from the foundation of the world, {for} us to be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to the praise of the glory of his grace that he has freely given us in the Beloved One, 7 in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of the trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he caused to abound to us in all wisdom and understanding. 9 He made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he had planned in him, 10 with a view to an administration of the fullness of time, to bring all the things together in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on earth, in him, 11 in whom we were also allotted as a possession. We were predestined according to the purpose of the one working out everything according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we, the ones having first hoped in Christ, would be for the praise of his glory. 13 In him, you also, having heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and having believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a down payment of our inheritance until the redemption of the full possession, to the praise of his glory. 15 Because of this, I also, having heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and the love [2] for all the saints, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, making mention {of you} in my prayers, 17 so that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, would give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 the eyes of your heart having been enlightened {for} you to know what is the hope of his calling {and} what {are} the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19 and what {is} the incomparable greatness of his power toward us, the ones believing, according to the working of the force of his strength, 20 which he worked in Christ, having raised him from the dead and seated {him} at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name being named, not only in this age, but also in the one coming. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him {as} head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of the one filling all in all. 1:1 [1] Many early versions do not includein Ephesus. 1:15 [2] Some manuscripts do not includelove , but the best manuscripts include it. Chapter 2 1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authorities of the air, the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience, 3 in which we all also once lived in the evil desires of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the body and of the minds. And we were by nature children of wrath, as also the rest. 4 But God being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, 5 and we being dead in the trespasses, he made us alive together in Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with {him} and seated us with {him} in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages that are coming he might show the immeasurably great riches of his grace in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this {is} not from yourselves; {it is} the gift of God, 9 not from works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand, so that we would walk in them. 11 Therefore, remember that once you {were} Gentiles in {the{ flesh, the ones being called “uncircumcised” by the ones being called “circumcised” in the flesh, performed by human hands. 12 For at that time you were apart from Christ, excluded from the community of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you, the ones once being far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, the one having made the two one and destroyed in his flesh the middle wall of partition, the hostility. 15 He abolished the law of the commandments in regulations so that he might make the two into one new man in himself, making peace, 16 and so that he might reconcile both to God as one body through the cross, putting to death the hostility in it. 17 And he came {and} proclaimed peace to you, the ones far away and peace to the ones near, 18 for through him both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then, you are no longer strangers and foreigners. Instead, you are fellow citizens with the saints and {members} of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fit together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God in the Spirit. Chapter 3 1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles, 2 if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of the grace of God that was given to me for you, 3 according to a revelation made known to me, the mystery about which I already wrote in brief. 4 Concerning that, reading {it}, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men as it now has been revealed by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets— 6 that the Gentiles are to be fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, 7 for which I became a servant by the gift of the grace of God that was given to me through the working of his power. 8 To me—the least of all the saints—this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to reveal for everyone what {is} the administration of the mystery that was hidden from the ages in God, the one having created all things, 10 so that now through the church the multifaceted wisdom of God might be made known to the rulers and to the authorities in the heavenly places, 11 according to the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in him. 13 Therefore, I ask you not to be discouraged by my sufferings for you, which is your glory. 14 For this reason I bend my knees to the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 so that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may live in your hearts through faith, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 so that you may be fully able to comprehend, along with all the saints, what {is} the width and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ surpassing knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 And to the one being able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that is working in us, 21 to him {be} the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever {and} ever. Amen. Chapter 4 1 Therefore I, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk worthily of the calling by which you were called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, putting up with one another in love, 3 doing your best to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 {There is} one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, the one over all and through all and in all. 7 And to each one of us this grace has been given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 8 Therefore it says: “Having ascended to the heights, he led captives into captivity, {and} he gave gifts to men.” 9 And this “He ascended,” what is it except that he also descended into the lower regions of the earth? 10 The one having descended is also himself the one having ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things. 11 And he himself gave the apostles, and the prophets, and the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of serving, for building up of the body of Christ, 13 until we all reach to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children tossed back and forth by the waves and carried away by every wind of teaching through the trickery of men in cleverness for deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking truth in love, let us grow up in all things into him who is the head, {even} Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being joined and held together by every supporting ligament, according to the working in measure of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for building up itself in love. 17 Therefore, I say this and strongly urge you in the Lord, to walk no longer as the Gentiles also walk, in futility of their minds. 18 They have been darkened in their understanding, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their hearts. 19 They, being dead to all feeling, handed themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. 20 But you did not thus learn about Christ, 21 if indeed you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus. 22 You are to put aside {what} belongs to your former manner of life, the old man being corrupted according to {its} deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new man {that is} according to God—having been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. 25 Therefore, putting aside the lying, let each of you speak truth with his neighbor, because we are members of one another. 26 Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your indignation, 27 nor give an opportunity to the devil. 28 The thief must steal no longer. But rather, he must labor, working good with his hands, so that he may have something to share with the ones having need. 29 Do not let any corrupt talk come out from your mouth, but whatever {is} good for building up of the {one in} need, so that it might give grace to the hearers, 30 and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, and rage, and anger, and quarreling, and insults be removed from yourselves, along with all malice. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you. Chapter 5 1 Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children, 2 and walk in love, as also Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, an offering and sacrifice to God for a fragrant aroma. 3 But sexual immorality and every impurity or greed must not even be named among you, just as is proper for saints, 4 and filthiness and foolish talk or crude jokes—which are not fitting—but instead, thanksgiving. 5 Indeed, know this for certain, that every sexually immoral or unclean or greedy {person}—that is, an idolater—has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore, do not become partners with them, 8 because formerly you were darkness, but now {are} light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), 10 carefully testing what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 And do not take part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather even expose {them}. 12 For it is shameful even to mention the things done by them in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light is revealed, for everything that is revealed is light. 14 Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” 15 Watch carefully, therefore, how you walk—not as unwise but as wise, 16 redeeming the time because the days are evil. 17 Because of this, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord {is}. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, in which is recklessness. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to each other in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and singing psalms in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father, 21 submitting yourselves to one another in reverence for Christ— 22 wives, to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For a husband is the head of the wife as Christ also is} {the head of the church—he himself is} {the savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also {are} wives to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 so that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of the water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself as glorious, not having stain or wrinkle or any of those things, but so that she might be holy and blameless. 28 In the same way, the husbands also ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. The one loving his own wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own body, but he nourishes and treats it with care, just as Christ also {does} the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Because of this a man will leave his father and his mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is great—but I am speaking about Christ and about the church. 33 Nevertheless, you also—each one of you—must love his own wife in this way—as himself, and the wife must respect her husband. Chapter 6 1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is righteous. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (which is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “so that it may be well with you and you may be long-lived on the earth.” 4 And fathers, do not provoke your children to anger. Instead, raise them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. 5 Slaves, obey your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling, in honesty of your heart, as to Christ, 6 not with eye-service as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the soul, 7 serving with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to men, 8 knowing that each person, if he does something good, this he will receive from the Lord, whether slave or free. 9 And masters, do the same to them. Stop using threats. You know that the Master, both theirs and yours, is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him. 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the force of his strength. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, to enable you to stand against the scheming of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world-controllers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly {places}. 13 Because of this, put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done everything, to stand. 14 Stand, therefore, having girded up your loins with truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with readiness of the gospel of peace. 16 In everything take up the shield of the faith, by which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 With every prayer and request, pray at all times in the Spirit. And to this {end}, be watchful with all perseverance and requests for all the saints, 19 and for me, so that a message might be given to me in {the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel 20 (for which I am an ambassador in chains), so that in it I may speak boldly, as it is necessary for me to speak. 21 But so that you also may know the things concerning me, how I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will make known to you everything, 22 whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, so that you may know the things about us and your hearts may be encouraged. 23 Peace to the brothers, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace {be} with all the ones loving our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptibility. Philippians Chapter 1 1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus being in Philippi, with the overseers and deacons. 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always, in every prayer of mine for all of you, making my prayer with joy 5 because of your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; 6 having been persuaded of this very thing, that the one having begun a good work in you will perfect {it} until the day of Jesus Christ; 7 just as it is right for me to think this {way} about all of you because, I have you in my heart, all of you being partakers with me of grace both in my chains and in my defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God {is} my witness, how I long for all of you with the inner parts of Christ Jesus. 9 And I pray this: that your love would abound still more and more in knowledge and all understanding 10 so that you may approve {what} excels, so that you might be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11 being filled with the fruit of righteousness {that is} through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. 12 Now I want you to know, brothers, that the things concerning me have really happened for the advancement of the gospel. 13 As a result, my chains in Christ became apparent among the whole palace guard and all the others. 14 And most of the brothers have been encouraged in the Lord by my chains to dare more fearlessly to speak the word. 15 Some indeed even proclaim Christ because of envy and strife, but also some because of goodwill, 16 the ones indeed from love having understood that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel, 17 but the ones from selfish ambition proclaim Christ not sincerely, supposing to raise up trouble in my chains. 18 What then? Only that in every way—whether in pretext or in truth—Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know that this will result to me in deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 20 according to my eager expectation and hope that I will in nothing be ashamed, but in everything have boldness, and that now, as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether through life or through death. 21 For to me to live {is} Christ, and to die {is} gain. 22 Now if to live in the flesh, this {is} fruitful labor for me, but I do not know which I will choose. 23 But I am hard pressed between the two, having the desire to depart and to be with Christ, for {that is} very much better, 24 but to remain in the flesh {is} more necessary for your sake. 25 And having been persuaded of this, I know that I will remain and will continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith 26 so that in me your boasting in Christ Jesus might abound through my coming to you again. 27 Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ so that whether having come and having seen you or whether being absent, I might hear about you, that you stand firm in one spirit, with one soul striving together for the faith of the gospel. 28 And do not be frightened in anything by the ones opposing {you}. This is a sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation—and this from God. 29 For it has been freely given to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer on behalf of him, 30 having the same struggle which you saw in me, and now you hear in me. Chapter 2 1 Therefore, if {there is} any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affections and compassions, 2 fulfill my joy that you might think the same, having the same love, united in soul, thinking the one thing. 3 {Do} nothing according to selfish ambition or according to empty conceit, but with humility considering others better than yourselves, 4 each one not considering the things of themselves, but also the things of each other. 5 Have this attitude in you which also {was} in Christ Jesus, 6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider being equal with God something to be grasped. 7 Instead, he emptied himself, having taken the form of a servant, having been born in the likeness of men, and having been found in appearance as a man, 8 he humbled himself, having become obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross! 9 Therefore, God also highly exalted him and gave him the name {that is} above every name 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee would bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue would confess that Jesus Christ {is} Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 12 So then, my beloved, just as you always obeyed, not only as in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For God is the one working in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. 14 Do all things without complaining or arguing 15 so that you might become blameless and pure, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding forth the word of life for my boasting on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain nor labor in vain. 17 But even if I am being poured out as an offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and rejoice with you all. 18 Now in the same manner, you also rejoice and rejoice with me. 19 Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon so that I also might be encouraged, having come to know the things concerning you. 20 For I have no one like-minded, who will be genuinely anxious about the things concerning you, 21 for they all seek their own things, not the things of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know his proven worth, that as a child with his father, he served with me in the gospel. 23 Therefore, I hope to send him at once, as soon as I would see {how} the things concerning me {go}. 24 But I trust in the Lord that I myself will also come soon. 25 Now I consider {it} necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister for my needs, 26 seeing that he has been longing to be with you all, and he is distressed because you heard that he was sick. 27 For indeed he was sick nearly to death, but God had mercy on him, and not on him only, but also on me, so that I might not have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 Therefore, I sent him all the more eagerly, so that, having seen him again, you might rejoice, and I might be free from pain. 29 Therefore, welcome him in the Lord with all joy, and hold in honor the ones such as {him}, 30 since for the sake of the work of Christ, he came near even to death, risking his life so that he might make up your lack of service to me. Chapter 3 1 {As to} the rest, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write these same things to you {is} no trouble, and {is} a safeguard for you. 2 Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the mutilation. 3 For we are the circumcision—the ones worshiping by the Spirit of God and boasting in Christ Jesus and having no confidence in the flesh, 4 although I myself having confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else thinks to have confidence in the flesh, I even more: 5 circumcision on the eighth day, from the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; according to the law, a Pharisee; 6 according to zeal, persecuting the church; according to righteousness {that is} in the law, having become blameless. 7 Whatever things were gains for me, I consider these things loss for the sake of Christ. 8 But on the contrary, I consider even all things to be loss because of the surpassing value of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, because of whom I have suffered the loss of all things—and I consider {them} dung—so that I might gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having my own righteousness {that is} from law, but {that which is} through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God by faith— 10 to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, 11 if, in some way, I might attain to the resurrection {that is} from the dead. 12 Not that I already received {it}, or have already been made perfect, but I am pursuing {it}, if perhaps I might also grasp that for which I was also grasped by Christ Jesus. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself to have grasped {it}. But one thing: forgetting {what is} behind and straining for {what is} ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Therefore, as many as {are} perfect should think this {way}; and if you think differently about anything, God will also reveal that to you. 16 However, in what we have attained, we should live in it. 17 Become imitators of me, brothers, and watch closely the ones walking in this manner, just as you have us {as} an example. 18 For many walk—about whom I have often told you, but now even weeping, I say—{as} the enemies of the cross of Christ, 19 whose end {is} destruction, whose god {is their} belly, and {whose} glory {is} in their shame, the ones thinking about earthly things. 20 But our citizenship exists in heaven, from where we also eagerly await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to conformity to his glorious body, according to the working of his power even to subject all things to himself. Chapter 4 1 Therefore, my brothers, beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, beloved. 2 I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to think the same in the Lord. 3 Yes, I also ask you, true companion, to help these {women} who labored with me in the gospel, with also Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names {are} in the Book of Life. 4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord {is} near. 6 Be anxious about nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God, 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 {As to} the rest, brothers, as many as are true, as many as honorable, as many as just, as many as pure, as many as lovely, as many as reputable, if anything {is} virtuous, and if anything {is} praiseworthy, think about these things. 9 And what you learned and received and heard and saw in me, do these things, and the God of peace will be with you. 10 Now I greatly rejoice in the Lord, because now at last you renewed your concern on my behalf, for which indeed you were concerned, but were lacking opportunity. 11 Not that I speak according to need, for I myself have learned in whatever I am to be content. 12 I know both {how} to be brought low, and I know {how} to abound. In each {situation} and in all {situations}, I have learned both to be filled and to be hungry, and to abound and to be in need. 13 I can do all things in the one strengthening me. 14 However, you did well, having shared together in my affliction. 15 Now you Philippians also know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I went out from Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone, 16 for even in Thessalonica, both once and twice you sent for my needs. 17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that is increasing to your account. 18 Now I have all things in full, and I abound. I have been filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things from you, an aroma, a sweet smell, an acceptable, pleasing sacrifice to God. 19 Now my God will fulfill all your need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20 Now to our God and Father {be} the glory forever {and} ever. Amen. 21 Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers with me greet you. 22 All the saints greet you, but especially the ones from the household of Caesar. 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ {be} with your spirit. Amen. [1] 4:23 [1] Some ancient copies do not have Amen. Colossians Chapter 1 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ in Colossae. Grace to you, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. [1] 3 We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, always praying for you, 4 having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope that is being reserved for you in the heavens, which you heard before in the word of truth, the gospel, 6 which being present among you just as also in all the world, is bearing fruit and growing, just as also in you, from the day you heard {it} and learned about the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned {it} from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, [2] 8 and the one having made known to us your love in the Spirit. 9 Because of this, from the day we heard this, we also have not stopped praying for you and asking that you might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, 10 to walk worthily of the Lord in every pleasing {way}, bearing fruit in every good deed and growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to the power of his glory to all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, the one having made you able to share the inheritance of the saints in the light. [3] 13 He rescued us from the authority of the darkness and transferred {us} to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. [4] 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For in him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, the visible and the invisible. Whether thrones or dominions or governments or authorities, all things have been created though him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead, so that he himself might become first among all things. 19 For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell, 20 and to reconcile through him all things to himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross, through him, whether the things on the earth or the things in the heavens. 21 At one time you also were alienated and enemies in thought, in evil deeds. 22 But now you have been reconciled by the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, founded and firm and not being moved from the hope of the gospel that you heard, the one having been proclaimed to every creature {that is} under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a servant. 24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my flesh the lack of the afflictions of Christ for the sake of his body, which is the church, 25 of which I became a servant according to the stewardship of God, the one having been given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, 26 the mystery that had been hidden from the ages and from the generations, but now having been revealed to his saints, 27 to whom God desired to make known what {is} the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 We proclaim him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom so that we may present every man complete in Christ. 29 For this also I labor, striving according to his working, the one working in me in power. 1:2 [1] Some early copies leave out and {the} Lord Jesus Christ. 1:7 [2] Some versions read, on your behalf. 1:12 [3] Some versions read, the one having made us able to have a share. 1:14 [4] Some versions read, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. Chapter 2 1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and the ones at Laodicea and as many as have not seen my face in the flesh 2 so that their hearts might be encouraged, having been brought together in love and into all the riches of the full assurance of understanding, into knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ, 3 in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden. 4 I say this so that no one might deceive you with persuasive speech. 5 For even if I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in the spirit, rejoicing and seeing your good order and the strength of your faith in Christ. 6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him, 7 being rooted and built up in him and confirmed in the faith just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. 8 Beware lest someone will be the one taking you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elemental teaching of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form, 10 and you are filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority, 11 in whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands in the removal of the body of flesh in the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism and in whom you were raised up through faith in the power of God, the one having raised him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in the trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all of our trespasses, [1] 14 having canceled the written record of the decrees against us, which were opposed to us, and he has taken {it} out from our midst, having nailed it to the cross; 15 having stripped the rulers and the authorities, he made a public spectacle of {them}, having triumphed over them in it. 16 Therefore, do not let anyone judge you in food or in drink or in regard to a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of the things coming, but the body {is} of Christ. 18 Let no one delighting in false humility and worship of the angels deprive you of your prize, standing on things he has seen, becoming puffed up without cause by the mind of his flesh 19 and not holding fast to the head, from which the whole body, being supplied and held together through the joints and ligaments, grows with the growth from God. 20 If you died with Christ from the elemental principles of the world, why, as living in the world, are you being subjected to its decrees: 21 “You may not handle, nor taste, nor touch!” 22 which are all for destruction with the use, according to the commands and teachings of men; 23 which, having indeed a word of wisdom in self-made religion and false humility {and} severity of the body, are not of any value against indulgence of the flesh. 2:13 [1] Some older versions read, having forgiven you all of your trespasses. Chapter 3 1 If, therefore, you were raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Think about the things above, not the things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life has been hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, your life, [1] is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory. 5 Put to death, therefore, the members {that are} on the earth—sexual immorality, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and envy, which is idolatry, 6 because of which the wrath of God is coming, [2] 7 in which you also formerly walked when you were living in them. 8 But now you must also lay aside all {such things}—wrath, anger, evil desire, slander, {and} obscene speech from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, having taken off the old man with its practices 10 and having put on the new man being renewed in knowledge according to the image of the one having created it; 11 where there is no Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, freeman, but Christ {is} all, and in all. 12 Therefore, as chosen ones of God, holy and beloved, put on inner parts of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, {and} patience, 13 bearing with one another and being gracious to each other if someone may have a complaint against someone else; just as also the Lord forgave you, so also should you. 14 But above all these things, love, which is the bond of perfection. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and become thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, {and} spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And everything, whatever you might do in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. 18 Wives, be subjected to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives, and do not be embittered against them. 20 Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is pleasing in the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, so that they may not be discouraged. 22 Slaves, obey your masters according to the flesh in all things, not with eyeservice as people pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you might do, work from the soul as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that you will receive from the Lord the reward of the inheritance. You are serving the Lord Christ. 25 For the one doing unrighteousness will receive what he did unrighteously, and there is no favoritism. 3:4 [1] Some versions read, our life, 3:6 [2] Some ancient copies add on the sons of disobedience. Chapter 4 1 Masters, give to your slaves {what is} right and fair, knowing that you also have a master in heaven. 2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, staying alert in it in thanksgiving, 3 praying together for us also so that God may open a door to us for the word to speak the mystery of Christ, on account of which also I have been bound, 4 in order that I may make it clear, as I ought to speak. 5 Walk in wisdom toward the ones outside, redeeming the time, 6 your words always with grace, seasoned with salt, to know how it is necessary for you to answer each one. 7 All the things concerning me, Tychicus will make known to you, the beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow slave in the Lord, 8 whom I sent to you for this very {reason}, so that you might know the things concerning us [1] and that he might encourage your hearts. 9 Together with Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother who is from among you, they will make known to you all the things here. 10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you, and Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (about whom you received orders; if he may come to you, receive him), 11 and Jesus, the one called Justus. These {are} the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God being from the circumcision, who were a comfort to me. 12 Epaphras greets you. He {is} from among you, a servant of Christ Jesus, always striving on behalf of you in prayers so that you may stand complete and fully assured in all the will of God. 13 For I testify for him that he has much hard labor on behalf of you and of the ones in Laodicea and of the ones in Hierapolis. 14 Luke, the beloved physician, greets you, and also Demas. 15 Greet the brothers in Laodicea, and Nympha, and the church in her house. 16 And when this letter has been read among you, make sure that it would be read also in the church of Laodicea and that you also would read the one from Laodicea. 17 And say to Archippus, “Look to the ministry that you have received in the Lord so that you may fulfill it.” 18 This greeting {is} by my {own} hand—Paul. Remember my chains. Grace {be} with you. 4:8 [1] Some older versions read, so that he might know the {things} concerning you 1 Thessalonians Chapter 1 1 Paul and Silvanus and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace to you. [1] 2 We always give thanks to God for all of you, continually making mention {of you} in our prayers, 3 remembering your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ before our God and Father; 4 knowing, brothers loved by God, your election, 5 because our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance—just as you know what kind {of men} we were among you for your sake. 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much hardship, with joy of the Holy Spirit. 7 As a result, you became an example to all the ones believing in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For from you the word of the Lord has been sounded out not only in Macedonia and in Achaia, but your faith toward God has gone out into every place. Therefore, we do not have need to say anything. 9 For they themselves report concerning us what kind of reception we had with you and how you turned to God from the idols to serve the living and true God 10 and to wait for his Son from the heavens, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, the one rescuing us from the coming wrath. 1:1 [1] Some older versions read May grace and peace be to you from God our Father and {the} Lord Jesus Christ. Chapter 2 1 For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you has not been in vain. 2 But having previously suffered and having been shamefully treated at Philippi, just as you know, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much struggle. 3 For our exhortation {was} neither from error, nor from impurity, nor in deceit, 4 but just as we have been examined by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing to men, but to God, the one examining our hearts. 5 For we did not come at that time in words of flattery, just as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God {is} witness— 6 nor seeking glory from men, neither from you nor from others, 7 being able to be a burden as apostles of Christ; but we became little children in the midst of you, as if a mother might comfort her own children. [1] 8 Having affection for you in this manner, we were pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own souls. For you had become beloved to us. 9 For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil, night and day working in order not to burden any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God. 10 You {are} witnesses, and {so is} God, how holy and righteous, and blameless we became toward you, the ones believing, 11 just as you know as each one of you, as a father his own children, 12 exhorting you and encouraging and testifying for you to walk worthily of God, the one calling you into his own kingdom and glory. 13 And because of this, we also thank God constantly, that having received the word of God, heard from us, you accepted it not as} {the word of man, but just as it truly is, the word of God, which is also working in you, the ones believing. 14 For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God that are in Judea in Christ Jesus, because the same things you also suffered from your own countrymen, just as they also from the Jews, 15 the ones having killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets and having persecuted us and not being pleasing to God and {being} hostile to all men, 16 forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles so that they might be saved, to always fill up their sins. But the wrath has come upon them to the end. 17 But we, brothers, having been separated from you for the time of an hour, by face, not in heart, became extremely eager to see your face, in much desire. 18 For we desired to come to you—indeed I, Paul, both once and twice—but Satan hindered us. 19 For what {is} our hope or joy or crown of boasting? [2] Or {is it} not even you before our Lord Jesus at his coming? 20 For you are our glory and joy. 2:7 [1] Some ancient copies read instead, we were as gentle among you as a mother comforting her own children. 2:19 [2] Instead of boasting, two ancient versions have a word translated as loud shouting or celebration. Chapter 3 1 Therefore, enduring {it} no longer, we thought it good to be left behind at Athens alone, 2 and we sent Timothy, our brother and a servant of God in the gospel of Christ, [1] to strengthen and to comfort you regarding your faith, 3 that no one be disturbed by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that for this we are appointed. 4 For even when we were with you, we were telling you in advance that we are about to suffer affliction, and it happened, just as you also know. 5 Because of this, I also no longer enduring {it}, sent to know about your faith, lest the tempter had somehow tempted you, and our labor might have been in vain. 6 But just now Timothy has come to us from you and has brought to us the good news of your faith and love and that you always have good memories of us, longing to see us just as we also, you. 7 Because of this, brothers, we were comforted by you in all our distress and affliction, by your faith. 8 For now we live, if you yourselves stand firm in the Lord. 9 For what thanks are we able to give back to God concerning you for all the joy in which we rejoice before our God because of you, [2] 10 night and day pleading earnestly to see your face and to provide what {is} lacking in your faith? 11 But may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. 12 Now may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we also toward you, 13 to strengthen your hearts, blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. Amen! 3:2 [1] Some other versions read and we sent Timothy, our brother and fellow worker for God in the gospel of Christ, 3:9 [2] Some ancient manuscripts replace the two occurrences of God with Lord. Chapter 4 1 So finally, brothers, we ask and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, just as you received from us about how it is necessary for you to walk and to please God (just as also you are walking), so that you might abound even more. 2 For you know what commands we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: to keep yourselves from sexual immorality; 4 for each of you to know to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust (just as also the Gentiles, the ones not knowing God); 6 not to transgress and exploit his brother in this matter, for the Lord {is} an avenger concerning all these things, just as we also forewarned you and testified. 7 For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in sanctification. 8 Therefore, the one rejecting this rejects not man, but God, who gives [1] his Holy Spirit to you [2] 9 But concerning brotherly love, you have [3] no need {for us} to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. 10 For indeed, you do this to all the brothers who {are} in all Macedonia. But we exhort you, brothers, to abound even more 11 and to strive to live quietly and to perform your own things and to work with your own hands, just as we commanded you, 12 so that you may walk properly before the ones outside and may have need of nothing. 13 Now we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, concerning the ones sleeping, so that you may not grieve just as also the rest who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so God will also bring with him the ones having fallen asleep through Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we, the ones being alive, the ones being left behind until the coming of the Lord, may certainly not go before the ones having fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with a trumpet of God, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we, the ones living, the ones being left behind, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and in this way we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore, comfort one another with these words. 4:8 [1] Instead of who gives, some ancient manuscripts read who gave. 4:8 [2] Instead of to you, some ancient manuscripts read you. 4:9 [3] Some ancient manuscripts read we have but the best manuscripts read you have. Chapter 5 1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need {for us} to write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly well that the day of the Lord comes in this manner—like a thief in the night. 3 When they say, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction comes on them like the birth pains to the one having in the womb, and they will certainly not escape. 4 But you, brothers, are not in darkness, so that the day might overtake you like a thief. 5 For you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night, nor of darkness; 6 so then, we should not sleep as the rest, but we should keep watch and be sober. 7 For the ones sleeping sleep at night, and the ones getting drunk get drunk at night. 8 But we, being of day, should stay sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and of love, and a helmet—the hope of salvation. 9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 the one having died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we live together with him. 11 Therefore, comfort one another and build up one the one, just as also you are doing. 12 Now we ask you, brothers, to acknowledge the ones laboring among you and leading you in the Lord and admonishing you, 13 and to regard them highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 Now we exhort you, brothers: Admonish the disorderly, encourage the discouraged, help the weak, be patient toward all. 15 See that no one would pay back evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue {what is} good, both for one another and for all. 16 Rejoice always. 17 Pray without ceasing. 18 In everything give thanks, for this is} {the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies. 21 Test all things. [1] Hold fast to what {is} good. 22 Stay away from all appearance of evil. 23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your entire spirit, and soul, and body be kept blamelessly at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Faithful {is} the one calling you, who will also do it. 25 Brothers, pray also for us. 26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. 27 I solemnly charge you {by} the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers. [2] 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ {be} with you. [3] 5:21 [1] Instead of Test all things many ancient manuscripts read But test all {things} 5:27 [2] Some ancient manuscripts read all the holy brothers. 5:28 [3] Some ancient manuscripts add Amen. 2 Thessalonians Chapter 1 1 Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, just as it is fitting, because your faith is increasing greatly, and the love of each one of you all for one another is increasing; 4 so that we ourselves boast concerning you among the churches of God about your endurance and faith in all your persecutions and afflictions that you endure, 5 evidence of the righteous judgment of God, for you to be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer; 6 if indeed {it is} righteous for God to return affliction to the ones afflicting you, 7 and relief to you, the ones being afflicted with us at the revealing of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on the ones not having known God and on the ones not obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus, 9 who will pay the penalty—eternal destruction away from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his power, 10 when he comes on that day to be glorified by his saints and to be marveled at by all the ones having believed, for our testimony to you has been believed. 11 For this we also pray always for you, so that our God may consider you worthy of the calling and he may fulfill every desire of goodness and work of faith in power 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus might be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Chapter 2 1 Now about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering to him, we ask you, brothers, 2 for you not to be quickly shaken in your mind and not to be troubled neither by a spirit nor by a word nor by a letter as if from us, as if the day of the Lord has already come. 3 May no one deceive you in any way, for unless the apostacy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, [1] 4 the one opposing and exalting himself against everything being called god or an object of worship. As a result, he himself sits in the temple of God, showing that he himself is God. 5 Do you not remember that, still being with you, I was telling you these things? 6 And now you know the one restraining {him}, until his revealing in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already working, only the one restraining {him} now will do so until he comes out of the way, 8 and then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth, and will bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming, 9 the arrival of whom is according to a work of Satan in all power and signs and false wonders 10 and in all deceit of unrighteousness to the ones perishing, because of which they did not receive the love of the truth for them to be saved. 11 And because of this, God is sending to them a working of error for them to believe the lie 12 so that they might all be judged, the ones not having believed the truth, but having taken pleasure in the unrighteousness. 13 Now we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers having been loved by the Lord. For God chose you {as} firstfruits [2] for salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth. [3] 14 He called you to this through our gospel, to the acquiring of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold tight to the traditions that you were taught, whether by word or by our letter. 16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave {us} eternal comfort and good hope through grace, 17 may he comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word. 2:3 [1] Some older versions read man of sin. 2:13 [2] Some ancient manuscripts read from the beginning 2:13 [3] Some other versions read For God chose you from the first for salvation. Chapter 3 1 Finally, brothers, pray for us so that the word of the Lord might run and might be glorified, just as also with you, 2 and so that we might be rescued from the perverse and evil men, for not everyone {has} the faith. 3 But the Lord is faithful, who will strengthen and keep you from the evil one. 4 We are also confident in the Lord about you that you are doing and will do what we command. 5 Now may the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the endurance of Christ. 6 Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, for you to keep away from every brother walking disorderly and not according to the traditions which you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know in what manner it is necessary to imitate us, because we did not behave disorderly among you, 8 nor did we eat bread from anyone for free, but, working night and day in toil and hardship not to burden any of you, 9 not because we do not have authority, but in order that we might offer ourselves {as} an example to you to imitate us. 10 For even when we were with you, we were commanding you this, “If anyone is not willing to work, do not even let him eat.” 11 For we hear about some walking idly among you, not working, but meddling. 12 But such ones we are commanding and exhorting in the Lord Jesus Christ, that working with quietness, they might eat their own bread. 13 But you, brothers, do not become weary in doing what is right. 14 Now if anyone does not obey our word through the letter, note this one—not to associate with him, so that he may be put to shame. 15 And do not consider {him} as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. 16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace through all in every way. The Lord {be} with you all. 17 This greeting {is} in my own hand—Paul—which is a sign in every letter. In this manner I write. 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ {be} with you all. 1 Timothy Chapter 1 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of the Lord Jesus Christ our hope, 2 to Timothy, a true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 As I urged you {when I was} going into Macedonia, remain in Ephesus so that you can command certain ones not to teach differently, 4 and not to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which promote arguments rather than the stewardship of God, {which is} by faith. 5 Now the goal of this command is love from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and a sincere faith, 6 from which some, having missed the mark, have turned away to foolish talk, 7 wanting to be teachers of the law, not understanding either what they are saying or about which they make confident affirmations. 8 But we know that the law (is) good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 knowing this, that law is not made for the righteous, but for the lawless and the rebellious, the ungodly and the sinful, the godless and the profane, father-killers and mother-killers, man-slayers, 10 the immoral, male-liers, man-stealers, liars, perjurers, and if anything else is contrary to the healthy teaching, 11 according to the gospel of the glory of the blessed God, {with} which I have been entrusted. 12 I have gratitude to the one having strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he considered me trustworthy, placing me into service, 13 formerly being a blasphemer and a persecutor and an aggresor, but I was shown mercy because not knowing, I acted in unfaithfulness. 14 Indeed, the grace of our Lord overflowed with faith and love {that are} in Christ Jesus. 15 This word {is} trustworthy and worthy of all acceptance, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—of whom I am first. 16 But because of this I was shown mercy, so that in me, the first, Jesus Christ might demonstrate all patience as an example for the ones about to trust in him for eternal life. 17 Now to the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, {be} honor and glory to eternity forever. Amen. 18 This command I am placing before you, my child, Timothy, in accordance with the earlier prophecies about you, that by them you might fight the good fight, 19 holding faith and a good conscience, which some, having rejected, have shipwrecked regarding the faith, 20 of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have given over to Satan so that they may be taught not to blaspheme. Chapter 2 1 I urge, therefore, first of all, for requests, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings to be made for all men, 2 for kings and all the ones being in authority, so that we may live a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This {is} good and acceptable before God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth. 5 For {there is} one God, and one mediator of God and of men—the man Christ Jesus, 6 the one having given himself {as} a ransom for all, the testimony in its own times, 7 for which I was made a herald and an apostle—I am speaking the truth in Christ, I am not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. 8 Therefore, I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger and argument, 9 likewise women to adorn themselves in proper attire, with modesty and self-control, not in braids and gold, or pearls, or expensive clothing, 10 but what befits women professing godliness, through good works. 11 Let a woman learn in quietness, in all submission. 12 But I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in quietness. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve, 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman, having been deceived, came into transgression. 15 But she will be saved through childbearing, if they remain in faith and love and holiness with self-control. Chapter 3 1 This word {is} trustworthy: “If someone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble work.” 2 Therefore, the overseer must be irreproachable, a husband of one wife, sober, self-controlled, orderly, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not a drunkard, not a brawler, but gentle, peaceful, not money-loving, 4 managing his own household well, having children in obedience with all honor 5 (for if someone does not know {how} to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?), 6 not a new convert, so that he may not fall, being puffed up, into the judgment of the devil. 7 But he must also have a good reputation with the ones outside, so that he may not fall into disgrace and a trap of the devil. 8 Likewise deacons {must be} dignified, not double-talkers, not indulging in much wine, not greedy, 9 holding the mystery of the faith with a clean conscience. 10 And let them also be tested first; then let them serve, being blameless. 11 Likewise women {must be} dignified, not slanderers, sober, trustworthy in everything. 12 Deacons are to be husbands of one wife, managing their own children and households well. 13 For the ones having served well acquire for themselves a good standing and much confidence in the faith that {is} in Christ Jesus. 14 I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you in quickness, 15 but if I delay, so that you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and support of the truth. 16 Indeed, admittedly great is the mystery of godliness: “Who was revealed in flesh, was justified in the Spirit, was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the nations, was believed in the world, was taken up in glory.” Chapter 4 1 Now the Spirit says specifically that in later times some will leave the faith, attending to deceiving spirits and teachings of demons, 2 through the hypocrisy of liars, their own consciences having been seared, 3 forbidding to marry, to abstain from foods that God created for receiving with thanksgiving by the faithful and {the ones} knowing the truth. 4 For every creation of God {is} good, and nothing being received with thanksgiving {is} vile, 5 for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. 6 Placing these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being nourished by the words of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. 7 But reject the profane and old-womanish myths. Instead, train yourself for godliness, 8 for “bodily training is valuable for a little, but godliness is valuable for all things, having promise for the present life and the coming one.” 9 That word {is} trustworthy and worthy of all acceptance, 10 for unto this we toil and struggle, because we have hoped in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. 11 Command and teach these things. 12 Let no one despise your youth, but be an example for the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 13 Until I come, attend to the reading, to the exhortation, to the teaching. 14 Do not neglect the gift in you, which was given to you through prophecy, with the imposition of the hands of the elder. 15 Study these things, be in them, so that your progress may be apparent to all. 16 Pay attention to yourself and to the teaching. Continue in these things, for, doing this, you will save both yourself and your listeners. Chapter 5 1 Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort {him} as a father, younger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity. 3 Honor widows—real widows. 4 But if any widow has children or grandchildren, first let them learn to honor their own household and to make repayment to their forebears, for this is pleasing before God. 5 But the genuine and left-alone widow hopes in God and continues in requests and prayers night and day. 6 But the one cavorting, living, has died. 7 Also command these things, so that they may be irreproachable. 8 But if someone does not provide for his own, and especially for household members, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 9 Let a widow be enrolled being not less than 60 years old, a wife of one husband, 10 attested in good works: if she has raised children, if she has received strangers, if she has washed the feet of the saints, if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has pursued every good work. 11 But refuse younger widows, because when they become wanton against Christ, they want to marry, 12 having judgment because they have broken their first pledge. 13 But at the same time, they also learn to be lazy, wandering about the houses, and not only lazy, but also babblers and busybodies, saying what they should not. 14 Therefore, I want younger ones to marry, bear children, manage a household, give no opportunity for slander to the one opposing. 15 For already some have turned aside after Satan. 16 If any believing woman has widows, let her help them, and let the church not be weighed down, so that it may help the genuine widows. 17 The elders having ruled well, let {them} be considered worthy of double honor, especially the ones toiling in the word and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, “You will not muzzle a threshing ox,” and, “The worker {is} worthy of his wages.” 19 Against an elder do not receive an accusation, except if on two or three witnesses. 20 The ones sinning, rebuke before all, so that the rest also may have fear. 21 I adjure you, before God and Christ Jesus and the chosen angels, that you keep these things without partiality, doing nothing according to favoritism. 22 Place hands hastily on no one, nor share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure. 23 No longer drink only water, but use a little wine because of your stomach and frequent illnesses. 24 The sins of some men are evident, going ahead into judgment, but also they follow after some. 25 Likewise, the good works {are} also evident, and the ones having otherwise are not able to be hidden. Chapter 6 1 As many slaves as are under a yoke, let them regard their own masters worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be blasphemed. 2 But the ones having believing masters, let them not despise {them} because they are brothers, but let them serve {them} more, because they are believers and beloved, the ones partaking of the service. Teach and encourage these things. 3 If anyone is teaching differently and does not accede to the healthy words, the ones of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the teaching according to godliness, 4 he is puffed up, understanding nothing, but being sick about controversies and word-battles, from which come envy, strife, blasphemies, evil suspicions, 5 friction, between men having been corrupted {as to} the mind and having been deprived of the truth, considering godliness to be a means of gain. [1] 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, so that neither are we able to take anything out. 8 But having food and clothing, with these we will be satisfied. 9 Now the ones wanting to be rich fall into temptation and a trap and many foolish and harmful desires, whatever plunges men into ruin and destruction. 10 For a root of all the evils is the love of money, which, some desiring, have been led away from the faith and have pierced themselves with many sorrows. 11 But you, O man of God, flee these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith, grasp eternal life, to which you were called and confessed the good confession before many witnesses. 13 I command you before God, the one enlivening all, and Christ Jesus, the one having testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, 14 that you keep the commandment spotless, irreproachable, until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 whom in its own times the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, will reveal, 16 the One having immortality alone, occupying unapproachable light, whom none of men has seen, nor is able to see, to whom {be} honor and eternal power. Amen. 17 Command the rich in the present age not to be proud, nor to hope in the uncertainty of riches, but in God, the one providing us all things richly unto enjoyment, 18 to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, willing to share, 19 storing up for themselves a good foundation for what is coming, so that they may grasp genuine life. 20 O Timothy, guard the deposit, avoiding the profane chatter and contradictions of miscalled knowledge, 21 which some, professing, have missed the mark regarding the faith. Grace {be} with you. 6:5 [1] Some old copies add Withdraw from such things, but the most ancient copies do not. 2 Timothy Chapter 1 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, according to the promise of life that {is} in Christ Jesus, 2 to Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, {and} peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 I have gratitude to God, whom I serve from my ancestors, with a clean conscience, as I have the constant remembrance concerning you in my prayers night and day, 4 longing to see you, remembering your tears, that I may be filled with joy, 5 having received remembrance of the genuine faith in you which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am convinced that {it is} also in you, 6 for which reason I am reminding you to rekindle the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God did not give us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of discipline. 8 Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but suffer together for the gospel, according to the power of God, 9 the one having saved us and having called {us} with a holy calling—not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, the {grace} having been given to us in Christ Jesus before eternal times, 10 and now having been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, {the one} having both put an end to death and brought to light life and immortality through the gospel, 11 for which I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, [1] 12 for which reason I also suffer these things. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am certain that he is able to guard my deposit until that day. 13 Keep the example of healthy words that you heard from me, in faith and love {that are} in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit, the one dwelling in us. 15 You know this, that all the ones in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain, 17 but being in Rome he diligently searched for me and found me. 18 May the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord in that day. And how much he served in Ephesus, you know very well. 1:11 [1] Some older versions add to the Gentiles. Chapter 2 1 You, therefore, my child, be strengthened in the grace {that is} in Christ Jesus. 2 And what you have heard from me along with many witnesses, entrust these things to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 3 Suffer together as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in the affairs of life, so that he may please the one having enlisted him. 5 Also, if anyone competes, he is not crowned if he has not competed lawfully. 6 The hardworking farmer ought to be first to receive of the crops. 7 Think about what I am saying, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. 8 Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, from the seed of David, according to my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering unto chains like a criminal. But the word of God is not bound. 10 Because of this, I endure all things for the chosen, so that they also may obtain salvation {that is} in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. 11 This word {is} trustworthy: “For if we died with {him}, we will also live with {him}. 12 If we endure, we will also reign with {him}. If we deny {him}, he also will deny us. 13 If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he is not able to deny himself.” 14 Remind {them} of these things, charging {them} before God [1] not to battle about words; {it is} useful for nothing, to the destruction of the ones hearing. 15 Strive to present yourself approved to God, a worker not ashamed, cutting the word of truth straight. 16 But avoid profane empty discussions, for they will advance into greater ungodliness, 17 and their word will have a spreading like gangrene, among whom are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have missed the mark regarding the truth, saying the resurrection has already happened, and {who} are destroying the faith of some. 19 Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows the ones being his” and “Everyone naming the name of the Lord must abstain from unrighteousness.” 20 Now in a great house, there are not only gold and silver containers, but also wood and clay, and both some for honor and some for dishonor. 21 Therefore, if someone has cleansed himself from these, he will be a container for honor, having been sanctified, useful to the Master, having been prepared for every good work. 22 So flee youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, {and} peace with the ones calling on the Lord from a clean heart. 23 But avoid foolish and ignorant questions, knowing that they give birth to battles. 24 But a slave of the Lord must not battle, but be kind toward all, able to teach, patient, 25 in meekness educating the ones opposing {him}. God may perhaps give them repentance for knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may become sober again from the trap of the devil, having been captured by him for the will of that one. 2:14 [1] Some versions read charging them before the Lord. Chapter 3 1 But know this, that in the last days there will be difficult times. 2 For the men will be self-loving, money-loving, boasters, proud, blasphemous, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, slanderous, unrestrained, violent, not good-loving, 4 betrayers, reckless, puffed up, pleasure-loving rather than God-loving, 5 having a form of godliness, but denying its power. And turn away from these. 6 For among them are the ones entering into households and captivating foolish women loaded with sins, led away by various desires, 7 always learning, but never able to come to knowledge of the truth. 8 And what way Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these oppose the truth, men {whose} mind is corrupted, unapproved regarding the faith. 9 But they will not advance unto more, for their foolishness will be obvious to all, as also that of those became. 10 But you have followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, 11 persecutions, sufferings, such as happened to me in Antioch, in Iconium, in Lystra; what kind of persecutions I endured. But the Lord rescued me from {them} all. 12 And indeed, all the ones wanting to live piously in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 13 But evil men and impostors will advance unto the worse, leading astray and being led astray. 14 You, however, remain in what you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith {that is} in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture {is} God-breathed and {is} profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, {and} for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. Chapter 4 1 I adjure you before God and Christ Jesus, the one going to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 Preach the word; be ready opportunely, inopportunely; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all patience and teaching. 3 For there will be a time when they will not endure the healthy teaching. Instead, they will heap up for themselves teachers according to their own desires, their ear itching, 4 and will both turn their ear away from the truth and be turned aside to myths. 5 But you, be sober in all things. Suffer hardship. Do the work of an evangelist. Carry out fully your service. 6 For I am already being poured out, and the time of my departure is here. 7 I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. 8 Now the crown of righteousness has been reserved for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not to me only, but also to all the ones having loved his appearing. 9 Hasten to come to me quickly, 10 for Demas has deserted me, having loved the present age, and has gone to Thessalonica, Crescens to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Only Luke is with me. Getting Mark, bring {him} with you, because he is useful to me for service. 12 But I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. 13 The cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus, bring when you come, and the books, especially the parchments. 14 Alexander the coppersmith did much harm to me. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds, 15 whom you also, guard yourself against, because he greatly opposed our words. 16 At my first defense, no one appeared with me, but everyone deserted me. May it not be counted against them. 17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully carried out and all the Gentiles might hear. And I was rescued out of the mouth of the lion. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and will save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him {be} the glory to eternity forever. Amen. 19 Greet Priscilla and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. 20 Erastus remained at Corinth, and Trophimus I left sick at Miletus. 21 Hasten to come before winter. Eubulus greets you, and Pudens and Linus and Claudia and the brothers. 22 The Lord {be} with your spirit. Grace {be} with you. Titus Chapter 1 1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of the chosen people of God and knowledge of the truth that agrees with godliness, 2 with the certain hope of eternal life that God, {who} does not lie, promised before all the ages of time. 3 But at the right time, he revealed his word by the proclamation, the one I was entrusted with by the command of God our Savior. 4 To Titus, a true son in a common faith. Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. 5 For this purpose I left you in Crete, that you might set in order the things not yet being complete and ordain elders in every city as I directed you— 6 if anyone is blameless, a husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of reckless behavior or rebellion. 7 For the overseer must be blameless, as a household manager of God, not arrogant, not easily angered, not addicted to wine, not a brawler, {and} not a greedy {man}. 8 Instead, he must be hospitable, a friend of what is good, sensible, righteous, holy, {and} self-controlled. 9 He must hold tightly to the trustworthy message that is in accordance with the teaching, so that he may be able both to encourage others with sound teaching and rebuke the ones opposing {him}. 10 For there are many people, both rebellious, empty talkers, and deceivers, especially the ones from the circumcision. 11 It is necessary to stop them. They are upsetting whole households, teaching what they should not for the sake of shameful profit. 12 One of them, of their own prophets, has said, “Cretans {are} always liars, evil beasts, lazy bellies.” 13 This testimony is true. For this reason, rebuke them severely, so that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not paying any attention to Jewish myths or to commands of people turning away from the truth. 15 All things {are} pure to the ones {who are} pure. But to the ones having been corrupted and unbelieving, nothing {is} pure, but both their minds and consciences have been corrupted. 16 They profess to know God, but they deny {him} by their actions, being detestable and disobedient and unfit for any good work. Chapter 2 1 But you, speak what fits with sound teaching. 2 Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, {and} in perseverance. 3 Older women likewise {are to be} reverent in behavior, not slanderers or enslaved to much wine, {but to be} teachers of what is good. 4 In this way they may train the younger women to be lovers of their husbands {and} lovers of their children, 5 to be sensible, pure, good housekeepers, {and} subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God may not be insulted. 6 In the same way, exhort the younger men to be sensible. 7 In all {ways} present yourself {as} an example of good works. In the teaching, be uncorrupted, with dignity, 8 {and} a sound message {that is} above criticism, so that the opponent may be ashamed, having nothing bad to say about us. 9 Slaves are to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be pleasing, {and} not to argue, 10 not to steal, but instead to demonstrate all good faith, so that in every way they may bring credit to the teaching {that is} about God our Savior. 11 For the grace of God has appeared {for} salvation to all men, 12 training us, so that, rejecting godlessness and worldly passions, we might live in a sensible and righteous, and godly way in the present age, 13 while we look forward to receiving the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. 14 He gave himself for us in order to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a special people, zealous for good works. 15 Speak of these things, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you. Chapter 3 1 Remind them to submit to rulers {and} authorities, to obey {them}, to be ready for every good work, 2 to revile no one, to be uncontentious, gentle, showing all humility toward all men. 3 For once we also were foolish {and} disobedient. We were led astray {and} enslaved by various passions and pleasures. We lived in evil and envy, detestable, {and} hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and the love for mankind of God our Savior appeared, 5 {it was} not by works of righteousness that we did, but by his mercy that he saved us, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he richly poured on us through our Savior Jesus Christ, 7 so that having been justified by the grace of that one, we might become heirs according to certain hope of eternal life. 8 This message {is} trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that the ones having believed God may be careful to engage themselves in good works. These things are good and useful for men. 9 But avoid foolish debates, and genealogies, and strife, and conflict about the law because they are unprofitable and worthless. 10 Reject a divisive person after one or two warnings, 11 knowing that such a one has turned from the right way and is sinning, being self-condemned. 12 When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, hurry to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to spend the winter there. 13 Diligently send on their way Zenas the lawyer and Apollos, so that they lack nothing. 14 And also, our own must learn to engage themselves in good works toward essential needs, in order not to be unfruitful. 15 All the ones {who are} with me greet you. Greet the ones loving us in faith. Grace {be} with all of you. Philemon Chapter 1 1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and our brother Timothy to Philemon, the beloved and our fellow worker, 2 and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house. 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I always thank my God, making mention of you in my prayers, 5 hearing of your love and the faith that you have in the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, 6 that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of everything good {that is} among us for Christ. 7 For I had much joy and comfort because of your love, because the inner parts of the saints are being refreshed by you, brother. 8 Therefore, having much boldness in Christ to command you the {thing that} is proper {to do}, 9 because of love I appeal to you instead—being such a one as Paul, an elder, and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus. 10 I am appealing to you on behalf of my child Onesimus, whom I have fathered in my chains. 11 The one formerly useless to you, but now useful both to you and to me, 12 whom I have sent back to you—him—this one is my inner parts; 13 whom I desired to keep with me, so that he might serve me on behalf of you in the chains of the gospel. 14 But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your good {deed} might not be as according to compulsion but according to good will. 15 For perhaps because of this he was separated from {you} for an hour, so that you might have him back forever, 16 no longer as a slave, but better than a slave—a beloved brother, especially to me, but much more so to you, in both the flesh and in the Lord. 17 Therefore, if you have me {as} a partner, receive him as me. 18 But if he has wronged you or owes {you} anything, charge that to me. 19 I, Paul, wrote this with my own hand. I myself will pay it back—in order not to say to you that you also owe me even your own self! 20 Yes, brother, may I benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my inner parts in Christ. 21 Having confidence in your obedience, I wrote to you, having known that you will do even beyond what I am saying. 22 But at the same time, also prepare a guest room for me, for I hope that through your prayers I will be given back to you. 23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, 24 Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, {and} Luke, my fellow workers. 25 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ {be} with your spirit. Amen. Hebrews Chapter 1 1 In many portions and in many ways long ago, God, having spoken to our fathers through the prophets, 2 at the last of these days spoke to us through a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the ages; 3 who, being the brightness of his glory and exact representation of his being, upholding all the things by the word of his power and having made purification for sins, sat down at the right of the Majesty on high; 4 having become far superior to the angels, as he has inherited a more excellent name than they. 5 For to which of the angels did he ever say, “You are my son. Today I have fathered you”? And again, “I will be as a father to him, and he will be as a son to me”? 6 But again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “And let all the angels of God worship him.” 7 And on the one hand, with regard to the angels, he says, “The one making his angels spirits, and his servants flames of fire.” 8 But on the other hand with regard to the Son, “Your throne, God, {is} forever {and} ever, and the scepter of righteousness {is the} scepter of his [1] kingdom. 9 You loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Because of this, God, your God, has anointed you {with the} oil of exultation more than your companions.” 10 And “according to the beginnings, Lord, you founded the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands. 11 They themselves will perish, but you yourself will continue, and they will all wear out like a garment, 12 and as a cloak you will roll them up, and as a garment they will be changed, but you yourself are the same, and your years will not fail.” 13 But to which of the angels has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool {for} your feet”? 14 Are they not all ministering spirits, being sent for service for the sake of the ones going to inherit salvation? 1:8 [1] Instead of his, some ancient manuscripts read your. Chapter 2 1 Because of this, it is far more necessary for us to give attention to the {things that} have been heard, so that we might not drift away {from them}. 2 For if the message spoken through angels became valid and every transgression and disobedience received just penalty, 3 how will we escape, having neglected so great a salvation? Which {salvation}, first having been chosen to be spoken through the Lord, was confirmed to us by the ones having heard {it}; 4 God also testifying together with {them} by signs and wonders and various miracles and distributions of the Holy Spirit according to his will. 5 For {it was} not to angels that {God} subjected the world that is coming, about which we are speaking. 6 Instead, someone somewhere testified, saying, “What is man, that you remember him, or a son of man, that you watch over him? 7 You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor. [1] 8 You subjected all things under his feet.” For in subjecting all the things, he left nothing not subjected to him. But now we do not yet see all the things subjected to him, 9 but we see Jesus, the one made a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because of his suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste of death on behalf of everyone. 10 For it was proper for him, because of whom all the things {exist} and through whom all the things {exist}, having brought many sons into glory, to perfect the founding leader of their salvation through sufferings. 11 For both the sanctifying and the ones being sanctified {are} all from one. For this reason, he is not ashamed to call them brothers, 12 saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers; I will sing praise to you in the midst of the assembly.” 13 And again, “I will trust in him.” And again, “Behold, I and the little children whom God gave me.” 14 Therefore, since the little children share in flesh and blood, he likewise also shared in the same things so that through his death he might abolish the one having the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and might release those {people}, as many as, in fear of death throughout all their lives, were held in slavery. 16 For of course he does not take hold of angels, but he takes hold of the descendant of Abraham, 17 from which he was obligated to become like his brothers in all things, so that he would be a merciful and faithful high priest {concerning} the things pertaining to God in order to make atonement {for} the sins of the people. 18 For in that he himself had suffered, having been tempted, he is able to help the ones being tempted. 2:7 [1] Some older version add and you have put him over the works of your hands. Chapter 3 1 Therefore, holy brothers, sharers of a heavenly calling, consider carefully the apostle and high priest of our confession, Jesus, 2 being faithful to the one having appointed him, as also Moses {was} in his house [1] . 3 For this one has been considered worthy of greater glory than Moses, according to how much greater honor the one building it has {than} the house. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God {is} the one having built all things. 5 And Moses {was} indeed faithful as a servant in his entire house, for a testimony of the {things that} would be spoken in the future; 6 but Christ, as a Son over his house (whose house we are if we hold fast to the confidence and the boasting of our hope). 7 Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as in the provocation, during the day of testing in the wilderness 9 where your fathers tested {me} by examination, and they saw my works 10 for 40 years. Therefore, I was very angry with that generation, and I said, ‘They are always going astray in their hearts, and they have not known my ways.’ 11 As I swore in my wrath, ‘If they will enter into my rest …!’” 12 Watch out, brothers, so that there will not be in any of you a wicked heart of unbelief, in the falling away from the living God. 13 Instead, exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” so that no one among you is hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become sharers of Christ, if indeed we hold firm the beginning of our confidence until the end, 15 while it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” 16 For which ones, having heard, provoked {him}? {Was it} not all the ones having come out from Egypt through Moses? 17 And with whom was he very angry for 40 years? {Was it} not with the ones having sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter into his rest, if not to the ones having disobeyed? 19 And we see that they were not able to enter, because of unbelief. 3:2 [1] Some ancient manuscripts read in all his house. Chapter 4 1 Therefore, let us be afraid lest {while} there remains a promise to enter into his rest, any of you might seem to have failed {to attain it}. 2 For we also are having good news proclaimed {to us} just as to them also. But the message of the hearing did not benefit them, not having been joined in faith with the ones having heard {it}. [1] 3 For we, the ones having believed enter into rest, just as he said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘If they will enter into my rest,’” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he has somewhere spoken thus about the seventh {day}: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” 5 And again in this {passage}, “If they will enter into my rest.” 6 Therefore, since it remains {for} some to enter into it, and the ones previously having had the good news proclaimed {to them} did not enter because of their disobedience, 7 he again sets a certain day, calling it “Today,” speaking through David after so much time, just as it has already been said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua gave them rest, he would not have spoken about another day after these things. 9 Therefore, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For the one having entered into his rest has himself also rested from his works, just as God {did} from his own {works}. 11 Therefore, let us be eager to enter into that rest so that no one might fall into the same example of this disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden before him. Instead, all things {are} bare and laid open to the eyes of him to whom {is} our word. 14 Therefore, having a great high priest {who} has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us firmly hold to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest {who} is not able to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one having been tempted according to all things, according to our likeness, {yet} without sin. 16 Let us then approach with confidence to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and find grace for timely help. 4:2 [1] Other versions read, But the message of the hearing, not having been joined with faith in those who heard {it}, did not benefit them. Chapter 5 1 For every high priest, being taken from among men on the behalf of men, is appointed {in} the things related to God so that he may offer gifts and sacrifices for sins; 2 being able to deal gently with the ones being ignorant and being deceived, because he also is subject to weakness. 3 And because of this, he is obligated, just as for the people, so also for himself, to offer {sacrifices} for sins. 4 And no one takes this honor for himself, but {only} being called by God, just as also Aaron {was}. 5 In the same way also, Christ did not glorify himself to become a high priest. Instead, the one having spoken to him {said}, “You are my Son; today I have fathered you.” 6 {It is} just as he also says in another {place}, “You {are} a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.” 7 He, during the days of his flesh, offered up both prayers and requests with loud cries and tears to the one being able to save him from death and he was heard because of his godly life. 8 Even though being a son, he learned obedience from {the things} which he suffered. 9 And having been made perfect, he became, for all the ones obeying him, the source of eternal salvation, 10 having been designated by God {as} high priest, according to the order of Melchizedek, 11 concerning whom the message to us {is} great, but hard to speak {about} since you have become dull in your hearing. 12 For even though by this time you ought to be teachers, you again have need of someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have become ones having a need of milk, not solid food! 13 For anyone partaking of milk {is} inexperienced {with the} message of righteousness, because he is an infant. 14 But this solid food is for the mature ones, having through habit trained their senses for distinguishing both {what is} good and {what is} evil. Chapter 6 1 So then, having left the message of the beginning of Christ, let us go forward to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith in God, 2 teaching about baptisms and laying on of hands and resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do, if God permits. 4 For {it is} impossible—for the ones having been once enlightened and having tasted of the heavenly gift and having become sharers of the Holy Spirit 5 and having tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come 6 but having fallen away—to restore {them} again to repentance {since} they are crucifying again for themselves the Son of God and exposing {him} to public shame. 7 For a land that drinks the rain that often comes upon it and produces useful vegetation for those for whom it is also cultivated shares {in} a blessing from God, 8 but producing thorns and thistles, {it is} worthless and close to a curse, the end of which {is} for burning. 9 But concerning you, beloved ones, we are convinced of things {that are} better and are accompanying salvation, even if we speak thus. 10 For God {is} not unjust, to forget your work and the love that you have demonstrated toward his name, having served the saints and continuing to serve {them}. 11 And we long for each of you to demonstrate the same diligence toward the full assurance of your hope until the end 12 so that you might not become dull, but imitators of the ones by faith and patience inheriting the promises. 13 For God, having promised to Abraham, since he had no one greater by {whom} to swear, swore by himself, 14 saying, “I will most certainly bless you and multiply you.” 15 And in this way, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. 16 For men swear by one {who is} greater, and an end of all disputes to them for confirmation {is} the oath, 17 in which God, intending even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable quality of his purpose, mediated {it} with an oath 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which things {it is} impossible for God to lie, we, the ones having fled for refuge, might have a strong encouragement to hold firmly {to} the hope set before {us}; 19 which {hope} we have as an anchor of the soul, both reliable and confirmed, and entering into the inside of the curtain, 20 where Jesus has entered {as} a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Chapter 7 1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, the one having met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth from all things, first indeed translated as “king of righteousness,” and then also “king of Salem,” that is, “king of peace,” 3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually. 4 But notice how great this one {was}, to whom the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth from the best plunder. 5 And the ones indeed from the sons of Levi having received the priesthood have a command according to the law to collect a tithe from the people, that is, {from} their brothers, even though they have come from the loin of Abraham. 6 But this one not being from their genealogy, has collected tithes from Abraham, and has blessed the one having the promises. 7 But without any dispute, the lesser is blessed by the greater. 8 And indeed here mortal men receive tithes, but there he is testified about that he lives on. 9 And, so to speak, Levi, the one collecting tithes, also had paid a tithe through Abraham, 10 because he was still in the loin of his father when Melchizedek met him. 11 If indeed then, perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people had been given {the law}), what further need {was there} for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek and to not be said {to be} according to the order of Aaron? 12 For {when} the priesthood is changed, from necessity a change of the law also takes place. 13 For he about whom these things are said belongs to another tribe, from which no one has officiated at the altar. 14 For {it is} obvious that our Lord has sprung up from Judah, a tribe in regard to which Moses said nothing concerning priests. 15 And this is still even more obvious if another priest emerges according to the likeness of Melchizedek, 16 who has become {a priest} not according to a law of a fleshly command, but according to the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is being testified: “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” 18 For on the one hand, there is an annulment of the former commandment because it {is} weak and useless 19 (for the law perfected nothing), and on the other hand is} {the introduction of a better hope, through which we come near to God. 20 And by as much as not without swearing an oath‚—for indeed they without swearing an oath are become priests, 21 but he with an oath-taking, through the one saying to him, “The Lord swore and will not change his mind: ‘You {are} a priest forever’”— 22 and according to so much more, Jesus has become a guarantee of a better covenant. 23 And the ones, on the one hand, having become priests are many, since by death they are prevented {from} continuing, 24 but he, on the other hand, since he remains forever, has the permanent priesthood, 25 because of which he is also able to save completely the ones approaching God through him, always living to intercede on behalf of them. 26 For such a high priest was indeed suitable for us: holy, innocent, pure, separated from the sinners, and having become higher than the heavens; 27 who does not have each day a need, even as the high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first on behalf of his own sins {and} then {on behalf of} those of the people, for he did this, having offered himself once and never again. 28 For the law appoints {as} high priests men having weakness, but the word of the swearing of an oath, which {came} after the law, {appoints} a Son, having been made perfect forever. Chapter 8 1 Now the point concerning the things being said {is this}: We have such a high priest who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a servant of the holy {place} and the true tabernacle that the Lord, not a man, set up. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, because of which {it is} necessary also for this one to have something that he might offer. 4 Now if indeed he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, {since} there are the ones offering the gifts according to the law; 5 who serve an example and a shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses had been warned, being about to complete the tabernacle, for he says, “See that you will make everything according to the type that was shown to you on the mountain.” 6 But now he has obtained a far superior ministry, in as much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been legislated on better promises. 7 For if that first {covenant} would have been faultless, no place would have been sought {for} a second one. 8 For finding fault with them, he says, “Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, {when} I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; 9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day {when} I grasped their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant, and I did not care about them, says the Lord. 10 For this {is} the covenant that I will covenant with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord, putting my laws into their mind, and I will write them on their hearts, and I will be to them as God, and they will be to me as a people. 11 And they will certainly not teach each one his fellow citizen, and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful toward their unrighteousness, and their sins I will certainly not remember any longer.” 13 By saying “new,” he has made the first obsolete, and {what} is being made obsolete and growing old {is} near disappearing. Chapter 9 1 Now indeed the first {covenant} had regulations for worship and the earthly holy {place}, 2 for a tabernacle was prepared, the first one, in which {were} both the lampstand and the table, and the presentation of the loaves, which is called ‘Holy,’ 3 and behind the second curtain {was} a tent which is called ‘the Holy of Holies,’ 4 having a golden incense altar and the ark of the covenant, having been covered completely all around with gold, in which {was} a golden jar holding the manna, and the rod of Aaron that budded, and the tablets of the covenant, 5 and above it, cherubim of glory overshadowing the atonement lid, about which things it is not now {the time} to speak according to {each} part. 6 And {when} these things had been thus prepared, the priests always enter into the first tabernacle, performing their services; 7 but into the second {tent}, once {in} the year only the high priest {enters}, {and} not without blood that he offers on behalf of himself and of the unintentional sins of the people. 8 This {is what} the Holy Spirit is making clear, that the way of the holy {places} {is} not yet to be revealed, the first tabernacle still having a place, 9 which {is} a parable for the present time, according to which both gifts and sacrifices are being offered, not being able according to the conscience to perfect the worshiper, 10 only concerning foods and drinks and different baptisms, regulations of the body, being imposed until a time of new order. 11 But Christ, having come as a high priest of the good things having come into existence, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by human hands, that is, not of this creation; [1] 12 and not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered into the holy {places} once and never again, having himself obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and sprinkling ashes of a heifer on the ones that had been defiled sanctifies {them} for the cleansing of their flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse your [2] conscience from dead works to serve the living God! 15 And for this reason, he is a mediator of a new covenant, so that, a death having happened for redemption of the transgressions {related} to the first covenant, the ones called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. 16 For where {there is} a covenant, {there is} a necessity for the death of the one having covenanted {it} to be proven. 17 For a covenant {is} in force over the dead, because it never has force when the one covenanting {it} lives. 18 So not even the first {covenant} had been inaugurated without blood. 19 For every command having been spoken according to the law by Moses to all the people, having taken the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and red wool and hyssop, he sprinkled both the scroll itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This {is} the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” 21 And in a similar way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and all the containers of the service. 22 And according to the law, almost everything is cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. 23 Therefore {it is} necessary on the one hand {for} the examples of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but on the other hand, the heavenly things themselves, with better sacrifices than these, 24 for Christ did not enter into holy {places} made with hands—copies of the true ones—but into heaven itself, to be made visible now in the presence of God on our behalf, 25 and not in order to offer himself many times, even as the high priest enters into the holy {places} each year with blood {that is} not his own; 26 since it was necessary for him to suffer many times from the foundation of the world. But now he has been revealed once at the end of the ages for the annulment of sin through the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed to men to die once, and after that, the judgment, 28 so also, Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many {people}, will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation to the ones eagerly waiting {for} him. 9:11 [1] Other versions read, Christ came as a high priest of the good {things} {that} are to come. 9:14 [2] Some ancient manuscripts have our instead of your. Chapter 10 1 For the law, having a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the image itself of those things—is never able to make perfect the ones approaching with the same sacrifices that they continually bring every year. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased being offered, because the ones serving would no longer have consciousness of sins, having been cleansed once? 3 But with those {sacrifices} {there is} a reminder of sins every year. 4 For {it is} impossible {for} blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Therefore, entering into the world, he says, “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; 6 {in} whole burnt {offerings} and concerning sin {offerings} nor were you well-pleased {with them}. 7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come— {as} it is written about me in a section of a scroll— to do your will, God.’” 8 {When} he says above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor did you take pleasure in them” (which things are offered according to the law), 9 then he had said, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second. 10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and never again. 11 And indeed, every priest stands every day serving and repeatedly offering the same sacrifices that never are able to take away sins. 12 But he, having offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from then until his enemies might be made a footstool {for} his feet. 14 For by one offering he has perfected for all time the ones being sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after having said, 16 “This {is} the covenant that I will covenant with them after those days, says the Lord, putting my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their mind.” 17 And {then}, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will certainly not still remember.” 18 Now where {there is} forgiveness {for} these things, {there is} no longer sacrifice on behalf of sin. 19 Therefore, brothers, having confidence to enter the holy {places} by the blood of Jesus, 20 which has inaugurated for us a fresh and living way through the curtain, that is, his flesh, 21 and a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, our hearts having been sprinkled clean from a wicked conscience and our body having been washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold tightly the confession of our hope without wavering, because the one having promised {is} faithful. 24 And let us consider one another to stimulate love and good deeds, 25 not abandoning our own meeting together, just as is} {the habit for some {people}, but exhorting {one another}, and so much more in as much as you see that day approaching. 26 For if we deliberately keep on sinning after we receive the full knowledge of the truth, a sacrifice on behalf of sins no longer remains, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and of fire of zeal {that is} going to consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone having rejected the law of Moses dies without mercy at {the testimony of} two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment do you think will deserve the one having trampled underfoot the Son of God and having considered the blood of the covenant—by which he was sanctified—{as} profane and having insulted the Spirit of grace! 30 For we know the one having said, “Vengeance {is} mine; I will pay back.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 {It is} a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God! 32 But remember the former days, in which, having been enlightened, you endured a great struggle of sufferings, 33 at {times} indeed being publicly exposed both to reproach and persecution, but at other {times} having become partners of the ones being treated in this way. 34 For you also sympathized with the prisoners, and you welcomed with joy the seizure of your possessions, knowing yourselves to have a better and abiding possession. [1] 35 So you must not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance so that, having done the will of God, you might obtain the promise. 37 “For yet {in} a very little {while}, the one coming will come and will not delay. 38 But my righteous one will live by faith, and if he would shrink back, my soul is not well-pleased with him.” 39 But we ourselves are not of shrinking back to destruction, but of faith to the preservation of the soul. 10:34 [1] Some older versions have For you had compassion on me in my chains. Chapter 11 1 Now faith is assurance of things being hoped {for}, proof of things not being seen. 2 For by this the ancients were commended. 3 By faith we understand the ages to have been prepared by the word of God—so that {what} is seen was not made from what is visible. 4 By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he was testified to be righteous, God testifying because of his gifts, and through {faith}, having died, he still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was transferred, so that he did not see death, and “He was not found, because God transferred him.” For before his transfer, he was reported to have been well-pleasing to God. 6 Now without faith {it is} impossible to be well-pleasing, for it is necessary for the one coming to God to believe that he exists and is a rewarder of the ones seeking him. 7 By faith Noah, having been warned about the things not yet being seen, having become reverent, built an ark for salvation of his household, through which he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness {which is} according to faith. 8 By faith, Abraham, being called, obeyed to go out to a place that he was going to receive for an inheritance and went out, not fully knowing where he is going. 9 By faith he lived as a foreigner in the land of the promise, having lived in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the fellow heirs of the same promise, 10 for he was waiting for the city having foundations, whose architect and builder {is} God. 11 By faith, even Sarah herself received ability for the conception of an offspring, even beyond the time of full age, since she considered {to be} faithful the one having promised. [1] 12 Therefore, also from one {man}—and he having become dead—these {children} were born, just as the stars of the sky in their great number and countless as the sand along the shore of the sea. 13 According to their faith all these died without receiving the promises, but seeing and greeting them from far off, and having confessed that they are strangers and foreigners on the earth. 14 For those saying such things are making it clear that they seek a homeland. 15 And if indeed they had been thinking of that {land} from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they reach for a better land}, {that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he prepared a city for them. 17 By faith Abraham, being tested, had offered Isaac; even the one having welcomed the promises offered up his one and only {son}, 18 to whom it was said, “Through Isaac your offspring will be named,” 19 having reasoned that God is able to raise up even from the dead, and in a parable, he received him back from there. 20 By faith also, concerning coming things, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau. 21 By faith Jacob, {when} dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped on the end of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, coming to an end, mentioned about the exodus of the sons of Israel and commanded {them} about his bones. 23 By faith Moses, having been born, was hidden for three months by his parents because they saw that the little child {was} beautiful, and they were not afraid of the decree of the king. 24 By faith Moses, having become great, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25 Rather, he chose to suffer evil together with the people of God than to have the temporary enjoyment of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of the Christ greater riches {than} the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking away toward his reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt behind, not having feared the wrath of the king, for he endured as if he were seeing the unseen one. 28 By faith he has performed the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the destroyer {of} the firstborn would not touch them. 29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as if through dry land, which the Egyptians, having taken an attempt, were swallowed up. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, having been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish together with the ones having disobeyed, having welcomed the spies with peace. 32 And what more might I say? For the time will fail me, fully relating about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, and also Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, worked justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34 extinguished the power of fire, escaped the mouth of the sword, were empowered out of weakness, became strong in battle, {and} routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection, but others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; 36 and others received a trial of mockings and of whippings, and even more of chains and of imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tried, they died with slaughter of a sword, they went about in sheepskins {and} in goatskins, destitute, oppressed, mistreated; [2] 38 (of which {people} the world was not worthy), being caused to wander about in deserts and mountains and caves and the holes in the ground. 39 And all these {people}, having been commended because of their faith, did not receive the promise, 40 God having provided something better concerning us, so that without us, they would not be made perfect. 11:11 [1] There is some question about whether it was Abraham’s faith or Sarah’s faith that was in view. By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren, that Abraham received ability to father a child. This happened even though he was too old, since he considered as faithful the one who had given the promise. 11:37 [2] Some older versions omit they were tried. Chapter 12 1 For that very reason, we also, having so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, having laid aside every weight and the easily entangling sin, let us run with endurance the race that is placed before us, 2 looking away to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of the faith, who, for the joy that is placed before him, endured a cross, despising {its} shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider the one that has endured such opposition by sinners against himself, so that you might not become weary in your souls, giving up. 4 You have not yet resisted to the point of blood, struggling against sin, 5 and you have completely forgotten the exhortation that instructs you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the discipline of the Lord, nor become weary {when} being reproved by him; 6 For whom the Lord loves, he disciplines, and he whips every son whom he welcomes.” 7 Endure for discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son {is there} whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all {men} have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not his sons. 9 Furthermore, on the one hand, we had the fathers of our flesh {as} discipliners and we were respectful {of them}; on the other hand, will we not much more be subjected to the Father of the spirits and live? 10 For indeed, they were disciplining {us} for a few days according to {what} seems {best} to them, but he, to benefit {us}, so that we might share his holiness. 11 Now every discipline does not seem to be joy at the present, but pain, but afterward it produces the peaceful fruit of righteousness for the ones having been trained by it. 12 Therefore, make straight the drooping hands and the knees that have been paralyzed, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that the lame might not be dislocated, but rather might be healed. 14 Pursue peace with all {men}, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord, 15 carefully watching that no one is falling short from the grace of God, not any root of bitterness is growing up to cause trouble, and by this many might become defiled, 16 not any sexually immoral or profane one such as Esau, who in exchange for one meal sold his own birthright. 17 For you know that even afterwards, desiring to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, because he found no place {for} repentance, even though he sought it with tears. 18 For you have not come to {what} can be touched and to a blazing fire and to darkness and to gloom and to a storm 19 and to a sound of a trumpet and to a voice of words of which the ones having heard begged for not a word to be added to them. 20 For they could not endure {what} was ordered: “If even an animal might touch the mountain, it must be stoned.” 21 And the thing being made visible was so fearful that Moses said, “I am terrified and trembling.” 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the assembly 23 and to the church of the firstborn ones, {who} have been registered in the heavens, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous ones made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood speaking better than Abel. 25 See that you do not refuse the one speaking. For if those did not escape, having refused the one warning {them} on earth, much less we {who} are turning away from the one from heaven, 26 the voice of whom at that time shook the earth, but now he has promised, saying, “Still once I myself will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.” 27 But this {phrase}, “Still once” indicates the removal of the things being shaken, that is, of {the things} created, so that the things not being shaken might remain. 28 Therefore, receiving an unshakeable kingdom, let us have gratitude, through which let us serve well-pleasingly to God, with reverence and awe, 29 for indeed our God {is} a consuming fire. Chapter 13 1 Let brotherly love continue. 2 Do not neglect hospitality, for through this, some have shown hospitality to angels without knowing {it}. 3 Remember the prisoners, as having been bound with {them}, {and} the ones being mistreated, as yourselves also being in body. 4 Marriage {must be} honorable among all, and the marriage bed pure, for God will judge sexually immoral {people} and adulterers. 5 Your manner of life {must be} free from the love of money, being content {with} the things being present, for he himself has said, “I will never leave you, nor never will I forsake you,” 6 so that, being confident, we say, “The Lord {is} my helper, and I will not become afraid. What will a man do to me?” 7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the Word of God to you, of whom considering the outcome of their conduct, imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ {is} the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be carried away by various and strange teachings. For {it is} good {for} the heart to be confirmed by grace, not by foods with which the ones walking {in them} were not benefitted. 10 We have an altar from which the ones serving in the tabernacle have no authority to eat. 11 For the blood of which animals is brought on behalf of sin by the high priest into the holy {places}, {but} the bodies of these {animals} are burned up outside the camp. 12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate, so that he might sanctify the people through his own blood. 13 Let us therefore go to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. 14 For we do not have a lasting city here, but we are seeking the one coming. 15 Through him, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips acknowledging his name. 16 But let us not neglect the doing of good and sharing, for God is well-pleased with such sacrifices. 17 Obey your leaders and submit {to them}, for they keep watch over your souls, as ones {who} will give account, in order that they might do this with joy and not {with} groaning, for this {would be} unprofitable to you. 18 Pray for us, for we are persuaded that we have a good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things. 19 But I encourage {you} even more to do this, so that I will be restored to you soon. 20 Now the God of peace, the one having brought up from the dead ones the great shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 may he prepare you in every thing good to do his will, working in us {what} {is} well-pleasing before him, through Jesus Christ, to whom {be} the glory forever {and} ever. Amen. 22 Now I encourage you, brothers, bear with the word of exhortation, for only through a few {words} I have written to you. 23 Know that our brother Timothy has been set free, with whom I will see you if he comes soon. 24 Greet all your leaders and all the saints. The ones from Italy greet you. 25 Grace {be} with all of you. [1] 13:25 [1] Some ancient manuscripts add Amen. James Chapter 1 1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes {that are} in the dispersion: Rejoice! 2 Consider {it} all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 But let the endurance have a perfect work, so that you may be perfect and whole, lacking in nothing. 5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask from God, the one giving to all generously and not reproaching, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, doubting nothing, for the one doubting has become like a wave of the sea, wind-blown and tossed. 7 For let that man not think that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 a double-minded man, unsettled in all his ways. 9 Now let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 but the rich in his lowliness, because he will pass away like a flower of the grass. 11 For the sun rose with the heat and dried up the grass, and its flower fell off and the beauty of its face perished. Thus also the rich will wither in his journeys. 12 Blessed {is} a man who endures trial. For, becoming approved, he will receive the crown of life, which he promised to the ones loving him. 13 Let no one being tempted say, “I am tempted by God,” because God is untempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each one is tempted by his own desire, dragged away and enticed. 15 Then the desire, having conceived, bears sin, and the sin, having grown up, gives birth to death. 16 Do not be led astray, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good present and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change or shadow of turning. 18 Having willed, he gave birth to us by the word of truth, for us to be something like a firstfruits of his creatures. 19 Know, my beloved brothers: But let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. 20 For anger of man does not work the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore, having laid aside all filth and abundance of wickedness, in humility receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word and not only hearers, deluding yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man beholding the face of his birth in a mirror. 24 For he beheld himself and went away and immediately forgot of what sort he was. 25 But the one having gazed into the perfect law of freedom and having continued, not having become a hearer of forgetfulness, but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in his doing. 26 If anyone thinks to be religious, not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his heart, the religion of that one {is} worthless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to look upon orphans and widows in their distress, to keep oneself unstained by the world. Chapter 2 1 My brothers, do not with favoritism have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory. 2 For if a gold-ringed man in splendid clothing comes into your synagogue, and a poor one in filthy clothing also comes in, 3 and you look at the one wearing the splendid clothing and say, “You sit here well,” and to the poor one you say, “You stand there,” or, “Sit by my footstool,” 4 have you not distinguished among yourselves and become judges of evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers, did not God choose the poor in the world {to be} rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to the ones loving him? 6 But you dishonored the poor! Do not the rich overpower you and themselves drag you into court? 7 Do they not blaspheme the good name that has been called upon you? 8 If, however, you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You will love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well. 9 But if you favor, you are committing sin, convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever might keep the whole law but stumble in one thing has become guilty of all. 11 For the one having said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If, then, you do not commit adultery but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 Thus speak and thus act, as ones who are going to be judged by means of the law of freedom. 13 For the judgment {is} merciless to the ones not having done mercy. Mercy boasts against judgment. 14 What {would be} the profit, my brothers, if someone would say he has faith, but he does not have works? That faith is not able to save him, is it? 15 If a brother or sister were unclothed and lacking their daily food, 16 and someone of you said to them, “Go in peace, warm yourself and be satisfied,” but you did not give them the necessary things of the body, what {would be} the profit? 17 Thus also the faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith from the works. 19 You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and they tremble. 20 But do you wish to know, O foolish man, that the faith without the works is idle? [1] 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that the faith was working with his works and the faith was perfected from the works. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a man is justified from works and not from faith alone. 25 And similarly was not Rahab the prostitute also justified from works, having welcomed the messengers and having sent them away by another road? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, thus also the faith without works is dead. 2:20 [1] Some older versions read the faith without the works is dead Chapter 3 1 Do not become many teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive greater judgment. 2 For we all stumble much. If anyone does not stumble in word, he {is} a perfect man, able to bridle even the whole body. 3 Now if we put the bits into the mouths of the horses for them to obey us, we also turn their whole body. 4 Behold also the ships, being so large and driven by strong winds, it is turned by the smallest rudder where the inclination of the one steering desires. 5 Thus also the tongue is a small member, but it boasts great things. Behold how small a fire kindles so large a forest. 6 The tongue {represents} also a fire, the world of unrighteousness. The tongue is placed among our members, the thing staining the whole body and setting the course of existence on fire, and it is set on fire by Gehenna. 7 For every kind, both of beasts and birds, both of reptiles and marine animals, is being tamed and has been tamed by the human kind. 8 But no one of men is able to tame the tongue, an unsettled evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse the men, the ones having come into being according to the likeness of God. 10 Out from the same mouth come blessing and cursing. It is not fitting, my brothers, {for} these things to happen thus. 11 The spring does not gush the sweet and the bitter from the same opening, does it? 12 A fig tree is not able to make olives, is it, my brothers, or a grapevine, figs? Nor salty to make sweet water. 13 Who {is} wise and understanding among you? Let him show his works from his good conduct in humility of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and ambition in your heart, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom coming down from above, but {it is} earthly, soulish, demonic. 16 For where {there is} jealousy and ambition, there {is} unsettledness and every wicked deed. 17 But the wisdom from above first indeed is pure, then peaceable, gentle, cooperative, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, sincere. 18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those making peace. Chapter 4 1 From where {are} wars and from where {are} battles among you? {Are they} not from there, from your lusts, the ones fighting in your members? 2 You covet, and you do not have. You kill and envy, and you are not able to obtain. You battle and war. You do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and you do not receive, because you ask badly, so that you may spend on your lusts. 4 Adulteresses! Do you not know that the friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wants to be a friend of the world is made an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the scripture says vainly, “The Spirit whom he caused to live in us longs with jealousy”? 6 But he gives greater grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.” 7 Be submitted, therefore, to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, double-minded. 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be changed into mourning, and your joy into gloom. 10 Be humbled before the Lord, and he will lift you up. 11 Do not speak against one another, brothers. The one speaking against a brother or judging his brother speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. 12 There is one lawgiver and judge, the one being able to save and to destroy. But who are you, the one judging your neighbor? 13 Come now, the ones saying, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to this city and do a year there and trade and gain.” 14 You who do not know the thing of the tomorrow, of what sort {is} your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little {while} and then disappears. 15 Instead, you should say, “If the Lord wishes, we will both live and do this or that.” 16 But now you are boasting in your pretensions. All such boasting is evil. 17 Therefore to the one having known to do good and not doing {it}, to him it is sin. Chapter 5 1 Come now, the rich, weep, wailing because of your coming miseries. 2 Your wealth has rotted and your clothes have become moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have been tarnished, and their rust will be for a testimony against you and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have stored up in the last days. 4 Behold, the pay of the workers who have reaped your fields, which has been withheld from you, is crying out, and the cries of the ones harvesting have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. 5 You have lived luxuriously on the earth and have lived self-indulgently. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned, you have killed the righteous. He does not resist you. 7 Therefore, wait patiently, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer awaits the valuable fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early {rain} and the late {rain}. 8 You also wait patiently. Strengthen your hearts, because the coming of the Lord has come near. 9 Do not complain, brothers, against one another, so that you may be not judged. Behold, the judge is standing at the door. 10 Take an example, brothers, of the suffering and the patience of the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we call blessed the ones having endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is greatly compassionate and merciful. 12 But before all, my brothers, do not swear, neither {by} the heaven nor {by} the earth, nor {by} any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes” and your “No,” “No,” so that you may not fall under judgment. 13 Is anyone among you suffering hardship? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him summon the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, having anointed him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of the faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise him up. And if he may have committed sins, it will be forgiven to him. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. A working prayer of the righteous is very strong. 17 Elijah was a man of similar passions to us, and he prayed with prayer for {it} not to rain, and it did not rain upon the land {for} three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth produced its fruit. 19 My brothers, if anyone among you may have been led astray from the truth and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that the one having turned back a sinner from his wandering way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. 1 Peter Chapter 1 1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the elect exiles of the dispersion of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by sanctification of the Spirit for obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace and peace be multiplied to you. 3 Blessed {is} the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his great mercy, caused us to be born again into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from dead ones, 4 into an imperishable and undefiled and unfading inheritance, having been kept in heaven for you, 5 the ones being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, if now being necessary, having been distressed a little {while} in various trials 7 so that the genuineness of your faith—more precious than perishing gold, but being tested by fire—might be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom, not having seen, you love; in whom, not seeing {him} now, but believing, you exult with joy inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 receiving for yourselves the outcome of your faith, salvation of your souls. 10 The prophets searched and inquired carefully about this salvation, having prophesied about this grace for you, 11 inquiring into whom or what time the Spirit of Christ in them was revealing, testifying beforehand {about} the sufferings of Christ and the glories after these things. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, {in} these things which now were declared to you by the ones who proclaimed the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit having been sent from heaven—into which things angels desire to look. 13 Therefore, having girded up the loins of your mind, being sober, hope fully in the grace being brought to you in the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As children of obedience, not being conformed to your former desires in your ignorance, 15 but as the one having called you {is} holy, you yourselves also be holy in all your behavior. 16 For it is written, “You will be holy, because I {am} holy.” 17 And if you call “Father” the one judging impartially according to the work of each one, conduct yourselves in fear {during} the time of your sojourn, 18 knowing that you have been redeemed not with perishable things, with silver or with gold, from your futile behavior handed down from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of an unblemished and spotless lamb, 20 having been foreknown before the foundation of the world, but having been revealed in the last of the times for you, 21 those through him believing in God, who has raised him from dead ones and has given him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 22 Having purified your souls by the obedience to the truth for sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, [1] 23 having been born again, not from perishable seed, but from imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, “All flesh {is} like grass, and all its glory {is} like the flower of the grass. The grass was dried up, and the flower fell off, 25 but the word of the Lord endures into eternity.” And this is the word that has been proclaimed to you. 1:22 [1] Some older versions have Having purified your souls by the obedience to the truth through the Spirit. Chapter 2 1 Therefore, having put aside all evil and all deceit and hypocrisies and envies and all slanders, 2 as newborn babies, long for the pure rational milk so that by it you may grow up to salvation, 3 if you have tasted that the Lord {is} kind, 4 coming to him, a living stone, having been rejected by men, but chosen by God, precious, 5 and you yourselves, like living stones, are being built up {to be} a spiritual house, for a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 Therefore, it stands in scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone, chosen, precious. And the one believing in him may certainly not be ashamed.” 7 Therefore, the honor {is} to you, the ones believing. But to those not believing, “A stone that the ones building rejected, this has become the head of the corner,” 8 and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble, disobeying the word to which also they were appointed. 9 But you {are} a chosen family, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for possession, so that you might proclaim the praiseworthy actions of the one having called you out from darkness into his marvelous light, 10 who once {were} “not a people,” but now “a people of God;” the ones “not having received mercy,” but now “having received mercy.” 11 Beloved ones, I exhort you as foreigners and exiles to abstain from fleshly desires, which make war against the soul, 12 keeping your behavior among the Gentiles good so that, in whatever they slander you as evildoers, by observing your good works, they might glorify God in the day of visitation. 13 Be subjected to every human authority for the sake of the Lord, whether to a king as one having supreme authority 14 or to governors as those being sent through him for punishment of evildoers and praise of doers of good; 15 For this is the will of God: doing good to silence the ignorance of the foolish people; 16 as free {people} and not having freedom as a covering of evil, but as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. 18 House slaves, be subjected to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle ones, but also to the crooked ones. 19 For this {finds} favor—if anyone endures sorrows, suffering unjustly because of consciousness of God. 20 For what credit {is there} if, sinning and being beaten, you will endure? But if doing good and suffering, you will endure, this {finds} favor with God. 21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered on your behalf, leaving an example for you so that you might follow in his footsteps 22 “who did no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth;” 23 who being reviled, did not revile back; suffering, he did not threaten, but he entrusted {himself} to the one judging justly; 24 who himself bore our sins in his body on the tree so that, having died to the sins, we might live for righteousness, by whose wounds you were healed. 25 For you were like straying sheep, but now you have been turned back to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. Chapter 3 1 Similarly, wives, be subjected to your own husbands so that even if some are being disobedient to the word, they will be won without a word through the behavior of their wives, 2 having observed your pure behavior with fear, 3 whose adornment let be not the outward braiding of hair and wearing of gold jewelry or wearing of fine clothing, 4 but the hidden man of the heart, in the imperishable thing of the gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious before God. 5 For in this manner also the holy women, the ones hoping in God, formerly adorned themselves, being subjected to their own husbands, 6 like Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him “lord,” whose children you have become, doing what is good and not being afraid of any terror. 7 Husbands, similarly, live with the female according to knowledge, as with a weaker container, assigning honor as also fellow heirs of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered. 8 Now finally, everyone {be} likeminded, sympathetic, loving as brothers, tenderhearted, humble; 9 not paying back evil in exchange for evil or insult in exchange for insult, but on the contrary, blessing, because to this you were called so that you might inherit a blessing. 10 For, “Let the one wanting to love life and to see good days stop his tongue from evil, and his lips not to speak deceit. 11 But let him turn away from evil and let him do good. Let him seek peace and let him pursue it, 12 for the eyes of the Lord {are} on righteous ones, and his ears {are} toward their request, but the face of the Lord {is} against those doing evil.” 13 And who {is} the one who will harm you if you become zealous ones of the good? 14 But even if you might suffer because of righteousness, {you are} blessed ones. But you should not fear the fear of them nor be troubled, 15 but sanctify the Lord Christ in your hearts, always ready for a defense to everyone who asks you for a word concerning the hope in you, 16 but with meekness and fear, having a good conscience so that, in what you are being slandered, the ones reviling your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed. 17 For{it is} better to suffer doing good, if the will of God wills, than doing evil. 18 For Christ also suffered once for sins—righteous on behalf of unrighteous—so that he might bring you to God, having indeed been killed in flesh, but having been made alive in spirit, 19 in which also he proclaimed, having gone to the spirits in prison, 20 having disobeyed formerly, when the patience of God was waiting in the days of Noah, an ark being constructed, in which a few—that is, eight souls—were rescued through water, 21 which, {being} an antitype, now saves you also, baptism—not a removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal of a good conscience to God—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, with angels and authorities and powers having been subjected to him. Chapter 4 1 Therefore, Christ having suffered in the flesh, also arm yourselves {with} the same way of thinking, for the one having suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin 2 in order to no longer live the remaining time in the flesh for the desires of men, but for the will of God. 3 For the time having passed {is} enough to accomplish the will of the Gentiles, having lived in licentiousness, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry, 4 in which they are surprised you are not running with {them} into the same outpouring of recklessness, reviling; 5 they will give a word to the one being ready to judge those living and dead ones. 6 For to this the gospel was preached also to dead ones, so that they might be judged indeed in the flesh according to men, but they might live in the spirit according to God. 7 Now the end of all things has come near. Therefore, be of sound mind, and be sober for prayers; 8 above all, having the fervent love for one another, for love covers up a multitude of sins; 9 {be} hospitable ones to one another without complaining; 10 just as each one has received a gift, ministering it to one another, as good stewards of the diverse grace of God. 11 If anyone speaks—as {with} words of God; if anyone serves—as from strength that God supplies, so that in all things God might be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom is the glory and the power to eternity of eternities. Amen. 12 Beloved ones, do not regard as strange the fiery trial among you, happening to you for a test, as a strange thing happening to you, 13 but, however much you are sharing in the sufferings of Christ, rejoice, so that also, at the revelation of his glory, you may rejoice, being glad. 14 If you are reviled for the name of Christ, {you are} blessed ones because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 By all means do not let any of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler, 16 but if as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this name. 17 For {it is} the time to begin the judgment with the household of God; but if first with us, what {will be} the end of the ones disobeying the gospel of God? 18 And, “If with difficulty the righteous is being saved, where will the ungodly and sinner appear?” 19 So then, also let those suffering according to the will of God entrust their souls to the faithful Creator in doing good. Chapter 5 1 Therefore, I—the fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ and the sharer of the glory being about to be revealed—exhort the elders among you: 2 Shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight—not under compulsion, but willingly, according to God—and not greedily, but eagerly; 3 and not as lording it over your portion, but being examples of the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd has been revealed, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 Similarly, young men, be subjected to elders. And everyone, clothe yourselves {with} humility toward one another, for “God resists proud ones, but gives grace to humble ones.” 6 Therefore, humble yourselves under the powerful hand of God so that he may lift you up at a time, 7 having cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, is walking around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing the same kind of sufferings are being brought to completion in your brotherhood in the world. 10 But the God of all grace, the one having called you to his eternal glory in Christ, having suffered for a little {while}, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, {and} establish. 11 To him {be} the power forever. Amen. 12 Through Silvanus, the faithful brother, as I regard {him}, I wrote to you briefly, exhorting and testifying this to be the true grace of God. Stand in it. 13 She {who is} in Babylon, fellow-elect one, greets you, and my son Mark. 14 Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to you, all those in Christ. 2 Peter Chapter 1 1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the ones having received a faith equal in value with us, by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 As his divine power has given to us all the things for life and godliness through the knowledge of the one having called us through his glory and excellence, 4 through which he has given to us the precious and great promises so that through them you might be sharers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world by lust, 5 and now {for} this same {reason}, applying all diligence, supply in your faith, goodness; and in goodness, knowledge; 6 and in knowledge, self-control; and in self-control, endurance; and in endurance, godliness; 7 and in godliness, brotherly affection; and in brotherly affection, love. 8 For these things existing and increasing in you cause you to be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he in whom these things are not present is blind, nearsighted, having received forgetfulness of the cleansing of his past sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be even more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for doing these things, you will certainly not ever stumble. 11 For in this way will be richly provided to you the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 12 Therefore, I will always remind you about these things, although you have known {them} and have been established in the present truth. 13 But I think {it is} right, as long as I am in this tent, to arouse you in remembrance, 14 knowing that the putting off of my tent is imminent, just as also our Lord Jesus Christ revealed this to me. 15 Likewise, I will be diligent to cause you to always have the remembrance of these things after my departure. 16 For we did not make known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ {by} having followed cleverly invented myths, but {by} having become eyewitnesses of the majesty of that one. 17 For he has received honor and glory from God the Father, such a voice having been brought to him by the Majestic Glory: “This is my Son, my Beloved, in whom I myself am well pleased.” 18 And we ourselves heard this voice, having been brought from heaven, being with him on the holy mountain. 19 And we have the very certain prophetic word, to which you do well to pay attention, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day might dawn and the morning star might rise in your hearts, 20 knowing this first, that every prophecy of scripture does not come from one’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever brought by the will of man, but men being carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. Chapter 2 1 Now false prophets were also among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will bring in heresies of destruction, and denying the master who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 And many will follow their licentious acts, because of whom the way of truth will be slandered. 3 And in greed, they will exploit you with false words, for whom condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction does not sleep. 4 For if God did not spare angels who had sinned, but, in chains of darkness throwing down to Tartarus, he handed over those being kept for judgment; [1] 5 and he did not spare the ancient world, but protected the eighth, Noah, a preacher of righteousness, having brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly ones; 6 and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, having reduced to ashes, he condemned to destruction, having set an example {of the things that} are going to happen to the ungodly ones; 7 and he rescued righteous Lot, being oppressed by the behavior of the lawless ones in licentiousness, 8 (for, by seeing and by hearing, that righteous {man}, living among them day from day, was tormenting his righteous soul by lawless works); 9 the Lord knows how to rescue godly ones from a trial, and to keep the unrighteous ones to be punished in the day of judgment, 10 but especially the ones going after the flesh in {its} lusts of defilement, and despising authority. Audacious ones! Self-willed ones! They do not tremble while insulting glorious ones; 11 whereas angels, being greater in strength and power, do not bring an insulting judgment against them in the presence of the Lord. 12 But these {men}, as unreasoning animals, having by nature been born for capture and destruction, slandering about {those things} in which they are ignorant, they will also be destroyed in their destruction, 13 being harmed {as} wages of unrighteousness, considering {as} pleasure the reveling in the day, stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions while feasting with you; [2] 14 having eyes full of an adulteress, and never ceasing from sin, enticing unstable souls, having hearts trained in covetousness, children of cursing. 15 Abandoning the straight way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. [3] 16 But he had a rebuke for his own transgression—a mute donkey, having spoken in a voice of a man, restrained the irrationality of the prophet. 17 These {men} are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm, for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved. 18 For, speaking arrogant things of vanity, they entice by lusts of the flesh, by licentious acts, the ones barely escaping from the ones living in error, 19 promising freedom to them, while themselves being slaves of destruction. (For by what someone has been overcome, by this he has been enslaved.) 20 For if, having escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but, having been entangled again, they have been overcome by these things, for them the last things have become worse than the first things. 21 For it was better for them not to know the way of righteousness than, having known {it}, to turn away from the holy commandment that has been delivered to them. 22 This of the true proverb has happened to them: “A dog returns to its own vomit, and a washed pig to the rolling of mud.” 2:4 [1] Some other versions read, to be kept in pits of lower darkness until the judgment; 2:13 [2] Other versions read, enjoying their actions while they are feasting with you in love feasts. 2:15 [3] Some other versions read, Balaam, son of Beor. Chapter 3 1 Beloved ones, this {is} now a second letter I write to you, in which I arouse your pure mind in remembrance, 2 to remember the words spoken previously by the holy prophets and the command of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3 knowing this first, that mockers will come with mockery in the last days, going according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue in the same way from the beginning of creation.” 5 For this is hidden {from} them willingly, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth had been formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 through which the world at that time perished, having been flooded by water. 7 But the present heavens and the earth, by the same word, are having been reserved for fire, being kept for a day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly men. 8 But let this one thing not be hidden {from} you, beloved ones, that one day with the Lord {is} like 1,000 years, and 1,000 years {are} like one day. 9 The Lord does not delay {concerning} the promise, as some consider delay, but is patient toward you, not wanting any to perish, but all to move on to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be destroyed, being burned up, and the earth and the deeds in it will be found. 11 All of these things being thus destroyed, of what sort is it necessary for you to be in holy behaviors and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens, being set on fire, will be destroyed, and the elements, being burned up by heat, will be melted? 13 But new heavens and a new earth, according to his promise, we are waiting for, in which righteousness dwells. 14 Therefore, beloved ones, while waiting for these things, be diligent to be found spotless and blameless by him, in peace. 15 And consider the patience of our Lord {to be} salvation, just as also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom having been given to him, 16 as also in all the letters, speaking in them about these things, in which are some difficult to understand things, which the ignorant and unstable distort, as also the other scriptures, to their own destruction. 17 Therefore, you beloved ones, knowing beforehand, guard yourselves, so that you might not lose your own steadfastness, having been led astray by the error of the lawless ones. 18 But grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him {be} the glory both now and to the day of the age. Amen! 1 John Chapter 1 1 What was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched, regarding the Word of life— 2 indeed, the life appeared, and we have seen {it}, and we are testifying {to it}, and we are announcing to you the eternal life that was with the Father and appeared to us— 3 what we have seen and heard, we declare also to you, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And indeed, our fellowship {is} with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be fulfilled. [1] 5 And this is the message that we have heard from him and are announcing to you, that God is light, and darkness is not in him at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we are lying and we are not doing the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we are leading ourselves astray, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, that he should forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 1:4 [1] In place of our joy , some ancient manuscripts read your joy. Chapter 2 1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone would sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. 3 And in this we know that we have known him, if we keep his commandments. 4 The one who says, “I know him,” and is not keeping his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in this one. 5 But whoever keeps his word, in this one truly the love of God has been perfected. In this we know that we are in him: 6 the one saying he remains in him ought, just as that one walked, also to walk himself. 7 Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment, which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you heard. 8 Again, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is going away and the true light is already shining. 9 The one saying he is in the light and hating his brother is in the darkness until now. 10 The one loving his brother remains in the light and a stumbling-block is not in him. 11 But the one hating his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. 12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven because of his name. 13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know the one {who is} from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. 14 I have written to you, young children, because you know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you know the one {who is} from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God remains in you, and you have overcome the evil one. 15 Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything that {is} in the world—the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the arrogance of life—is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 And the world is going away, and its desire, but the one doing the will of God remains to eternity. 18 Young children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, indeed now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not from us. For if they had been from us, they would have remained with us, but so that they would be made apparent, that they are all not from us. 20 And you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. [1] 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and that every lie is not from the truth. 22 Who is the liar, if not the one denying that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist, the one denying the Father and the Son. 23 Everyone denying the Son does not have the Father. The one confessing the Son also has the Father. 24 {As for} you, what you have heard from the beginning, let {it} remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, you will also remain in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he promised to us—eternal life. 26 I have written these things to you about the ones leading you astray. 27 And {as for} you, the anointing that you received from him remains in you, and you do not have need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, remain in him. 28 And now, little children, remain in him, so that whenever he appears, we may have boldness and not be put to shame by him at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you also know that everyone doing righteousness has been begotten from him. 2:20 [1] Some ancient manuscripts read and you know all things. Chapter 3 1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God, and we are. [1] For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever he appears, we will be like him because we will see him just as he is. 3 And everyone having this hope upon him purifies himself, just as that one is pure. 4 Everyone committing sin also commits lawlessness. Indeed, sin is lawlessness. 5 And you know that that one appeared so that he might take away sins, and sin is not in him. 6 Everyone remaining in him does not sin. Everyone sinning has not seen him and has not known him. 7 Little children, let no one lead you astray. The one doing righteousness is righteous, just as that one is righteous. 8 The one committing sin is from the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this reason the Son of God appeared, so that he might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Everyone having been begotten from God does not commit sin, because his seed remains in him. And he is not able to sin, because he has been begotten from God. 10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are apparent: Everyone not doing righteousness is not from God, and the one not loving his brother. 11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, 12 not like Cain, {who} was from the evil one and killed his brother. And on account of what did he kill him? Because his works were evil, but those of his brother, righteous. 13 Do not be amazed, brothers, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have relocated from death into life, because we love the brothers. The one not loving remains in death. 15 Everyone hating his brother is a murderer, and you know that every murderer does not have eternal life remaining in him. 16 In this we have known love, that that one laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But whoever has the possessions of the world and sees his brother having need and closes his entrails from him, how does the love of God remain in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word nor in tongue, but in deed and truth. 19 In this we will know that we are from the truth and we will persuade our hearts before him, 20 that if our heart condemns {us}, that God is greater than our heart and knows everything. 21 Beloved, if the heart does not condemn, we have confidence toward God 22 and whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and we do the pleasing things before him. 23 And this is his commandment: that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another just as he gave us a commandment. 24 And the one keeping his commandments remains in him, and he in him. And in this we know that he remains in us, from the Spirit whom he gave to us. 3:1 [1] Some older versions leave out, and we are. Chapter 4 1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 In this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ having come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. And this is that of the antichrist, which you have heard about, that it is coming, and it is now already in the world. [1] 4 You are from God, little children, and you have overcome them because greater is the one in you than the one in the world. 5 They are from the world. Because of this, they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. The one knowing God listens to us. Whoever is not from God does not listen to us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and everyone loving has been begotten from God and knows God. 8 The one not loving does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God appeared among us, that God sent his Son, the One and Only, into the world so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son {as the} propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God thus loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is perfected in us. 13 In this we know that we remain in him and he in us: that he has given us of his Spirit. 14 Indeed, we have seen and we testify that the Father sent the Son {as the} Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has in us. God is love, and the one remaining in love remains in God, and God remains in him. 17 In this, love has been perfected with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as that one is, we also are in this world. 18 Fear is not in love, but perfect love throws fear outside, because fear has punishment. So the one fearing has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar. For the one not loving his brother, whom he has seen, is not able to love God, whom he has not seen. 21 Indeed, we have this commandment from him, that the one loving God should also love his brother. 4:3 [1] Some ancient manuscripts read and every spirit that does not acknowledge that Jesus has come in the flesh is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now is already in the world. Chapter 5 1 Everyone believing that Jesus is the Christ has been begotten from God, and everyone loving the one begetting also loves the one having been begotten from him. 2 In this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and we keep his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we should keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been begotten from God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. 5 But who is the one overcoming the world, if not the one believing that Jesus is the Son of God? 6 This is the one having come by water and blood: Jesus Christ—not in water alone, but in water and in blood. And the Spirit is the one testifying, because the Spirit is truth. 7 For there are three who are testifying: [1] 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood, and the three are unto the one. [2] 9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater. For this is the testimony of God, that he has testified about his Son. 10 The one believing in the Son of God has the testimony in him. The one not believing God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has testified about his Son. 11 And this is the testimony: that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 The one having the Son has life. The one not having the Son of God does not have life. 13 I have written these things to you, the ones believing in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 And this is the confidence that we have towards him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he listens to us. 15 And if we know that he listens to us, whatever we may request, we know that we have the requests that we have requested from him. 16 If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin not towards death, he will ask, and he will give him life, for the ones sinning not towards death. There is a sin towards death; I am not saying that he should pray about that. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not towards death. 18 We know that everyone having been begotten from God does not sin, but the One having been begotten from God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. 19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the evil one. 20 But we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know the True One. And we are in the True One, in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep yourselves from the idols. 5:7 [1] Some older versions read For there are three that bear witness in heaven: However, the best copies do not have this reading. 5:8 [2] Some older versions read the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit. These three are one; and there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three are as one. However, the best copies do not have this reading. 2 John Chapter 1 1 The elder, to the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth—and not only I, but also all the ones having known the truth— 2 because of the truth that remains in us and will be with us to eternity. 3 Grace, mercy, {and} peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. 4 I rejoiced greatly that I found some of your children walking in truth, just as we have received a commandment from the Father. 5 And now I ask you, lady—not as writing a new commandment to you, but what we have had from the beginning—that we should love one another. 6 And this is that love, that we should walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment, just as you heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it. 7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, the ones not confessing Jesus Christ coming in flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have worked {for}, but may receive a full reward. 9 Everyone going beyond and not remaining in the teaching of Christ does not have God. The one remaining in the teaching, this one has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house and do not say to him, “Greetings.” 11 For the one saying to him, “Greetings,” shares in his evil deeds. 12 Having many things to write to you, I did not want with paper and ink. However, I hope to come to you and to speak mouth to mouth, so that your joy might be made complete. 13 The children of your chosen sister greet you. 3 John Chapter 1 1 The elder, to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth. 2 Beloved, I pray concerning everything {for} you to prosper and to be healthy, just as your soul prospers. 3 For I rejoiced greatly at the coming of the brothers and bearing witness {to} your truth, just as you are walking in truth. 4 I have no greater joy than these things, that I hear my children are walking in the truth. 5 Beloved, you are doing a faithful thing whenever you might work for the brothers, and this {for} strangers, 6 the ones having borne witness to your love in the presence of the church. You will do well to send them on {their journey} in a manner worthy of God, 7 because they went out for the sake of the name, receiving nothing from the Gentiles. 8 Therefore we ourselves ought to welcome such as these, so that we become fellow workers for the truth. 9 I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes, the one loving to be first among them, does not accept us. 10 For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his works that he is doing—accusing us with evil words. But not being satisfied with these things, he does not receive the brothers, and he stops the ones willing and puts {them} out of the church. 11 Beloved, do not imitate what {is} evil, but what {is} good. The one doing good is from God; the one doing evil has not seen God. 12 Demetrius has been borne witness to by all and by the truth itself. And we also bear witness, and you know that our testimony is true. 13 I have many things to write to you, but I am not wishing to write them to you with ink and pen. 14 But I expect to see you soon, and we will speak mouth to mouth. 15 Peace to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends by name. Jude Chapter 1 1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, to the ones loved in God the Father and kept {and} called in Jesus Christ: 2 May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you. 3 Beloved ones, making every effort to write to you about our common salvation, I have a necessity to write to you, exhorting to contend for the faith delivered once for all to the saints. 4 For certain men have entered secretly, the ones long ago having been designated beforehand for this condemnation, ungodly ones, changing the grace of our God into licentiousness and denying our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. 5 Now I want to remind you, you knowing all things once for all, that Jesus, [1] having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed the ones not having believed. 6 And angels, not having kept their own domain, but having left their own dwelling place, he has kept in eternal chains, under darkness, for judgment of the great day— 7 as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, having committed sexual immorality in the same manner {as} these, and having gone after other flesh, are being displayed {as} an example, suffering punishment of eternal fire. 8 Yet in the same way also, these, dreaming, indeed defile the flesh, but reject lordship and slander glorious ones. 9 But Michael the archangel, when disputing with the devil, was arguing about the body of Moses; he did not dare to bring a judgment of slander {against him}. Rather, he said, “May the Lord rebuke you!” 10 But these ones indeed slander what they do not understand; but what they understand by instinct as the unreasoning animals, by these things they are being destroyed. 11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain and have abandoned themselves to the error of Balaam {for} wages, and in the rebellion of Korah they perished. 12 These ones are the ones in your love feasts—hidden reefs—fearlessly feasting with {you}, shepherding themselves; waterless clouds, carried along by winds; fruitless autumn trees— having died twice, having been uprooted, 13 wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shameful deeds; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of darkness has been kept to eternity. 14 Now also Enoch, seventh from Adam, prophesied about these ones, saying, “Behold! The Lord came with myriads of his holy ones 15 to do judgment against everyone and to rebuke every soul concerning all their works of ungodliness, which they did in an ungodly way, and concerning all the harsh things which ungodly sinners spoke against him.” 16 These ones are murmurers, complainers, going according to their lusts, and their mouth speaks boastful things, admiring faces for the sake of advantage. 17 But you, beloved ones, remember the words that have been spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, 18 that they said to you, “In the last time there will be mockers going according to their own lusts of ungodliness.” 19 These are the ones causing divisions, soulish, not having the Spirit. 20 But you, beloved ones, building yourselves up in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. 22 And indeed, have mercy on {some} who are doubting, 23 but save {others}, snatching from fire; and have mercy on {others} with fear, hating even the garment having been defiled by the flesh. 24 Now to the one being able to keep you without stumbling and to cause {you} to stand before his glory blameless, in exultation, 25 to the only God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, {be} glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all the age and now and to all eternity. Amen! 1:5 [1] Many of the best ancient manuscripts have Jesus, but some manuscripts have the Lord . Revelation Chapter 1 1 The revelation of Jesus Christ that God gave him to show his servants what must soon happen. And he made it known, having sent through his angel to his servant John, 2 who testified about the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, as much as he saw. 3 Blessed {is} the one reading and the one listening to the words of this prophecy and keeping {what} has been written in it, for the time {is} near. 4 John, to the seven churches in Asia: Grace to you and peace from the one {who} is, and {who} was, and {who} is coming, and from the seven spirits who {are} before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To the one loving us and having released us from our sins by his blood 6 and he has made us a kingdom, priests for his God and Father—to him {be} the glory and the power forever. Amen. 7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him. Yes, Amen. 8 “I am the alpha and the omega,” says the Lord God, “the one {who} is, and {who} was, and {who} is coming, the Almighty.” [1] 9 I, John—your brother and a fellow partaker in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance {that are} in Jesus—was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 saying, “Write what you see in a scroll and send {it} to the seven churches—to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.” 12 And I turned around to see the voice that was speaking with me, and having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the middle of the lampstands {there was one} like a son of man, wearing a robe reaching to his feet and with a golden sash having been wrapped around his chest. 14 Now his head and hair {were} white as wool—white as snow—and his eyes {were} as a flame of fire, 15 and his feet {were} like polished bronze, as having been refined in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many rushing waters, 16 and having seven stars in his right hand and a sharp, double-edged sword coming out of his mouth and his face shining as the sun at its strength. 17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as a dead {man}, and he placed his right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last 18 and the one living; and I became dead, but behold, I live forever {and} ever, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. 19 Therefore, write down what you have seen and what is and what is about to happen after these things. 20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.” 1:8 [1] Some versions read I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, says the Lord God. Chapter 2 1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The one holding the seven stars in his right hand, walking in the midst of the seven golden lampstands, says these things: 2 “I know your works and your hard labor and your patient endurance, and that you are not able to tolerate evil people, and you have tested the ones calling themselves apostles but are not, and you have found them {to be} false; 3 and you have patient endurance and have suffered because of my name and have not grown weary. 4 But I have against you that you have left behind your first love. 5 Therefore, remember from where you have fallen and repent and do the first works. But if not, I will come to you and I will remove your lampstand from its place—if you do not repent. 6 But you have this, that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 Let the one having an ear hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one conquering, I will grant to him to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”’” 8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The first and the last, the one {who} became dead but came to life again, says these things: 9 “I know your affliction and your poverty (but you are rich), and the slander of the ones saying they themselves are Jews, but they are not, but {are} a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not fear at all what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Become faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11 Let the one having an ear hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one conquering will certainly not be hurt by the second death.”’” 12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The one having the double-edged, sharp sword says these things: 13 “I know where you live, where the throne of Satan {is}, and yet you hold tightly to my name, and you did not deny your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan lives. 14 But I have a few things against you; that you have there {some} holding tightly to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to throw a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat food sacrificed to idols and to be sexually immoral. 15 So, in the same way, you also have {some} holding tightly to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Repent, therefore! But if {you do} not, I will quickly come to you and will wage war against them with the sword of my mouth. 17 Let the one having an ear hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one conquering, I will give him of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone, a new name written which no one knows except the one receiving it.”’” 18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The Son of God, having his eyes as a flame of fire and his feet like polished bronze, says these things: 19 “I know your works, and your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and your last works {are} greater than your first {works}. 20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, calling herself a prophetess, and she teaches and deceives my servants to commit sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 And I gave her time so that she might repent, but she is not willing to repent of her immorality. 22 Behold! I will throw her onto a bed, and the ones committing adultery with her {I will throw into} great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. 23 And I will strike her children dead, and all the churches will know that I am the one searching kidneys and hearts, and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds. 24 Now I say to you, the rest of the ones in Thyatira, to as many as do not hold this teaching, whoever has not known the deep things of Satan, as some call it—I do not put any other burden on you. 25 However, hold on tightly to what you have until I come. 26 And the one conquering and keeping my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations. 27 ‘And he will shepherd them with a rod of iron, as jars of clay are broken into pieces,’ 28 as I also have received {authority} from my Father, and I will give him the morning star. 29 Let the one having an ear hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’” Chapter 3 1 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The one holding the seven spirits of God and the seven stars says these things: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up and strengthen {what} remains, which is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard. And keep {it}, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come as a thief, and you will certainly not know what hour I will come against you. 4 But you have a few names in Sardis who have not stained their clothes, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 5 The one conquering will be clothed in this manner in white garments, and I will certainly not wipe his name out of the Book of Life, and I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. 6 Let the one having an ear hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’” 7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The Holy One, the True One, the one having the key of David, the one opening and no one will shut, and shutting and no one opens, says these things: 8 “I know your works (Behold, I have put before you an open door that no one is able to shut), that you have little power, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 Behold, I will give those from the synagogue of Satan calling themselves Jews but are not, rather, they are lying—behold, I will make them so that they will come and bow down before your feet, and they might realize that I loved you. 10 Because you have kept the word of my steadfastness, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come on the entire inhabited world, to test the ones living on the earth. 11 I am coming quickly. Hold fast to what you have so that no one might take away your crown. 12 The one conquering, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will certainly not go out from it anymore, and I will write on him the name of my God, the name of the city of my God (even the new Jerusalem, that comes down out of heaven from my God), and my new name. 13 Let the one having an ear hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’” 14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God says these things: 15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am about to vomit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, ‘I am rich and have become wealthy and have need of nothing,’ and yet you do not know that you are miserable and pitiable and poor and blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you might become rich, and brilliant white garments so that you might clothe yourself and would not show the shame of your nakedness, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you might see. 19 I rebuke and discipline as many as I love. Therefore, be earnest and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will indeed enter into him and will eat with him, and he with me. 21 The one conquering, I will grant to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Let the one having an ear hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’” Chapter 4 1 After these things I looked, and behold—an open door in heaven, and the first voice that I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after these things.” 2 Immediately I was in the Spirit, and behold—a throne was placed in heaven! And {someone is} sitting on the throne. 3 And the one sitting on {it} {had} the appearance like a jasper stone and carnelian, and a rainbow around the throne had} {the appearance like an emerald. 4 And around the throne {were} 24 thrones, and sitting on the thrones {were} 24 elders dressed in white garments, and on their heads {were} golden crowns. 5 And from the throne burst out flashes of lightning and rumblings and thunder. And seven lamps of fire are burning in front of the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. 6 And in front of the throne was a glass sea, like crystal, and in the middle of the throne and around the throne {were} four living creatures, full of eyes, front and back. 7 And the first living creature {was} like a lion, and the second living creature {was} like a calf, and the third living creature had a face as a man, and the fourth living creature {was} like an eagle flying. 8 And the four living creatures, each one of them have in turn six wings all around and are full of eyes underneath, and do not have rest night and day, saying, “Holy, holy, holy is} {the Lord God Almighty, {who} was, and {who} is, and {who} is coming.” 9 And whenever the living creatures will give glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne, the one living forever {and} ever, 10 the 24 elders will fall down before the one sitting on the throne and worship the one living forever {and} ever, and they will lay their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power, because you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” Chapter 5 1 And I saw in the right hand of the one sitting on the throne a scroll written on the inside and on the back, having been sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who {is} worthy to open the scroll and to break its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to read it. 4 And I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to read it. 5 And one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion {who} {is} from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered. {He is able} to open the scroll and its seven seals.” 6 And I saw in the middle of the throne and the four living creatures, and among the elders, a Lamb standing, as though having been killed, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 And he came and took {the scroll} from the right hand of the one sitting on the throne. 8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp and a golden bowl full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sing a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slaughtered, and with your blood you purchased people for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. 10 And you made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign on the earth.” 11 And I looked and heard the sound of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders and the total number of them was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying in a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that has been slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise.” 13 And I heard every creature that was in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea and everything that {is} in them, saying, “To the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb {be} the praise and the honor and the glory and the power to rule, forever {and} ever.” 14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped. [1] 5:14 [1] Some older versions read the 24 elders fell down and worshiped the one who lives forever {and} ever. Chapter 6 1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, “Come!” 2 And I looked and behold, a white horse! And the one sitting on it having a bow and to him was given a crown, and he went out conquering, and in order that he might conquer. 3 And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come!” 4 And another horse came out—fiery red! And to the one sitting on it was granted to him to take peace from the earth, and so that {people} will slaughter one another, and to him was given a huge sword. 5 And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, “Come!” And I looked and behold, a black horse, and the one sitting on it having a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard as if a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A choenix of wheat for one denarius, and three choenices of barley for a denarius. But do not harm the oil and the wine.” 7 And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come!” 8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And the one sitting on it was named Death, and Hades was following after him. And authority was given to them over one-fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword and with famine and with disease and by the wild animals of the earth. 9 And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of the ones {who} had been killed because of the word of God and because of the testimony which they held. 10 And they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, Ruler over all, holy and true, do you not judge and avenge our blood from the ones living on the earth?” 11 And to each of them was given a white robe, and they were told that they should wait yet a little time until {the number} was completed of both their fellow servants and their brothers {who} were going to be killed, as also they {were}. 12 And when he opened the sixth seal, I watched, and there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the full moon became as blood, 13 and the stars in the heavens fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its unripe fruit, being shaken by a stormy wind. 14 And the sky vanished as a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 And the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful and every slave and free {man} hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; 16 and they say to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one sitting on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” Chapter 7 1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, tightly holding back the four winds of the earth so that the wind would not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor against any tree. 2 And I saw another angel coming up from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God. And he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to them to harm the earth and the sea, 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees until we might seal the servants of our God on their foreheads.” 4 And I heard the number of the ones that had been sealed: 144,000, {who} had been sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: 5 12,000 were sealed from the tribe of Judah, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad, 6 12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh, 7 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar, 8 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, and 12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin had been sealed. 9 After these things I looked, and behold, a huge multitude that no one was able to count—from every nation and tribe and people and language—standing before the throne and before the Lamb, having been clothed in white robes, and palm branches {were} in their hands, 10 and they call out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation {belongs} to our God, to the one sitting on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! The praise and the glory and the wisdom and the thanksgiving and the honor and the power and the strength {be} to our God forever {and} ever! Amen!” 13 And one of the elders replied, saying to me, “These that have been clothed with white robes—who are they, and from where did they come?” 14 And I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming from the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 For this reason, they are before the throne of God and worship him day and night in his temple. And the one sitting on the throne will spread his tent over them. 16 They will not be hungry anymore, and they will not be thirsty anymore, and the sun will not beat down on them at all, nor any burning heat, 17 because the Lamb who {is} at the center of the throne will shepherd {them} and will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Chapter 8 1 And when he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 3 And another angel came, holding a golden censor, and was stationed at the altar, and much incense was given to him so that he would offer {it} with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that {was} before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose up before God from the hand of the angel. 5 And the angel took the censor and filled it with the fire of the altar and threw {it} onto the earth, and there were crashes of thunder and loud sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake. 6 And the seven angels having the seven trumpets prepared themselves that they might sound {them}. 7 And the first angel sounded a trumpet, and there was hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was thrown onto the earth, and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. [1] 8 And the second angel sounded a trumpet, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood, 9 and a third of the creatures having life in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. 10 And the third angel sounded a trumpet, and a huge star fell from the sky, blazing as a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood. And a third of the waters became wormwood, and many of the men died from the waters that became bitter. 12 And the fourth angel sounded a trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark, and the day did not shine {for} a third of it, and likewise the night. 13 And I looked, and I heard one eagle [2] flying in the mid-heaven, calling out with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe, to the ones living on the earth, from the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels about to sound their trumpets.” 8:7 [1] Some older versions leave out and a third of the earth was burned up. 8:13 [2] Some copies have the word angel instead of eagle. Chapter 9 1 And the fifth angel sounded a trumpet, and I saw a star from heaven that had fallen to the earth, and the key to the shaft of the abyss was given to him. 2 And he opened the shaft of the abyss, and smoke went up from the shaft as smoke of a huge furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened from the smoke of the shaft. 3 And out from the smoke locusts came on the earth, and power was given to them as scorpions have power on the earth. 4 And it was told to them that they should not damage the grass on the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only the men who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And it was given to them that they should not kill them, but that they will be tormented for five months, and their torment {will be} as the torment of a scorpion when it would strike a man. 6 And in those days, men will seek death but will certainly not find it, and they will greatly desire to die, but death flees from them. 7 And the appearance of the locusts {was} like horses prepared for war. And on their heads {were something} like crowns like gold, and their faces {were} like faces of men. 8 And they had hair like hair of women, and their teeth were as of lions. 9 And they had breastplates like iron breastplates, and the sound of their wings {was} like the sound of chariots—of many horses running into battle. 10 And they have tails with stingers like scorpions, and in their tails, their power to harm men for five months. 11 They have {as} king over them the angel of the abyss. His name in Hebrew {is} Abaddon, and in Greek he has the name Apollyon. 12 The first woe has passed. Behold, two woes are still coming after these things. 13 And the sixth angel sounded a trumpet, and I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar {that is} before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel. the one having the trumpet, “Release the four angels that have been bound at the great Euphrates River.” 15 And the four angels that had been prepared for that hour and day and month and year were released so that they might kill a third of mankind. 16 And the number of the soldiers on horseback {was} two myriads of myriads; I heard their number. 17 And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and the ones riding on them—having breastplates {that were} fiery red and dark blue and sulfurous yellow. And the heads of the horses {were} as heads of lions, and from their mouths came fire and smoke and sulfur. 18 A third of mankind were killed by these three plagues: by the fire and the smoke and the sulfur coming out from their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails—for their tails {are} like snakes having heads, and with them they injure {people}. 20 And the rest of mankind, the ones not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so that they will not worship the demons and the idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, that are neither able to see nor to hear nor to walk. 21 And they did not repent of their murders, nor of their sorcery nor of their sexual immorality nor of their thefts. Chapter 10 1 And I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, having been clothed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head and his face like the sun and his feet like pillars of fire, 2 and having in his hand a little scroll, {which} had been opened. And he put his right foot on the sea and his left on the land, 3 and he shouted in a loud voice like a roaring lion. And when he shouted, the seven thunders spoke out with their own voices. 4 And when the seven thunders spoke out, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders said, and do not write it down.” 5 And the angel that I saw standing on the sea and on the earth raised his right hand to heaven 6 and swore by the one living forever {and} ever, who created heaven and the things in it and the earth and the things in it and the sea and the things in it, “There will no longer be a delay. 7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound a trumpet, then the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he proclaimed the good news to his own servants the prophets.” 8 And the voice that I heard from heaven is speaking to me again, and saying: “Go, take the scroll that has been opened in the hand of the angel standing on the sea and on the land.” 9 And I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little scroll. And he says to me, “Take and eat it, and it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” 10 And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it, and it was as sweet {as} honey in my mouth, but after I ate it, my stomach became bitter. 11 And they said to me, “It is necessary for you to prophesy again about many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.” Chapter 11 1 And a reed like a measuring rod was given to me, {someone} said, “Get up and measure the temple of God and the altar, and the ones worshiping in it. 2 But leave out the courtyard {that is} outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles, and they will trample the holy city for 42 months. 3 And I will grant to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1, 260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” 4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 And if anyone wishes to harm them, fire comes out from their mouth and devours their enemies, and if anyone wishes to harm them, he must be killed in this way. 6 They have authority to close up the sky so that no rain might fall {during} the days of their prophesy, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every plague whenever they desire. 7 And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the abyss will make war against them, and he will conquer them and kill them. 8 And their corpses {will be} in the street of the great city (which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt) where also their Lord was crucified. 9 And for three and a half days {some} from {every} people and tribe and tongue and nation look at their corpses, and they do not permit their corpses to be placed in a tomb. 10 And the ones living on the earth rejoice over them and celebrate and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented the ones living on the earth. 11 But after three and a half days, a breath of life from God entered into them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on the ones seeing them. 12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up into heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13 And at that hour a great earthquake happened, and a tenth part of the city collapsed. And in the earthquake, the names of 7,000 men were killed, and the survivors became terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. 14 The second woe has passed. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly. 15 And the seventh angel sounded a trumpet, and loud voices spoke in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become {the kingdom} of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever {and} ever.” 16 And the 24 elders sitting on their thrones in the presence of God fell upon their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the one {who} is, and {who} was, and because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. [1] 18 And the nations were enraged, but your wrath has come, and the time for the dead to be judged, and to give the reward to your servants the prophets and to the saints and to the ones fearing your name, the small and the great, and to destroy the ones destroying the earth.” 19 And the temple of God {that is} in heaven was opened and the ark of the covenant of the Lord was seen in his temple. And there were flashes of lightning and loud sounds and crashes of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm. 11:17 [1] Some copies read the ruler over all, the one {who} is, and {who} was, and {who} is to come, but most modern versions do not. Chapter 12 1 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and a crown of 12 stars on her head, 2 and having in the womb, and she cries out in birth pains and is struggling to give birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a huge red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. 4 And his tail sweeps away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them down to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman that was about to give birth, so that when she would give birth, he might devour her child. 5 And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is going to rule all the nations with an iron rod. And her child was snatched away to God and to his throne, 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God there, so that they might provide for her there for 1, 260 days. 7 And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, nor was a place found for them any longer in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down—the ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ, because the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, the one accusing them before our God day and night. 11 And they conquered him through the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives even to death. 12 Therefore rejoice, heavens, and the ones residing in them! Woe to the earth and to the sea, because the devil has gone down to you, having terrible anger because he knows he has {only} a little time!” 13 And when the dragon realized that he was thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But two wings of a great eagle were given to the woman so that she might flee to the wilderness to her place, where she is taken care of there for a time and times and half a time—away from the face of the serpent. 15 And the serpent poured water like a river out from his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away by a flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon poured out from his mouth. 17 And the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war with the rest of her seed, the ones keeping the commandments of God and holding to the testimony of Jesus. 18 And he stood on the sand of the seashore. [1] 12:18 [1] Some manuscripts place this sentence at the beginning of 13:1, but the best manuscripts place it here as 12:18. Chapter 13 1 And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on its horns {were} ten crowns, and on its heads {was} a blasphemous name. [1] 2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, and its feet {were} like a bear’s, and its mouth {was} like a lion’s mouth, and the dragon gave his power to it, and his throne and his great authority. 3 And one of its heads {was} like it had been killed, but its fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth marveled {and followed} after the beast, 4 and they worshiped the dragon, because he gave his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who {is} like the beast, and who is able to fight against it?” 5 And to it was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and authority was given to it to act for 42 months. 6 And it opened its mouth for blasphemies against God, to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle—the ones residing in heaven. 7 And to it was granted to make war with the saints and to conquer them, and authority was given to it over every tribe and people and tongue and nation. 8 And all the ones living on the earth will worship it—everyone {whose} name has not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb that was slaughtered from the foundation of the world. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10 If anyone {is} for captivity, {to captivity} he goes; if anyone will be killed with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the endurance and the faith of the saints. 11 And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and it had two horns like a lamb, and it was speaking like a dragon. 12 And it exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and it makes {it} so that the earth and the ones living on it will worship the first beast—the one whose lethal wound had been healed. 13 And it does great signs, so that he might even cause fire to come down to the earth from heaven in front of mankind. 14 And it deceives the ones living on the earth through the signs that it has been granted to do in the presence of the beast, telling the ones living on the earth to make an image to the beast that has the wound of the sword, but lived. 15 And it was granted to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak, and might cause whoever does not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 And it caused everyone, the small and the great and the rich and the poor and the free and the slave, so that they might give to them a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, 17 and so that no one was able to buy or to sell except the one having the mark—the name of the beast, or the number of its name. 18 Here is wisdom: The one having understanding, let him calculate the number of the beast. For it is the number of a man, and its number is 666. 13:1 [1] Some manuscripts include Then he stood on the sand of the seashore at the beginning of this verse, but the best manuscripts include it as 12:18. Chapter 14 1 And I looked and behold, the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him {were} 144,000 having his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven as a roar of many waters and as the sound of loud thunder, and the voice I heard was like harpists playing on their harps. 3 And they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders, and no one was able to learn the song except the 144,000 {who} had been bought from the earth. 4 These are the ones that did not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones following the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from among mankind as firstfruits for God and for the Lamb, 5 and no lie was found in their mouth, for they are blameless. [1] 6 And I saw another angel flying in midair, having the eternal gospel to proclaim to the ones living on the earth—even to every nation and tribe and tongue and people— 7 saying in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. And worship the one having made the heaven and the earth and the sea and the springs of water.” 8 And another {angel}—a second—followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen {is} Babylon the great, who caused all the nations to drink from the wine of her immoral passion.” 9 And another angel—a third—followed them, saying in a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he will also drink from the wine of the wrath of God that has been poured undiluted into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur before the holy angels and before the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever {and} ever, and they have no rest day and night—the ones worshiping the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name. 12 Here is the endurance of the saints, the ones keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” 13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write: Blessed {are} the dead dying in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so that they will rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.” 14 And I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud {was one} like a son of man, having a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying out in a loud voice to the one sitting on the cloud: “Send out your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, since the harvest of the earth has ripened.” 16 And the one sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested. 17 And another angel came out from the temple {that is} in heaven, he himself also having a sharp sickle. 18 And another angel, the one having authority over the fire, {came} from the altar, and he shouted in a loud voice to the one holding the sharp sickle, saying, “Send out your sharp sickle and gather in the clusters of grapes of the vines of the earth, since their grapes have ripened.” 19 And the angel swung his sickle to the earth and harvested the grapevine of the earth, and he threw {it} into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood poured out from the winepress up to the bridles of the horses, for 1, 600 stadia. 14:5 [1] Some older copies add before the throne of God. Chapter 15 1 And I saw another great and marvelous sign in heaven: seven angels having seven plagues—the final ones, because with them the wrath of God will be completed. 2 Then I saw {something} like a sea of glass having been mixed with fire. And the ones being victorious over the beast and over his image and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God. 3 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous {are} your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Righteous and true {are} your ways, King of the Ages. [1] 4 Who will not fear, Lord, and glorify your name, because {you} alone {are} holy? For all the nations will come and worship before you, because your righteous deeds have been revealed.” 5 And after these things I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. 6 And the seven angels holding the seven plagues came out from the temple, having been clothed with pure, bright linen and with golden sashes having been wrapped around their chests. 7 And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, {who} lives forever {and} ever. 8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one was able to enter into the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed. 15:3 [1] Some manuscripts read nations instead of ages. Chapter 16 1 And I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God onto the earth.” 2 So the first {angel} went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and an ugly and painful sore happened on the men having the mark of the beast and the ones worshiping its image. 3 And the second {angel} poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood, as of a dead {person}, and every living thing in the sea died. 4 And the third {angel} poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and it became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters saying, “You are righteous—the one {who} is and {who} was, the Holy One— because you have judged these things. [1] 6 Because they poured out the blood of the saints and prophets, you have also given them blood to drink; it is appropriate.” 7 And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God Almighty, your judgments {are} true and righteous.” 8 And the fourth {angel} poured out his bowl on the sun and it was granted to it to scorch men with fire. 9 And men were scorched by the great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God {who} has the authority over these plagues, but they did not repent to give him glory. 10 And the fifth {angel} poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom became darkened, and they chewed on their tongues because of the pain. 11 And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain and because of their sores, but they did not repent of their deeds. 12 And the sixth {angel} poured out his bowl into the great river, the Euphrates, and its water was dried up so that the way of the kings from the rising of the sun might be prepared. 13 And I saw {coming} from the mouth of the dragon and from the mouth of the beast and from the mouth of the false prophet three unclean spirits like frogs, 14 for they are spirits of demons performing signs, who go out to the kings of the whole inhabited world to gather them together for the battle on the great day of God Almighty. 15 (“Behold! I come as a thief! Blessed {is} the one watching and keeping his garments, so that he might not walk around naked and they might see his shameful condition.”) 16 And they brought them together at the place that is called Armageddon in Hebrew. 17 And the seventh {angel} poured out his bowl into the air and a loud voice came out from the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 And there came about flashes of lightning and sounds and crashes of thunder, and a great earthquake happened—such as has not ever happened from {when} man had not {yet} been on the earth, so powerful {and} great was} {the earthquake. 19 And the great city became {split} into three parts and the cities of the nations collapsed, and Babylon the Great was remembered before God to give to her the cup of the wine of the wrath of his fury. 20 And every island fled, and the mountains were not found. 21 And great hailstones, about a talent {in weight}, come down from heaven upon men, and the men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because that plague is exceedingly great. 16:5 [1] Some older copies read You are righteous, Lord—the one who is and who was and who is to be, because you have judged these things. Chapter 17 1 And one of the seven angels holding the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute {who} is seated on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality and the ones living on the earth became drunk from the wine of her sexual immorality.” 3 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast being full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet and had been adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of detestable things and the impurities of her sexual immorality, 5 and on her forehead had been written a name: “Mystery Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes and of the Abominations of the Earth.” 6 And I saw that the woman is drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus, and having seen her, I marveled with great wonder. 7 But the angel said to me, “Why are you astonished? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast, the one carrying her, having the seven heads and the ten horns. 8 The beast that you saw existed, does not exist now, but is about to come up from the abyss, and it will go to destruction, and the ones living on the earth, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life since the foundation of the world, will be astounded, seeing the beast that existed, and does not exist, but will come. 9 Here {is} the mind that has wisdom: The seven heads are seven hills where the woman is seated on them, and they are seven kings; 10 five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come. But when he comes, it is necessary for him to remain a little {while}. 11 And the beast that was but is not, is itself also an eighth {king}; but is from among the seven and is going to destruction. 12 And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they will receive authority as kings for one hour with the beast. 13 These have one mind, and they give their power and authority to the beast. 14 They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and the ones with him {are} called and chosen and faithful.” 15 And he says to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. 16 And the ten horns that you saw, and the beast—they will hate the prostitute, and they will make her desolate and naked, and they will devour her flesh, and they will burn her completely with fire, 17 for God has put into their hearts to do his purpose and to do one purpose and to give their kingdom to the beast until the words of God will be fulfilled. 18 And the woman that you saw is the great city that has a kingdom over the kings of the earth.” Chapter 18 1 After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined by his glory. 2 And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen {is} Babylon the great! And she has become a dwelling place of demons and a refuge of every unclean spirit and a refuge of every unclean and detestable bird. [1] 3 For all the nations have drunk from the wine of her immoral passion and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her and the merchants of the earth have become rich from the power of her sensual way of living.” 4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out from her, my people, so that you might not share in her sins, and so that you might not receive from her plagues. 5 For her sins have piled up as far as heaven, and God has remembered her sinful actions. 6 Give back to her even as she has given, and repay her double, twice as much according to her deeds; in the cup that she mixed, mix double for her. 7 As much as she glorified herself and lived in luxury, give her just as much torture and grief. For she says in her heart, ‘I sit {as} a queen and I am not a widow and I will certainly not see mourning.’ 8 Therefore, in one day her plagues will come: death and mourning and famine, and she will be consumed by fire, for the Lord God {who} has judged her {is} mighty.” 9 And the kings of the earth, the ones having committed sexual immorality and having lived in luxury with her will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning, 10 having stood at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, “Woe, woe to the great city, Babylon, the powerful city! For in one hour your judgment has come.” 11 And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, because no one buys her cargo anymore— 12 cargo of gold and silver and precious stone and pearls and fine linen and purple cloth and silk and scarlet cloth and every scented wood and every ivory vessel and every vessel from precious wood and bronze and iron and marble 13 and cinnamon and spice and incense and myrrh and frankincense and wine and oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep and horses and chariots and slaves and souls of men. 14 And your autumn fruit, the desire of your soul, has gone away from you, and all the luxury and the splendor has perished from you, and they will certainly not be found any longer. 15 The merchants of these things, having became rich, will stand at a distance from her because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning loudly, 16 saying, “Woe, woe to the great city— having been dressed in fine linen and purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls— 17 for in one hour such great wealth has been destroyed.” And every ship’s captain and all the one sailing to a place and sailors and as many as work the sea stood at a distance 18 and were crying out, seeing the smoke of her burning, saying, “What {city} {is} like the great city?” 19 And they threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and mourning, saying, “Woe, woe to the great city in which all the ones having their ships in the sea became rich from her wealth, for in one hour she was destroyed.” 20 “Rejoice over her, heaven, and saints and apostles and prophets, for God has pronounced your judgment against her!” 21 And one mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw {it} into the sea, saying, “In this way, Babylon, the great city, will be thrown down with violence and will certainly not be seen anymore, 22 and the sound made by harpists and musicians and flute players and trumpeters will certainly not be heard anymore in you, and every craftsman will certainly not be found in you anymore, and the sound of a mill will certainly not be heard anymore in you. 23 And the light of a lamp will certainly not shine in you anymore, and the voices of a bridegroom and a bride will certainly not be heard in you anymore, for your merchants were the princes of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery. 24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints and of all the ones that have been killed on the earth.” 18:2 [1] Some manuscripts read Fallen, fallen. Chapter 19 1 After these things I heard as if the loud voice of a large crowd in heaven saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power to our God, 2 because his judgments {are} true and righteous; because he has judged the great prostitute who was corrupting the earth with her sexual immorality, and he has avenged the blood of his servants from her hand.” 3 And they spoke a second {time}: “Hallelujah! And the smoke rises from her forever {and} ever.” 4 And the 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God {who} is sitting on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” 5 And a voice came out from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all his servants, and the ones fearing him, the small and the great.” 6 And I heard as if the sound of a great crowd, and as if the sound of many waters, and as if the loud sound of thunder, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, because the wedding celebration of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. 8 And it had been given to her that she might be dressed in bright {and} clean fine linen” (for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints). 9 And he says to me, “Write: Blessed {are} the ones {who} have been invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb,” and he says to me, “These are true words of God.” 10 And I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he says to me, “Do not do that! I am a fellow servant of you and your brothers holding the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” 11 And I saw heaven having been opened, and behold, a white horse, and the one riding on it is called faithful and true, and he judges and wages war in righteousness. 12 Now his eyes {are like} a flame of fire, and on his head {are} many crowns, having a name written that no one knows except himself. 13 And he is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven were following him on white horses, dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 And from his mouth goes out a sharp sword so that with it he might strike the nations, and he will shepherd them with an iron rod, and he tramples the winepress of the wrath of the fury of God Almighty. 16 And he has a name written on his robe and on his thigh: “King of kings and Lord of lords.” 17 And I saw one angel standing in the sun, and he called out in a loud voice, saying to all the birds flying in midheaven, “Come, be gathered together for the great supper of God, 18 so that you might eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty {men} and the flesh of horses and of the ones sitting on them and the flesh of all {men}—both free and slaves—and small and great.” 19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies having been gathered to make war with the one sitting on the horse and with his army. 20 And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet {who} performed the signs before him, by which he deceived the ones having received the mark of the beast and the ones worshiping his image. The two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. 21 And the rest were killed by the sword of the one sitting on the horse, the sword} {that came out from his mouth, and all the birds were filled with their flesh. Chapter 20 1 And I saw an angel coming down from heaven having the key to the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he took hold of the dragon, the ancient serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him for 1,000 years. 3 And he threw him into the abyss and shut {it} and sealed {it} over him so that he would not deceive the nations anymore until the 1,000 years would be completed. After that, it is necessary for him to be released for a short time. 4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them, both the souls of the ones {who} had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who did not worship the beast nor his image and did not receive the mark on their forehead or on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for 1,000 years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the 1,000 years were ended.) This {is} the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy {is} the one having a part in the first resurrection! Over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for 1,000 years. 7 But when the 1,000 years are competed, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations {that are} at the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to gather them together to the battle. The number of them {will be} like the sand of the sea. 9 And they went up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil {who} deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet {were}, and they will be tormented day and night forever {and} ever. 11 And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it, from whose presence the earth and the heaven fled away, but no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead—both the great and the small—standing before the throne, and books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the {Book} of Life. And the dead were judged from the things that were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead, the ones in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead, the ones in them, and each of them was judged according to their deeds. 14 And Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Chapter 21 1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice from the throne saying, “Behold! The tabernacle of God {is} with men, and he will live with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them. [1] 4 And he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will not be any longer, nor grieving nor crying nor pain. They will not be any longer; the first things have passed away.” 5 And the one sitting on the throne said, “Behold! I make all things new.” And he says to me, “Write, because these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I {am} the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. To the one thirsting I will give without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 The one conquering will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be my son. 8 But the cowards and unbelieving and detestable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all the liars—their place {will be} in the lake burning with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” 9 And one of the seven angels came—the one holding the seven bowls being full of the seven last plagues—and he spoke with me, saying, “Come here. I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God; its brilliance {was} like a very precious stone, like a stone of crystal-clear jasper, 12 having a great and high wall having 12 gates and 12 angels at the gates, and names having been written {on the gates}, which were the ones of the 12 tribes of the sons of Israel. 13 On the east {were} three gates, and on the north three gates, and on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had 12 foundations, and on them were} {the 12 names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb. 15 And the one speaking with me had a golden measuring rod so that he might measure the city and its gates and its wall. 16 And the city is laid out {as} a square, and its length {is} as much as {its} width. And he measured the city with the measuring rod, at 12,000 stadia (the length and the width and the height of it are equal). 17 And he measured its wall, 144 cubits {thick} by measurement of man (which is {also} {a measurement} of an angel). 18 And the material of its wall {is} jasper and the city—pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every precious stone. The first foundation {was} jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the 12 gates {are} 12 pearls; each of the gates was from a single pearl, and the streets of the city {were} pure gold, like transparent glass. 22 And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty is its temple, and the Lamb. 23 And the city does not have need of the sun nor the moon so that it might shine on it, because the glory of God shone on {it}, and its lamp {is} the Lamb. 24 And the nations will walk by the light of it, and the kings of the earth bring their glory into it. [2] 25 And its gates will never be shut {during the} day, for there will be no night there. 26 And they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it, 27 but anything unclean will certainly not enter into it, nor the one doing abominations and falsehoods, but only the ones {who} have been written in the book of life of the Lamb. 21:3 [1] Some manuscripts add as their God, but the best manuscripts do not. 21:24 [2] Some older copies read The nations that are saved will walk by the light of that city. Chapter 22 1 And he showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 in the middle of its street. And on this side and on that side of the river was} {the tree of life, bearing 12 {crops of} fruit, bearing its fruit according to each month, and the leaves of the tree {are} for the healing of the nations. 3 And there will no longer be any curse, and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will serve him. 4 And they will see his face, and his name {will be} on their foreheads. 5 And there will be no more night, and they have no need of the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will shine on them, and they will reign forever {and} ever. 6 And he said to me, “These words {are} trustworthy and true, and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants what must happen soon.” 7 “And behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed {is} the one keeping the words of the prophecy of this book.” 8 And I, John, {am} the one seeing and hearing these things. And when I heard and saw {them}, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel showing me these things. 9 But he says to me, “Watch out! I am a fellow servant of you and of your brothers the prophets and of the ones keeping the words of this book. Worship God!” 10 And he says to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. 11 Let the one being unrighteous still be unrighteous, and let the morally filthy one still be morally filthy, and let the righteous one still do righteousness, and let the holy one still be holy.” 12 “Behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward {is} with me, to pay back each one just as his deeds are. 13 I {am} the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. 14 Blessed {are} the ones washing their robes so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter into the city through the gates. [1] 15 Outside {are} the dogs and the sorcerers and the sexually immoral and the murderers and the idolaters and everyone loving and doing falsehood. 16 I, Jesus, sent my angel to testify to you about these things to the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star.” 17 And the Spirit and the Bride say, “Come!” And let the one hearing say, “Come!” And the one thirsting, let him come. The one desiring {it}, let him freely take the water of life. 18 I testify to everyone {who} hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone might add to them, God will add to him the plagues that are written about in this book. 19 And if anyone takes away from the words of this book of prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are written about in this book. [2] 20 The one testifying these things says, “Yes! I am coming quickly.” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus {be} with the saints. Amen. 22:14 [1] Instead of Blessed are those who wash their robes, some older copies read Blessed are those who do his commandments. 22:19 [2] Some older copies read God will take away his share in the Book of Life and in the holy city {that} are written about in this book. Front matter unfoldingWord® Literal Text - English an unrestricted literal version of the Bible intended for translation into any language as a tool for use by Bible translators Overview The ULT began as an open-licensed adaptation of The American Standard Version . It has since undergone a careful comparison to the original biblical languages, using the best tools that are available to modern scholarship, and made to reflect the forms of those languages as far as English grammar and understanding will allow. The ULT is thus intended to provide a ‘form-centric’ rendering of the biblical text from the original biblical languages (Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Aramaic, and Koiné Greek) into English. This increases a translator’s understanding of the lexical and grammatical composition of the biblical text by adhering closely to the grammatical (i.e. parts of speech) and syntactic (i.e. word order) stuctures of the original languages. For translators who do not speak English, we intend to translate the ULT into the other major languages of the world. Viewing To read or print the ULT, see the latest published version of the ULT project on Door43 at https://door43.org/u/Door43-Catalog/en_ult/. (Any ongoing development may be seen at https://door43.org/u/unfoldingWord/en_ult/.) Contributors Contributors to this work are listed in the \`contributor\` field in the manifest file at https://git.door43.org/Door43-Catalog/en_ult/src/master/manifest.yaml. Introducing the ULT The ULT (unfoldingWord® Literal Text) is a form-centric (and thus “literal”) version of the Bible in English. It is intended to be used alongside the UST (unfoldingWord® Simplified Text) and other translation resources to give English-speaking mother-tongue translators (MTTs) a more complete understanding of the messages communicated in the Bible. The purpose of the ULT text is to allow a Bible translator who does not have reading knowledge of the original biblical languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek) to “see” the grammatical forms of those languages. Therefore, the goal of the ULT text as a translation resource is to copy the Original Language (OrigL) form as much as possible yet still be understandable in English or other Gateway Language (GL). For MTTs who cannot read the OrigL text, the ULT provides a sense of how these messages of the Bible were communicated in the OrigL. It is anticipated that the ULT and other resources will be translated from English into the world’s GLs so that MTTs worldwide can use them as a set of resources for making accurate translations of the Bible into their own languages. The ULT stands in the range of literalness somewhere between a very literally translated user Bible (such as the New American Standard Bible [NASB]) and an English interlinear text. An English interlinear text is designed to render OrigL words into their individual and basic (“literal”) English meanings without regard to understandability of the overall English text. On the other hand, a very literally translated user Bible tries to adhere as closely as possible to the OrigL but must sometimes compromise in favor of English idiom and expression in order for the text to be both grammatically correct and readily understood. The ULT negotiates a path between these two kinds of texts. For example, the ULT reproduces the OrigL idioms even when they are not English idioms, relying on a translation note to explain the meaning. In that way, the translator can see the original expression, and also the meaning. The ULT does not substitute English idioms or expressions. However, if an OrigL grammatical form would give the wrong meaning or no meaning at all, the ULT will use the English form in that case so that the ULT can also meet the demand of reasonable understandability in English. Retaining Original Forms and Structures The unfoldingWord® Literal Text (ULT) is designed to be used as a tool for Bible translation in conjunction with the unfoldingWord® Simplified Text (UST) which can be viewed at https://git.door43.org/Door43-Catalog/en_ust, the unfoldingWord® Translation Words (UTW) at https://git.door43.org/Door43-Catalog/en_tw, and the unfoldingWord® Translation Notes (UTN) at https://git.door43.org/Door43-Catalog/en_tn. It is not an end-user Bible, which seeks to transform all of the structures of the original biblical languages into those that are natural and idiomatic in the target language. Instead, unlike the UST and unlike an end-user Bible, the ULT is designed to reflect the forms of the source languages, so that the MTT can see what they are. By using the ULT, the MTT can “look through” it to see how the original Bible expressed the biblical ideas. Therefore, the editors of the ULT have retained the grammatical and syntactic structures of the original as much as the target language (English or other Gateway Language) will reasonably allow. If the original structure is ungrammatical in the target language, then it has been changed into a structure that is grammatical in the target language. It does no good to have a translation that a MTT using this tool cannot understand. But as much as the target language will allow, the structures of the original have been retained while translating the ULT. For English, it is often possible to retain nouns as nouns, verbs as verbs, etc., but their order in the original sentence often has needed to be changed. In addition to the grammatical forms, the ULT has also retained the idioms and the figures of speech found in the original languages so that the MTT can consider them and use them if they communicate the right thing in his target language (i.e. a minority or Other Language [OL], not Gateway Language). If these aspects of the original language text are changed in the English version (or other Gateway Language translation) of the ULT, then the OL translator will never see them. Furthermore, their accompanying explanations (found in the unfoldingWord® Translation Notes) will not make sense. The ULT and the UST are designed to be complementary tools for use by an OL translator. These tools are made to be as useful as possible, which means that the ULT retains original language structures that would not always be retained in an end-user Bible. Therefore, you must understand that the ULT will often lack naturalness (and sometimes also lack clarity) because it aims to reproduce the original language structures and figures of speech that the GL may not normally use. However, in places where the ULT lacks clarity, there will be BOTH a Translation Note to explain the meaning of the structure for the OL translator AND a clear rendering of the original meaning in the UST. Together, the UTN and the UST will provide the meaning of the text wherever that meaning is in doubt in the ULT. In this way, the various tools work together to provide an OL translator with more complete information about both the form and the meaning of the biblical text as written in the original languages. One specific way in which the ULT and UST are complementary tools concerns the selection of meaning in the original language texts. There are many instances in the biblical text where the meaning of a word or phrase in the original languages is ambiguous. In those cases, the ULT should retain the ambiguity of meaning, if possible. In contrast, the UST should select the most probable meaning and express that meaning according to its own translation method. NOTE: Where the meaning of the original language is linguistically ambiguous but seems clear from the context, the ULT has often selected that meaning. Further information Further details about translation decisions in the ULT can be seen at https://git.door43.org/Door43-Catalog/en_ult#overview. Alignment of the ULT with the Original Languages The words and phrases of the ULT have been manually aligned with the original Hebrew or Greek words that they were translated from. Because this is a literal translation, the alignments are largely one-to-one (compared to the UST which has much more complex alignments). The alignment information is stored within custom z-aln fields in the USFM source files. Alignments can be viewed graphically in the translationCore checking program downloadable from https://www.translationcore.com/, and in translationCore Create and translationCore Study apps. Ongoing Development Development of the ULT is ongoing and although the bulk of the work has now been completed, consistency checking within the ULT and detailed checks against the original languages are still in early stages, especially for Old Testament books other than Ruth, Ezra, Esther, Obadiah, and Jonah. Any suggested improvements can be passed to the ULT team via the Issues page at https://git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult/issues.` for i, match := range re.FindAllString(str, -1) { fmt.Println(match, "found at index", i) } }

Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Golang, please visit: https://golang.org/pkg/regexp/