# verses

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So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.


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But he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as did Manasseh his father: for Amon sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them;


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And humbled not himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more.


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But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.


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Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years.


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And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left.


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For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.


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And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.


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And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about.


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And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.


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Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land, and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God.


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And when they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept the doors had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin; and they returned to Jerusalem.


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And they put it in the hand of the workmen that had the oversight of the house of the LORD, and they gave it to the workmen that wrought in the house of the LORD, to repair and amend the house:


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Even to the artificers and builders gave they it, to buy hewn stone, and timber for couplings, and to floor the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed.


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And the men did the work faithfully: and the overseers of them were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to set it forward; and other of the Levites, all that could skill of instruments of musick.


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Also they were over the bearers of burdens, and were overseers of all that wrought the work in any manner of service: and of the Levites there were scribes, and officers, and porters.


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And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the LORD given by Moses.


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And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan.


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And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying, All that was committed to thy servants, they do it.


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And they have gathered together the money that was found in the house of the LORD, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and to the hand of the workmen.


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Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.


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And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king's, saying,


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Go, enquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do after all that is written in this book.


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And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college:) and they spake to her to that effect.


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Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah:


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Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched.


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And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire of the LORD, so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel concerning the words which thou hast heard;


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Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD.


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Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought the king word again.


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And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the LORD.


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And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book.


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And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.


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And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the LORD their God. And all his days they departed not from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.


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Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the LORD in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.


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And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the service of the house of the LORD,


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And said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which were holy unto the LORD, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build; it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders: serve now the LORD your God, and his people Israel,


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And prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers, after your courses, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son.


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And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the families of the fathers of your brethren the people, and after the division of the families of the Levites.


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So kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare your brethren, that they may do according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.


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And Josiah gave to the people, of the flock, lambs and kids, all for the passover offerings, for all that were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bullocks: these were of the king's substance.


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And his princes gave willingly unto the people, to the priests, and to the Levites: Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God, gave unto the priests for the passover offerings two thousand and six hundred small cattle, and three hundred oxen.


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Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel, his brethren, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave unto the Levites for passover offerings five thousand small cattle, and five hundred oxen.


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So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their courses, according to the king's commandment.


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And they killed the passover, and the priests sprinkled the blood from their hands, and the Levites flayed them.


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And they removed the burnt offerings, that they might give according to the divisions of the families of the people, to offer unto the LORD, as it is written in the book of Moses. And so did they with the oxen.


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And they roasted the passover with fire according to the ordinance: but the other holy offerings sod they in pots, and in caldrons, and in pans, and divided them speedily among all the people.


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And afterward they made ready for themselves, and for the priests: because the priests the sons of Aaron were busied in offering of burnt offerings and the fat until night; therefore the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests the sons of Aaron.


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And the singers the sons of Asaph were in their place, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer; and the porters waited at every gate; they might not depart from their service; for their brethren the Levites prepared for them.


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So all the service of the LORD was prepared the same day, to keep the passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of the LORD, according to the commandment of king Josiah.


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And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days.


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And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.


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After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates: and Josiah went out against him.


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But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war: for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not.


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Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.


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And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded.


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His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.


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And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations.


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Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his goodness, according to that which was written in the law of the LORD,


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And his deeds, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.


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Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father's stead in Jerusalem.


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Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.


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And the king of Egypt put him down at Jerusalem, and condemned the land in an hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.


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And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and turned his name to Jehoiakim. And Necho took Jehoahaz his brother, and carried him to Egypt.


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Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God.


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Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.


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Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of the LORD to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon.


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Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found in him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.


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Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.


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And when the year was expired, king Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the house of the LORD, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.


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Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.


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And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the LORD.


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And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the LORD God of Israel.


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Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.


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And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:


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But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.


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Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.


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And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon.


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And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.


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And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:


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To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.


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Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,


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Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.


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Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,


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Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.


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Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem.


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And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.


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Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.


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And all they that were about them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, beside all that was willingly offered.


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Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the house of his gods;


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Even those did Cyrus king of Persia bring forth by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and numbered them unto Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.


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And this is the number of them: thirty chargers of gold, a thousand chargers of silver, nine and twenty knives,


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Thirty basons of gold, silver basons of a second sort four hundred and ten, and other vessels a thousand.


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All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand and four hundred. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up with them of the captivity that were brought up from Babylon unto Jerusalem.


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Now these are the children of the province that went up out of the captivity, of those which had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away unto Babylon, and came again unto Jerusalem and Judah, every one unto his city;


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Which came with Zerubbabel: Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:


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The children of Pahathmoab, of the children of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand eight hundred and twelve.


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The children of the porters: the children of Shallum, the children of Ater, the children of Talmon, the children of Akkub, the children of Hatita, the children of Shobai, in all an hundred thirty and nine.


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The children of Solomon's servants: the children of Sotai, the children of Sophereth, the children of Peruda,


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The children of Shephatiah, the children of Hattil, the children of Pochereth of Zebaim, the children of Ami.


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And these were they which went up from Telmelah, Telharsa, Cherub, Addan, and Immer: but they could not shew their father's house, and their seed, whether they were of Israel:


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And of the children of the priests: the children of Habaiah, the children of Koz, the children of Barzillai; which took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called after their name:


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These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found: therefore were they, as polluted, put from the priesthood.


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And the Tirshatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and with Thummim.


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Beside their servants and their maids, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty and seven: and there were among them two hundred singing men and singing women.


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And some of the chief of the fathers, when they came to the house of the LORD which is at Jerusalem, offered freely for the house of God to set it up in his place:


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They gave after their ability unto the treasure of the work threescore and one thousand drams of gold, and five thousand pound of silver, and one hundred priests' garments.


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So the priests, and the Levites, and some of the people, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, dwelt in their cities, and all Israel in their cities.


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And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.


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Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.


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And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD, even burnt offerings morning and evening.


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They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day required;


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And afterward offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of the LORD that were consecrated, and of every one that willingly offered a freewill offering unto the LORD.


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From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the LORD. But the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid.


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They gave money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters; and meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia.


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Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the LORD.


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Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to set forward the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites.


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And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the LORD, after the ordinance of David king of Israel.


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And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.


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But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy:


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So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.


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Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the LORD God of Israel;


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Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither.


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But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.


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Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,


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And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.


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And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.


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And in the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions, unto Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue.


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Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king in this sort:


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Then wrote Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions; the Dinaites, the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the Archevites, the Babylonians, the Susanchites, the Dehavites, and the Elamites,


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And the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Asnappar brought over, and set in the cities of Samaria, and the rest that are on this side the river, and at such a time.


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This is the copy of the letter that they sent unto him, even unto Artaxerxes the king; Thy servants the men on this side the river, and at such a time.


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Be it known unto the king, that the Jews which came up from thee to us are come unto Jerusalem, building the rebellious and the bad city, and have set up the walls thereof, and joined the foundations.


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Be it known now unto the king, that, if this city be builded, and the walls set up again, then will they not pay toll, tribute, and custom, and so thou shalt endamage the revenue of the kings.


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Now because we have maintenance from the king's palace, and it was not meet for us to see the king's dishonour, therefore have we sent and certified the king;


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That search may be made in the book of the records of thy fathers: so shalt thou find in the book of the records, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful unto kings and provinces, and that they have moved sedition within the same of old time: for which cause was this city destroyed.


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We certify the king that, if this city be builded again, and the walls thereof set up, by this means thou shalt have no portion on this side the river.


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Then sent the king an answer unto Rehum the chancellor, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their companions that dwell in Samaria, and unto the rest beyond the river, Peace, and at such a time.


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And I commanded, and search hath been made, and it is found that this city of old time hath made insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made therein.


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There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, which have ruled over all countries beyond the river; and toll, tribute, and custom, was paid unto them.


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Give ye now commandment to cause these men to cease, and that this city be not builded, until another commandment shall be given from me.


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Now when the copy of king Artaxerxes' letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power.


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Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.


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Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them.


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Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem: and with them were the prophets of God helping them.


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At the same time came to them Tatnai, governor on this side the river, and Shetharboznai, and their companions, and said thus unto them, Who hath commanded you to build this house, and to make up this wall?


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But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, that they could not cause them to cease, till the matter came to Darius: and then they returned answer by letter concerning this matter.


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The copy of the letter that Tatnai, governor on this side the river, and Shetharboznai, and his companions the Apharsachites, which were on this side the river, sent unto Darius the king:


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Be it known unto the king, that we went into the province of Judea, to the house of the great God, which is builded with great stones, and timber is laid in the walls, and this work goeth fast on, and prospereth in their hands.


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Then asked we those elders, and said unto them thus, Who commanded you to build this house, and to make up these walls?


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We asked their names also, to certify thee, that we might write the names of the men that were the chief of them.


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And thus they returned us answer, saying, We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and build the house that was builded these many years ago, which a great king of Israel builded and set up.


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But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven unto wrath, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon.


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But in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon the same king Cyrus made a decree to build this house of God.


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And the vessels also of gold and silver of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that was in Jerusalem, and brought them into the temple of Babylon, those did Cyrus the king take out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered unto one, whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor;


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And said unto him, Take these vessels, go, carry them into the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be builded in his place.


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Then came the same Sheshbazzar, and laid the foundation of the house of God which is in Jerusalem: and since that time even until now hath it been in building, and yet it is not finished.


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Now therefore, if it seem good to the king, let there be search made in the king's treasure house, which is there at Babylon, whether it be so, that a decree was made of Cyrus the king to build this house of God at Jerusalem, and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter.


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Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the rolls, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon.


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And there was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of the Medes, a roll, and therein was a record thus written:


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In the first year of Cyrus the king the same Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, Let the house be builded, the place where they offered sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be strongly laid; the height thereof threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof threescore cubits;


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With three rows of great stones, and a row of new timber: and let the expenses be given out of the king's house:


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And also let the golden and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought unto Babylon, be restored, and brought again unto the temple which is at Jerusalem, every one to his place, and place them in the house of God.


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Now therefore, Tatnai, governor beyond the river, Shetharboznai, and your companions the Apharsachites, which are beyond the river, be ye far from thence:


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Let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in his place.


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Moreover I make a decree what ye shall do to the elders of these Jews for the building of this house of God: that of the king's goods, even of the tribute beyond the river, forthwith expenses be given unto these men, that they be not hindered.


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And that which they have need of, both young bullocks, and rams, and lambs, for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the priests which are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail:


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That they may offer sacrifices of sweet savours unto the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons.


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Also I have made a decree, that whosoever shall alter this word, let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set up, let him be hanged thereon; and let his house be made a dunghill for this.


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And the God that hath caused his name to dwell there destroy all kings and people, that shall put to their hand to alter and to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree; let it be done with speed.


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Then Tatnai, governor on this side the river, Shetharboznai, and their companions, according to that which Darius the king had sent, so they did speedily.


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And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.


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And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.


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And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy,


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And offered at the dedication of this house of God an hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs; and for a sin offering for all Israel, twelve he goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.


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And they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses, for the service of God, which is at Jerusalem; as it is written in the book of Moses.


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For the priests and the Levites were purified together, all of them were pure, and killed the passover for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves.


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And the children of Israel, which were come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the LORD God of Israel, did eat,


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And kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for the LORD had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.


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Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,


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This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him.


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And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.


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For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.


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For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.


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Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even a scribe of the words of the commandments of the LORD, and of his statutes to Israel.


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Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time.


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I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee.


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Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king, and of his seven counsellors, to enquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thine hand;


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And to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem,


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And all the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province of Babylon, with the freewill offering of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem:


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That thou mayest buy speedily with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meat offerings and their drink offerings, and offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem.


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And whatsoever shall seem good to thee, and to thy brethren, to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, that do after the will of your God.


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The vessels also that are given thee for the service of the house of thy God, those deliver thou before the God of Jerusalem.


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And whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of thy God, which thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king's treasure house.


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And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which are beyond the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily,


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Unto an hundred talents of silver, and to an hundred measures of wheat, and to an hundred baths of wine, and to an hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much.


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Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of the God of heaven: for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?


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Also we certify you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, singers, porters, Nethinims, or ministers of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose toll, tribute, or custom, upon them.


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And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand, set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know them not.


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And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.


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Blessed be the LORD God of our fathers, which hath put such a thing as this in the king's heart, to beautify the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem:


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And hath extended mercy unto me before the king, and his counsellors, and before all the king's mighty princes. And I was strengthened as the hand of the LORD my God was upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.


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These are now the chief of their fathers, and this is the genealogy of them that went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king.


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Of the sons of Shechaniah, of the sons of Pharosh; Zechariah: and with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males an hundred and fifty.


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And of the last sons of Adonikam, whose names are these, Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them threescore males.


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And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava; and there abode we in tents three days: and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi.


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Then sent I for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, chief men; also for Joiarib, and for Elnathan, men of understanding.


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And I sent them with commandment unto Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia, and I told them what they should say unto Iddo, and to his brethren the Nethinims, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring unto us ministers for the house of our God.


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And by the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah, with his sons and his brethren, eighteen;


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Also of the Nethinims, whom David and the princes had appointed for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinims: all of them were expressed by name.


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Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.


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For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.


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Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them,


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And weighed unto them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, even the offering of the house of our God, which the king, and his counsellors, and his lords, and all Israel there present, had offered:


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I even weighed unto their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels an hundred talents, and of gold an hundred talents;


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And I said unto them, Ye are holy unto the LORD; the vessels are holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering unto the LORD God of your fathers.


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Watch ye, and keep them, until ye weigh them before the chief of the priests and the Levites, and chief of the fathers of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the LORD.


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So took the priests and the Levites the weight of the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem unto the house of our God.


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Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way.


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Now on the fourth day was the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, Levites;


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Also the children of those that had been carried away, which were come out of the captivity, offered burnt offerings unto the God of Israel, twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy and seven lambs, twelve he goats for a sin offering: all this was a burnt offering unto the LORD.


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And they delivered the king's commissions unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors on this side the river: and they furthered the people, and the house of God.


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Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.


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For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass.


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And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down astonied.


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Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away; and I sat astonied until the evening sacrifice.


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And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the LORD my God,


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And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.


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Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.


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And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.


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For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.


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Which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness.


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Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever: that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever.


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And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this;


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Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping?


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O LORD God of Israel, thou art righteous: for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before thee in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before thee because of this.


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Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the people wept very sore.


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And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing.


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Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.


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Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee: we also will be with thee: be of good courage, and do it.


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Then arose Ezra, and made the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they should do according to this word. And they sware.


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Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Johanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink water: for he mourned because of the transgression of them that had been carried away.


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And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem unto all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem;


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And that whosoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited, and himself separated from the congregation of those that had been carried away.


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Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month; and all the people sat in the street of the house of God, trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain.


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And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have transgressed, and have taken strange wives, to increase the trespass of Israel.


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Now therefore make confession unto the LORD God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives.


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But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand without, neither is this a work of one day or two: for we are many that have transgressed in this thing.


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Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand, and let all them which have taken strange wives in our cities come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter be turned from us.


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Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahaziah the son of Tikvah were employed about this matter: and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them.


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And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain chief of the fathers, after the house of their fathers, and all of them by their names, were separated, and sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.


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And they made an end with all the men that had taken strange wives by the first day of the first month.


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And among the sons of the priests there were found that had taken strange wives: namely, of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren; Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah.


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And they gave their hands that they would put away their wives; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their trespass.


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Also of the Levites; Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah, (the same is Kelita,) Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.


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Moreover of Israel: of the sons of Parosh; Ramiah, and Jeziah, and Malchiah, and Miamin, and Eleazar, and Malchijah, and Benaiah.


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And of the sons of Pahathmoab; Adna, and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezaleel, and Binnui, and Manasseh.


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The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,


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That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.


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And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.


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And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,


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And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:


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Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.


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We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.


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Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:


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But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.


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Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.


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O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer.


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And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.


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Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid,


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And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?


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And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it.


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And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.


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Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah;


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And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.


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Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.


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When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.


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And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.


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And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.


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Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king's pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.


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Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned.


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And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.


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Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.


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Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.


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But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?


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Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.


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Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they builded the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even unto the tower of Meah they sanctified it, unto the tower of Hananeel.


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But the fish gate did the sons of Hassenaah build, who also laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.


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And next unto them repaired Meremoth the son of Urijah, the son of Koz. And next unto them repaired Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabeel. And next unto them repaired Zadok the son of Baana.


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And next unto them the Tekoites repaired; but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their Lord.


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Moreover the old gate repaired Jehoiada the son of Paseah, and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah; they laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, and the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.


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And next unto them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite, and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon, and of Mizpah, unto the throne of the governor on this side the river.


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Next unto him repaired Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, of the goldsmiths. Next unto him also repaired Hananiah the son of one of the apothecaries, and they fortified Jerusalem unto the broad wall.


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And next unto them repaired Jedaiah the son of Harumaph, even over against his house. And next unto him repaired Hattush the son of Hashabniah.


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Malchijah the son of Harim, and Hashub the son of Pahathmoab, repaired the other piece, and the tower of the furnaces.


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And next unto him repaired Shallum the son of Halohesh, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem, he and his daughters.


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The valley gate repaired Hanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoah; they built it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, and a thousand cubits on the wall unto the dung gate.


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But the dung gate repaired Malchiah the son of Rechab, the ruler of part of Bethhaccerem; he built it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.


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But the gate of the fountain repaired Shallun the son of Colhozeh, the ruler of part of Mizpah; he built it, and covered it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, and the wall of the pool of Siloah by the king's garden, and unto the stairs that go down from the city of David.


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After him repaired Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of the half part of Bethzur, unto the place over against the sepulchres of David, and to the pool that was made, and unto the house of the mighty.


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After him repaired the Levites, Rehum the son of Bani. Next unto him repaired Hashabiah, the ruler of the half part of Keilah, in his part.


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And next to him repaired Ezer the son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, another piece over against the going up to the armoury at the turning of the wall.


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After him Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly repaired the other piece, from the turning of the wall unto the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.


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After him repaired Meremoth the son of Urijah the son of Koz another piece, from the door of the house of Eliashib even to the end of the house of Eliashib.


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After him repaired Benjamin and Hashub over against their house. After him repaired Azariah the son of Maaseiah the son of Ananiah by his house.


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After him repaired Binnui the son of Henadad another piece, from the house of Azariah unto the turning of the wall, even unto the corner.


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Palal the son of Uzai, over against the turning of the wall, and the tower which lieth out from the king's high house, that was by the court of the prison. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh.


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Moreover the Nethinims dwelt in Ophel, unto the place over against the water gate toward the east, and the tower that lieth out.


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After them the Tekoites repaired another piece, over against the great tower that lieth out, even unto the wall of Ophel.


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After them repaired Zadok the son of Immer over against his house. After him repaired also Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah, the keeper of the east gate.


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After him repaired Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, another piece. After him repaired Meshullam the son of Berechiah over against his chamber.


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After him repaired Malchiah the goldsmith's son unto the place of the Nethinims, and of the merchants, over against the gate Miphkad, and to the going up of the corner.


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And between the going up of the corner unto the sheep gate repaired the goldsmiths and the merchants.


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But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews.


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And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?


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Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.


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Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity:


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And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee: for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders.


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So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.


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But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth,


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Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.


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And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall.


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And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease.


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And it came to pass, that when the Jews which dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times, From all places whence ye shall return unto us they will be upon you.


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Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.


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And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.


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And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work.


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And it came to pass from that time forth, that the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah.


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They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon.


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For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.


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And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, The work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another.


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In what place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us: our God shall fight for us.


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So we laboured in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared.


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Likewise at the same time said I unto the people, Let every one with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and labour on the day.


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So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me, none of us put off our clothes, saving that every one put them off for washing.


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For there were that said, We, our sons, and our daughters, are many: therefore we take up corn for them, that we may eat, and live.


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Some also there were that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn, because of the dearth.


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There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the king's tribute, and that upon our lands and vineyards.


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Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought unto bondage already: neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards.


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Then I consulted with myself, and I rebuked the nobles, and the rulers, and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother. And I set a great assembly against them.


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And I said unto them, We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen; and will ye even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and found nothing to answer.


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Also I said, It is not good that ye do: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies?


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I likewise, and my brethren, and my servants, might exact of them money and corn: I pray you, let us leave off this usury.


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Restore, I pray you, to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, the wine, and the oil, that ye exact of them.


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Then said they, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do as thou sayest. Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise.


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Also I shook my lap, and said, So God shake out every man from his house, and from his labour, that performeth not this promise, even thus be he shaken out, and emptied. And all the congregation said, Amen, and praised the LORD. And the people did according to this promise.


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Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor.


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But the former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, beside forty shekels of silver; yea, even their servants bare rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God.


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Yea, also I continued in the work of this wall, neither bought we any land: and all my servants were gathered thither unto the work.


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Moreover there were at my table an hundred and fifty of the Jews and rulers, beside those that came unto us from among the heathen that are about us.


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Now that which was prepared for me daily was one ox and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and once in ten days store of all sorts of wine: yet for all this required not I the bread of the governor, because the bondage was heavy upon this people.


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Now it came to pass, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein; (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates;)


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That Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief.


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And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?


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Then sent Sanballat his servant unto me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand;


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Wherein was written, It is reported among the heathen, and Gashmu saith it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel: for which cause thou buildest the wall, that thou mayest be their king, according to these words.


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And thou hast also appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying, There is a king in Judah: and now shall it be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore, and let us take counsel together.


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Then I sent unto him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart.


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For they all made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done. Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.


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Afterward I came unto the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabeel, who was shut up; and he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple: for they will come to slay thee; yea, in the night will they come to slay thee.


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And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.


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And, lo, I perceived that God had not sent him; but that he pronounced this prophecy against me: for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.


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Therefore was he hired, that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, and that they might have matter for an evil report, that they might reproach me.


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My God, think thou upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear.


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And it came to pass, that when all our enemies heard thereof, and all the heathen that were about us saw these things, they were much cast down in their own eyes: for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God.


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Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters unto Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came unto them.


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For there were many in Judah sworn unto him, because he was the son in law of Shechaniah the son of Arah; and his son Johanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah.


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Also they reported his good deeds before me, and uttered my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to put me in fear.


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Now it came to pass, when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, and the porters and the singers and the Levites were appointed,


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That I gave my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the ruler of the palace, charge over Jerusalem: for he was a faithful man, and feared God above many.


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And I said unto them, Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun be hot; and while they stand by, let them shut the doors, and bar them: and appoint watches of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, every one in his watch, and every one to be over against his house.


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And my God put into mine heart to gather together the nobles, and the rulers, and the people, that they might be reckoned by genealogy. And I found a register of the genealogy of them which came up at the first, and found written therein,


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These are the children of the province, that went up out of the captivity, of those that had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and came again to Jerusalem and to Judah, every one unto his city;


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Who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah. The number, I say, of the men of the people of Israel was this;


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The children of Pahathmoab, of the children of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand and eight hundred and eighteen.


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The porters: the children of Shallum, the children of Ater, the children of Talmon, the children of Akkub, the children of Hatita, the children of Shobai, an hundred thirty and eight.


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The children of Solomon's servants: the children of Sotai, the children of Sophereth, the children of Perida,


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The children of Shephatiah, the children of Hattil, the children of Pochereth of Zebaim, the children of Amon.


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And these were they which went up also from Telmelah, Telharesha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer: but they could not shew their father's house, nor their seed, whether they were of Israel.


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And of the priests: the children of Habaiah, the children of Koz, the children of Barzillai, which took one of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite to wife, and was called after their name.


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These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but it was not found: therefore were they, as polluted, put from the priesthood.


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And the Tirshatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and Thummim.


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Beside their manservants and their maidservants, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty and seven: and they had two hundred forty and five singing men and singing women.


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And some of the chief of the fathers gave unto the work. The Tirshatha gave to the treasure a thousand drams of gold, fifty basons, five hundred and thirty priests' garments.


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And some of the chief of the fathers gave to the treasure of the work twenty thousand drams of gold, and two thousand and two hundred pound of silver.


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And that which the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand drams of gold, and two thousand pound of silver, and threescore and seven priests' garments.


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So the priests, and the Levites, and the porters, and the singers, and some of the people, and the Nethinims, and all Israel, dwelt in their cities; and when the seventh month came, the children of Israel were in their cities.


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And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel.


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And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.


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And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.


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And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchiah, and Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam.


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And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the people stood up:


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And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground.


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Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law: and the people stood in their place.


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So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.


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And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.


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Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.


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So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, Hold your peace, for the day is holy; neither be ye grieved.


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And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them.


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And on the second day were gathered together the chief of the fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, unto Ezra the scribe, even to understand the words of the law.


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And they found written in the law which the LORD had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month:


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And that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written.


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So the people went forth, and brought them, and made themselves booths, every one upon the roof of his house, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the street of the water gate, and in the street of the gate of Ephraim.


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And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness.


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Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner.


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Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.


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And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.


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And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God.


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Then stood up upon the stairs, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and cried with a loud voice unto the LORD their God.


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Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, Stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.


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Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.


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Thou art the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham;


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And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous:


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And shewedst signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land: for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them. So didst thou get thee a name, as it is this day.


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And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors thou threwest into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters.


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Moreover thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go.


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Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments:


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And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant:


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And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them.


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But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments,


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And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.


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Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations;


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Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go.


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Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.


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Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.


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Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide them into corners: so they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.


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Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.


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So the children went in and possessed the land, and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do with them as they would.


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And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.


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Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.


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Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.


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But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee: therefore leftest thou them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet when they returned, and cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies;


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And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.


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Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.


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Nevertheless for thy great mercies' sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God.


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Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day.


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Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly:


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Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify against them.


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For they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land which thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works.


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Behold, we are servants this day, and for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it:


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And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.


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And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it.


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And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the porters, the singers, the Nethinims, and all they that had separated themselves from the people of the lands unto the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, every one having knowledge, and having understanding;


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They clave to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God's law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD our Lord, and his judgments and his statutes;


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And that we would not give our daughters unto the people of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons:


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And if the people of the land bring ware or any victuals on the sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy it of them on the sabbath, or on the holy day: and that we would leave the seventh year, and the exaction of every debt.


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Also we made ordinances for us, to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God;


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For the shewbread, and for the continual meat offering, and for the continual burnt offering, of the sabbaths, of the new moons, for the set feasts, and for the holy things, and for the sin offerings to make an atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God.


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And we cast the lots among the priests, the Levites, and the people, for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, after the houses of our fathers, at times appointed year by year, to burn upon the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the law:


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And to bring the firstfruits of our ground, and the firstfruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year, unto the house of the LORD:


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Also the firstborn of our sons, and of our cattle, as it is written in the law, and the firstlings of our herds and of our flocks, to bring to the house of our God, unto the priests that minister in the house of our God:


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And that we should bring the firstfruits of our dough, and our offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine and of oil, unto the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground unto the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage.


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And the priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites, when the Levites take tithes: and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes unto the house of our God, to the chambers, into the treasure house.


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For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall bring the offering of the corn, of the new wine, and the oil, unto the chambers, where are the vessels of the sanctuary, and the priests that minister, and the porters, and the singers: and we will not forsake the house of our God.


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And the rulers of the people dwelt at Jerusalem: the rest of the people also cast lots, to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city, and nine parts to dwell in other cities.


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Now these are the chief of the province that dwelt in Jerusalem: but in the cities of Judah dwelt every one in his possession in their cities, to wit, Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the Nethinims, and the children of Solomon's servants.


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And at Jerusalem dwelt certain of the children of Judah, and of the children of Benjamin. Of the children of Judah; Athaiah the son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalaleel, of the children of Perez;


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And Maaseiah the son of Baruch, the son of Colhozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, the son of Shiloni.


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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 Jesaiah.


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And Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer: and Judah the son of Senuah was second over the city.


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Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, was the ruler of the house of God.


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And their brethren that did the work of the house were eight hundred twenty and two: and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashur, the son of Malchiah,


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And his brethren, chief of the fathers, two hundred forty and two: and Amashai the son of Azareel, the son of Ahasai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer,


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And their brethren, mighty men of valour, an hundred twenty and eight: and their overseer was Zabdiel, the son of one of the great men.


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Also of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hashub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni;


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And Shabbethai and Jozabad, of the chief of the Levites, had the oversight of the outward business of the house of God.


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And Mattaniah the son of Micha, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, was the principal to begin the thanksgiving in prayer: and Bakbukiah the second among his brethren, and Abda the son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun.


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Moreover the porters, Akkub, Talmon, and their brethren that kept the gates, were an hundred seventy and two.


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And the residue of Israel, of the priests, and the Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, every one in his inheritance.


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The overseer also of the Levites at Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micha. Of the sons of Asaph, the singers were over the business of the house of God.


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For it was the king's commandment concerning them, that a certain portion should be for the singers, due for every day.


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And Pethahiah the son of Meshezabeel, of the children of Zerah the son of Judah, was at the king's hand in all matters concerning the people.


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And for the villages, with their fields, some of the children of Judah dwelt at Kirjatharba, and in the villages thereof, and at Dibon, and in the villages thereof, and at Jekabzeel, and in the villages thereof,


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Zanoah, Adullam, and in their villages, at Lachish, and the fields thereof, at Azekah, and in the villages thereof. And they dwelt from Beersheba unto the valley of Hinnom.


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The children also of Benjamin from Geba dwelt at Michmash, and Aija, and Bethel, and in their villages,


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Now these are the priests and the Levites that went up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,


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Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These were the chief of the priests and of their brethren in the days of Jeshua.


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Moreover the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, which was over the thanksgiving, he and his brethren.


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And in the days of Joiakim were priests, the chief of the fathers: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah;


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The Levites in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, and Johanan, and Jaddua, were recorded chief of the fathers: also the priests, to the reign of Darius the Persian.


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The sons of Levi, the chief of the fathers, were written in the book of the chronicles, even until the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib.


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And the chief of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brethren over against them, to praise and to give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, ward over against ward.


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Mattaniah, and Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, Akkub, were porters keeping the ward at the thresholds of the gates.


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These were in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor, and of Ezra the priest, the scribe.


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And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings, and with singing, with cymbals, psalteries, and with harps.


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And the sons of the singers gathered themselves together, both out of the plain country round about Jerusalem, and from the villages of Netophathi;


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Also from the house of Gilgal, and out of the fields of Geba and Azmaveth: for the singers had builded them villages round about Jerusalem.


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And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and purified the people, and the gates, and the wall.


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Then I brought up the princes of Judah upon the wall, and appointed two great companies of them that gave thanks, whereof one went on the right hand upon the wall toward the dung gate:


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And certain of the priests' sons with trumpets; namely, Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Michaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph:


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And his brethren, Shemaiah, and Azarael, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethaneel, and Judah, Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God, and Ezra the scribe before them.


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And at the fountain gate, which was over against them, they went up by the stairs of the city of David, at the going up of the wall, above the house of David, even unto the water gate eastward.


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And the other company of them that gave thanks went over against them, and I after them, and the half of the people upon the wall, from beyond the tower of the furnaces even unto the broad wall;


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And from above the gate of Ephraim, and above the old gate, and above the fish gate, and the tower of Hananeel, and the tower of Meah, even unto the sheep gate: and they stood still in the prison gate.


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So stood the two companies of them that gave thanks in the house of God, and I, and the half of the rulers with me:


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And the priests; Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Michaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets;


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And Maaseiah, and Shemaiah, and Eleazar, and Uzzi, and Jehohanan, and Malchijah, and Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang loud, with Jezrahiah their overseer.


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Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.


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And at that time were some appointed over the chambers for the treasures, for the offerings, for the firstfruits, and for the tithes, to gather into them out of the fields of the cities the portions of the law for the priests and Levites: for Judah rejoiced for the priests and for the Levites that waited.


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And both the singers and the porters kept the ward of their God, and the ward of the purification, according to the commandment of David, and of Solomon his son.


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For in the days of David and Asaph of old there were chief of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgiving unto God.


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And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel, and in the days of Nehemiah, gave the portions of the singers and the porters, every day his portion: and they sanctified holy things unto the Levites; and the Levites sanctified them unto the children of Aaron.


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On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people; and therein was found written, that the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the congregation of God for ever;


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Because they met not the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, that he should curse them: howbeit our God turned the curse into a blessing.


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Now it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude.


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And before this, Eliashib the priest, having the oversight of the chamber of the house of our God, was allied unto Tobiah:


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And he had prepared for him a great chamber, where aforetime they laid the meat offerings, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the corn, the new wine, and the oil, which was commanded to be given to the Levites, and the singers, and the porters; and the offerings of the priests.


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But in all this time was not I at Jerusalem: for in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon came I unto the king, and after certain days obtained I leave of the king:


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And I came to Jerusalem, and understood of the evil that Eliashib did for Tobiah, in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God.


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And it grieved me sore: therefore I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobiah out of the chamber.


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Then I commanded, and they cleansed the chambers: and thither brought I again the vessels of the house of God, with the meat offering and the frankincense.


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And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them: for the Levites and the singers, that did the work, were fled every one to his field.


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Then contended I with the rulers, and said, Why is the house of God forsaken? And I gathered them together, and set them in their place.


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And I made treasurers over the treasuries, Shelemiah the priest, and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah: and next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah: for they were counted faithful, and their office was to distribute unto their brethren.


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Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for the offices thereof.


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In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day: and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals.


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There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish, and all manner of ware, and sold on the sabbath unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.


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Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the sabbath day?


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Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath.


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And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath: and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the sabbath day.


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Then I testified against them, and said unto them, Why lodge ye about the wall? if ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth came they no more on the sabbath.


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And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the sabbath day. Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy.


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And their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews' language, but according to the language of each people.


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And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves.


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Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin.


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Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this great evil, to transgress against our God in marrying strange wives?


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And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son in law to Sanballat the Horonite: therefore I chased him from me.


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Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites.


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Thus cleansed I them from all strangers, and appointed the wards of the priests and the Levites, every one in his business;


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And for the wood offering, at times appointed, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.


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The second book of the prophet Esdras, the son of Saraias, the son of Azarias, the son of Helchias, the son of Sadamias, the sou of Sadoc, the son of Achitob,


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The son of Achias, the son of Phinees, the son of Heli, the son of Amarias, the son of Aziei, the son of Marimoth, the son of And he spake unto the of Borith, the son of Abisei, the son of Phinees, the son of Eleazar,


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The son of Aaron, of the tribe of Levi; which was captive in the land of the Medes, in the reign of Artexerxes king of the Persians.


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Go thy way, and shew my people their sinful deeds, and their children their wickedness which they have done against me; that they may tell their children's children:


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Because the sins of their fathers are increased in them: for they have forgotten me, and have offered unto strange gods.


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Am not I even he that brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage? but they have provoked me unto wrath, and despised my counsels.


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Pull thou off then the hair of thy head, and cast all evil upon them, for they have not been obedient unto my law, but it is a rebellious people.


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Many kings have I destroyed for their sakes; Pharaoh with his servants and all his power have I smitten down.


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All the nations have I destroyed before them, and in the east I have scattered the people of two provinces, even of Tyrus and Sidon, and have slain all their enemies.


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I led you through the sea and in the beginning gave you a large and safe passage; I gave you Moses for a leader, and Aaron for a priest.


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I gave you light in a pillar of fire, and great wonders have I done among you; yet have ye forgotten me, saith the Lord.


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Thus saith the Almighty Lord, The quails were as a token to you; I gave you tents for your safeguard: nevertheless ye murmured there,


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And triumphed not in my name for the destruction of your enemies, but ever to this day do ye yet murmur.


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Where are the benefits that I have done for you? when ye were hungry and thirsty in the wilderness, did ye not cry unto me,


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Saying, Why hast thou brought us into this wilderness to kill us? it had been better for us to have served the Egyptians, than to die in this wilderness.


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When ye were thirsty, did I not cleave the rock, and waters flowed out to your fill? for the heat I covered you with the leaves of the trees.


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I divided among you a fruitful land, I cast out the Canaanites, the Pherezites, and the Philistines, before you: what shall I yet do more for you? saith the Lord.


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Thus saith the Almighty Lord, When ye were in the wilderness, in the river of the Amorites, being athirst, and blaspheming my name,


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What shall I do unto thee, O Jacob? thou, Juda, wouldest not obey me: I will turn me to other nations, and unto those will I give my name, that they may keep my statutes.


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Seeing ye have forsaken me, I will forsake you also; when ye desire me to be gracious unto you, I shall have no mercy upon you.


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Whensoever ye shall call upon me, I will not hear you: for ye have defiled your hands with blood, and your feet are swift to commit manslaughter.


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Thus saith the Almighty Lord, Have I not prayed you as a father his sons, as a mother her daughters, and a nurse her young babes,


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That ye would be my people, and I should be your God; that ye would be my children, and I should be your father?


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I gathered you together, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings: but now, what shall I do unto you? I will cast you out from my face.


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When ye offer unto me, I will turn my face from you: for your solemn feastdays, your new moons, and your circumcisions, have I forsaken.


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I sent unto you my servants the prophets, whom ye have taken and slain, and torn their bodies in pieces, whose blood I will require of your hands, saith the Lord.


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And your children shall not be fruitful; for they have despised my commandment, and done the thing that is an evil before me.


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Your houses will I give to a people that shall come; which not having heard of me yet shall believe me; to whom I have shewed no signs, yet they shall do that I have commanded them.


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I take to witness the grace of the people to come, whose little ones rejoice in gladness: and though they have not seen me with bodily eyes, yet in spirit they believe the thing that I say.


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Unto whom I will give for leaders, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Oseas, Amos, and Micheas, Joel, Abdias, and Jonas,


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Nahum, and Abacuc, Sophonias, Aggeus, Zachary, and Malachy, which is called also an angel of the Lord.


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Thus saith the Lord, I brought this people out of bondage, and I gave them my commandments by menservants the prophets; whom they would not hear, but despised my counsels.


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I brought you up with gladness; but with sorrow and heaviness have I lost you: for ye have sinned before the Lord your God, and done that thing that is evil before him.


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But what shall I now do unto you? I am a widow and forsaken: go your way, O my children, and ask mercy of the Lord.


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As for me, O father, I call upon thee for a witness over the mother of these children, which would not keep my covenant,


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That thou bring them to confusion, and their mother to a spoil, that there may be no offspring of them.


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Let them be scattered abroad among the heathen, let their names be put out of the earth: for they have despised my covenant.


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Woe be unto thee, Assur, thou that hidest the unrighteous in thee! O thou wicked people, remember what I did unto Sodom and Gomorrha;


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Whose land lieth in clods of pitch and heaps of ashes: even so also will I do unto them that hear me not, saith the Almighty Lord.


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Thus saith the Lord unto Esdras, Tell my people that I will give them the kingdom of Jerusalem, which I would have given unto Israel.


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Their glory also will I take unto me, and give these the everlasting tabernacles, which I had prepared for them.


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They shall have the tree of life for an ointment of sweet savour; they shall neither labour, nor be weary.


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Go, and ye shall receive: pray for few days unto you, that they may be shortened: the kingdom is already prepared for you: watch.


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Take heaven and earth to witness; for I have broken the evil in pieces, and created the good: for I live, saith the Lord.


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Mother, embrace thy children, and bring them up with gladness, make their feet as fast as a pillar: for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord.


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And those that be dead will I raise up again from their places, and bring them out of the graves: for I have known my name in Israel.


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For thy help will I send my servants Esau and Jeremy, after whose counsel I have sanctified and prepared for thee twelve trees laden with divers fruits,


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And as many fountains flowing with milk and honey, and seven mighty mountains, whereupon there grow roses and lilies, whereby I will fill thy children with joy.


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Do right to the widow, judge for the fatherless, give to the poor, defend the orphan, clothe the naked,


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Heal the broken and the weak, laugh not a lame man to scorn, defend the maimed, and let the blind man come into the sight of my clearness.


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Wheresoever thou findest the dead, take them and bury them, and I will give thee the first place in my resurrection.


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As for the servants whom I have given thee, there shall not one of them perish; for I will require them from among thy number.


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Be not weary: for when the day of trouble and heaviness cometh, others shall weep and be sorrowful, but thou shalt be merry and have abundance.


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Remember thy children that sleep, for I shall bring them out of the sides of the earth, and shew mercy unto them: for I am merciful, saith the Lord Almighty.


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Embrace thy children until I come and shew mercy unto them: for my wells run over, and my grace shall not fail.


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I Esdras received a charge of the Lord upon the mount Oreb, that I should go unto Israel; but when I came unto them, they set me at nought, and despised the commandment of the Lord.


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And therefore I say unto you, O ye heathen, that hear and understand, look for your Shepherd, he shall give you everlasting rest; for he is nigh at hand, that shall come in the end of the world.


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O receive the gift that is given you, and be glad, giving thanks unto him that hath led you to the heavenly kingdom.


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Take thy number, O Sion, and shut up those of thine that are clothed in white, which have fulfilled the law of the Lord.


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The number of thy children, whom thou longedst for, is fulfilled: beseech the power of the Lord, that thy people, which have been called from the beginning, may be hallowed.


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I Esdras saw upon the mount Sion a great people, whom I could not number, and they all praised the Lord with songs.


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And in the midst of them there was a young man of a high stature, taller than all the rest, and upon every one of their heads he set crowns, and was more exalted; which I marvelled at greatly.


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He answered and said unto me, These be they that have put off the mortal clothing, and put on the immortal, and have confessed the name of God: now are they crowned, and receive palms.


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Then said I unto the angel, What young person is it that crowneth them, and giveth them palms in their hands?


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So he answered and said unto me, It is the Son of God, whom they have confessed in the world. Then began I greatly to commend them that stood so stiffly for the name of the Lord.


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Then the angel said unto me, Go thy way, and tell my people what manner of things, and how great wonders of the Lord thy God, thou hast seen.


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In the thirtieth year after the ruin of the city I was in Babylon, and lay troubled upon my bed, and my thoughts came up over my heart:


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And my spirit was sore moved, so that I began to speak words full of fear to the most High, and said,


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O Lord, who bearest rule, thou spakest at the beginning, when thou didst plant the earth, and that thyself alone, and commandedst the people,


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And gavest a body unto Adam without soul, which was the workmanship of thine hands, and didst breathe into him the breath of life, and he was made living before thee.


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And thou leadest him into paradise, which thy right hand had planted, before ever the earth came forward.


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And unto him thou gavest commandment to love thy way: which he transgressed, and immediately thou appointedst death in him and in his generations, of whom came nations, tribes, people, and kindreds, out of number.


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And every people walked after their own will, and did wonderful things before thee, and despised thy commandments.


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And again in process of time thou broughtest the flood upon those that dwelt in the world, and destroyedst them.


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Nevertheless one of them thou leftest, namely, Noah with his household, of whom came all righteous men.


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And it happened, that when they that dwelt upon the earth began to multiply, and had gotten them many children, and were a great people, they began again to be more ungodly than the first.


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Now when they lived so wickedly before thee, thou didst choose thee a man from among them, whose name was Abraham.


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And madest an everlasting covenant with him, promising him that thou wouldest never forsake his seed.


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And unto him thou gavest Isaac, and unto Isaac also thou gavest Jacob and Esau. As for Jacob, thou didst choose him to thee, and put by Esau: and so Jacob became a great multitude.


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And it came to pass, that when thou leadest his seed out of Egypt, thou broughtest them up to the mount Sinai.


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And bowing the heavens, thou didst set fast the earth, movedst the whole world, and madest the depths to tremble, and troubledst the men of that age.


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And thy glory went through four gates, of fire, and of earthquake, and of wind, and of cold; that thou mightest give the law unto the seed of Jacob, and diligence unto the generation of Israel.


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And yet tookest thou not away from them a wicked heart, that thy law might bring forth fruit in them.


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For the first Adam bearing a wicked heart transgressed, and was overcome; and so be all they that are born of him.


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Thus infirmity was made permanent; and the law (also) in the heart of the people with the malignity of the root; so that the good departed away, and the evil abode still.


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So the times passed away, and the years were brought to an end: then didst thou raise thee up a servant, called David:


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Whom thou commandedst to build a city unto thy name, and to offer incense and oblations unto thee therein.


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And in all things did even as Adam and all his generations had done: for they also had a wicked heart:


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Are their deeds then any better that inhabit Babylon, that they should therefore have the dominion over Sion?


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For when I came thither, and had seen impieties without number, then my soul saw many evildoers in this thirtieth year, so that my heart failed me.


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For I have seen how thou sufferest them sinning, and hast spared wicked doers: and hast destroyed thy people, and hast preserved thine enemies, and hast not signified it.


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Or is there any other people that knoweth thee beside Israel? or what generation hath so believed thy covenants as Jacob?


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And yet their reward appeareth not, and their labour hath no fruit: for I have gone here and there through the heathen, and I see that they flow in wealth, and think not upon thy commandments.


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Weigh thou therefore our wickedness now in the balance, and their's also that dwell the world; and so shall thy name no where be found but in Israel.


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Or when was it that they which dwell upon the earth have not sinned in thy sight? or what people have so kept thy commandments?


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And said, Thy heart hath gone to far in this world, and thinkest thou to comprehend the way of the most High?


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Then said I, Yea, my lord. And he answered me, and said, I am sent to shew thee three ways, and to set forth three similitudes before thee:


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Whereof if thou canst declare me one, I will shew thee also the way that thou desirest to see, and I shall shew thee from whence the wicked heart cometh.


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And I said, Tell on, my lord. Then said he unto me, Go thy way, weigh me the weight of the fire, or measure me the blast of the wind, or call me again the day that is past.


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And he said unto me, If I should ask thee how great dwellings are in the midst of the sea, or how many springs are in the beginning of the deep, or how many springs are above the firmament, or which are the outgoings of paradise:


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Peradventure thou wouldest say unto me, I never went down into the deep, nor as yet into hell, neither did I ever climb up into heaven.


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Nevertheless now have I asked thee but only of the fire and wind, and of the day wherethrough thou hast passed, and of things from which thou canst not be separated, and yet canst thou give me no answer of them.


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He said moreover unto me, Thine own things, and such as are grown up with thee, canst thou not know;


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How should thy vessel then be able to comprehend the way of the Highest, and, the world being now outwardly corrupted to understand the corruption that is evident in my sight?


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Then said I unto him, It were better that we were not at all, than that we should live still in wickedness, and to suffer, and not to know wherefore.


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And said, Come, let us go and make war against the sea that it may depart away before us, and that we may make us more woods.


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The floods of the sea also in like manner took counsel, and said, Come, let us go up and subdue the woods of the plain, that there also we may make us another country.


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The thought of the floods of the sea came likewise to nought, for the sand stood up and stopped them.


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If thou wert judge now betwixt these two, whom wouldest thou begin to justify? or whom wouldest thou condemn?


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I answered and said, Verily it is a foolish thought that they both have devised, for the ground is given unto the wood, and the sea also hath his place to bear his floods.


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Then answered he me, and said, Thou hast given a right judgment, but why judgest thou not thyself also?


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For like as the ground is given unto the wood, and the sea to his floods: even so they that dwell upon the earth may understand nothing but that which is upon the earth: and he that dwelleth above the heavens may only understand the things that are above the height of the heavens.


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For it was not my mind to be curious of the high things, but of such as pass by us daily, namely, wherefore Israel is given up as a reproach to the heathen, and for what cause the people whom thou hast loved is given over unto ungodly nations, and why the law of our forefathers is brought to nought, and the written covenants come to none effect,


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And we pass away out of the world as grasshoppers, and our life is astonishment and fear, and we are not worthy to obtain mercy.


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Then answered he me, and said, The more thou searchest, the more thou shalt marvel; for the world hasteth fast to pass away,


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And cannot comprehend the things that are promised to the righteous in time to come: for this world is full of unrighteousness and infirmities.


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But as concerning the things whereof thou askest me, I will tell thee; for the evil is sown, but the destruction thereof is not yet come.


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If therefore that which is sown be not turned upside down, and if the place where the evil is sown pass not away, then cannot it come that is sown with good.


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For the grain of evil seed hath been sown in the heart of Adam from the beginning, and how much ungodliness hath it brought up unto this time? and how much shall it yet bring forth until the time of threshing come?


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Then I answered and said, How, and when shall these things come to pass? wherefore are our years few and evil?


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And he answered me, saying, Do not thou hasten above the most Highest: for thy haste is in vain to be above him, for thou hast much exceeded.


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Did not the souls also of the righteous ask question of these things in their chambers, saying, How long shall I hope on this fashion? when cometh the fruit of the floor of our reward?


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And unto these things Uriel the archangel gave them answer, and said, Even when the number of seeds is filled in you: for he hath weighed the world in the balance.


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By measure hath he measured the times; and by number hath he numbered the times; and he doth not move nor stir them, until the said measure be fulfilled.


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And for our sakes peradventure it is that the floors of the righteous are not filled, because of the sins of them that dwell upon the earth.


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So he answered me, and said, Go thy way to a woman with child, and ask of her when she hath fulfilled her nine months, if her womb may keep the birth any longer within her.


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Then said I, No, Lord, that can she not. And he said unto me, In the grave the chambers of souls are like the womb of a woman:


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For like as a woman that travaileth maketh haste to escape the necessity of the travail: even so do these places haste to deliver those things that are committed unto them.


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Then answered I and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, and if it be possible, and if I be meet therefore,


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So I stood, and saw, and, behold, an hot burning oven passed by before me: and it happened that when the flame was gone by I looked, and, behold, the smoke remained still.


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After this there passed by before me a watery cloud, and sent down much rain with a storm; and when the stormy rain was past, the drops remained still.


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Then said he unto me, Consider with thyself; as the rain is more than the drops, and as the fire is greater than the smoke; but the drops and the smoke remain behind: so the quantity which is past did more exceed.


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Then I prayed, and said, May I live, thinkest thou, until that time? or what shall happen in those days?


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He answered me, and said, As for the tokens whereof thou askest me, I may tell thee of them in part: but as touching thy life, I am not sent to shew thee; for I do not know it.


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Nevertheless as coming the tokens, behold, the days shall come, that they which dwell upon earth shall be taken in a great number, and the way of truth shall be hidden, and the land shall be barren of faith.


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But if the most High grant thee to live, thou shalt see after the third trumpet that the sun shall suddenly shine again in the night, and the moon thrice in the day:


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And blood shall drop out of wood, and the stone shall give his voice, and the people shall be troubled:


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And even he shall rule, whom they look not for that dwell upon the earth, and the fowls shall take their flight away together:


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And the Sodomitish sea shall cast out fish, and make a noise in the night, which many have not known: but they shall all hear the voice thereof.


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There shall be a confusion also in many places, and the fire shall be oft sent out again, and the wild beasts shall change their places, and menstruous women shall bring forth monsters:


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And salt waters shall be found in the sweet, and all friends shall destroy one another; then shall wit hide itself, and understanding withdraw itself into his secret chamber,


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And shall be sought of many, and yet not be found: then shall unrighteousness and incontinency be multiplied upon earth.


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One land also shall ask another, and say, Is righteousness that maketh a man righteous gone through thee? And it shall say, No.


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At the same time shall men hope, but nothing obtain: they shall labour, but their ways shall not prosper.


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To shew thee such tokens I have leave; and if thou wilt pray again, and weep as now, and fast even days, thou shalt hear yet greater things.


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Then I awaked, and an extreme fearfulness went through all my body, and my mind was troubled, so that it fainted.


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And in the second night it came to pass, that Salathiel the captain of the people came unto me, saying, Where hast thou been? and why is thy countenance so heavy?


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Up then, and eat bread, and forsake us not, as the shepherd that leaveth his flock in the hands of cruel wolves.


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Then said I unto him, Go thy ways from me, and come not nigh me. And he heard what I said, and went from me.


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And said, O Lord that bearest rule, of every wood of the earth, and of all the trees thereof, thou hast chosen thee one only vine:


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And of all lands of the whole world thou hast chosen thee one pit: and of all the flowers thereof one lily:


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And of all the depths of the sea thou hast filled thee one river: and of all builded cities thou hast hallowed Sion unto thyself:


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And of all the fowls that are created thou hast named thee one dove: and of all the cattle that are made thou hast provided thee one sheep:


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And among all the multitudes of people thou hast gotten thee one people: and unto this people, whom thou lovedst, thou gavest a law that is approved of all.


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And now, O Lord, why hast thou given this one people over unto many? and upon the one root hast thou prepared others, and why hast thou scattered thy only one people among many?


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And said unto me, Hear me, and I will instruct thee; hearken to the thing that I say, and I shall tell thee more.


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And I said, Speak on, my Lord. Then said he unto me, Thou art sore troubled in mind for Israel's sake: lovest thou that people better than he that made them?


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And I said, No, Lord: but of very grief have I spoken: for my reins pain me every hour, while I labour to comprehend the way of the most High, and to seek out part of his judgment.


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And he said unto me, Thou canst not. And I said, Wherefore, Lord? whereunto was I born then? or why was not my mother's womb then my grave, that I might not have seen the travail of Jacob, and the wearisome toil of the stock of Israel?


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And he said unto me, Number me the things that are not yet come, gather me together the dross that are scattered abroad, make me the flowers green again that are withered,


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Open me the places that are closed, and bring me forth the winds that in them are shut up, shew me the image of a voice: and then I will declare to thee the thing that thou labourest to know.


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And I said, O Lord that bearest rule, who may know these things, but he that hath not his dwelling with men?


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Then said he unto me, Like as thou canst do none of these things that I have spoken of, even so canst thou not find out my judgment, or in the end the love that I have promised unto my people.


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And I said, Behold, O Lord, yet art thou nigh unto them that be reserved till the end: and what shall they do that have been before me, or we that be now, or they that shall come after us?


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And he said unto me, I will liken my judgment unto a ring: like as there is no slackness of the last, even so there is no swiftness of the first.


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So I answered and said, Couldest thou not make those that have been made, and be now, and that are for to come, at once; that thou mightest shew thy judgment the sooner?


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Then answered he me, and said, The creature may not haste above the maker; neither may the world hold them at once that shall be created therein.


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And I said, As thou hast said unto thy servant, that thou, which givest life to all, hast given life at once to the creature that thou hast created, and the creature bare it: even so it might now also bear them that now be present at once.


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And he said unto me, Ask the womb of a woman, and say unto her, If thou bringest forth children, why dost thou it not together, but one after another? pray her therefore to bring forth ten children at once.


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Then said he unto me, Even so have I given the womb of the earth to those that be sown in it in their times.


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For like as a young child may not bring forth the things that belong to the aged, even so have I disposed the world which I created.


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And I asked, and said, Seeing thou hast now given me the way, I will proceed to speak before thee: for our mother, of whom thou hast told me that she is young, draweth now nigh unto age.


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Say unto her, Wherefore are unto they whom thou hast now brought forth like those that were before, but less of stature?


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And she shall answer thee, They that be born in the the strength of youth are of one fashion, and they that are born in the time of age, when the womb faileth, are otherwise.


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And so are they that come after you less than ye, as the creatures which now begin to be old, and have passed over the strength of youth.


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Then said I, Lord, I beseech thee, if I have found favour in thy sight, shew thy servant by whom thou visitest thy creature.


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And he said unto me, In the beginning, when the earth was made, before the borders of the world stood, or ever the winds blew,


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Before the fair flowers were seen, or ever the moveable powers were established, before the innumerable multitude of angels were gathered together,


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Or ever the heights of the air were lifted up, before the measures of the firmament were named, or ever the chimneys in Sion were hot,


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And ere the present years were sought out, and or ever the inventions of them that now sin were turned, before they were sealed that have gathered faith for a treasure:


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Then did I consider these things, and they all were made through me alone, and through none other: by me also they shall be ended, and by none other.


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Then answered I and said, What shall be the parting asunder of the times? or when shall be the end of the first, and the beginning of it that followeth?


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And he said unto me, From Abraham unto Isaac, when Jacob and Esau were born of him, Jacob's hand held first the heel of Esau.


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I beseech thee, shew thy servant the end of thy tokens, whereof thou shewedst me part the last night.


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And therefore when it speaketh be not afraid: for the word is of the end, and the foundation of the earth is understood.


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And why? because the speech of these things trembleth and is moved: for it knoweth that the end of these things must be changed.


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And it happened, that when I had heard it I stood up upon my feet, and hearkened, and, behold, there was a voice that spake, and the sound of it was like the sound of many waters.


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And it said, Behold, the days come, that I will begin to draw nigh, and to visit them that dwell upon the earth,


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And will begin to make inquisition of them, what they be that have hurt unjustly with their unrighteousness, and when the affliction of Sion shall be fulfilled;


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And when the world, that shall begin to vanish away, shall be finished, then will I shew these tokens: the books shall be opened before the firmament, and they shall see all together:


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And the children of a year old shall speak with their voices, the women with child shall bring forth untimely children of three or four months old, and they shall live, and be raised up.


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And suddenly shall the sown places appear unsown, the full storehouses shall suddenly be found empty:


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At that time shall friends fight one against another like enemies, and the earth shall stand in fear with those that dwell therein, the springs of the fountains shall stand still, and in three hours they shall not run.


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Whosoever remaineth from all these that I have told thee shall escape, and see my salvation, and the end of your world.


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And the men that are received shall see it, who have not tasted death from their birth: and the heart of the inhabitants shall be changed, and turned into another meaning.


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As for faith, it shall flourish, corruption shall be overcome, and the truth, which hath been so long without fruit, shall be declared.


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If thou wilt pray yet more, and fast seven days again, I shall tell thee greater things by day than I have heard.


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For thy voice is heard before the most High: for the Mighty hath seen thy righteous dealing, he hath seen also thy chastity, which thou hast had ever since thy youth.


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And therefore hath he sent me to shew thee all these things, and to say unto thee, Be of good comfort and fear not


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And hasten not with the times that are past, to think vain things, that thou mayest not hasten from the latter times.


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And it came to pass after this, that I wept again, and fasted seven days in like manner, that I might fulfil the three weeks which he told me.


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And in the eighth night was my heart vexed within me again, and I began to speak before the most High.


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And I said, O Lord, thou spakest from the beginning of the creation, even the first day, and saidst thus; Let heaven and earth be made; and thy word was a perfect work.


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And then was the spirit, and darkness and silence were on every side; the sound of man's voice was not yet formed.


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Upon the second day thou madest the spirit of the firmament, and commandedst it to part asunder, and to make a division betwixt the waters, that the one part might go up, and the other remain beneath.


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Upon the third day thou didst command that the waters should be gathered in the seventh part of the earth: six pats hast thou dried up, and kept them, to the intent that of these some being planted of God and tilled might serve thee.


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For immediately there was great and innumerable fruit, and many and divers pleasures for the taste, and flowers of unchangeable colour, and odours of wonderful smell: and this was done the third day.


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Upon the fourth day thou commandedst that the sun should shine, and the moon give her light, and the stars should be in order:


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Upon the fifth day thou saidst unto the seventh part, where the waters were gathered that it should bring forth living creatures, fowls and fishes: and so it came to pass.


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For the dumb water and without life brought forth living things at the commandment of God, that all people might praise thy wondrous works.


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And didst separate the one from the other: for the seventh part, namely, where the water was gathered together, might not hold them both.


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Unto Enoch thou gavest one part, which was dried up the third day, that he should dwell in the same part, wherein are a thousand hills:


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But unto Leviathan thou gavest the seventh part, namely, the moist; and hast kept him to be devoured of whom thou wilt, and when.


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Upon the sixth day thou gavest commandment unto the earth, that before thee it should bring forth beasts, cattle, and creeping things:


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And after these, Adam also, whom thou madest lord of all thy creatures: of him come we all, and the people also whom thou hast chosen.


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As for the other people, which also come of Adam, thou hast said that they are nothing, but be like unto spittle: and hast likened the abundance of them unto a drop that falleth from a vessel.


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And now, O Lord, behold, these heathen, which have ever been reputed as nothing, have begun to be lords over us, and to devour us.


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But we thy people, whom thou hast called thy firstborn, thy only begotten, and thy fervent lover, are given into their hands.


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If the world now be made for our sakes, why do we not possess an inheritance with the world? how long shall this endure?


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And when I had made an end of speaking these words, there was sent unto me the angel which had been sent unto me the nights afore:


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And I said, Speak on, my God. Then said he unto me, The sea is set in a wide place, that it might be deep and great.


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Who then could go into the sea to look upon it, and to rule it? if he went not through the narrow, how could he come into the broad?


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There is also another thing; A city is builded, and set upon a broad field, and is full of all good things:


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The entrance thereof is narrow, and is set in a dangerous place to fall, like as if there were a fire on the right hand, and on the left a deep water:


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And one only path between them both, even between the fire and the water, so small that there could but one man go there at once.


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If this city now were given unto a man for an inheritance, if he never shall pass the danger set before it, how shall he receive this inheritance?


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Because for their sakes I made the world: and when Adam transgressed my statutes, then was decreed that now is done.


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Then were the entrances of this world made narrow, full of sorrow and travail: they are but few and evil, full of perils,: and very painful.


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If then they that live labour not to enter these strait and vain things, they can never receive those that are laid up for them.


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Now therefore why disquietest thou thyself, seeing thou art but a corruptible man? and why art thou moved, whereas thou art but mortal?


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Why hast thou not considered in thy mind this thing that is to come, rather than that which is present?


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Then answered I and said, O Lord that bearest rule, thou hast ordained in thy law, that the righteous should inherit these things, but that the ungodly should perish.


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Nevertheless the righteous shall suffer strait things, and hope for wide: for they that have done wickedly have suffered the strait things, and yet shall not see the wide.


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And he said unto me. There is no judge above God, and none that hath understanding above the Highest.


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For there be many that perish in this life, because they despise the law of God that is set before them.


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For God hath given strait commandment to such as came, what they should do to live, even as they came, and what they should observe to avoid punishment.


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And deceived themselves by their wicked deeds; and said of the most High, that he is not; and knew not his ways:


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But his law have they despised, and denied his covenants; in his statutes have they not been faithful, and have not performed his works.


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Behold, the time shall come, that these tokens which I have told thee shall come to pass, and the bride shall appear, and she coming forth shall be seen, that now is withdrawn from the earth.


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For my son Jesus shall be revealed with those that be with him, and they that remain shall rejoice within four hundred years.


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And the world shall be turned into the old silence seven days, like as in the former judgments: so that no man shall remain.


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And after seven days the world, that yet awaketh not, shall be raised up, and that shall die that is corrupt


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And the earth shall restore those that are asleep in her, and so shall the dust those that dwell in silence, and the secret places shall deliver those souls that were committed unto them.


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And the most High shall appear upon the seat of judgment, and misery shall pass away, and the long suffering shall have an end:


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And the work shall follow, and the reward shall be shewed, and the good deeds shall be of force, and wicked deeds shall bear no rule.


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Then said I, Abraham prayed first for the Sodomites, and Moses for the fathers that sinned in the wilderness:


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Even so now, seeing corruption is grown up, and wickedness increased, and the righteous have prayed for the ungodly: wherefore shall it not be so now also?


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He answered me, and said, This present life is not the end where much glory doth abide; therefore have they prayed for the weak.


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But the day of doom shall be the end of this time, and the beginning of the immortality for to come, wherein corruption is past,


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Then shall no man be able to save him that is destroyed, nor to oppress him that hath gotten the victory.


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I answered then and said, This is my first and last saying, that it had been better not to have given the earth unto Adam: or else, when it was given him, to have restrained him from sinning.


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For what profit is it for men now in this present time to live in heaviness, and after death to look for punishment?


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O thou Adam, what hast thou done? for though it was thou that sinned, thou art not fallen alone, but we all that come of thee.


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For what profit is it unto us, if there be promised us an immortal time, whereas we have done the works that bring death?


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And that there is promised us an everlasting hope, whereas ourselves being most wicked are made vain?


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And that the glory of the most High is kept to defend them which have led a wary life, whereas we have walked in the most wicked ways of all?


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And that there should be shewed a paradise, whose fruit endureth for ever, wherein is security and medicine, since we shall not enter into it?


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And that the faces of them which have used abstinence shall shine above the stars, whereas our faces shall be blacker than darkness?


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For while we lived and committed iniquity, we considered not that we should begin to suffer for it after death.


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Then answered he me, and said, This is the condition of the battle, which man that is born upon the earth shall fight;


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That, if he be overcome, he shall suffer as thou hast said: but if he get the victory, he shall receive the thing that I say.


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For this is the life whereof Moses spake unto the people while he lived, saying, Choose thee life, that thou mayest live.


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Nevertheless they believed not him, nor yet the prophets after him, no nor me which have spoken unto them,


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That there should not be such heaviness in their destruction, as shall be joy over them that are persuaded to salvation.


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I answered then, and said, I know, Lord, that the most High is called merciful, in that he hath mercy upon them which are not yet come into the world,


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And that he is of great mercy, for he multiplieth more and more mercies to them that are present, and that are past, and also to them which are to come.


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For if he shall not multiply his mercies, the world would not continue with them that inherit therein.


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And he pardoneth; for if he did not so of his goodness, that they which have committed iniquities might be eased of them, the ten thousandth part of men should not remain living.


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And being judge, if he should not forgive them that are cured with his word, and put out the multitude of contentions,


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And he answered me, saying, The most High hath made this world for many, but the world to come for few.


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I will tell thee a similitude, Esdras; As when thou askest the earth, it shall say unto thee, that it giveth much mould whereof earthen vessels are made, but little dust that gold cometh of: even so is the course of this present world.


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For thou hast agreed to give ear, and art willing to prophesy: for thou hast no longer space than only to live.


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O Lord, if thou suffer not thy servant, that we may pray before thee, and thou give us seed unto our heart, and culture to our understanding, that there may come fruit of it; how shall each man live that is corrupt, who beareth the place of a man?


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For when the body is fashioned now in the mother's womb, and thou givest it members, thy creature is preserved in fire and water, and nine months doth thy workmanship endure thy creature which is created in her.


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But that which keepeth and is kept shall both be preserved: and when the time cometh, the womb preserved delivereth up the things that grew in it.


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For thou hast commanded out of the parts of the body, that is to say, out of the breasts, milk to be given, which is the fruit of the breasts,


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Thou broughtest it up with thy righteousness, and nurturedst it in thy law, and reformedst it with thy judgment.


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If therefore thou shalt destroy him which with so great labour was fashioned, it is an easy thing to be ordained by thy commandment, that the thing which was made might be preserved.


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Now therefore, Lord, I will speak; touching man in general, thou knowest best; but touching thy people, for whose sake I am sorry;


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And for thine inheritance, for whose cause I mourn; and for Israel, for whom I am heavy; and for Jacob, for whose sake I am troubled;


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Therefore will I begin to pray before thee for myself and for them: for I see the falls of us that dwell in the land.


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Therefore hear my voice, and understand my words, and I shall speak before thee. This is the beginning of the words of Esdras, before he was taken up: and I said,


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O Lord, thou that dwellest in everlastingness which beholdest from above things in the heaven and in the air;


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Whose throne is inestimable; whose glory may not be comprehended; before whom the hosts of angels stand with trembling,


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Whose service is conversant in wind and fire; whose word is true, and sayings constant; whose commandment is strong, and ordinance fearful;


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Whose look drieth up the depths, and indignation maketh the mountains to melt away; which the truth witnesseth:


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Regard not the wicked inventions of the heathen, but the desire of those that keep thy testimonies in afflictions.


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Think not upon those that have walked feignedly before thee: but remember them, which according to thy will have known thy fear.


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Let it not be thy will to destroy them which have lived like beasts; but to look upon them that have clearly taught thy law.


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Take thou no indignation at them which are deemed worse than beasts; but love them that always put their trust in thy righteousness and glory.


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For we and our fathers do languish of such diseases: but because of us sinners thou shalt be called merciful.


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For if thou hast a desire to have mercy upon us, thou shalt be called merciful, to us namely, that have no works of righteousness.


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For the just, which have many good works laid up with thee, shall out of their own deeds receive reward.


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For what is man, that thou shouldest take displeasure at him? or what is a corruptible generation, that thou shouldest be so bitter toward it?


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For in truth them is no man among them that be born, but he hath dealt wickedly; and among the faithful there is none which hath not done amiss.


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For in this, O Lord, thy righteousness and thy goodness shall be declared, if thou be merciful unto them which have not the confidence of good works.


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Then answered he me, and said, Some things hast thou spoken aright, and according unto thy words it shall be.


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For indeed I will not think on the disposition of them which have sinned before death, before judgment, before destruction:


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But I will rejoice over the disposition of the righteous, and I will remember also their pilgrimage, and the salvation, and the reward, that they shall have.


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For as the husbandman soweth much seed upon the ground, and planteth many trees, and yet the thing that is sown good in his season cometh not up, neither doth all that is planted take root: even so is it of them that are sown in the world; they shall not all be saved.


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Like as the husbandman's seed perisheth, if it come not up, and receive not thy rain in due season; or if there come too much rain, and corrupt it:


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Even so perisheth man also, which is formed with thy hands, and is called thine own image, because thou art like unto him, for whose sake thou hast made all things, and likened him unto the husbandman's seed.


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Be not wroth with us but spare thy people, and have mercy upon thine own inheritance: for thou art merciful unto thy creature.


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Then answered he me, and said, Things present are for the present, and things to cometh for such as be to come.


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For thou comest far short that thou shouldest be able to love my creature more than I: but I have ofttimes drawn nigh unto thee, and unto it, but never to the unrighteous.


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In that thou hast humbled thyself, as it becometh thee, and hast not judged thyself worthy to be much glorified among the righteous.


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For many great miseries shall be done to them that in the latter time shall dwell in the world, because they have walked in great pride.


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For unto you is paradise opened, the tree of life is planted, the time to come is prepared, plenteousness is made ready, a city is builded, and rest is allowed, yea, perfect goodness and wisdom.


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The root of evil is sealed up from you, weakness and the moth is hid from you, and corruption is fled into hell to be forgotten:


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For when they had taken liberty, they despised the most High, thought scorn of his law, and forsook his ways.


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For as the things aforesaid shalt receive you, so thirst and pain are prepared for them: for it was not his will that men should come to nought:


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But they which be created have defiled the name of him that made them, and were unthankful unto him which prepared life for them.


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These things have I not shewed unto all men, but unto thee, and a few like thee. Then answered I and said,


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Behold, O Lord, now hast thou shewed me the multitude of the wonders, which thou wilt begin to do in the last times: but at what time, thou hast not shewed me.


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He answered me then, and said, Measure thou the time diligently in itself: and when thou seest part of the signs past, which I have told thee before,


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Then shalt thou understand, that it is the very same time, wherein the Highest will begin to visit the world which he made.


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Then shalt thou well understand, that the most High spake of those things from the days that were before thee, even from the beginning.


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Even so the times also of the Highest have plain beginnings in wonder and powerful works, and endings in effects and signs.


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And every one that shall be saved, and shall be able to escape by his works, and by faith, whereby ye have believed,


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Shall be preserved from the said perils, and shall see my salvation in my land, and within my borders: for I have sanctified them for me from the beginning.


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Then shall they be in pitiful case, which now have abused my ways: and they that have cast them away despitefully shall dwell in torments.


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And they that have loathed my law, while they had yet liberty, and, when as yet place of repentance was open unto them, understood not, but despised it;


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And therefore be thou not curious how the ungodly shall be punished, and when: but enquire how the righteous shall be saved, whose the world is, and for whom the world is created.


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I have said before, and now do speak, and will speak it also hereafter, that there be many more of them which perish, than of them which shall be saved:


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And he answered me, saying, Like as the field is, so is also the seed; as the flowers be, such are the colours also; such as the workman is, such also is the work; and as the husbandman ls himself, so is his husbandry also: for it was the time of the world.


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And now when I prepared the world, which was not yet made, even for them to dwell in that now live, no man spake against me.


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For then every one obeyed: but now the manners of them which are created in this world that is made are corrupted by a perpetual seed, and by a law which is unsearchable rid themselves.


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So I considered the world, and, behold, there was peril because of the devices that were come into it.


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And I saw, and spared it greatly, and have kept me a grape of the cluster, and a plant of a great people.


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Let the multitude perish then, which was born in vain; and let my grape be kept, and my plant; for with great labour have I made it perfect.


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But go into a field of flowers, where no house is builded, and eat only the flowers of the field; taste no flesh, drink no wine, but eat flowers only;)


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So I went my way into the field which is called Ardath, like as he commanded me; and there I sat among the flowers, and did eat of the herbs of the field, and the meat of the same satisfied me.


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O Lord, thou that shewest thyself unto us, thou wast shewed unto our fathers in the wilderness, in a place where no man treadeth, in a barren place, when they came out of Egypt.


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For, behold, I sow my law in you, and it shall bring fruit in you, and ye shall be honoured in it for ever.


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But our fathers, which received the law, kept it not, and observed not thy ordinances: and though the fruit of thy law did not perish, neither could it, for it was thine;


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And, lo, it ls a custom, when the ground hath received seed, or the sea a ship, or any vessel meat or drink, that, that being perished wherein it was sown or cast into,


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That thing also which was sown, or cast therein, or received, doth perish, and remaineth not with us: but with us it hath not happened so.


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And when I spake these things in my heart, I looked back with mine eyes, and upon the right side I saw a woman, and, behold, she mourned and wept with a loud voice, and was much grieved in heart, and her clothes were rent, and she had ashes upon her head.


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And she said unto me, Sir, let me alone, that I may bewail myself, and add unto my sorrow, for I am sore vexed in my mind, and brought very low.


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She said unto me, I thy servant have been barren, and had no child, though I had an husband thirty years,


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And those thirty years I did nothing else day and night, and every hour, but make my, prayer to the Highest.


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After thirty years God heard me thine handmaid, looked upon my misery, considered my trouble, and gave me a son: and I was very glad of him, so was my husband also, and all my neighbours: and we gave great honour unto the Almighty.


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And it so came to pass, that when my son was entered into his wedding chamber, he fell down, and died.


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Then we all overthrew the lights, and all my neighbours rose up to comfort me: so I took my rest unto the second day at night.


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And it came to pass, when they had all left off to comfort me, to the end I might be quiet; then rose I up by night and fled, and came hither into this field, as thou seest.


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And I do now purpose not to return into the city, but here to stay, and neither to eat nor drink, but continually to mourn and to fast until I die.


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And now, seeing we all mourn and are sad, for we are all in heaviness, art thou grieved for one son?


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For ask the earth, and she shall tell thee, that it is she which ought to mourn for the fall of so many that grow upon her.


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For out of her came all at the first, and out of her shall all others come, and, behold, they walk almost all into destruction, and a multitude of them is utterly rooted out.


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Who then should make more mourning than she, that hath lost so great a multitude; and not thou, which art sorry but for one?


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But if thou sayest unto me, My lamentation is not like the earth's, because I have lost the fruit of my womb, which I brought forth with pains, and bare with sorrows;


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But the earth not so: for the multitude present in it according to the course of the earth is gone, as it came:


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Then say I unto thee, Like as thou hast brought forth with labour; even so the earth also hath given her fruit, namely, man, ever since the beginning unto him that made her.


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Now therefore keep thy sorrow to thyself, and bear with a good courage that which hath befallen thee.


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For if thou shalt acknowledge the determination of God to be just, thou shalt both receive thy son in time, and shalt be commended among women.


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Do not so, but be counselled. by me: for how many are the adversities of Sion? be comforted in regard of the sorrow of Jerusalem.


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Our psaltery is laid on the ground, our song is put to silence, our rejoicing is at an end, the light of our candlestick is put out, the ark of our covenant is spoiled, our holy things are defiled, and the name that is called upon us is almost profaned: our children are put to shame, our priests are burnt, our Levites are gone into captivity, our virgins are defiled, and our wives ravished; our righteous men carried away, our little ones destroyed, our young men are brought in bondage, and our strong men are become weak;


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And, which is the greatest of all, the seal of Sion hath now lost her honour; for she is delivered into the hands of them that hate us.


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And therefore shake off thy great heaviness, and put away the multitude of sorrows, that the Mighty may be merciful unto thee again, and the Highest shall give thee rest and ease from thy labour.


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And it came to pass while I was talking with her, behold, her face upon a sudden shined exceedingly, and her countenance glistered, so that I was afraid of her, and mused what it might be.


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And, behold, suddenly she made a great cry very fearful: so that the earth shook at the noise of the woman.


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And I looked, and, behold, the woman appeared unto me no more, but there was a city builded, and a large place shewed itself from the foundations: then was I afraid, and cried with a loud voice, and said,


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Where is Uriel the angel, who came unto me at the first? for he hath caused me to fall into many trances, and mine end is turned into corruption, and my prayer to rebuke.


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And, lo, I lay as one that had been dead, and mine understanding was taken from me: and he took me by the right hand, and comforted me, and set me upon my feet, and said unto me,


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What aileth thee? and why art thou so disquieted? and why is thine understanding troubled, and the thoughts of thine heart?


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And I said, Because thou hast forsaken me, and yet I did according to thy words, and I went into the field, and, lo, I have seen, and yet see, that I am not able to express.


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He answered me then, and said, Hear me, and I shall inform thee, and tell thee wherefore thou art afraid: for the Highest will reveal many secret things unto thee.


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He hath seen that thy way is right: for that thou sorrowest continually for thy people, and makest great lamentation for Sion.


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This woman, whom thou sawest is Sion: and whereas she said unto thee, even she whom thou seest as a city builded,


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Whereas, I say, she said unto thee, that she hath been thirty years barren: those are the thirty years wherein there was no offering made in her.


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But after thirty years Solomon builded the city and offered offerings: and then bare the barren a son.


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But whereas she said unto thee, That my son coming into his marriage chamber happened to have a fail, and died: this was the destruction that came to Jerusalem.


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And, behold, thou sawest her likeness, and because she mourned for her son, thou begannest to comfort her: and of these things which have chanced, these are to be opened unto thee.


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For now the most High seeth that thou art grieved unfeignedly, and sufferest from thy whole heart for her, so hath he shewed thee the brightness of her glory, and the comeliness of her beauty:


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For in the place wherein the Highest beginneth to shew his city, there can no man's building be able to stand.


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And therefore fear not, let not thine heart be affrighted, but go thy way in, and see the beauty and greatness of the building, as much as thine eyes be able to see:


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And so shall the Highest shew thee visions of the high things, which the most High will do unto them that dwell upon the earth in the last days. So I slept that night and another, like as he commanded me.


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Then saw I a dream, and, behold, there came up from the sea an eagle, which had twelve feathered wings, and three heads.


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And I saw, and, behold, she spread her wings over all the earth, and all the winds of the air blew on her, and were gathered together.


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And I beheld, and out of her feathers there grew other contrary feathers; and they became little feathers and small.


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But her heads were at rest: the head in the midst was greater than the other, yet rested it with the residue.


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Moreover I beheld, and, lo, the eagle flew with her feathers, and reigned upon earth, and over them that dwelt therein.


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And I saw that all things under heaven were subject unto her, and no man spake against her, no, not one creature upon earth.


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And I looked, and, behold, on the right side there arose one feather, and reigned over all the earth;


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And so it was, that when it reigned, the end of it came, and the place thereof appeared no more: so the next following stood up. and reigned, and had a great time;


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And it happened, that when it reigned, the end of it came also, like as the first, so that it appeared no more.


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Hear thou that hast borne rule over the earth so long: this I say unto thee, before thou beginnest to appear no more,


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So went it with all the residue one after another, as that every one reigned, and then appeared no more.


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Then I beheld, and, lo, in process of time the feathers that followed stood up upon the right side, that they might rule also; and some of them ruled, but within a while they appeared no more:


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After this I looked, and, behold, the twelve feathers appeared no more, nor the two little feathers:


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Then saw I also that two little feathers divided themselves from the six, and remained under the head that was upon the right side: for the four continued in their place.


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And I beheld, and, lo, the feathers that were under the wing thought to set up themselves and to have the rule.


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And when they so thought, behold, there awaked one of the heads that were at rest, namely, it that was in the midst; for that was greater than the two other heads.


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And, behold, the head was turned with them that were with it, and did eat up the two feathers under the wing that would have reigned.


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But this head put the whole earth in fear, and bare rule in it over all those that dwelt upon the earth with much oppression; and it had the governance of the world more than all the wings that had been.


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And after this I beheld, and, lo, the head that was in the midst suddenly appeared no more, like as the wings.


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But there remained the two heads, which also in like sort ruled upon the earth, and over those that dwelt therein.


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And I beheld, and lo, as it were a roaring lion chased out of the wood: and I saw that he sent out a man's voice unto the eagle, and said,


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Art not thou it that remainest of the four beasts, whom I made to reign in my world, that the end of their times might come through them?


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And the fourth came, and overcame all the beasts that were past, and had power over the world with great fearfulness, and over the whole compass of the earth with much wicked oppression; and so long time dwelt he upon the earth with deceit.


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For thou hast afflicted the meek, thou hast hurt the peaceable, thou hast loved liars, and destroyed the dwellings of them that brought forth fruit, and hast cast down the walls of such as did thee no harm.


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The Highest also hath looked upon the proud times, and, behold, they are ended, and his abominations are fulfilled.


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And therefore appear no more, thou eagle, nor thy horrible wings, nor thy wicked feathers nor thy malicious heads, nor thy hurtful claws, nor all thy vain body:


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That all the earth may be refreshed, and may return, being delivered from thy violence, and that she may hope for the judgment and mercy of him that made her.


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And, behold, the head that remained and the four wings appeared no more, and the two went unto it and set themselves up to reign, and their kingdom was small, and fill of uproar.


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And I saw, and, behold, they appeared no more, and the whole body of the eagle was burnt so that the earth was in great fear: then awaked I out of the trouble and trance of my mind, and from great fear, and said unto my spirit,


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Lo, yet am I weary in my mind, and very weak in my spirit; and little strength is there in me, for the great fear wherewith I was afflicted this night.


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And I said, Lord that bearest rule, if I have found grace before thy sight, and if I am justified with thee before many others, and if my prayer indeed be come up before thy face;


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Comfort me then, and shew me thy servant the interpretation and plain difference of this fearful vision, that thou mayest perfectly comfort my soul.


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The eagle, whom thou sawest come up from the sea, is the kingdom which was seen in the vision of thy brother Daniel.


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Behold, the days will come, that there shall rise up a kingdom upon earth, and it shall be feared above all the kingdoms that were before it.


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As for the voice which thou heardest speak, and that thou sawest not to go out from the heads but from the midst of the body thereof, this is the interpretation:


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That after the time of that kingdom there shall arise great strivings, and it shall stand in peril of failing: nevertheless it shall not then fall, but shall be restored again to his beginning.


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And whereas thou sawest the eight small under feathers sticking to her wings, this is the interpretation:


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And two of them shall perish, the middle time approaching: four shall be kept until their end begin to approach: but two shall be kept unto the end.


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In his last days shall the most High raise up three kingdoms, and renew many things therein, and they shall have the dominion of the earth,


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And of those that dwell therein, with much oppression, above all those that were before them: therefore are they called the heads of the eagle.


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And whereas thou sawest that the great head appeared no more, it signifieth that one of them shall die upon his bed, and yet with pain.


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For the sword of the one shall devour the other: but at the last shall he fall through the sword himself.


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And whereas thou sawest two feathers under the wings passing over the head that is on the right side;


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It signifieth that these are they, whom the Highest hath kept unto their end: this is the small kingdom and full of trouble, as thou sawest.


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And the lion, whom thou sawest rising up out of the wood, and roaring, and speaking to the eagle, and rebuking her for her unrighteousness with all the words which thou hast heard;


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This is the anointed, which the Highest hath kept for them and for their wickedness unto the end: he shall reprove them, and shall upbraid them with their cruelty.


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For the rest of my people shall he deliver with mercy, those that have been pressed upon my borders, and he shall make them joyful until the coming of the day of judgment, whereof I have spoken unto thee from the the beginning.


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And teach them to the wise of the people, whose hearts thou knowest may comprehend and keep these secrets.


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But wait thou here thyself yet seven days more, that it may be shewed thee, whatsoever it pleaseth the Highest to declare unto thee. And with that he went his way.


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And it came to pass, when all the people saw that the seven days were past, and I not come again into the city, they gathered them all together, from the least unto the greatest, and came unto me, and said,


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What have we offended thee? and what evil have we done against thee, that thou forsakest us, and sittest here in this place?


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For of all the prophets thou only art left us, as a cluster of the vintage, and as a candle in a dark place, and as a haven or ship preserved from the tempest.


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If thou shalt forsake us, how much better had it been for us, if we also had been burned in the midst of Sion?


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For we are not better than they that died there. And they wept with a loud voice. Then answered I them, and said,


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As for me, I have not forsaken you, neither am I departed from you: but am come into this place, to pray for the desolation of Sion, and that I might seek mercy for the low estate of your sanctuary.


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But I remained still in the field seven days, as the angel commanded me; and did eat only in those days of the flowers of the field, and had my meat of the herbs


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And I beheld, and, lo, that man waxed strong with the thousands of heaven: and when he turned his countenance to look, all the things trembled that were seen under him.


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And whensoever the voice went out of his mouth, all they burned that heard his voice, like as the earth faileth when it feeleth the fire.


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And after this I beheld, and, lo, there was gathered together a multitude of men, out of number, from the four winds of the heaven, to subdue the man that came out of the sea


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And after this I beheld, and, lo, all they which were gathered together to subdue him were sore afraid, and yet durst fight.


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And, lo, as he saw the violence of the multitude that came, he neither lifted up his hand, nor held sword, nor any instrument of war:


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But only I saw that he sent out of his mouth as it had been a blast of fire, and out of his lips a flaming breath, and out of his tongue he cast out sparks and tempests.


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And they were all mixed together; the blast of fire, the flaming breath, and the great tempest; and fell with violence upon the multitude which was prepared to fight, and burned them up every one, so that upon a sudden of an innumerable multitude nothing was to be perceived, but only dust and smell of smoke: when I saw this I was afraid.


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Afterward saw I the same man come down from the mountain, and call unto him another peaceable Multitude.


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And there came much people unto him, whereof some were glad, some were sorry, and some of them were bound, and other some brought of them that were offered: then was I sick through great fear, and I awaked, and said,


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Thou hast shewed thy servant these wonders from the beginning, and hast counted me worthy that thou shouldest receive my prayer:


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For as I conceive in mine understanding, woe unto them that shall be left in those days and much more woe unto them that are not left behind!


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Now understand I the things that are laid up in the latter days, which shall happen unto them, and to those that are left behind.


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Yet is it easier for him that is in danger to come into these things, than to pass away as a cloud out of the world, and not to see the things that happen in the last days. And he answered unto me, and said,


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The interpretation of the vision shall I shew thee, and I will open unto thee the thing that thou hast required.


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He that shall endure the peril in that time hath kept himself: they that be fallen into danger are such as have works, and faith toward the Almighty.


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The same is he whom God the Highest hath kept a great season, which by his own self shall deliver his creature: and he shall order them that are left behind.


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And that he held neither sword, nor any instrument of war, but that the rushing in of him destroyed the whole multitude that came to subdue him; this is the interpretation:


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And one shall undertake to fight against another, one city against another, one place against another, one people against another, and one realm against another.


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And the time shall be when these things shall come to pass, and the signs shall happen which I shewed thee before, and then shall my Son be declared, whom thou sawest as a man ascending.


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And when all the people hear his voice, every man shall in their own land leave the battle they have one against another.


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And an innumerable multitude shall be gathered together, as thou sawest them, willing to come, and to overcome him by fighting.


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And Sion shall come, and shall be shewed to all men, being prepared and builded, like as thou sawest the hill graven without hands.


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And this my Son shall rebuke the wicked inventions of those nations, which for their wicked life are fallen into the tempest;


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And shall lay before them their evil thoughts, and the torments wherewith they shall begin to be tormented, which are like unto a flame: and he shall destroy them without labour by the law which is like unto me.


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Those are the ten tribes, which were carried away prisoners out of their own land in the time of Osea the king, whom Salmanasar the king of Assyria led away captive, and he carried them over the waters, and so came they into another land.


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But they took this counsel among themselves, that they would leave the multitude of the heathen, and go forth into a further country, where never mankind dwelt,


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For through that country there was a great way to go, namely, of a year and a half: and the same region is called Arsareth.


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The Highest shall stay the springs of the stream again, that they may go through: therefore sawest thou the multitude with peace.


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Now when he destroyeth the multitude of the nations that are gathered together, he shall defend his people that remain.


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Then said I, O Lord that bearest rule, shew me this: Wherefore have I seen the man coming up from the midst of the sea?


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And he said unto me, Like as thou canst neither seek out nor know the things that are in the deep of the sea: even so can no man upon earth see my Son, or those that be with him, but in the day time.


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This is the interpretation of the dream which thou sawest, and whereby thou only art here lightened.


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And therefore have I shewed thee the treasures of the Highest: after other three days I will speak other things unto thee, and declare unto thee mighty and wondrous things.


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Then went I forth into the field, giving praise and thanks greatly unto the most High because of his wonders which he did in time;


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And because he governeth the same, and such things as fall in their seasons: and there I sat three days.


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And it came to pass upon the third day, I sat under an oak, and, behold, there came a voice out of a bush over against me, and said, Esdras, Esdras.


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Then said he unto me, In the bush I did manifestly reveal myself unto Moses, and talked with him, when my people served in Egypt:


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And I sent him and led my people out of Egypt, and brought him up to the mount of where I held him by me a long season,


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And told him many wondrous things, and shewed him the secrets of the times, and the end; and commanded him, saying,


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That thou lay up in thy heart the signs that I have shewed, and the dreams that thou hast seen, and the interpretations which thou hast heard:


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For thou shalt be taken away from all, and from henceforth thou shalt remain with my Son, and with such as be like thee, until the times be ended.


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For the world is divided into twelve parts, and the ten parts of it are gone already, and half of a tenth part:


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Now therefore set thine house in order, and reprove thy people, comfort such of them as be in trouble, and now renounce corruption,


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For look how much the world shall be weaker through age, so much the more shall evils increase upon them that dwell therein.


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For the time is fled far away, and leasing is hard at hand: for now hasteth the vision to come, which thou hast seen.


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Behold, Lord, I will go, as thou hast commanded me, and reprove the people which are present: but they that shall be born afterward, who shall admonish them? thus the world is set in darkness, and they that dwell therein are without light.


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For thy law is burnt, therefore no man knoweth the things that are done of thee, or the work that shall begin.


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But if I have found grace before thee, send the Holy Ghost into me, and I shall write all that hath been done in the world since the beginning, which were written in thy law, that men may find thy path, and that they which will live in the latter days may live.


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And he answered me, saying, Go thy way, gather the people together, and say unto them, that they seek thee not for forty days.


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But look thou prepare thee many box trees, and take with thee Sarea, Dabria, Selemia, Ecanus, and Asiel, these five which are ready to write swiftly;


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And come hither, and I shall light a candle of understanding in thine heart, which shall not be put out, till the things be performed which thou shalt begin to write.


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And when thou hast done, some things shalt thou publish, and some things shalt thou shew secretly to the wise: to morrow this hour shalt thou begin to write.


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Then was the land, even the land of Sion, parted among you by lot: but your fathers, and ye yourselves, have done unrighteousness, and have not kept the ways which the Highest commanded you.


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Therefore if so be that ye will subdue your own understanding, and reform your hearts, ye shall be kept alive and after death ye shall obtain mercy.


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For after death shall the judgment come, when we shall live again: and then shall the names of the righteous be manifest, and the works of the ungodly shall be declared.


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And the next day, behold, a voice called me, saying, Esdras, open thy mouth, and drink that I give thee to drink.


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Then opened I my mouth, and, behold, he reached me a full cup, which was full as it were with water, but the colour of it was like fire.


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And I took it, and drank: and when I had drunk of it, my heart uttered understanding, and wisdom grew in my breast, for my spirit strengthened my memory:


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The Highest gave understanding unto the five men, and they wrote the wonderful visions of the night that were told, which they knew not: and they sat forty days, and they wrote in the day, and at night they ate bread.


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And it came to pass, when the forty days were filled, that the Highest spake, saying, The first that thou hast written publish openly, that the worthy and unworthy may read it:


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Behold, speak thou in the ears of my people the words of prophecy, which I will put in thy mouth, saith the Lord:


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Fear not the imaginations against thee, let not the incredulity of them trouble thee, that speak against thee.


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Behold, saith the Lord, I will bring plagues upon the world; the sword, famine, death, and destruction.


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I will hold my tongue no more as touching their wickedness, which they profanely commit, neither will I suffer them in those things, in which they wickedly exercise themselves: behold, the innocent and righteous blood crieth unto me, and the souls of the just complain continually.


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And therefore, saith the Lord, I will surely avenge them, and receive unto me all the innocent blood from among them.


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Behold, my people is led as a flock to the slaughter: I will not suffer them now to dwell in the land of Egypt:


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But I will bring them with a mighty hand and a stretched out arm, and smite Egypt with plagues, as before, and will destroy all the land thereof.


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Egypt shall mourn, and the foundation of it shall be smitten with the plague and punishment that God shall bring upon it.


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They that till the ground shall mourn: for their seeds shall fail through the blasting and hail, and with a fearful constellation.


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For the sword and their destruction draweth nigh, and one people shall stand up and fight against another, and swords in their hands.


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For there shall be sedition among men, and invading one another; they shall not regard their kings nor princes, and the course of their actions shall stand in their power.


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For because of their pride the cities shall be troubled, the houses shall be destroyed, and men shall be afraid.


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A man shall have no pity upon his neighbour, but shall destroy their houses with the sword, and spoil their goods, because of the lack of bread, and for great tribulation.


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Behold, saith God, I will call together all the kings of the earth to reverence me, which are from the rising of the sun, from the south, from the east, and Libanus; to turn themselves one against another, and repay the things that they have done to them.


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Like as they do yet this day unto my chosen, so will I do also, and recompense in their bosom. Thus saith the Lord God;


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My right hand shall not spare the sinners, and my sword shall not cease over them that shed innocent blood upon the earth.


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The fire is gone forth from his wrath, and hath consumed the foundations of the earth, and the sinners, like the straw that is kindled.


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For the Lord knoweth all them that sin against him, and therefore delivereth he them unto death and destruction.


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For now are the plagues come upon the whole earth and ye shall remain in them: for God shall not deliver you, because ye have sinned against him.


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Where the nations of the dragons of Arabia shall come out with many chariots, and the multitude of them shall be carried as the wind upon earth, that all they which hear them may fear and tremble.


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Also the Carmanians raging in wrath shall go forth as the wild boars of the wood, and with great power shall they come, and join battle with them, and shall waste a portion of the land of the Assyrians.


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And then shall the dragons have the upper hand, remembering their nature; and if they shall turn themselves, conspiring together in great power to persecute them,


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And from the land of the Assyrians shall the enemy besiege them, and consume some of them, and in their host shall be fear and dread, and strife among their kings.


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Behold clouds from the east and from the north unto the south, and they are very horrible to look upon, full of wrath and storm.


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They shall smite one upon another, and they shall smite down a great multitude of stars upon the earth, even their own star; and blood shall be from the sword unto the belly,


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And there shall be great fearfulness and trembling upon earth: and they that see the wrath shall be afraid, and trembling shall come upon them.


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And then shall there come great storms from the south, and from the north, and another part from the west.


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And strong winds shall arise from the east, and shall open it; and the cloud which he raised up in wrath, and the star stirred to cause fear toward the east and west wind, shall be destroyed.


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The great and mighty clouds shall be puffed up full of wrath, and the star, that they may make all the earth afraid, and them that dwell therein; and they shall pour out over every high and eminent place an horrible star,


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Fire, and hail, and flying swords, and many waters, that all fields may be full, and all rivers, with the abundance of great waters.


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And they shall break down the cities and walls, mountains and hills, trees of the wood, and grass of the meadows, and their corn.


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They shall come to her, and besiege her, the star and all wrath shall they pour out upon her: then shall the dust and smoke go up unto the heaven, and all they that be about her shall bewail her.


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Woe be unto thee, thou wretch, because thou hast made thyself like unto her; and hast decked thy daughters in whoredom, that they might please and glory in thy lovers, which have always desired to commit whoredom with thee.


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I will send plagues upon thee; widowhood, poverty, famine, sword, and pestilence, to waste thy houses with destruction and death.


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And the glory of thy Power shall be dried up as a flower, the heat shall arise that is sent over thee.


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Thou shalt be weakened as a poor woman with stripes, and as one chastised with wounds, so that the mighty and lovers shall not be able to receive thee.


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If thou hadst not always slain my chosen, exalting the stroke of thine hands, and saying over their dead, when thou wast drunken,


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Like as thou hast done unto my chosen, saith the Lord, even so shall God do unto thee, and shall deliver thee into mischief


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Thy children shall die of hunger, and thou shalt fall through the sword: thy cities shall be broken down, and all thine shall perish with the sword in the field.


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They that be in the mountains shall die of hunger, and eat their own flesh, and drink their own blood, for very hunger of bread, and thirst of water.


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And in the passage they shall rush on the idle city, and shall destroy some portion of thy land, and consume part of thy glory, and shall return to Babylon that was destroyed.


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And shall consume thee, and thy cities, thy land, and thy mountains; all thy woods and thy fruitful trees shall they burn up with fire.


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Thy children shall they carry away captive, and, look, what thou hast, they shall spoil it, and mar the beauty of thy face.


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The book of the words of Tobit, son of Tobiel, the son of Ananiel, the son of Aduel, the son of Gabael, of the seed of Asael, of the tribe of Nephthali;


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Who in the time of Enemessar king of the Assyrians was led captive out of Thisbe, which is at the right hand of that city, which is called properly Nephthali in Galilee above Aser.


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I Tobit have walked all the days of my life in the ways of truth and justice, and I did many almsdeeds to my brethren, and my nation, who came with me to Nineve, into the land of the Assyrians.


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And when I was in mine own country, in the land of Israel being but young, all the tribe of Nephthali my father fell from the house of Jerusalem, which was chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, that all the tribes should sacrifice there, where the temple of the habitation of the most High was consecrated and built for all ages.


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Now all the tribes which together revolted, and the house of my father Nephthali, sacrificed unto the heifer Baal.


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But I alone went often to Jerusalem at the feasts, as it was ordained unto all the people of Israel by an everlasting decree, having the firstfruits and tenths of increase, with that which was first shorn; and them gave I at the altar to the priests the children of Aaron.


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The first tenth part of all increase I gave to the sons of Aaron, who ministered at Jerusalem: another tenth part I sold away, and went, and spent it every year at Jerusalem:


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And the third I gave unto them to whom it was meet, as Debora my father's mother had commanded me, because I was left an orphan by my father.


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Furthermore, when I was come to the age of a man, I married Anna of mine own kindred, and of her I begat Tobias.


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And when we were carried away captives to Nineve, all my brethren and those that were of my kindred did eat of the bread of the Gentiles.


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And I went into Media, and left in trust with Gabael, the brother of Gabrias, at Rages a city of Media ten talents of silver.


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Now when Enemessar was dead, Sennacherib his son reigned in his stead; whose estate was troubled, that I could not go into Media.


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And my clothes to the naked: and if I saw any of my nation dead, or cast about the walls of Nineve, I buried him.


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And if the king Sennacherib had slain any, when he was come, and fled from Judea, I buried them privily; for in his wrath he killed many; but the bodies were not found, when they were sought for of the king.


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And when one of the Ninevites went and complained of me to the king, that I buried them, and hid myself; understanding that I was sought for to be put to death, I withdrew myself for fear.


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Then all my goods were forcibly taken away, neither was there any thing left me, beside my wife Anna and my son Tobias.


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And there passed not five and fifty days, before two of his sons killed him, and they fled into the mountains of Ararath; and Sarchedonus his son reigned in his stead; who appointed over his father's accounts, and over all his affairs, Achiacharus my brother Anael's son.


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And Achiacharus intreating for me, I returned to Nineve. Now Achiacharus was cupbearer, and keeper of the signet, and steward, and overseer of the accounts: and Sarchedonus appointed him next unto him: and he was my brother's son.


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Now when I was come home again, and my wife Anna was restored unto me, with my son Tobias, in the feast of Pentecost, which is the holy feast of the seven weeks, there was a good dinner prepared me, in the which I sat down to eat.


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And when I saw abundance of meat, I said to my son, Go and bring what poor man soever thou shalt find out of our brethren, who is mindful of the Lord; and, lo, I tarry for thee.


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But he came again, and said, Father, one of our nation is strangled, and is cast out in the marketplace.


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Then before I had tasted of any meat, I started up, and took him up into a room until the going down of the sun.


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Remembering that prophecy of Amos, as he said, Your feasts shall be turned into mourning, and all your mirth into lamentation.


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But my neighbours mocked me, and said, This man is not yet afraid to be put to death for this matter: who fled away; and yet, lo, he burieth the dead again.


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The same night also I returned from the burial, and slept by the wall of my courtyard, being polluted and my face was uncovered:


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And I knew not that there were sparrows in the wall, and mine eyes being open, the sparrows muted warm dung into mine eyes, and a whiteness came in mine eyes: and I went to the physicians, but they helped me not: moreover Achiacharus did nourish me, until I went into Elymais.


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And when she had sent them home to the owners, they paid her wages, and gave her also besides a kid.


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And when it was in my house, and began to cry, I said unto her, From whence is this kid? is it not stolen? render it to the owners; for it is not lawful to eat any thing that is stolen.


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But she replied upon me, It was given for a gift more than the wages. Howbeit I did not believe her, but bade her render it to the owners: and I was abashed at her. But she replied upon me, Where are thine alms and thy righteous deeds? behold, thou and all thy works are known.


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O Lord, thou art just, and all thy works and all thy ways are mercy and truth, and thou judgest truly and justly for ever.


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Remember me, and look on me, punish me not for my sins and ignorances, and the sins of mg fathers, who have sinned before thee:


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For they obeyed not thy commandments: wherefore thou hast delivered us for a spoil, and unto captivity, and unto death, and for a proverb of reproach to all the nations among whom we are dispersed.


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And now thy judgments are many and true: deal with me according to my sins and my fathers': because we have not kept thy commandments, neither have walked in truth before thee.


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Now therefore deal with me as seemeth best unto thee, and command my spirit to be taken from me, that I may be dissolved, and become earth: for it is profitable for me to die rather than to live, because I have heard false reproaches, and have much sorrow: command therefore that I may now be delivered out of this distress, and go into the everlasting place: turn not thy face away from me.


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It came to pass the same day, that in Ecbatane a city of Media Sara the daughter of Raguel was also reproached by her father's maids;


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Because that she had been married to seven husbands, whom Asmodeus the evil spirit had killed, before they had lain with her. Dost thou not know, said they, that thou hast strangled thine husbands? thou hast had already seven husbands, neither wast thou named after any of them.


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Wherefore dost thou beat us for them? if they be dead, go thy ways after them, let us never see of thee either son or daughter.


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Whe she heard these things, she was very sorrowful, so that she thought to have strangled herself; and she said, I am the only daughter of my father, and if I do this, it shall be a reproach unto him, and I shall bring his old age with sorrow unto the grave.


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Then she prayed toward the window, and said, Blessed art thou, O Lord my God, and thine holy and glorious name is blessed and honourable for ever: let all thy works praise thee for ever.


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And that I never polluted my name, nor the name of my father, in the land of my captivity: I am the only daughter of my father, neither hath he any child to be his heir, neither any near kinsman, nor any son of his alive, to whom I may keep myself for a wife: my seven husbands are already dead; and why should I live? but if it please not thee that I should die, command some regard to be had of me, and pity taken of me, that I hear no more reproach.


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And Raphael was sent to heal them both, that is, to scale away the whiteness of Tobit's eyes, and to give Sara the daughter of Raguel for a wife to Tobias the son of Tobit; and to bind Asmodeus the evil spirit; because she belonged to Tobias by right of inheritance. The selfsame time came Tobit home, and entered into his house, and Sara the daughter of Raguel came down from her upper chamber.


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And said with himself, I have wished for death; wherefore do I not call for my son Tobias that I may signify to him of the money before I die?


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And when he had called him, he said, My son, when I am dead, bury me; and despise not thy mother, but honour her all the days of thy life, and do that which shall please her, and grieve her not.


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Remember, my son, that she saw many dangers for thee, when thou wast in her womb: and when she is dead, bury her by me in one grave.


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My son, be mindful of the Lord our God all thy days, and let not thy will be set to sin, or to transgress his commandments: do uprightly all thy life long, and follow not the ways of unrighteousness.


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For if thou deal truly, thy doings shall prosperously succeed to thee, and to all them that live justly.


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Give alms of thy substance; and when thou givest alms, let not thine eye be envious, neither turn thy face from any poor, and the face of God shall not be turned away from thee.


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If thou hast abundance give alms accordingly: if thou have but a little, be not afraid to give according to that little:


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Beware of all whoredom, my son, and chiefly take a wife of the seed of thy fathers, and take not a strange woman to wife, which is not of thy father's tribe: for we are the children of the prophets, Noe, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: remember, my son, that our fathers from the beginning, even that they all married wives of their own kindred, and were blessed in their children, and their seed shall inherit the land.


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Now therefore, my son, love thy brethren, and despise not in thy heart thy brethren, the sons and daughters of thy people, in not taking a wife of them: for in pride is destruction and much trouble, and in lewdness is decay and great want: for lewdness is the mother of famine.


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Let not the wages of any man, which hath wrought for thee, tarry with thee, but give him it out of hand: for if thou serve God, he will also repay thee: be circumspect my son, in all things thou doest, and be wise in all thy conversation.


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Do that to no man which thou hatest: drink not wine to make thee drunken: neither let drunkenness go with thee in thy journey.


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Give of thy bread to the hungry, and of thy garments to them that are naked; and according to thine abundance give alms: and let not thine eye be envious, when thou givest alms.


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Bless the Lord thy God alway, and desire of him that thy ways may be directed, and that all thy paths and counsels may prosper: for every nation hath not counsel; but the Lord himself giveth all good things, and he humbleth whom he will, as he will; now therefore, my son, remember my commandments, neither let them be put out of thy mind.


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And now I signify this to they that I committed ten talents to Gabael the son of Gabrias at Rages in Media.


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And fear not, my son, that we are made poor: for thou hast much wealth, if thou fear God, and depart from all sin, and do that which is pleasing in his sight.


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Then he gave him the handwriting, and said unto him, Seek thee a man which may go with thee, whiles I yet live, and I will give him wages: and go and receive the money.


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But he knew not; and he said unto him, Canst thou go with me to Rages? and knowest thou those places well?


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To whom the angel said, I will go with thee, and I know the way well: for I have lodged with our brother Gabael.


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Then he said unto him, Go and tarry not. So he went in and said to his father, Behold, I have found one which will go with me. Then he said, Call him unto me, that I may know of what tribe he is, and whether he be a trusty man to go with thee.


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To whom he said, Dost thou seek for a tribe or family, or an hired man to go with thy son? Then Tobit said unto him, I would know, brother, thy kindred and name.


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Then Tobit said, Thou art welcome, brother; be not now angry with me, because I have enquired to know thy tribe and thy family; for thou art my brother, of an honest and good stock: for I know Ananias and Jonathas, sons of that great Samaias, as we went together to Jerusalem to worship, and offered the firstborn, and the tenths of the fruits; and they were not seduced with the error of our brethren: my brother, thou art of a good stock.


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But tell me, what wages shall I give thee? wilt thou a drachm a day, and things necessary, as to mine own son?


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So they were well pleased. Then said he to Tobias, Prepare thyself for the journey, and God send you a good journey. And when his son had prepared all things far the journey, his father said, Go thou with this man, and God, which dwelleth in heaven, prosper your journey, and the angel of God keep you company. So they went forth both, and the young man's dog with them.


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But Anna his mother wept, and said to Tobit, Why hast thou sent away our son? is he not the staff of our hand, in going in and out before us?


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Then said Tobit to her, Take no care, my sister; he shall return in safety, and thine eyes shall see him.


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For the good angel will keep him company, and his journey shall be prosperous, and he shall return safe.


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And as they went on their journey, they came in the evening to the river Tigris, and they lodged there.


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And when the young man went down to wash himself, a fish leaped out of the river, and would have devoured him.


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Then the angel said unto him, Take the fish. And the young man laid hold of the fish, and drew it to land.


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To whom the angel said, Open the fish, and take the heart and the liver and the gall, and put them up safely.


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So the young man did as the angel commanded him; and when they had roasted the fish, they did eat it: then they both went on their way, till they drew near to Ecbatane.


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Then the young man said to the angel, Brother Azarias, to what use is the heart and the liver and the gal of the fish?


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And he said unto him, Touching the heart and the liver, if a devil or an evil spirit trouble any, we must make a smoke thereof before the man or the woman, and the party shall be no more vexed.


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As for the gall, it is good to anoint a man that hath whiteness in his eyes, and he shall be healed.


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The angel said to the young man, Brother, to day we shall lodge with Raguel, who is thy cousin; he also hath one only daughter, named Sara; I will speak for her, that she may be given thee for a wife.


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And the maid is fair and wise: now therefore hear me, and I will speak to her father; and when we return from Rages we will celebrate the marriage: for I know that Raguel cannot marry her to another according to the law of Moses, but he shall be guilty of death, because the right of inheritance doth rather appertain to thee than to any other.


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Then the young man answered the angel, I have heard, brother Azarias that this maid hath been given to seven men, who all died in the marriage chamber.


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And now I am the only son of my father, and I am afraid, lest if I go in unto her, I die, as the other before: for a wicked spirit loveth her, which hurteth no body, but those which come unto her; wherefore I also fear lest I die, and bring my father's and my mother's life because of me to the grave with sorrow: for they have no other son to bury them.


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Then the angel said unto him, Dost thou not remember the precepts which thy father gave thee, that thou shouldest marry a wife of thine own kindred? wherefore hear me, O my brother; for she shall be given thee to wife; and make thou no reckoning of the evil spirit; for this same night shall she be given thee in marriage.


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And when thou shalt come into the marriage chamber, thou shalt take the ashes of perfume, and shalt lay upon them some of the heart and liver of the fish, and shalt make a smoke with it:


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And the devil shall smell it, and flee away, and never come again any more: but when thou shalt come to her, rise up both of you, and pray to God which is merciful, who will have pity on you, and save you: fear not, for she is appointed unto thee from the beginning; and thou shalt preserve her, and she shall go with thee. Moreover I suppose that she shall bear thee children. Now when Tobias had heard these things, he loved her, and his heart was effectually joined to her.


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And when they were come to Ecbatane, they came to the house of Raguel, and Sara met them: and after they had saluted one another, she brought them into the house.


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And Raguel asked them, From whence are ye, brethren? To whom they said, We are of the sons of Nephthalim, which are captives in Nineve.


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Then he said to them, Do ye know Tobit our kinsman? And they said, We know him. Then said he, Is he in good health?


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And blessed him, and said unto him, Thou art the son of an honest and good man. But when he had heard that Tobit was blind, he was sorrowful, and wept.


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And likewise Edna his wife and Sara his daughter wept. Moreover they entertained them cheerfully; and after that they had killed a ram of the flock, they set store of meat on the table. Then said Tobias to Raphael, Brother Azarias, speak of those things of which thou didst talk in the way, and let this business be dispatched.


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So he communicated the matter with Raguel: and Raguel said to Tobias, Eat and drink, and make merry:


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For it is meet that thou shouldest marry my daughter: nevertheless I will declare unto thee the truth.


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I have given my daughter in marriage te seven men, who died that night they came in unto her: nevertheless for the present be merry. But Tobias said, I will eat nothing here, till we agree and swear one to another.


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Raguel said, Then take her from henceforth according to the manner, for thou art her cousin, and she is thine, and the merciful God give you good success in all things.


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Then he called his daughter Sara, and she came to her father, and he took her by the hand, and gave her to be wife to Tobias, saying, Behold, take her after the law of Moses, and lead her away to thy father. And he blessed them;


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After Raguel called his wife Edna, and said unto her, Sister, prepare another chamber, and bring her in thither.


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Which when she had done as he had bidden her, she brought her thither: and she wept, and she received the tears of her daughter, and said unto her,


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Be of good comfort, my daughter; the Lord of heaven and earth give thee joy for this thy sorrow: be of good comfort, my daughter.


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And as he went, he remembered the words of Raphael, and took the ashes of the perfumes, and put the heart and the liver of the fish thereupon, and made a smoke therewith.


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The which smell when the evil spirit had smelled, he fled into the utmost parts of Egypt, and the angel bound him.


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And after that they were both shut in together, Tobias rose out of the bed, and said, Sister, arise, and let us pray that God would have pity on us.


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Then began Tobias to say, Blessed art thou, O God of our fathers, and blessed is thy holy and glorious name for ever; let the heavens bless thee, and all thy creatures.


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Thou madest Adam, and gavest him Eve his wife for an helper and stay: of them came mankind: thou hast said, It is not good that man should be alone; let us make unto him an aid like unto himself.


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And now, O Lord, I take not this my sister for lush but uprightly: therefore mercifully ordain that we may become aged together.


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He said unto his wife Edna. Send one of the maids, and let her see whether he be alive: if he be not, that we may bury him, and no man know it.


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Then Raguel praised God, and said, O God, thou art worthy to be praised with all pure and holy praise; therefore let thy saints praise thee with all thy creatures; and let all thine angels and thine elect praise thee for ever.


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Thou art to be praised, for thou hast made me joyful; and that is not come to me which I suspected; but thou hast dealt with us according to thy great mercy.


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Thou art to be praised because thou hast had mercy of two that were the only begotten children of their fathers: grant them mercy, O Lord, and finish their life in health with joy and mercy.


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For before the days of the marriage were finished, Raguel had said unto him by an oath, that he should not depart till the fourteen days of the marriage were expired;


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And then he should take the half of his goods, and go in safety to his father; and should have the rest when I and my wife be dead.


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Brother Azarias, take with thee a servant, and two camels, and go to Rages of Media to Gabael, and bring me the money, and bring him to the wedding.


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So Raphael went out, and lodged with Gabael, and gave him the handwriting: who brought forth bags which were sealed up, and gave them to him.


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And early in the morning they went forth both together, and came to the wedding: and Tobias blessed his wife.


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Now Tobit his father counted every day: and when the days of the journey were expired, and they came not,


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Then his wife said unto him, My son is dead, seeing he stayeth long; and she began to wail him, and said,


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But she said, Hold thy peace, and deceive me not; my son is dead. And she went out every day into the way which they went, and did eat no meat on the daytime, and ceased not whole nights to bewail her son Tobias, until the fourteen days of the wedding were expired, which Raguel had sworn that he should spend there. Then Tobias said to Raguel, Let me go, for my father and my mother look no more to see me.


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But his father in law said unto him, Tarry with me, and I will send to thy father, and they shall declare unto him how things go with thee.


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And he blessed them, and sent them away, saying, The God of heaven give you a prosperous journey, my children.


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And he said to his daughter, Honour thy father and thy mother in law, which are now thy parents, that I may hear good report of thee. And he kissed her. Edna also said to Tobias, The Lord of heaven restore thee, my dear brother, and grant that I may see thy children of my daughter Sara before I die, that I may rejoice before the Lord: behold, I commit my daughter unto thee of special trust; where are do not entreat her evil.


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After these things Tobias went his way, praising God that he had given him a prosperous journey, and blessed Raguel and Edna his wife, and went on his way till they drew near unto Nineve.


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And when she espied him coming, she said to his father, Behold, thy son cometh, and the man that went with him.


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Therefore anoint thou his eyes with the gall, and being pricked therewith, he shall rub, and the whiteness shall fall away, and he shall see thee.


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Then Anna ran forth, and fell upon the neck of her son, and said unto him, Seeing I have seen thee, my son, from henceforth I am content to die. And they wept both.


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And took hold of his father: and he strake of the gall on his fathers' eyes, saying, Be of good hope, my father.


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And the whiteness pilled away from the corners of his eyes: and when he saw his son, he fell upon his neck.


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And he wept, and said, Blessed art thou, O God, and blessed is thy name for ever; and blessed are all thine holy angels:


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For thou hast scourged, and hast taken pity on me: for, behold, I see my son Tobias. And his son went in rejoicing, and told his father the great things that had happened to him in Media.


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Then Tobit went out to meet his daughter in law at the gate of Nineve, rejoicing and praising God: and they which saw him go marvelled, because he had received his sight.


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But Tobias gave thanks before them, because God had mercy on him. And when he came near to Sara his daughter in law, he blessed her, saying, Thou art welcome, daughter: God be blessed, which hath brought thee unto us, and blessed be thy father and thy mother. And there was joy among all his brethren which were at Nineve.


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Then Tobit called his son Tobias, and said unto him, My son, see that the man have his wages, which went with thee, and thou must give him more.


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And Tobias said unto him, O father, it is no harm to me to give him half of those things which I have brought:


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For he hath brought me again to thee in safety, and made whole my wife, and brought me the money, and likewise healed thee.


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So he called the angel, and he said unto him, Take half of all that ye have brought and go away in safety.


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Then he took them both apart, and said unto them, Bless God, praise him, and magnify him, and praise him for the things which he hath done unto you in the sight of all that live. It is good to praise God, and exalt his name, and honourably to shew forth the works of God; therefore be not slack to praise him.


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It is good to keep close the secret of a king, but it is honourable to reveal the works of God. Do that which is good, and no evil shall touch you.


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Prayer is good with fasting and alms and righteousness. A little with righteousness is better than much with unrighteousness. It is better to give alms than to lay up gold:


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For alms doth deliver from death, and shall purge away all sin. Those that exercise alms and righteousness shall be filled with life:


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Surely I will keep close nothing from you. For I said, It was good to keep close the secret of a king, but that it was honourable to reveal the works of God.


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Now therefore, when thou didst pray, and Sara thy daughter in law, I did bring the remembrance of your prayers before the Holy One: and when thou didst bury the dead, I was with thee likewise.


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And when thou didst not delay to rise up, and leave thy dinner, to go and cover the dead, thy good deed was not hid from me: but I was with thee.


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I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels, which present the prayers of the saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the Holy One.


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Now therefore give God thanks: for I go up to him that sent me; but write all things which are done in a book.


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Then they confessed the great and wonderful works of God, and how the angel of the Lord had appeared unto them.


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Then Tobit wrote a prayer of rejoicing, and said, Blessed be God that liveth for ever, and blessed be his kingdom.


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For he doth scourge, and hath mercy: he leadeth down to hell, and bringeth up again: neither is there any that can avoid his hand.


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There declare his greatness, and extol him before all the living: for he is our Lord, and he is the God our Father for ever.


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And he will scourge us for our iniquities, and will have mercy again, and will gather us out of all nations, among whom he hath scattered us.


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If ye turn to him with your whole heart, and with your whole mind, and deal uprightly before him, then will he turn unto you, and will not hide his face from you. Therefore see what he will do with you, and confess him with your whole mouth, and praise the Lord of might, and extol the everlasting King. In the land of my captivity do I praise him, and declare his might and majesty to a sinful nation. O ye sinners, turn and do justice before him: who can tell if he will accept you, and have mercy on you?


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I will extol my God, and my soul shall praise the King of heaven, and shall rejoice in his greatness.


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O Jerusalem, the holy city, he will scourge thee for thy children's works, and will have mercy again on the sons of the righteous.


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Give praise to the Lord, for he is good: and praise the everlasting King, that his tabernacle may be builded in thee again with joy, and let him make joyful there in thee those that are captives, and love in thee for ever those that are miserable.


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Many nations shall come from far to the name of the Lord God with gifts in their hands, even gifts to the King of heaven; all generations shall praise thee with great joy.


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Rejoice and be glad for the children of the just: for they shall be gathered together, and shall bless the Lord of the just.


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O blessed are they which love thee, for they shall rejoice in thy peace: blessed are they which have been sorrowful for all thy scourges; for they shall rejoice for thee, when they have seen all thy glory, and shall be glad for ever.


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For Jerusalem shall be built up with sapphires and emeralds, and precious stone: thy walls and towers and battlements with pure gold.


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And all her streets shall say, Alleluia; and they shall praise him, saying, Blessed be God, which hath extolled it for ever.


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And he was eight and fifty years old when he lost his sight, which was restored to him after eight years: and he gave alms, and he increased in the fear of the Lord God, and praised him.


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And when he was very aged he called his son, and the sons of his son, and said to him, My son, take thy children; for, behold, I am aged, and am ready to depart out of this life.


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Go into Media my son, for I surely believe those things which Jonas the prophet spake of Nineve, that it shall be overthrown; and that for a time peace shall rather be in Media; and that our brethren shall lie scattered in the earth from that good land: and Jerusalem shall be desolate, and the house of God in it shall be burned, and shall be desolate for a time;


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And that again God will have mercy on them, and bring them again into the land, where they shall build a temple, but not like to the first, until the time of that age be fulfilled; and afterward they shall return from all places of their captivity, and build up Jerusalem gloriously, and the house of God shall be built in it for ever with a glorious building, as the prophets have spoken thereof.


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So shall all nations praise the Lord, and his people shall confess God, and the Lord shall exalt his people; and all those which love the Lord God in truth and justice shall rejoice, shewing mercy to our brethren.


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And now, my son, depart out of Nineve, because that those things which the prophet Jonas spake shall surely come to pass.


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But keep thou the law and the commandments, and shew thyself merciful and just, that it may go well with thee.


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And bury me decently, and thy mother with me; but tarry no longer at Nineve. Remember, my son, how Aman handled Achiacharus that brought him up, how out of light he brought him into darkness, and how he rewarded him again: yet Achiacharus was saved, but the other had his reward: for he went down into darkness. Manasses gave alms, and escaped the snares of death which they had set for him: but Aman fell into the snare, and perished.


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Wherefore now, my son, consider what alms doeth, and how righteousness doth deliver. When he had said these things, he gave up the ghost in the bed, being an hundred and eight and fifty years old; and he buried him honourably.


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And when Anna his mother was dead, he buried her with his father. But Tobias departed with his wife and children to Ecbatane to Raguel his father in law,


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Where he became old with honour, and he buried his father and mother in law honourably, and he inherited their substance, and his father Tobit's.


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But before he died he heard of the destruction of Nineve, which was taken by Nabuchodonosor and Assuerus: and before his death he rejoiced over Nineve.


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In the twelfth year of the reign of Nabuchodonosor, who reigned in Nineve, the great city; in the days of Arphaxad, which reigned over the Medes in Ecbatane,


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And built in Ecbatane walls round about of stones hewn three cubits broad and six cubits long, and made the height of the wall seventy cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits:


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And set the towers thereof upon the gates of it an hundred cubits high, and the breadth thereof in the foundation threescore cubits:


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And he made the gates thereof, even gates that were raised to the height of seventy cubits, and the breadth of them was forty cubits, for the going forth of his mighty armies, and for the setting in array of his footmen:


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Even in those days king Nabuchodonosor made war with king Arphaxad in the great plain, which is the plain in the borders of Ragau.


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And there came unto him all they that dwelt in the hill country, and all that dwelt by Euphrates, and Tigris and Hydaspes, and the plain of Arioch the king of the Elymeans, and very many nations of the sons of Chelod, assembled themselves to the battle.


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Then Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians sent unto all that dwelt in Persia, and to all that dwelt westward, and to those that dwelt in Cilicia, and Damascus, and Libanus, and Antilibanus, and to all that dwelt upon the sea coast,


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And to those among the nations that were of Carmel, and Galaad, and the higher Galilee, and the great plain of Esdrelom,


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And to all that were in Samaria and the cities thereof, and beyond Jordan unto Jerusalem, and Betane, and Chelus, and Kades, and the river of Egypt, and Taphnes, and Ramesse, and all the land of Gesem,


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Until ye come beyond Tanis and Memphis, and to all the inhabitants of Egypt, until ye come to the borders of Ethiopia.


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But all the inhabitants of the land made light of the commandment of Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians, neither went they with him to the battle; for they were not afraid of him: yea, he was before them as one man, and they sent away his ambassadors from them without effect, and with disgrace.


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Therefore Nabuchodonosor was very angry with all this country, and sware by his throne and kingdom, that he would surely be avenged upon all those coasts of Cilicia, and Damascus, and Syria, and that he would slay with the sword all the inhabitants of the land of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and all Judea, and all that were in Egypt, till ye come to the borders of the two seas.


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Then he marched in battle array with his power against king Arphaxad in the seventeenth year, and he prevailed in his battle: for he overthrew all the power of Arphaxad, and all his horsemen, and all his chariots,


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And became lord of his cities, and came unto Ecbatane, and took the towers, and spoiled the streets thereof, and turned the beauty thereof into shame.


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He took also Arphaxad in the mountains of Ragau, and smote him through with his darts, and destroyed him utterly that day.


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So he returned afterward to Nineve, both he and all his company of sundry nations being a very great multitude of men of war, and there he took his ease, and banqueted, both he and his army, an hundred and twenty days.


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And in the eighteenth year, the two and twentieth day of the first month, there was talk in the house of Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians that he should, as he said, avenge himself on all the earth.


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So he called unto him all his officers, and all his nobles, and communicated with them his secret counsel, and concluded the afflicting of the whole earth out of his own mouth.


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And when he had ended his counsel, Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians called Holofernes the chief captain of his army, which was next unto him, and said unto him.


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Thus saith the great king, the lord of the whole earth, Behold, thou shalt go forth from my presence, and take with thee men that trust in their own strength, of footmen an hundred and twenty thousand; and the number of horses with their riders twelve thousand.


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And thou shalt declare unto that they prepare for me earth and water: for I will go forth in my wrath against them and will cover the whole face of the earth with the feet of mine army, and I will give them for a spoil unto them:


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So that their slain shall fill their valleys and brooks and the river shall be filled with their dead, till it overflow:


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Thou therefore shalt go forth. and take beforehand for me all their coasts: and if they will yield themselves unto thee, thou shalt reserve them for me till the day of their punishment.


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But concerning them that rebel, let not thine eye spare them; but put them to the slaughter, and spoil them wheresoever thou goest.


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For as I live, and by the power of my kingdom, whatsoever I have spoken, that will I do by mine hand.


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And take thou heed that thou transgress none of the commandments of thy lord, but accomplish them fully, as I have commanded thee, and defer not to do them.


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Then Holofernes went forth from the presence of his lord, and called ail the governors and captains, and the officers of the army of Assur;


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And he mustered the chosen men for the battle, as his lord had commanded him, unto an hundred and twenty thousand, and twelve thousand archers on horseback;


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And he took camels and asses for their carriages, a very great number; and sheep and oxen and goats without number for their provision:


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And plenty of victual for every man of the army, and very much gold and silver out of the king's house.


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Then he went forth and all his power to go before king Nabuchodonosor in the voyage, and to cover all the face of the earth westward with their chariots, and horsemen, and their chosen footmen.


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A great number also sundry countries came with them like locusts, and like the sand of the earth: for the multitude was without number.


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And they went forth of Nineve three days' journey toward the plain of Bectileth, and pitched from Bectileth near the mountain which is at the left hand of the upper Cilicia.


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Then he took all his army, his footmen, and horsemen and chariots, and went from thence into the hill country;


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And destroyed Phud and Lud, and spoiled all the children of Rasses, and the children of Israel, which were toward the wilderness at the south of the land of the Chellians.


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Then he went over Euphrates, and went through Mesopotamia, and destroyed all the high cities that were upon the river Arbonai, till ye come to the sea.


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And he took the borders of Cilicia, and killed all that resisted him, and came to the borders of Japheth, which were toward the south, over against Arabia.


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He compassed also all the children of Madian, and burned up their tabernacles, and spoiled their sheepcotes.


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Then he went down into the plain of Damascus in the time of wheat harvest, and burnt up all their fields, and destroyed their flocks and herds, also he spoiled their cities, and utterly wasted their countries, and smote all their young men with the edge of the sword.


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Therefore the fear and dread of him fell upon all the inhabitants of the sea coasts, which were in Sidon and Tyrus, and them that dwelt in Sur and Ocina, and all that dwelt in Jemnaan; and they that dwelt in Azotus and Ascalon feared him greatly.


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Behold, we the servants of Nabuchodonosor the great king lie before thee; use us as shall be good in thy sight.


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Behold, our houses, and all our places, and all our fields of wheat, and flocks, and herds, and all the lodges of our tents lie before thy face; use them as it pleaseth thee.


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Behold, even our cities and the inhabitants thereof are thy servants; come and deal with them as seemeth good unto thee.


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Then came he down toward the sea coast, both he and his army, and set garrisons in the high cities, and took out of them chosen men for aid.


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So they and all the country round about received them with garlands, with dances, and with timbrels.


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Yet he did cast down their frontiers, and cut down their groves: for he had decreed to destroy all the gods of the land, that all nations should worship Nabuchodonosor only, and that all tongues and tribes should call upon him as god.


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And he pitched between Geba and Scythopolis, and there he tarried a whole month, that he might gather together all the carriages of his army.


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Now the children of Israel, that dwelt in Judea, heard all that Holofernes the chief captain of Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians had done to the nations, and after what manner he had spoiled all their temples, and brought them to nought.


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Therefore they were exceedingly afraid of him, and were troubled for Jerusalem, and for the temple of the Lord their God:


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For they were newly returned from the captivity, and all the people of Judea were lately gathered together: and the vessels, and the altar, and the house, were sanctified after the profanation.


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Therefore they sent into all the coasts of Samaria, and the villages and to Bethoron, and Belmen, and Jericho, and to Choba, and Esora, and to the valley of Salem:


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And possessed themselves beforehand of all the tops of the high mountains, and fortified the villages that were in them, and laid up victuals for the provision of war: for their fields were of late reaped.


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Also Joacim the high priest, which was in those days in Jerusalem, wrote to them that dwelt in Bethulia, and Betomestham, which is over against Esdraelon toward the open country, near to Dothaim,


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Charging them to keep the passages of the hill country: for by them there was an entrance into Judea, and it was easy to stop them that would come up, because the passage was straight, for two men at the most.


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And the children of Israel did as Joacim the high priest had commanded them, with the ancients of all the people of Israel, which dwelt at Jerusalem.


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Then every man of Israel cried to God with great fervency, and with great vehemency did they humble their souls:


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Both they, and their wives and their children, and their cattle, and every stranger and hireling, and their servants bought with money, put sackcloth upon their loins.


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Thus every man and women, and the little children, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, fell before the temple, and cast ashes upon their heads, and spread out their sackcloth before the face of the Lord: also they put sackcloth about the altar,


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And cried to the God of Israel all with one consent earnestly, that he would not give their children for a prey, and their wives for a spoil, and the cities of their inheritance to destruction, and the sanctuary to profanation and reproach, and for the nations to rejoice at.


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So God heard their prayers, and looked upon their afflictions: for the people fasted many days in all Judea and Jerusalem before the sanctuary of the Lord Almighty.


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And Joacim the high priest, and all the priests that stood before the Lord, and they which ministered unto the Lord, had their loins girt with sackcloth, and offered the daily burnt offerings, with the vows and free gifts of the people,


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And had ashes on their mitres, and cried unto the Lord with all their power, that he would look upon all the house of Israel graciously.


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Then was it declared to Holofernes, the chief captain of the army of Assur, that the children of Israel had prepared for war, and had shut up the passages of the hill country, and had fortified all the tops of the high hills and had laid impediments in the champaign countries:


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Wherewith he was very angry, and called all the princes of Moab, and the captains of Ammon, and all the governors of the sea coast,


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And he said unto them, Tell me now, ye sons of Chanaan, who this people is, that dwelleth in the hill country, and what are the cities that they inhabit, and what is the multitude of their army, and wherein is their power and strength, and what king is set over them, or captain of their army;


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Then said Achior, the captain of all the sons of Ammon, Let my lord now hear a word from the mouth of thy servant, and I will declare unto thee the truth concerning this people, which dwelleth near thee, and inhabiteth the hill countries: and there shall no lie come out of the mouth of thy servant.


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And they sojourned heretofore in Mesopotamia, because they would not follow the gods of their fathers, which were in the land of Chaldea.


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For they left the way of their ancestors, and worshipped the God of heaven, the God whom they knew: so they cast them out from the face of their gods, and they fled into Mesopotamia, and sojourned there many days.


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Then their God commanded them to depart from the place where they sojourned, and to go into the land of Chanaan: where they dwelt, and were increased with gold and silver, and with very much cattle.


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But when a famine covered all the land of Chanaan, they went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, while they were nourished, and became there a great multitude, so that one could not number their nation.


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Therefore the king of Egypt rose up against them, and dealt subtilly with them, and brought them low with labouring in brick, and made them slaves.


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Then they cried unto their God, and he smote all the land of Egypt with incurable plagues: so the Egyptians cast them out of their sight.


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So they dwelt in the land of the Amorites, and they destroyed by their strength all them of Esebon, and passing over Jordan they possessed all the hill country.


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And they cast forth before them the Chanaanite, the Pherezite, the Jebusite, and the Sychemite, and all the Gergesites, and they dwelt in that country many days.


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And whilst they sinned not before their God, they prospered, because the God that hateth iniquity was with them.


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But when they departed from the way which he appointed them, they were destroyed in many battles very sore, and were led captives into a land that was not their's, and the temple of their God was cast to the ground, and their cities were taken by the enemies.


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But now are they returned to their God, and are come up from the places where they were scattered, and have possessed Jerusalem, where their sanctuary is, and are seated in the hill country; for it was desolate.


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Now therefore, my lord and governor, if there be any error against this people, and they sin against their God, let us consider that this shall be their ruin, and let us go up, and we shall overcome them.


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But if there be no iniquity in their nation, let my lord now pass by, lest their Lord defend them, and their God be for them, and we become a reproach before all the world.


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And when Achior had finished these sayings, all the people standing round about the tent murmured, and the chief men of Holofernes, and all that dwelt by the sea side, and in Moab, spake that he should kill him.


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For, say they, we will not be afraid of the face of the children of Israel: for, lo, it is a people that have no strength nor power for a strong battle


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Now therefore, lord Holofernes, we will go up, and they shall be a prey to be devoured of all thine army.


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And when the tumult of men that were about the council was ceased, Holofernes the chief captain of the army of Assur said unto Achior and all the Moabites before all the company of other nations,


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And who art thou, Achior, and the hirelings of Ephraim, that thou hast prophesied against us as to day, and hast said, that we should not make war with the people of Israel, because their God will defend them? and who is God but Nabuchodonosor?


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He will send his power, and will destroy them from the face of the earth, and their God shall not deliver them: but we his servants will destroy them as one man; for they are not able to sustain the power of our horses.


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For with them we will tread them under foot, and their mountains shall be drunken with their blood, and their fields shall be filled with their dead bodies, and their footsteps shall not be able to stand before us, for they shall utterly perish, saith king Nabuchodonosor, lord of all the earth: for he said, None of my words shall be in vain.


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And thou, Achior, an hireling of Ammon, which hast spoken these words in the day of thine iniquity, shalt see my face no more from this day, until I take vengeance of this nation that came out of Egypt.


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And then shall the sword of mine army, and the multitude of them that serve me, pass through thy sides, and thou shalt fall among their slain, when I return.


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Now therefore my servants shall bring thee back into the hill country, and shall set thee in one of the cities of the passages:


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And if thou persuade thyself in thy mind that they shall be taken, let not thy countenance fall: I have spoken it, and none of my words shall be in vain.


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Then Holofernes commanded his servants, that waited in his tent, to take Achior, and bring him to Bethulia, and deliver him into the hands of the children of Israel.


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So his servants took him, and brought him out of the camp into the plain, and they went from the midst of the plain into the hill country, and came unto the fountains that were under Bethulia.


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And when the men of the city saw them, they took up their weapons, and went out of the city to the top of the hill: and every man that used a sling kept them from coming up by casting of stones against them.


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Nevertheless having gotten privily under the hill, they bound Achior, and cast him down, and left him at the foot of the hill, and returned to their lord.


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But the Israelites descended from their city, and came unto him, and loosed him, and brought him to Bethulia, and presented him to the governors of the city:


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Which were in those days Ozias the son of Micha, of the tribe of Simeon, and Chabris the son of Gothoniel, and Charmis the son of Melchiel.


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And they called together all the ancients of the city, and all their youth ran together, and their women, to the assembly, and they set Achior in the midst of all their people. Then Ozias asked him of that which was done.


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And he answered and declared unto them the words of the council of Holofernes, and all the words that he had spoken in the midst of the princes of Assur, and whatsoever Holofernes had spoken proudly against the house of Israel.


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O Lord God of heaven, behold their pride, and pity the low estate of our nation, and look upon the face of those that are sanctified unto thee this day.


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And Ozias took him out of the assembly unto his house, and made a feast to the elders; and they called on the God of Israel all that night for help.


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The next day Holofernes commanded all his army, and all his people which were come to take his part, that they should remove their camp against Bethulia, to take aforehand the ascents of the hill country, and to make war against the children of Israel.


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Then their strong men removed their camps in that day, and the army of the men of war was an hundred and seventy thousand footmen, and twelve thousand horsemen, beside the baggage, and other men that were afoot among them, a very great multitude.


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And they camped in the valley near unto Bethulia, by the fountain, and they spread themselves in breadth over Dothaim even to Belmaim, and in length from Bethulia unto Cynamon, which is over against Esdraelon.


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Now the children of Israel, when they saw the multitude of them, were greatly troubled, and said every one to his neighbour, Now will these men lick up the face of the earth; for neither the high mountains, nor the valleys, nor the hills, are able to bear their weight.


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Then every man took up his weapons of war, and when they had kindled fires upon their towers, they remained and watched all that night.


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But in the second day Holofernes brought forth all his horsemen in the sight of the children of Israel which were in Bethulia,


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And viewed the passages up to the city, and came to the fountains of their waters, and took them, and set garrisons of men of war over them, and he himself removed toward his people.


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Then came unto him all the chief of the children of Esau, and all the governors of the people of Moab, and the captains of the sea coast, and said,


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For this people of the children of Israel do not trust in their spears, but in the height of the mountains wherein they dwell, because it is not easy to come up to the tops of their mountains.


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Now therefore, my lord, fight not against them in battle array, and there shall not so much as one man of thy people perish.


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Remain in thy camp, and keep all the men of thine army, and let thy servants get into their hands the fountain of water, which issueth forth of the foot of the mountain:


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For all the inhabitants of Bethulia have their water thence; so shall thirst kill them, and they shall give up their city, and we and our people shall go up to the tops of the mountains that are near, and will camp upon them, to watch that none go out of the city.


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So they and their wives and their children shall be consumed with fire, and before the sword come against them, they shall be overthrown in the streets where they dwell.


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Thus shalt thou render them an evil reward; because they rebelled, and met not thy person peaceably.


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So the camp of the children of Ammon departed, and with them five thousand of the Assyrians, and they pitched in the valley, and took the waters, and the fountains of the waters of the children of Israel.


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Then the children of Esau went up with the children of Ammon, and camped in the hill country over against Dothaim: and they sent some of them toward the south, and toward the east over against Ekrebel, which is near unto Chusi, that is upon the brook Mochmur; and the rest of the army of the Assyrians camped in the plain, and covered the face of the whole land; and their tents and carriages were pitched to a very great multitude.


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Then the children of Israel cried unto the Lord their God, because their heart failed, for all their enemies had compassed them round about, and there was no way to escape out from among them.


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Thus all the company of Assur remained about them, both their footmen, chariots, and horsemen, four and thirty days, so that all their vessels of water failed all the inhibitants of Bethulia.


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And the cisterns were emptied, and they had not water to drink their fill for one day; for they gave them drink by measure.


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Therefore their young children were out of heart, and their women and young men fainted for thirst, and fell down in the streets of the city, and by the passages of the gates, and there was no longer any strength in them.


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Then all the people assembled to Ozias, and to the chief of the city, both young men, and women, and children, and cried with a loud voice, and said before all the elders,


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God be judge between us and you: for ye have done us great injury, in that ye have not required peace of the children of Assur.


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For now we have no helper: but God hath sold us into their hands, that we should be thrown down before them with thirst and great destruction.


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Now therefore call them unto you, and deliver the whole city for a spoil to the people of Holofernes, and to all his army.


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For it is better for us to be made a spoil unto them, than to die for thirst: for we will be his servants, that our souls may live, and not see the death of our infants before our eyes, nor our wives nor our children to die.


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We take to witness against you the heaven and the earth, and our God and Lord of our fathers, which punisheth us according to our sins and the sins of our fathers, that he do not according as we have said this day.


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Then there was great weeping with one consent in the midst of the assembly; and they cried unto the Lord God with a loud voice.


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Then said Ozias to them, Brethren, be of good courage, let us yet endure five days, in the which space the Lord our God may turn his mercy toward us; for he will not forsake us utterly.


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And he dispersed the people, every one to their own charge; and they went unto the walls and towers of their city, and sent the women and children into their houses: and they were very low brought in the city.


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Now at that time Judith heard thereof, which was the daughter of Merari, the son of Ox, the son of Joseph, the son of Ozel, the son of Elcia, the son of Ananias, the son of Gedeon, the son of Raphaim, the son of Acitho, the son of Eliu, the son of Eliab, the son of Nathanael, the son of Samael, the son of Salasadal, the son of Israel.


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For as he stood overseeing them that bound sheaves in the field, the heat came upon his head, and he fell on his bed, and died in the city of Bethulia: and they buried him with his fathers in the field between Dothaim and Balamo.


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And she made her a tent upon the top of her house, and put on sackcloth upon her loins and ware her widow's apparel.


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And she fasted all the days of her widowhood, save the eves of the sabbaths, and the sabbaths, and the eves of the new moons, and the new moons and the feasts and solemn days of the house of Israel.


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She was also of a goodly countenance, and very beautiful to behold: and her husband Manasses had left her gold, and silver, and menservants and maidservants, and cattle, and lands; and she remained upon them.


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Now when she heard the evil words of the people against the governor, that they fainted for lack of water; for Judith had heard all the words that Ozias had spoken unto them, and that he had sworn to deliver the city unto the Assyrians after five days;


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Then she sent her waitingwoman, that had the government of all things that she had, to call Ozias and Chabris and Charmis, the ancients of the city.


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And they came unto her, and she said unto them, Hear me now, O ye governors of the inhabitants of Bethulia: for your words that ye have spoken before the people this day are not right, touching this oath which ye made and pronounced between God and you, and have promised to deliver the city to our enemies, unless within these days the Lord turn to help you.


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And now who are ye that have tempted God this day, and stand instead of God among the children of men?


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For ye cannot find the depth of the heart of man, neither can ye perceive the things that he thinketh: then how can ye search out God, that hath made all these things, and know his mind, or comprehend his purpose? Nay, my brethren, provoke not the Lord our God to anger.


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For if he will not help us within these five days, he hath power to defend us when he will, even every day, or to destroy us before our enemies.


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Do not bind the counsels of the Lord our God: for God is not as man, that he may be threatened; neither is he as the son of man, that he should be wavering.


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Therefore let us wait for salvation of him, and call upon him to help us, and he will hear our voice, if it please him.


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For there arose none in our age, neither is there any now in these days neither tribe, nor family, nor people, nor city among us, which worship gods made with hands, as hath been aforetime.


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For the which cause our fathers were given to the sword, and for a spoil, and had a great fall before our enemies.


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For if we be taken so, all Judea shall lie waste, and our sanctuary shall be spoiled; and he will require the profanation thereof at our mouth.


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And the slaughter of our brethren, and the captivity of the country, and the desolation of our inheritance, will he turn upon our heads among the Gentiles, wheresoever we shall be in bondage; and we shall be an offence and a reproach to all them that possess us.


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Now therefore, O brethren, let us shew an example to our brethren, because their hearts depend upon us, and the sanctuary, and the house, and the altar, rest upon us.


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Remember what things he did to Abraham, and how he tried Isaac, and what happened to Jacob in Mesopotamia of Syria, when he kept the sheep of Laban his mother's brother.


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For he hath not tried us in the fire, as he did them, for the examination of their hearts, neither hath he taken vengeance on us: but the Lord doth scourge them that come near unto him, to admonish them.


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Then said Ozias to her, All that thou hast spoken hast thou spoken with a good heart, and there is none that may gainsay thy words.


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For this is not the first day wherein thy wisdom is manifested; but from the beginning of thy days all the people have known thy understanding, because the disposition of thine heart is good.


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But the people were very thirsty, and compelled us to do unto them as we have spoken, and to bring an oath upon ourselves, which we will not break.


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Therefore now pray thou for us, because thou art a godly woman, and the Lord will send us rain to fill our cisterns, and we shall faint no more.


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Then said Judith unto them, Hear me, and I will do a thing, which shall go throughout all generations to the children of our nation.


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Ye shall stand this night in the gate, and I will go forth with my waitingwoman: and within the days that ye have promised to deliver the city to our enemies the Lord will visit Israel by mine hand.


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But enquire not ye of mine act: for I will not declare it unto you, till the things be finished that I do.


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Then said Ozias and the princes unto her, Go in peace, and the Lord God be before thee, to take vengeance on our enemies.


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Judith fell upon her face, and put ashes upon her head, and uncovered the sackcloth wherewith she was clothed; and about the time that the incense of that evening was offered in Jerusalem in the house of the Lord Judith cried with a loud voice, and said,


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O Lord God of my father Simeon, to whom thou gavest a sword to take vengeance of the strangers, who loosened the girdle of a maid to defile her, and discovered the thigh to her shame, and polluted her virginity to her reproach; for thou saidst, It shall not be so; and yet they did so:


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Wherefore thou gavest their rulers to be slain, so that they dyed their bed in blood, being deceived, and smotest the servants with their lords, and the lords upon their thrones;


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And hast given their wives for a prey, and their daughters to be captives, and all their spoils to be divided among thy dear children; which were moved with thy zeal, and abhorred the pollution of their blood, and called upon thee for aid: O God, O my God, hear me also a widow.


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For thou hast wrought not only those things, but also the things which fell out before, and which ensued after; thou hast thought upon the things which are now, and which are to come.


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Yea, what things thou didst determine were ready at hand, and said, Lo, we are here: for all thy ways are prepared, and thy judgments are in thy foreknowledge.


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For, behold, the Assyrians are multiplied in their power; they are exalted with horse and man; they glory in the strength of their footmen; they trust in shield, and spear, and bow, and sling; and know not that thou art the Lord that breakest the battles: the Lord is thy name.


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Throw down their strength in thy power, and bring down their force in thy wrath: for they have purposed to defile thy sanctuary, and to pollute the tabernacle where thy glorious name resteth and to cast down with sword the horn of thy altar.


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Behold their pride, and send thy wrath upon their heads: give into mine hand, which am a widow, the power that I have conceived.


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Smite by the deceit of my lips the servant with the prince, and the prince with the servant: break down their stateliness by the hand of a woman.


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For thy power standeth not in multitude nor thy might in strong men: for thou art a God of the afflicted, an helper of the oppressed, an upholder of the weak, a protector of the forlorn, a saviour of them that are without hope.


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I pray thee, I pray thee, O God of my father, and God of the inheritance of Israel, Lord of the heavens and earth, Creator of the waters, king of every creature, hear thou my prayer:


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And make my speech and deceit to be their wound and stripe, who have purposed cruel things against thy covenant, and thy hallowed house, and against the top of Sion, and against the house of the possession of thy children.


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And make every nation and tribe to acknowledge that thou art the God of all power and might, and that there is none other that protecteth the people of Israel but thou.


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Now after that she had ceased to cry unto the God of Israel, and bad made an end of all these words.


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She rose where she had fallen down, and called her maid, and went down into the house in the which she abode in the sabbath days, and in her feast days,


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And pulled off the sackcloth which she had on, and put off the garments of her widowhood, and washed her body all over with water, and anointed herself with precious ointment, and braided the hair of her head, and put on a tire upon it, and put on her garments of gladness, wherewith she was clad during the life of Manasses her husband.


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And she took sandals upon her feet, and put about her her bracelets, and her chains, and her rings, and her earrings, and all her ornaments, and decked herself bravely, to allure the eyes of all men that should see her.


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Then she gave her maid a bottle of wine, and a cruse of oil, and filled a bag with parched corn, and lumps of figs, and with fine bread; so she folded all these things together, and laid them upon her.


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Thus they went forth to the gate of the city of Bethulia, and found standing there Ozias and the ancients of the city, Chabris and Charmis.


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And when they saw her, that her countenance was altered, and her apparel was changed, they wondered at her beauty very greatly, and said unto her.


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The God, the God of our fathers give thee favour, and accomplish thine enterprizes to the glory of the children of Israel, and to the exaltation of Jerusalem. Then they worshipped God.


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And she said unto them, Command the gates of the city to be opened unto me, that I may go forth to accomplish the things whereof ye have spoken with me. So they commanded the young men to open unto her, as she had spoken.


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And when they had done so, Judith went out, she, and her maid with her; and the men of the city looked after her, until she was gone down the mountain, and till she had passed the valley, and could see her no more.


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And took her, and asked her, Of what people art thou? and whence comest thou? and whither goest thou? And she said, I am a woman of the Hebrews, and am fled from them: for they shall be given you to be consumed:


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And I am coming before Holofernes the chief captain of your army, to declare words of truth; and I will shew him a way, whereby he shall go, and win all the hill country, without losing the body or life of any one of his men.


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Now when the men heard her words, and beheld her countenance, they wondered greatly at her beauty, and said unto her,


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Thou hast saved thy life, in that thou hast hasted to come down to the presence of our lord: now therefore come to his tent, and some of us shall conduct thee, until they have delivered thee to his hands.


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And when thou standest before him, be not afraid in thine heart, but shew unto him according to thy word; and he will entreat thee well.


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Then they chose out of them an hundred men to accompany her and her maid; and they brought her to the tent of Holofernes.


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Then was there a concourse throughout all the camp: for her coming was noised among the tents, and they came about her, as she stood without the tent of Holofernes, till they told him of her.


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And they wondered at her beauty, and admired the children of Israel because of her, and every one said to his neighbour, Who would despise this people, that have among them such women? surely it is not good that one man of them be left who being let go might deceive the whole earth.


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And they that lay near Holofernes went out, and all his servants and they brought her into the tent.


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Now Holofernes rested upon his bed under a canopy, which was woven with purple, and gold, and emeralds, and precious stones.


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And when Judith was come before him and his servants they all marvelled at the beauty of her countenance; and she fell down upon her face, and did reverence unto him: and his servants took her up.


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Then said Holofernes unto her, Woman, be of good comfort, fear not in thine heart: for I never hurt any that was willing to serve Nabuchodonosor, the king of all the earth.


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Now therefore, if thy people that dwelleth in the mountains had not set light by me, I would not have lifted up my spear against them: but they have done these things to themselves.


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But now tell me wherefore thou art fled from them, and art come unto us: for thou art come for safeguard; be of good comfort, thou shalt live this night, and hereafter:


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For none shall hurt thee, but entreat thee well, as they do the servants of king Nabuchodonosor my lord.


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Then Judith said unto him, Receive the words of thy servant, and suffer thine handmaid to speak in thy presence, and I will declare no lie to my lord this night.


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And if thou wilt follow the words of thine handmaid, God will bring the thing perfectly to pass by thee; and my lord shall not fail of his purposes.


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As Nabuchodonosor king of all the earth liveth, and as his power liveth, who hath sent thee for the upholding of every living thing: for not only men shall serve him by thee, but also the beasts of the field, and the cattle, and the fowls of the air, shall live by thy power under Nabuchodonosor and all his house.


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For we have heard of thy wisdom and thy policies, and it is reported in all the earth, that thou only art excellent in all the kingdom, and mighty in knowledge, and wonderful in feats of war.


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Now as concerning the matter, which Achior did speak in thy council, we have heard his words; for the men of Bethulia saved him, and he declared unto them all that he had spoken unto thee.


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Therefore, O lord and governor, respect not his word; but lay it up in thine heart, for it is true: for our nation shall not be punished, neither can sword prevail against them, except they sin against their God.


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And now, that my lord be not defeated and frustrate of his purpose, even death is now fallen upon them, and their sin hath overtaken them, wherewith they will provoke their God to anger whensoever they shall do that which is not fit to be done:


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For their victuals fail them, and all their water is scant, and they have determined to lay hands upon their cattle, and purposed to consume all those things, that God hath forbidden them to eat by his laws:


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And are resolved to spend the firstfruits of the the tenths of wine and oil, which they had sanctified, and reserved for the priests that serve in Jerusalem before the face of our God; the which things it is not lawful for any of the people so much as to touch with their hands.


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For they have sent some to Jerusalem, because they also that dwell there have done the like, to bring them a licence from the senate.


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Now when they shall bring them word, they will forthwith do it, and they shall be given to thee to be destroyed the same day.


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Wherefore I thine handmaid, knowing all this, am fled from their presence; and God hath sent me to work things with thee, whereat all the earth shall be astonished, and whosoever shall hear it.


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For thy servant is religious, and serveth the God of heaven day and night: now therefore, my lord, I will remain with thee, and thy servant will go out by night into the valley, and I will pray unto God, and he will tell me when they have committed their sins:


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And I will come and shew it unto thee: then thou shalt go forth with all thine army, and there shall be none of them that shall resist thee.


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And I will lead thee through the midst of Judea, until thou come before Jerusalem; and I will set thy throne in the midst thereof; and thou shalt drive them as sheep that have no shepherd, and a dog shall not so much as open his mouth at thee: for these things were told me according to my foreknowledge, and they were declared unto me, and I am sent to tell thee.


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There is not such a woman from one end of the earth to the other, both for beauty of face, and wisdom of words.


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Likewise Holofernes said unto her. God hath done well to send thee before the people, that strength might be in our hands and destruction upon them that lightly regard my lord.


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And now thou art both beautiful in thy countenance, and witty in thy words: surely if thou do as thou hast spoken thy God shall be my God, and thou shalt dwell in the house of king Nabuchodonosor, and shalt be renowned through the whole earth.


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Then he commanded to bring her in where his plate was set; and bade that they should prepare for her of his own meats, and that she should drink of his own wine.


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And Judith said, I will not eat thereof, lest there be an offence: but provision shall be made for me of the things that I have brought.


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Then Holofernes said unto her, If thy provision should fail, how should we give thee the like? for there be none with us of thy nation.


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Then said Judith unto him As thy soul liveth, my lord, thine handmaid shall not spend those things that I have, before the Lord work by mine hand the things that he hath determined.


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Then the servants of Holofernes brought her into the tent, and she slept till midnight, and she arose when it was toward the morning watch,


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And sent to Holofernes, saving, Let my lord now command that thine handmaid may go forth unto prayer.


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Then Holofernes commanded his guard that they should not stay her: thus she abode in the camp three days, and went out in the night into the valley of Bethulia, and washed herself in a fountain of water by the camp.


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And when she came out, she besought the Lord God of Israel to direct her way to the raising up of the children of her people.


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And in the fourth day Holofernes made a feast to his own servants only, and called none of the officers to the banquet.


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Then said he to Bagoas the eunuch, who had charge over all that he had, Go now, and persuade this Hebrew woman which is with thee, that she come unto us, and eat and drink with us.


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For, lo, it will be a shame for our person, if we shall let such a woman go, not having had her company; for if we draw her not unto us, she will laugh us to scorn.


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Then went Bagoas from the presence of Holofernes, and came to her, and he said, Let not this fair damsel fear to come to my lord, and to be honoured in his presence, and drink wine, and be merry with us and be made this day as one of the daughters of the Assyrians, which serve in the house of Nabuchodonosor.


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Then said Judith unto him, Who am I now, that I should gainsay my lord? surely whatsoever pleaseth him I will do speedily, and it shall be my joy unto the day of my death.


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So she arose, and decked herself with her apparel and all her woman's attire, and her maid went and laid soft skins on the ground for her over against Holofernes, which she had received of Bagoas far her daily use, that she might sit and eat upon them.


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Now when Judith came in and sat down, Holofernes his heart was ravished with her, and his mind was moved, and he desired greatly her company; for he waited a time to deceive her, from the day that he had seen her.


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So Judith said, I will drink now, my lord, because my life is magnified in me this day more than all the days since I was born.


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And Holofernes took great delight in her, and drank more wine than he had drunk at any time in one day since he was born.


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Now when the evening was come, his servants made haste to depart, and Bagoas shut his tent without, and dismissed the waiters from the presence of his lord; and they went to their beds: for they were all weary, because the feast had been long.


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And Judith was left along in the tent, and Holofernes lying along upon his bed: for he was filled with wine.


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Now Judith had commanded her maid to stand without her bedchamber, and to wait for her. coming forth, as she did daily: for she said she would go forth to her prayers, and she spake to Bagoas according to the same purpose.


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So all went forth and none was left in the bedchamber, neither little nor great. Then Judith, standing by his bed, said in her heart, O Lord God of all power, look at this present upon the works of mine hands for the exaltation of Jerusalem.


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For now is the time to help thine inheritance, and to execute thine enterprizes to the destruction of the enemies which are risen against us.


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Then she came to the pillar of the bed, which was at Holofernes' head, and took down his fauchion from thence,


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And approached to his bed, and took hold of the hair of his head, and said, Strengthen me, O Lord God of Israel, this day.


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And tumbled his body down from the bed, and pulled down the canopy from the pillars; and anon after she went forth, and gave Holofernes his head to her maid;


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And she put it in her bag of meat: so they twain went together according to their custom unto prayer: and when they passed the camp, they compassed the valley, and went up the mountain of Bethulia, and came to the gates thereof.


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Then said Judith afar off, to the watchmen at the gate, Open, open now the gate: God, even our God, is with us, to shew his power yet in Jerusalem, and his forces against the enemy, as he hath even done this day.


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Now when the men of her city heard her voice, they made haste to go down to the gate of their city, and they called the elders of the city.


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And then they ran all together, both small and great, for it was strange unto them that she was come: so they opened the gate, and received them, and made a fire for a light, and stood round about them.


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Then she said to them with a loud voice, Praise, praise God, praise God, I say, for he hath not taken away his mercy from the house of Israel, but hath destroyed our enemies by mine hands this night.


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So she took the head out of the bag, and shewed it, and said unto them, behold the head of Holofernes, the chief captain of the army of Assur, and behold the canopy, wherein he did lie in his drunkenness; and the Lord hath smitten him by the hand of a woman.


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As the Lord liveth, who hath kept me in my way that I went, my countenance hath deceived him to his destruction, and yet hath he not committed sin with me, to defile and shame me.


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Then all the people were wonderfully astonished, and bowed themselves and worshipped God, and said with one accord, Blessed be thou, O our God, which hast this day brought to nought the enemies of thy people.


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Then said Ozias unto her, O daughter, blessed art thou of the most high God above all the women upon the earth; and blessed be the Lord God, which hath created the heavens and the earth, which hath directed thee to the cutting off of the head of the chief of our enemies.


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For this thy confidence shall not depart from the heart of men, which remember the power of God for ever.


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And God turn these things to thee for a perpetual praise, to visit thee in good things because thou hast not spared thy life for the affliction of our nation, but hast revenged our ruin, walking a straight way before our God. And all the people said; So be it, so be it.


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Then said Judith unto them, Hear me now, my brethren, and take this head, and hang it upon the highest place of your walls.


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And so soon as the morning shall appear, and the sun shall come forth upon the earth, take ye every one his weapons, and go forth every valiant man out of the city, and set ye a captain over them, as though ye would go down into the field toward the watch of the Assyrians; but go not down.


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Then they shall take their armour, and shall go into their camp, and raise up the captains of the army of Assur, and shall run to the tent of Holofernes, but shall not find him: then fear shall fall upon them, and they shall flee before your face.


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But before ye do these things, call me Achior the Ammonite, that he may see and know him that despised the house of Israel, and that sent him to us as it were to his death.


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Then they called Achior out of the house of Ozias; and when he was come, and saw the head of Holofernes in a man's hand in the assembly of the people, he fell down on his face, and his spirit failed.


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But when they had recovered him, he fell at Judith's feet, and reverenced her, and said, Blessed art thou in all the tabernacles of Juda, and in all nations, which hearing thy name shall be astonished.


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Now therefore tell me all the things that thou hast done in these days. Then Judith declared unto him in the midst of the people all that she had done, from the day that she went forth until that hour she spake unto them.


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And when she had left off speaking, the people shouted with a loud voice, and made a joyful noise in their city.


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And when Achior had seen all that the God of Israel had done, he believed in God greatly, and circumcised the flesh of his foreskin, and was joined unto the house of Israel unto this day.


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And as soon as the morning arose, they hanged the head of Holofernes upon the wall, and every man took his weapons, and they went forth by bands unto the straits of the mountain.


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But when the Assyrians saw them, they sent to their leaders, which came to their captains and tribunes, and to every one of their rulers.


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So they came to Holofernes' tent, and said to him that had the charge of all his things, Waken now our lord: for the slaves have been bold to come down against us to battle, that they may be utterly destroyed.


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Then went in Bagoas, and knocked at the door of the tent; for he thought that he had slept with Judith.


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But because none answered, he opened it, and went into the bedchamber, and found him cast upon the floor dead, and his head was taken from him.


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Therefore he cried with a loud voice, with weeping, and sighing, and a mighty cry, and rent his garments.


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After he went into the tent where Judith lodged: and when he found her not, he leaped out to the people, and cried,


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These slaves have dealt treacherously; one woman of the Hebrews hath brought shame upon the house of king Nabuchodonosor: for, behold, Holofernes lieth upon the ground without a head.


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When the captains of the Assyrians' army heard these words, they rent their coats and their minds were wonderfully troubled, and there was a cry and a very great noise throughout the camp.


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And fear and trembling fell upon them, so that there was no man that durst abide in the sight of his neighbour, but rushing out all together, they fled into every way of the plain, and of the hill country.


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They also that had camped in the mountains round about Bethulia fled away. Then the children of Israel, every one that was a warrior among them, rushed out upon them.


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Then sent Ozias to Betomasthem, and to Bebai, and Chobai, and Cola and to all the coasts of Israel, such as should tell the things that were done, and that all should rush forth upon their enemies to destroy them.


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Now when the children of Israel heard it, they all fell upon them with one consent, and slew them unto Chobai: likewise also they that came from Jerusalem, and from all the hill country, (for men had told them what things were done in the camp of their enemies) and they that were in Galaad, and in Galilee, chased them with a great slaughter, until they were past Damascus and the borders thereof.


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And the residue that dwelt at Bethulia, fell upon the camp of Assur, and spoiled them, and were greatly enriched.


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And the children of Israel that returned from the slaughter had that which remained; and the villages and the cities, that were in the mountains and in the plain, gat many spoils: for the multitude was very great.


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Then Joacim the high priest, and the ancients of the children of Israel that dwelt in Jerusalem, came to behold the good things that God had shewed to Israel, and to see Judith, and to salute her.


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And when they came unto her, they blessed her with one accord, and said unto her, Thou art the exaltation of Jerusalem, thou art the great glory of Israel, thou art the great rejoicing of our nation:


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Thou hast done all these things by thine hand: thou hast done much good to Israel, and God is pleased therewith: blessed be thou of the Almighty Lord for evermore. And all the people said, So be it.


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And the people spoiled the camp the space of thirty days: and they gave unto Judith Holofernes his tent, and all his plate, and beds, and vessels, and all his stuff: and she took it and laid it on her mule; and made ready her carts, and laid them thereon.


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Then all the women of Israel ran together to see her, and blessed her, and made a dance among them for her: and she took branches in her hand, and gave also to the women that were with her.


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And they put a garland of olive upon her and her maid that was with her, and she went before all the people in the dance, leading all the women: and all the men of Israel followed in their armour with garlands, and with songs in their mouths.


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Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces:)


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That in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace,


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In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him:


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When he shewed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honour of his excellent majesty many days, even an hundred and fourscore days.


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And when these days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king's palace;


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Where were white, green, and blue, hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black, marble.


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And they gave them drink in vessels of gold, (the vessels being diverse one from another,) and royal wine in abundance, according to the state of the king.


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And the drinking was according to the law; none did compel: for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should do according to every man's pleasure.


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Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to king Ahasuerus.


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On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven chamberlains that served in the presence of Ahasuerus the king,


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To bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to shew the people and the princes her beauty: for she was fair to look on.


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But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by his chamberlains: therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him.


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Then the king said to the wise men, which knew the times, (for so was the king's manner toward all that knew law and judgment:


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And the next unto him was Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, which saw the king's face, and which sat the first in the kingdom;)


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What shall we do unto the queen Vashti according to law, because she hath not performed the commandment of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains?


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And Memucan answered before the king and the princes, Vashti the queen hath not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all the people that are in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus.


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For this deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women, so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes, when it shall be reported, The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not.


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Likewise shall the ladies of Persia and Media say this day unto all the king's princes, which have heard of the deed of the queen. Thus shall there arise too much contempt and wrath.


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If it please the king, let there go a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered, That Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she.


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And when the king's decree which he shall make shall be published throughout all his empire, (for it is great,) all the wives shall give to their husbands honour, both to great and small.


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For he sent letters into all the king's provinces, into every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language, that every man should bear rule in his own house, and that it should be published according to the language of every people.


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After these things, when the wrath of king Ahasuerus was appeased, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her.


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Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:


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And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the fair young virgins unto Shushan the palace, to the house of the women, unto the custody of Hege the king's chamberlain, keeper of the women; and let their things for purification be given them:


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And let the maiden which pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.


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Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite;


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Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.


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And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter.


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So it came to pass, when the king's commandment and his decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan the palace, to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was brought also unto the king's house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women.


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And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her her things for purification, with such things as belonged to her, and seven maidens, which were meet to be given her, out of the king's house: and he preferred her and her maids unto the best place of the house of the women.


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Esther had not shewed her people nor her kindred: for Mordecai had charged her that she should not shew it.


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And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women's house, to know how Esther did, and what should become of her.


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Now when every maid's turn was come to go in to king Ahasuerus, after that she had been twelve months, according to the manner of the women, (for so were the days of their purifications accomplished, to wit, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours, and with other things for the purifying of the women;)


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Then thus came every maiden unto the king; whatsoever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the women unto the king's house.


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In the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned into the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king's chamberlain, which kept the concubines: she came in unto the king no more, except the king delighted in her, and that she were called by name.


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Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, was come to go in unto the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king's chamberlain, the keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther obtained favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her.


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So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.


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And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.


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Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, even Esther's feast; and he made a release to the provinces, and gave gifts, according to the state of the king.


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Esther had not yet shewed her kindred nor her people; as Mordecai had charged her: for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with him.


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In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king's gate, two of the king's chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, of those which kept the door, were wroth, and sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.


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And the thing was known to Mordecai, who told it unto Esther the queen; and Esther certified the king thereof in Mordecai's name.


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And when inquisition was made of the matter, it was found out; therefore they were both hanged on a tree: and it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king.


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After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him.


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And all the king's servants, that were in the king's gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman: for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence.


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Then the king's servants, which were in the king's gate, said unto Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king's commandment?


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Now it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand: for he had told them that he was a Jew.


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And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had shewed him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai.


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In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar.


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And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king's laws: therefore it is not for the king's profit to suffer them.


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If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king's treasuries.


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And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy.


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And the king said unto Haman, The silver is given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee.


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Then were the king's scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king's ring.


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And the letters were sent by posts into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey.


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The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, that they should be ready against that day.


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The posts went out, being hastened by the king's commandment, and the decree was given in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city Shushan was perplexed.


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When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry;


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And came even before the king's gate: for none might enter into the king's gate clothed with sackcloth.


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And in every province, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.


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So Esther's maids and her chamberlains came and told it her. Then was the queen exceedingly grieved; and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him: but he received it not.


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Then called Esther for Hatach, one of the king's chamberlains, whom he had appointed to attend upon her, and gave him a commandment to Mordecai, to know what it was, and why it was.


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And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and of the sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them.


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Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to shew it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people.


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All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.


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Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews.


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For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?


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Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.


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Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king's house, over against the king's house: and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the gate of the house.


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And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre.


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Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom.


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And Esther answered, If it seem good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him.


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Then the king said, Cause Haman to make haste, that he may do as Esther hath said. So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.


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And the king said unto Esther at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.


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If I have found favour in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition, and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for them, and I will do to morrow as the king hath said.


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Then went Haman forth that day joyful and with a glad heart: but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he stood not up, nor moved for him, he was full of indignation against Mordecai.


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Nevertheless Haman refrained himself: and when he came home, he sent and called for his friends, and Zeresh his wife.


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And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.


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Haman said moreover, Yea, Esther the queen did let no man come in with the king unto the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and to morrow am I invited unto her also with the king.


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Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him, Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and to morrow speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon: then go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman; and he caused the gallows to be made.


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On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king.


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And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.


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And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this? Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, There is nothing done for him.


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And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman was come into the outward court of the king's house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.


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And the king's servants said unto him, Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in.


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So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?


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Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head:


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And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.


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Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king's gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken.


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Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and brought him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour.


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And Mordecai came again to the king's gate. But Haman hasted to his house mourning, and having his head covered.


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And Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends every thing that had befallen him. Then said his wise men and Zeresh his wife unto him, If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him.


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And while they were yet talking with him, came the king's chamberlains, and hasted to bring Haman unto the banquet that Esther had prepared.


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And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? and it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom.


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Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request:


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For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage.


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Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so?


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And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.


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And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath went into the palace garden: and Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.


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Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman was fallen upon the bed whereon Esther was. Then said the king, Will he force the queen also before me in the house? As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.


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And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon.


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So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified.


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On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews' enemy unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was unto her.


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And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.


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And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews.


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Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before the king,


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And said, If it please the king, and if I have found favour in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews which are in all the king's provinces:


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For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?


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Then the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews.


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Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring: for the writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may no man reverse.


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Then were the king's scribes called at that time in the third month, that is, the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth day thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded unto the Jews, and to the lieutenants, and the deputies and rulers of the provinces which are from India unto Ethiopia, an hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to the writing thereof, and unto every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language.


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And he wrote in the king Ahasuerus' name, and sealed it with the king's ring, and sent letters by posts on horseback, and riders on mules, camels, and young dromedaries:


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Wherein the king granted the Jews which were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey,


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Upon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, namely, upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.


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The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.


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So the posts that rode upon mules and camels went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment. And the decree was given at Shushan the palace.


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And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad.


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And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.


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Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, (though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them;)


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The Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their hurt: and no man could withstand them; for the fear of them fell upon all people.


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And all the rulers of the provinces, and the lieutenants, and the deputies, and officers of the king, helped the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them.


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For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces: for this man Mordecai waxed greater and greater.


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Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction, and did what they would unto those that hated them.


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The ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, slew they; but on the spoil laid they not their hand.


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And the king said unto Esther the queen, The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the palace, and the ten sons of Haman; what have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? now what is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: or what is thy request further? and it shall be done.


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Then said Esther, If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews which are in Shushan to do to morrow also according unto this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows.


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And the king commanded it so to be done: and the decree was given at Shushan; and they hanged Haman's ten sons.


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For the Jews that were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and slew three hundred men at Shushan; but on the prey they laid not their hand.


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But the other Jews that were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand, but they laid not their hands on the prey,


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On the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of the same rested they, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.


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But the Jews that were at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day thereof, and on the fourteenth thereof; and on the fifteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.


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Therefore the Jews of the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.


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And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh and far,


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To stablish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,


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As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.


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Because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that is, the lot, to consume them, and to destroy them;


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But when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.


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Wherefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. Therefore for all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and which had come unto them,


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The Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to their writing, and according to their appointed time every year;


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And that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed.


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Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority, to confirm this second letter of Purim.


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And he sent the letters unto all the Jews, to the hundred twenty and seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth,


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To confirm these days of Purim in their times appointed, according as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had enjoined them, and as they had decreed for themselves and for their seed, the matters of the fastings and their cry.


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And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, whereunto the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?


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For Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.


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There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.


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His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.


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And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.


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And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.


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Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.


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And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.


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And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?


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Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.


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And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.


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And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:


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And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:


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And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.


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While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.


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While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.


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While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:


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And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.


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Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,


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And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.


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Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.


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And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.


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And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.


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And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.


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So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.


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But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.


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Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.


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And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.


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So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.


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Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.


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Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.


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As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months.


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Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:


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For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.


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The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.


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It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,


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How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?


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His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.


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Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.


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Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:


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Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.


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At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.


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For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.


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And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.


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For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.


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Then should I yet have comfort; yea, I would harden myself in sorrow: let him not spare; for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.


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To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.


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Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling?


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When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.


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As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more.


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Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.


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I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men? why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself?


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And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.


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How long wilt thou speak these things? and how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind?


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If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.


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He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.


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They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought.


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He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?


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If I had called, and he had answered me; yet would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice.


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If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.


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The earth is given into the hand of the wicked: he covereth the faces of the judges thereof; if not, where, and who is he?


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My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.


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Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?


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Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?


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If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction;


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For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou shewest thyself marvellous upon me.


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Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and increasest thine indignation upon me; changes and war are against me.


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Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me!


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A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.


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And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is! Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.


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And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning.


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And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety.


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But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.


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But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these?


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I am as one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn.


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The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.


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But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:


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Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.


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Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.


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He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again.


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He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.


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Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet.


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Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;


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For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.


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So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.


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O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!


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If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.


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The waters wear the stones: thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man.


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Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth: thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.


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His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.


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The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.


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He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.


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Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.


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And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.


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He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.


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He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.


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For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.


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I also could speak as ye do: if your soul were in my soul's stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you.


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And thou hast filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness against me: and my leanness rising up in me beareth witness to my face.


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He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me.


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They have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me.


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I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.


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His archers compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground.


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Upright men shall be astonied at this, and the innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite.


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The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.


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He teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of his place?


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His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors.


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It shall dwell in his tabernacle, because it is none of his: brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.


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Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.


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Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.


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He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.


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He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.


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That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down: according to his substance shall the restitution be, and he shall not rejoice therein.


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Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not;


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In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall come upon him.


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When he is about to fill his belly, God shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain it upon him while he is eating.


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It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon him.


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All darkness shall be hid in his secret places: a fire not blown shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle.


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What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?


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How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger.


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For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?


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That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.


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The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him.


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Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?


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If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.


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Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.


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When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.


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On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:


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Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.


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Behold, as wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children.


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Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them.


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They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.


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The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth his face.


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In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light.


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For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death: if one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.


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He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.


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The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be no more remembered; and wickedness shall be broken as a tree.


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They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.


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How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom? and how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is?


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Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?


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My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.


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This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty.


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If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.


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He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death.


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The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men.


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The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold.


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And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.


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The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.


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I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one that comforteth the mourners.


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But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock.


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For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste.


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Upon my right hand rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction.


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They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me.


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Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud.


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By the great force of my disease is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.


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If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands;


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(For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her from my mother's womb;)


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This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.


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Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, and went not out of the door?


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Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book.


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If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:


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Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram: against Job was his wrath kindled, because he justified himself rather than God.


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Also against his three friends was his wrath kindled, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.


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When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, then his wrath was kindled.


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And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said, I am young, and ye are very old; wherefore I was afraid, and durst not shew you mine opinion.


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Yea, I attended unto you, and, behold, there was none of you that convinced Job, or that answered his words:


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In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed;


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If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness:


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Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.


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He shall pray unto God, and he will be favourable unto him: and he shall see his face with joy: for he will render unto man his righteousness.


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He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not;


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Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.


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How much less to him that accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor? for they all are the work of his hands.


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In a moment shall they die, and the people shall be troubled at midnight, and pass away: and the mighty shall be taken away without hand.


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When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him? whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only:


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Should it be according to thy mind? he will recompense it, whether thou refuse, or whether thou choose; and not I: therefore speak what thou knowest.


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For he addeth rebellion unto his sin, he clappeth his hands among us, and multiplieth his words against God.


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For thou saidst, What advantage will it be unto thee? and, What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin?


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If thou sinnest, what doest thou against him? or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto him?


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By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to cry: they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty.


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Although thou sayest thou shalt not see him, yet judgment is before him; therefore trust thou in him.


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But now, because it is not so, he hath visited in his anger; yet he knoweth it not in great extremity:


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He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous: but with kings are they on the throne; yea, he doth establish them for ever, and they are exalted.


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If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.


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Even so would he have removed thee out of the strait into a broad place, where there is no straitness; and that which should be set on thy table should be full of fatness.


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Because there is wrath, beware lest he take thee away with his stroke: then a great ransom cannot deliver thee.


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After it a voice roareth: he thundereth with the voice of his excellency; and he will not stay them when his voice is heard.


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For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength.


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And it is turned round about by his counsels: that they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth.


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Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge?


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And now men see not the bright light which is in the clouds: but the wind passeth, and cleanseth them.


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Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict.


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That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof?


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Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder;


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Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.


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Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve?


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Their young ones are in good liking, they grow up with corn; they go forth, and return not unto them.


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She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her labour is in vain without fear;


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He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet.


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He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.


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Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth.


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Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.


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And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.


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Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.


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So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the LORD commanded them: the LORD also accepted Job.


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And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.


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Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold.


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So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses.


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And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Kerenhappuch.


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And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren.


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After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even four generations.


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Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.


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And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.


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Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.


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The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,


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I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.


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Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.


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Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.


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A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.<p/>LORD, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me.


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Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.


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(To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm of David.)<p/>Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.


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O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah.


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But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him.


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There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.


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To the chief Musician upon Nehiloth, A Psalm of David.<p/>Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation.


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My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.


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But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.


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Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face.


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For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.


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Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee.


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But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.


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To the chief Musician on Neginoth upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David.<p/> O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.


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Shiggaion of David, which he sang unto the LORD, concerning the words of Cush the Benjamite.<p/>O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me:


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If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy:)


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Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah.


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Arise, O LORD, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded.


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So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about: for their sakes therefore return thou on high.


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The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.


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Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.


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He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.


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His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.


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I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high.


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To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of David.<p/>O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.


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Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.


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When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;


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Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:


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To the chief Musician upon Muthlabben, A Psalm of David.<p/> I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.


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Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever.


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O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end: and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them.


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And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.


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And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.


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Have mercy upon me, O LORD; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death:


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That I may shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation.


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The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.


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The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.


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The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.


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The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.


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His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.


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He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor.


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He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.


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Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.


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LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:


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To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.<p/>In the LORD put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?


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For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.


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The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD'S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.


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Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.


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To the chief Musician upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David.<p/> Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.


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They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.


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For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.


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To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.<p/>How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?


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How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?


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Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.


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To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.<p/> The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.


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The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.


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They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.


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Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD.


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Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.


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He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.


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In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.


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He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.


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Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.


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Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.


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A Prayer of David.<p/>Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.


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Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.


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Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.


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I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech.


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Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them.


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From men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.


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As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.


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To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said,<p/>I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.


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The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.


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In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.


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Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.


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He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.


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The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.


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Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.


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He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.


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The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.


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Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.


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With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;


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As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.


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Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.


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For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.


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Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets.


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Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me.


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He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.


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Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.


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To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.<p/>The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.


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Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,


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His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.


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The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.


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The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.


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The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.


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More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.


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Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.


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Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.


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To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.<p/> The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee;


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We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions.


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Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.


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To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.<p/>The king shall joy in thy strength, O LORD; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!


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For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness: thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head.


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For thou hast made him most blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance.


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Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the LORD shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them.


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For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform.


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Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back, when thou shalt make ready thine arrows upon thy strings against the face of them.


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To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David.<p/>My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?


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But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.


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I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.


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My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.


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For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.


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Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.


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For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.


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The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.


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All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.


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All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.


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They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.


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Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.


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Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.


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Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.


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A Psalm of David.<p/> The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.


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He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.


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Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.


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Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.


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Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.


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Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O LORD.


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A Psalm of David.<p/> Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide.


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A Psalm of David.<p/> The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?


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When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.


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Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.


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One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.


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For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.


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And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.


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Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.


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Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.


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Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.


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A Psalm of David.<p/>Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.


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Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.


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Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts.


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Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert.


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Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up.


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The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.


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The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters.


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The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.


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A Psalm and Song at the dedication of the house of David.<p/>I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.


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O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.


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For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.


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LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.


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What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?


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Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;


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To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.


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To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.<p/>In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.


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Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me.


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I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;


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Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly.


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For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.


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I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me.


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For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life.


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My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.


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Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.


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Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.


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Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!


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Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.


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For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.


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O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.


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For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.


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I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.


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For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.


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Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.


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I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.


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Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.


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Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.


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Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.


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The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.


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Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.


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A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed.<p/>I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.


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The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.


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The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.


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Psalm of David.<p/>Plead my cause, O LORD, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me.


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Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.


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Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.


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For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul.


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Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall.


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All my bones shall say, LORD, who is like unto thee, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him?


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But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom.


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I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother.


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But in mine adversity they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together: yea, the abjects gathered themselves together against me, and I knew it not; they did tear me, and ceased not:


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Lord, how long wilt thou look on? rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling from the lions.


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Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause.


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For they speak not peace: but they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land.


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Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up.


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Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at mine hurt: let them be clothed with shame and dishonour that magnify themselves against me.


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Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.


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To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD.<p/>The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.


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He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil.


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Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast.


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How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.


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They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.


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O continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee; and thy righteousness to the upright in heart.


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A Psalm of David.<p/>Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.


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Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.


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For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.


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The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation.


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But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.


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For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off.


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I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.


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For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.


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Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.


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And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.


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A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance.<p/>O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.


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There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.


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They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long.


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For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me: when my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me.


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To the chief Musician, even to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David.<p/>I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.


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LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.


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Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.


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Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.


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When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah.


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Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.


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To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.<p/>I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.


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He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.


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And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.


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Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.


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Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.


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Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.


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I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest.


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I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.


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Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.


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For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.


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Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.


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Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified.


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But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.


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To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.<p/>Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.


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The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.


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The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.


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And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it.


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Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.


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To the chief Musician, Maschil, for the sons of Korah.<p/>As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.


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When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.


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Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.


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O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.


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Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.


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Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.


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I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?


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As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?


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Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.


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Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.


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For thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?


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O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.


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Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.


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Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.


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To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, Maschil.<p/>We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old.


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How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them; how thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out.


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For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them.


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Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us.


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Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us.


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All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant.


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To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, for the sons of Korah, Maschil, A Song of loves.<p/> My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.


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Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.


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And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.


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Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.


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All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.


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Kings' daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.


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Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father's house;


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And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall intreat thy favour.


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She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee.


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I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the people praise thee for ever and ever.


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To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth.<p/>God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.


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Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;


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Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.


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There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.


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He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.


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Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.


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To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah.<p/> O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.


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The princes of the people are gathered together, even the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth belong unto God: he is greatly exalted.


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A Song and Psalm for the sons of Korah.<p/> Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.


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Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.


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As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish it for ever. Selah.


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According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of righteousness.


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To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah.<p/>Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world:


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For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others.


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Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names.


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Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.


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Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and men will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself.


text:
A Psalm of Asaph.<p/>The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.


text:
Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.


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Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God.


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I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me.


text:
But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?


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These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.


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Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.


text:
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.<p/> Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.


text:
Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.


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Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.


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Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.


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The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.


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Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.


text:
To the chief Musician, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech.<p/>Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually.


text:
God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah.


text:
Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.


text:
But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.


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I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints.


text:
To the chief Musician upon Mahalath, Maschil, A Psalm of David.<p/> The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.


text:
God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.


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Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.


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Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God.


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There were they in great fear, where no fear was: for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them.


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Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.


text:
To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when the Ziphims came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us?<p/>Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me by thy strength.


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For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah.


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To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil, A Psalm of David.<p/>Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication.


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Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me.


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Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof: mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it.


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For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him:


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Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.


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He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me.


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God shall hear, and afflict them, even he that abideth of old. Selah. Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God.


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The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.


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Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.


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But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.


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To the chief Musician upon Jonathelemrechokim, Michtam of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath.Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me.


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In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.


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They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul.


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For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?


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To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave.<p/> Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.


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He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.


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My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.


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They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah.


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To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David<p/>Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?


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Let them melt away as waters which run continually: when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces.


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As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away: like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun.


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Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath.


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The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.


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So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.


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To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David; when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him.<p/>Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: defend me from them that rise up against me.


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For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered against me; not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O LORD.


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Thou therefore, O LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen: be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah.


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Slay them not, lest my people forget: scatter them by thy power; and bring them down, O Lord our shield.


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For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing and lying which they speak.


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Consume them in wrath, consume them, that they may not be: and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth. Selah.


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But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble.


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To the chief Musician upon Shushaneduth, Michtam of David, to teach; when he strove with Aramnaharaim and with Aramzobah, when Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the valley of salt twelve thousand.<p/>O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased; O turn thyself to us again.


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Thou hast made the earth to tremble; thou hast broken it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh.


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Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah.


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God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.


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Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver;


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Wilt not thou, O God, which hadst cast us off? and thou, O God, which didst not go out with our armies?


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From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.


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To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David.<p/>Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.


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How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence.


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They only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.


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Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.


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Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.


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Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.


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A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.<p/>O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;


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My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:


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But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.


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To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.<p/> Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer: preserve my life from fear of the enemy.


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They encourage themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them?


text:
They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep.


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And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider of his doing.


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The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and shall trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory.


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To the chief Musician, A Psalm and Song of David.<p/>Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion: and unto thee shall the vow be performed.


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Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.


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By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O God of our salvation; who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are afar off upon the sea:


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They also that dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid at thy tokens: thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice.


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Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for it.


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Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly: thou settlest the furrows thereof: thou makest it soft with showers: thou blessest the springing thereof.


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The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing.


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Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works! through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee.


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He ruleth by his power for ever; his eyes behold the nations: let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah.


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Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.


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I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, with the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah.


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To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm or Song.<p/>God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah.


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O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah.


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To the chief Musician, A Psalm or Song of David.<p/>Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.


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As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.


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Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him.


text:
God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.


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O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness; Selah:


text:
The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.


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Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary.


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Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold.


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Why leap ye, ye high hills? this is the hill which God desireth to dwell in; yea, the LORD will dwell in it for ever.


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The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place.


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Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them.


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But God shall wound the head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on still in his trespasses.


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The Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring my people again from the depths of the sea:


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The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; among them were the damsels playing with timbrels.


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There is little Benjamin with their ruler, the princes of Judah and their council, the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali.


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Rebuke the company of spearmen, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people, till every one submit himself with pieces of silver: scatter thou the people that delight in war.


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To him that rideth upon the heavens of heavens, which were of old; lo, he doth send out his voice, and that a mighty voice.


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O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places: the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God.


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To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, A Psalm of David.<p/>Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul.


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I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.


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They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.


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Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.


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For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.


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But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.


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Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.


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Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.


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Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.


text:
Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.


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Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.


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For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.


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For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession.


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To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance.<p/> Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O LORD.


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Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt.


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Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified.


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But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: thou art my help and my deliverer; O LORD, make no tarrying.


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Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress.


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Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.


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By thee have I been holden up from the womb: thou art he that took me out of my mother's bowels: my praise shall be continually of thee.


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Let them be confounded and consumed that are adversaries to my soul; let them be covered with reproach and dishonour that seek my hurt.


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My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof.


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I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only.


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Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.


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Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high, who hast done great things: O God, who is like unto thee!


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Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.


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I will also praise thee with the psaltery, even thy truth, O my God: unto thee will I sing with the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel.


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My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame, that seek my hurt.


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A Psalm for Solomon.<p/>Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king's son.


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He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor.


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The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.


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He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight.


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And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised.


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There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.


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His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.


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And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.


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For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee.


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But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.


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Maschil of Asaph.<p/>O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?


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Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.


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Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.


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They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground.


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They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.


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We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.


text:
Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.


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Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O LORD, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name.


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O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.


text:
Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.


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Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually.


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To the chief Musician, Altaschith, A Psalm or Song of Asaph.<p/> Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.


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For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.


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To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm or Song of Asaph.<p/>In Judah is God known: his name is great in Israel.


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The stouthearted are spoiled, they have slept their sleep: and none of the men of might have found their hands.


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Vow, and pay unto the LORD your God: let all that be round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared.


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To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun, A Psalm of Asaph.<p/> I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me.


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In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.


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I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.


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The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook.


text:
We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.


text:
For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children:


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That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:


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And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.


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Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?


text:
Therefore the LORD heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel;


text:
The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.


text:
But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.


text:
He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them.


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He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence;


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And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased.


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He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.


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But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow.


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For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.


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From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.


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So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.


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A Psalm of Asaph.<p/> O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps.


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The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.


text:
Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name.


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O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low.


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Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake.


text:
Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God? let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed.


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Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die;


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And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.


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So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations.


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To the chief Musician upon Shoshannimeduth, A Psalm of Asaph.<p/> Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.


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And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.


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Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.


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To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of Asaph.<p/> Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.


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This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not.


text:
Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.


text:
I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.


text:
The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever.


text:
He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.


text:
They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.


text:
A Song or Psalm of Asaph.<p/>Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.


text:
They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.


text:
To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm for the sons of Korah.<p/>How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!


text:
My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.


text:
Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God.


