# verses

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How shall it be quiet, seeing the Lord has given it a commission against Ashkelon, and against the regions on the sea coast, to awake against the remaining <i>countries</i>!”


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<n>Judgment on Moab</n> Thus says the Lord concerning Moab: “Woe to Nebo! For it has perished. Kirjathaim is taken; Amath and Agath are put to shame.


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There is no longer any healing for Moab, <i>nor</i> glorying in Heshbon. He has devised evils against her. We have cut her off from <i>being</i> a nation, and she shall be completely still. After you shall go a sword;


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for Aloth is filled with weeping; one shall go up weeping by the way of Horonaim; you have heard a cry of destruction.


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Since you have trusted in your stronghold, therefore you shall be taken; and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity, and his priests, and his princes together.


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And destruction shall come upon every city, it shall by no means escape. The valley also shall perish, and the plain country shall be completely destroyed, as the Lord has said.


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Set marks upon Moab, for she shall be hit with a plague, and all her cities shall become desolate; where <i>shall there be</i> an inhabitant for her?


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“Moab has been at ease from a child, and trusted in his glory; he has not poured out <i>his liquor</i> from vessel to vessel, and has not gone into banishment, therefore his taste remained in him, and his smell did not depart.


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Therefore behold, his days are coming, says the Lord, when I shall send upon him bad leaders, and they shall lead him astray, and they shall utterly break in pieces his possessions, and shall cut off his horns.


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And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their hope, having trusted in them.


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Shake <i>the head</i> at him, all you that are round about him; all <i>of you</i> utter his name. Say, ‘How is the glorious staff broken to pieces, the rod of magnificence!’


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Come down from <i>your</i> glory, and sit down in a damp place. Dibon shall be broken, because Moab is destroyed. There has gone up against you one to ravage your stronghold.


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Stand by the way, and look, you that dwell in Aroer; and ask him that is fleeing, and him that escapes, and say, ‘What has happened?’


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Moab is put to shame, because he is broken. Howl and cry, proclaim in Arnon, that Moab has perished.


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“Make him drunk; for he has magnified himself against the Lord. And Moab shall clap with his hand, and shall be also himself a laughing stock.


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For surely Israel was to you a laughing stock, and was found among your thefts, because you fought against him.


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The inhabitants of Moab have left the cities, and dwelt in rocks; they have become as doves nestling in rocks, at the mouth of a cave.


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And I have heard of the pride of Moab, he has greatly heightened his pride and his haughtiness, and his heart has been lifted up.


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Therefore howl for Moab on all sides; cry out against the shorn men <i>in</i> a gloomy place. I will weep for you,


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O vine of Sibmah, as with the weeping of Jazer. Your branches are gone over the sea, they reached the cities of Jazer; destruction has come upon your fruits, <i>and</i> upon your grape gatherers.


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Joy and gladness have been utterly swept off the land of Moab; and <i>though</i> there was wine in your presses, in the morning they did not tred the grapes, neither in the evening did they raise the cry of joy.


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“From the cry of Heshbron even to Elealeh their cities uttered their voice, from Zoar to Horonaim, and their tidings <i>as</i> a heifer of three years old, for the water also of Nimrim shall be dried up.


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Therefore the heart of Moab shall sound as pipes, My heart shall sound as a pipe for the shorn men; forasmuch as what <i>every</i> man has gained has perished from him.


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They shall all have their heads shaved in every place, and every beard shall be shaved; and all hands shall beat <i>their breasts</i>, and on all loins shall be sackcloth.


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And on all the housetops of Moab, and in his streets <i>shall be mourining</i>; for I have broken <i>him</i>, says the Lord, as a vessel, which is useless.


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How has he changed! How has Moab turned <i>his</i> back! Moab is put to shame, and become a laughing stock, and an object of anger to all that are round about him.


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He that flees from the terror shall fall into the pit, and he that comes up out of the pit shall even be taken in the snare; for I will bring these things upon Moab in the year of their visitation.”


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<n>Judgment on Ammon</n> Concerning the sons of Ammon, thus says the Lord: “Are there no sons in Israel? Or have they no one to succeed <i>them</i>? Why has Milcom inherited Gilead, and why shall their people dwell in their cities?


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Therefore behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will cause a tumult of wars to be heard in Rabbah; and they shall become a waste and ruined place, and her altars shall be burned with fire; then shall Israel succeed to his dominion.


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Howl, O Heshbron, for Ai has perished; cry, you daughters of Rabbah, gird yourselves with sackcloth, and lament; for Milcom shall go into banishment, his priests and his princes together.


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Why do you boast in the plains of the Enakim, you haughty daughter, that trust in <i>your</i> treasures, that say, Who shall come in to me?


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Behold, I <i>will</i> bring terror upon you, says the Lord, from all the country round about you; and you shall be scattered, everyone right before him, and there is none to gather you.”


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<n>Judgment on Edom</n> Concerning Edom, thus says the Lord: “There is no longer wisdom in Teman, counsel has perished from the wise ones, their wisdom is gone,


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their place has been deceived. Dig deep for a dwelling, you that inhabit Dedan, for he has wrought grievously. I have brought trouble upon him in the time at which I visited him.


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For grape gatherers have come, who shall not leave to you a remnant; as thieves by night, they shall lay their hand upon <i>your possessions</i>.


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For I have stripped Esau, I have uncovered their secret places; they shall have no power to hide themselves, they have perished, <i>each</i> by the hand of his brother, My neighbor, and it is impossible


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“For thus says the Lord: They who were not appointed to drink the cup have drunk; and you shall by no means be cleared.


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For by Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, that you shall be in the midst of her an impassable <i>land</i>, and a reproach, and a curse; and all her cities shall be deserted forever.”


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I have heard a report from the Lord, and He has sent messengers to the nations, <i>saying,</i> “Assemble yourselves, and come against her; rise up to war.


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Your insolence has risen up against you, the fierceness of your heart has burst the holes of the rocks, it has seized upon the strength of a lofty hill; for as an eagle he set his nest on high; from there will I bring you down.


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As Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown, and they that sojourned in her, says the Lord Almighty, no man shall dwell there, nor shall any son of man inhabit there.


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Behold, he shall come up as a lion out of the midst of the Jordan to the place of Etham; for I will speedily drive them from it, and I will set the young men against her; for who is like Me? And who will withstand Me? And who <i>is</i> this shepherd, who shall confront Me?


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“Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord which He has framed against Edom, and his device, which he has devised against the inhabitants of Teman: surely the least of the sheep shall be swept off; surely their dwelling shall be made desolate for them.


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Behold, He shall look <i>upon her</i> as an eagle, and spread forth <i>His</i> wings over her strongholds; and the heart of the mighty men of Edom shall be in that day as the heart of a woman in her pangs.”


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<n>Judgment on Damascus</n> Concerning Damascus: “Hamath is brought to shame, and Arpad; for they have heard an evil report. They are amazed, they are angry, they shall be utterly unable to rest.


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Therefore shall the young men fall in your streets, and all your warriors shall fall, says the Lord.


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And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the streets of the son of Ader.”


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<n>Judgment on Kedar and Hazor</n> Concerning Kedar, the queen of the palace, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck, thus says the Lord: “Arise, and go up to Kedar, and fill the sons of Kedem.


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They shall take their tents and their sheep, they shall take for themselves their garments, and all their baggage and their camels; and summon destruction against them from every side.


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Flee, dig very deep for a dwelling place, you that dwell in the palace; for the king of Babylon has framed a counsel, and devised a plan against you.


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Rise up, and go up against a nation settled <i>and</i> dwelling at ease, who have no doors, nor bolts, nor bars, <i>who</i> dwell alone.


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And their camels shall be a spoil, and the multitude of their cattle shall be destroyed; and I will scatter them as chaff with every wind, having their hair cut about their foreheads; I will bring on their overthrow from all sides,” says the Lord.


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“And the palace shall be a resting place for ostriches, and desolate forever. No man shall abide there, and no son of man shall dwell there.”


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And I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the four corners of heaven, and I will disperse them toward all these winds; and there shall be no nation <i>to</i> which they shall not come, <i>even</i> the outcasts of Elam.


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And I will put them in fear before their enemies that seek their life; and I will bring evils upon them according to My great anger; and I will send forth My sword after them, until I have utterly destroyed them.


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But it shall come to pass at the end of days, that I will turn the captivity of Elam,” says the Lord.


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“Proclaim among the Gentiles, and cause the tidings to be heard, and do not suppress <i>them</i>. Say, ‘Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded; the fearless, the luxurious Merodach is delivered up.’


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For a nation has come up against her from the north, he shall utterly ravage her land, and there shall be none to dwell in it, neither man nor beast.


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“In those days, and at that time, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; they shall proceed, weeping as they go, seeking the Lord their God.


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They shall ask the way till <i>they come to</i> Zion, for that way shall they set their face; and they shall come and flee for refuge to the Lord their God; for the everlasting covenant shall not be forgotten.


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“My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds thrust them out, they caused them to wander on the mountains; they went from mountain to hill, they forgot their resting place.


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All that found them consumed them. Their enemies said, ‘Let us not leave them alone, because they have sinned against the Lord. He that gathered their fathers <i>had</i> a pasture of righteousness.’


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“Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and from the land of the Chaldeans, and go forth, and be as serpents before sleep.


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For behold, I shall stir up against Babylon the gatherings of nations out of the land of the north, and they shall set themselves in array against her. From there shall she be taken, as the dart of an expert warrior shall not return empty.


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“Because you rejoiced, and boasted, <i>while</i> plundering My heritage; because you exulted as calves in the grass, and pushed with the horn as bulls.


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Your mother is greatly ashamed; your mother that bore you for prosperity is confounded. <i>She is</i> the last of the nations, desolate,


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by reason of the Lord's anger. It shall not be inhabited, but it all shall be a desolation; and everyone that passes through Babylon shall scowl, and they shall hiss at all her plagues.


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Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about, all you that bend the bow; shoot at her, do not spare your arrows,


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and prevail against her. Her hands are weakened, her bulwarks are fallen, and her wall is broken down; for it is vengeance from God. Take vengeance upon her; as she has done, so do to her.


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Utterly destroy the seed out of Babylon, <i>and</i> him that holds a sickle in time of harvest; for fear of the Grecian sword, they shall return everyone to his people, and everyone shall flee to his own land.


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“Israel is a wandering sheep; the lions have driven him out. The king of Assyria first devoured him, and afterward this king of Babylon <i>has gnawed</i> his bones.


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Therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I <i>will</i> take vengeance on the king of Babylon, and upon his land, as I took vengeance on the king of Assyria.


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And I will restore Israel to his pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and on Mount Ephraim and in Gilead, and his soul shall be satisfied.


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In those days, and at that time, they shall seek for the iniquity of Israel, and there shall be none; and for the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found; for I will be merciful to them that are left on the land, says the Lord.


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Go up against it roughly, and against them that dwell on it. Avenge, O sword, and destroy utterly, says the Lord, and do according to all that I command you.


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How has the hammer of the whole earth been broken and crushed! How has Babylon become a desolation among the nations!


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They shall come upon you, and you shall not know it, O Babylon, that you will even be taken captive. You are found and taken, because you resisted the Lord.


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The Lord has opened His treasury, and brought forth the weapons of His anger; for the Lord God <i>has</i> a work in the land of the Chaldeans.


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For her times have come. Open her storehouses; search her as a cave, and utterly destroy her; let there be no remnant of her.


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Dry up all her fruits, and let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, and the time of their retribution.


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A voice of men fleeing and escaping from the land of Babylon, to declare to Zion the vengeance <i>that comes</i> from the Lord our God.


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“Summon many against Babylon, everyone that bends the bow. Camp against her round about; let none of her <i>people</i> escape. Render to her according to her works, according to all that she has done, do to her; for she has resisted the Lord, the Holy God of Israel.


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Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her warriors shall be cast down, says the Lord.


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Behold, I am against you, O haughty one, says the Lord; for your day has come, and the time of your retribution.


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And your pride shall fail, and fall, and there shall be no one to set it up again. And I will kindle a fire in her forest, and it shall devour all things round about her.


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“Thus says the Lord: The children of Israel and the children of Judah have been oppressed. All those that have taken them captive have oppressed them together, for they would not let them go.


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But their Redeemer is strong; the Lord Almighty is His name. He will enter into judgment with His adversaries, that He may destroy the earth;


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and He will sharpen a sword against the Chaldeans, and against the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her nobles and upon her wise men.


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A sword upon her warriors, and they shall be weakened. A sword upon their horses, and upon their chariots.


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A sword upon their warriors and upon the mixed people in the midst of her; and they shall be as women. A sword upon the treasures, and they shall be scattered upon her water,


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and they shall be ashamed; for it is a land of graven <i>images</i>; and in the islands, where they boasted.


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Therefore shall idols dwell in the islands, and the young ostriches shall dwell in it. It shall not be inhabited anymore, forever.


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As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities bordering upon them, says the Lord: no man shall dwell there, and no son of man shall sojourn there.


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“Behold, a people comes from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be stirred up from the end of the earth, holding bow and dagger.


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<i>The people</i> are fierce, and will have no mercy; their voices shall sound as the sea, they shall ride upon horses, prepared for war, like fire, against you, O daughter of Babylon.


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The king of Babylon heard the sound of them, and his hands grew feeble. Anguish overcame him, pangs as of a woman in travail.


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Behold, he shall come up as a lion from Jordan to Gaethan; for I will speedily drive them from her, and I will set all the youths against her; for who is like Me? And who will resist Me? And who is this shepherd who will stand before Me?


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Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord, which He has taken against Babylon; and His devices, which He has devised upon the Chaldeans inhabiting <i>it</i>. Surely lambs of their flock shall be destroyed. Surely pasture shall be cut off from them.


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Or at the sound of the taking of Babylon the earth shall quake, and a cry shall be heard among the nations.”


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Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I stir up against Babylon, and against the Chaldeans dwelling there, a deadly burning wind.


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And I will send forth against Babylon spoilers, and they shall spoil her, and shall ravage her land. Woe to Babylon round about <i>her</i> in the day of her affliction.


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Let the archer bend his bow, and him that has armor put it on, and do not spare her young men, but destroy all her host.


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And slain men shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and <i>men</i> pierced through shall fall without it.


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For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken of their God, of the Lord Almighty; whereas their land was filled with iniquity against the holy things of Israel.”


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Flee from the midst of Babylon, and deliver everyone his soul; and do not be overthrown in her iniquity; for it is the time of her retribution from the Lord. He is rendering to her a recompense.


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Babylon has been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, causing all the earth to be drunken. The nations have drunk of her wine; therefore they were shaken.


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And Babylon has fallen suddenly, and is broken to pieces. Lament for her; take balm for her deadly wound, if by any means she may be healed.


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We tried to heal Babylon, but she was not healed. Let us forsake her, and depart everyone to his own country; for her judgment has reached to the heaven, it has mounted up to the stars.


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The Lord has brought forth His judgment. Come, and let us declare in Zion the works of the Lord our God.


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Prepare the arrows; fill the quivers. The Lord has stirred up the spirit of the king of the Medes; for His wrath is against Babylon, to destroy it utterly; for it is the Lord's vengeance, it is the vengeance of His people.


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Lift up a standard on the walls of Babylon, prepare the quivers, rouse the guards, prepare the weapons; for the Lord has taken <i>the work</i> in hand, and will execute what He has spoken against the inhabitants of Babylon,


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dwelling on many waters, and amidst the abundance of her treasures. Assuredly your end has come, into your inward parts.


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For the Lord has sworn by His arm, <i>saying</i>, “I will fill you with men as with locusts; and they that come down shall cry against you.”


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The Lord made the earth by His power, preparing the world by His wisdom, by His understanding He stretched out the heaven.


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At <i>His</i> voice He makes a sound of water in the heaven, and brings up clouds from the extremity of the earth. He makes the lightning for rain, and brings light out of His treasuries.


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Every man has completely lost understanding; every goldsmith is confounded because of his graven <i>images</i>; for they have cast false <i>gods;</i> there is no breath in them.


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Not so is Jacob's portion; for He that formed all things, He is his inheritance; the Lord is His name.


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“You scatter for Me the weapons of war, and I will scatter nations by you, and will destroy kings by means of you.


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And by you I will scatter the horse and his rider; and by you I will scatter chariots and them that ride in them.


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And by you I will scatter the shepherd and his flock; and by you I will scatter the farmer and his yoke of oxen; and by you I will scatter leaders and the captains.


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“And I will recompense to Babylon and to all the Chaldeans that dwell <i>there</i> all the evil that they have done to Zion before your eyes, says the Lord.


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Behold, I am against you, the ruined mountain, that destroys the whole earth; and I will stretch out My hand upon you, and will roll you down upon the rocks, and will make you as a burnt mountain.


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And they shall not take from you a stone for a corner, nor a stone for a foundation; for you shall be a desolation forever, says the Lord.


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Set up a standard in the land, sound the trumpet among the nations, consecrate the nations against her, raise up kings against her by Me, and for the people of Ashkenaz; set against her engines of war; bring up against her horses as a multitude of locusts.


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Bring up nations against her, <i>even</i> the king of the Medes and of the whole earth, his rulers, and all his captains.


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The earth has quaked and been troubled, because the purpose of the Lord has risen up against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, and uninhabitable.


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The warrior of Babylon has failed to fight; they shall sit there in the siege. Their power is broken; they have become like women; her tabernacles have been set on fire; her bars are broken.


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One shall rush, running to meet <i>another</i> runner, and one <i>shall go</i> with tidings to meet <i>another</i> with tidings, to bring tidings to the king of Babylon, that his city is taken.


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At the end of his passages they were taken, and his cisterns they have burned with fire, and his warriors are going forth.


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“For thus says the Lord: The houses of the king of Babylon shall be threshed as a floor in the season; yet a little while, and her harvest shall come.”


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He has devoured me, he has torn me asunder, airy darkness has come upon me; Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has swallowed me up, as a dragon has he filled his belly with my delicacies.


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My troubles and my distresses have driven me out into Babylon, shall she that dwells in Zion say; and my blood <i>shall be</i> upon the Chaldeans dwelling <i>there</i>, shall Jerusalem say.


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Therefore thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will judge your adversary, and I will execute vengeance for you; and I will waste her sea, and dry up her fountain.


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In their excitement I will give them a drink, and make them drunk, that they may be stupefied, and sleep an everlasting sleep, and not awake, says the Lord.


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How has the boast of all the earth been taken and caught in a snare! How has Babylon become a desolation among the nations!


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Her cities have become like a dry and trackless land; not so much as one <i>soul</i> shall dwell in it, neither shall a son of man lodge in it.


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And I will take vengeance on Babylon, and bring forth out of her mouth what she has swallowed down, and the nations shall no more be gathered to her.”


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Go forth of the land, you that escape, and do not stay; you that are afar off, remember the Lord, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.


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We are ashamed, because we have heard our reproach; disgrace has covered our face; aliens have come into our sanctuary, <i>even</i> into the house of the Lord.


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“Therefore behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will take vengeance upon her graven <i>images;</i> and slain men shall fall in all her land.


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For though Babylon should go up as the heaven, and though she should strengthen her walls with her power, from Me shall come they that shall destroy her, says the Lord.”


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for the Lord has utterly destroyed Babylon, and cut off from her the great voice sounding as many waters; He has consigned her voice to destruction.


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For distress has come upon Babylon, her warriors are taken, their bows are useless; for God has recompensed them.


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“The Lord recompenses, and will make her leaders and her wise men and her captains completely drunk,” says the King, the Lord Almighty is His name.


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Thus says the Lord: “The wall of Babylon was made broad, but it shall be completely broken down, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall not labor in vain, nor the nations fail in <i>their</i> rule.”


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The word which the Lord commanded the prophet Jeremiah to say to Seraiah son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when he went from Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign. And Seraiah was over the bounties.


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And Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evils which should come upon Babylon, <i>even</i> all these words that are written against Babylon.


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And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you have come to Babylon, and shall see and read all these words;


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then you shall say, ‘O Lord God, You have spoken against this place to destroy it, and that there should be none to dwell in it, neither man nor beast; for it shall be a desolation forever.’


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And it shall come to pass, when you shall cease from reading this book, that you shall bind a stone upon it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates;


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and shall say, ‘Thus shall Babylon sink, and not rise, because of the evils which I bring upon it.’”


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<n>The Destruction of Jerusalem Reviewed</n> Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah, of Libnah.


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And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the ninth month, on the tenth day of the month, <i>that</i> Nebuchadnezzr king of Babylon came, and all his army, against Jerusalem, and they made a rampart round it, and built a wall round about it with large stones.


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on the ninth day of the month. And <i>then</i> the famine was severe in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.


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And the city was broken up, and all the men of war went out by night by the way of the gate, between the wall and the outworks, which were by the king's garden. And the Chaldeans were by the city round about; and they went by the way <i>leading</i> to the wilderness.


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But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook him beyond Jericho. And all his servants were dispersed.


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And the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; and he killed all the princes of Judah in Riblah.


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And he put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in fetters. And the king of Babylon brought him to Babylon, and put him into the grinding-house, until the day he died.


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And in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nabuzaradan the captain of the guard, who waited on the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem;


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and he burned the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all the houses of the city, and every great house he burned with fire.


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And the army of the Chaldeans that was with the captain of the guard pulled down all the wall of Jerusalem round about.


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And the Chaldeans broke in pieces the bronze pillars that were in the house of the Lord, and the bases, and the bronze sea that was in the house of the Lord, and they took the brass thereof, and carried it away to Babylon.


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Also the rim, and the bowls, and the flesh-hooks, and all the bronze vessels, which they ministered with;


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and the basins, and the snuffers, and the oil-funnels, and the lampstands, and the censers, and the cups, and whatever <i>was</i> solid gold, and the silver, and whatever <i>was</i> of solid silver, the captain of the guard took away.


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And the two pillars, and the one sea, and the twelve bronze oxen under the sea, which <i>things</i> King Solomon made for the house of the Lord; the brass of which was without weight.


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And as for the pillars, the height of one pillar was thirty-five cubits; and a line of twelve cubits compassed it round; and the thickness of it <i>all</i> round was four fingers.


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And <i>there was</i> a bronze chapiter upon them, and the length was five cubits, <i>even</i> the height of one chapiter; and <i>there was</i> on the chapiter round about network and pomegranates, all of brass. And correspondingly the second pillar <i>had</i> eight pomegranates to a cubit for the twelve cubits.


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And the pomegranates were ninety-six on a side; and all the pomegranates on the network round about were a hundred.


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And the captain of the guard took the chief priest, and the second priest, and those that kept the way;


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and one eunuch, who was over the men of war, and seven men of renown, who were in the king's presence that were found in the city; and the scribe of the forces, who did the part of a scribe to the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the midst of the city.


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And Nabuzaradan the captain of the king's guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.


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And it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year after that Jehoiakim king of Judah had been carried away captive, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fourth <i>day</i> of the month, <i>that</i> Evil-Merodach king of Babylon, in the year in which he began to reign, raised the head of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and shaved him, and brought him out of the house where he was kept,


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and changed his prison garments. And he ate bread continually before him all the days that he lived.


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And his appointed portion was given him continually by the king of Babylon from day to day, until the day that he died.


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<n>Jerusalem in Affliction</n> And it came to pass, after Israel was taken captive, and Jerusalem made desolate, <i>that</i> Jeremiah sat weeping, and lamented with this lamentation over Jerusalem, and said: ALEPH. How does the city that was filled with people sit solitary! She has become as a widow: she that was magnified among the nations, and princess among the provinces, has become a slave.


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BETH. She weeps bitterly in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks; and there is none of all her lovers to comfort her: all that were her friends have dealt deceitfully with her, they have become her enemies.


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GIMEL. Judah has gone into captivity by reason of her affliction, and by reason of the abundance of her servitude; she dwells among the nations, she has not found rest. All her pursuers have overtaken her between her oppressors.


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DALETH. The ways of Zion mourn, because there are none that come to the feast. All her gates are ruined. Her priests groan, her virgins are led captive, and she is in bitterness in herself.


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HE. Her oppressors have become the head, and her enemies have prospered; for the Lord has afflicted her because of the multitude of her sins. Her young children have gone into captivity before the face of the oppressor.


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VAU. And all her beauty has been taken away from the daughter of Zion. Her princes were as rams finding no pasture, and have gone <i>away</i> in weakness before the face of the pursuer.


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ZAIN. Jerusalem remembered the days of her affliction, and her rejection. <i>She thought on</i> all her desirable things which were from the days of old, when her people fell into the hands of the oppressor, and there was none to help her; when her enemies saw it, they laughed at her habitation.


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HETH. Jerusalem has sinned a great sin; therefore has she come into tribulation, all that used to honor her have afflicted her, for they have seen her shame: yea, she herself groaned, and turned backward.


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TETH. Her uncleanness is before her feet; she did not remember her former state; she has lowered her boasting <i>tone</i>, there is none to comfort her. Behold, O Lord, my affliction, for the enemy has magnified himself.


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JOD. The oppressor has stretched out his hand on all her desirable things, for she has seen the Gentiles entering into her sanctuary, <i>concerning</i> whom You commanded that they should not enter into Your congregation.


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CHAPH. All her people groan, seeking bread: they have given their desirable things for meat, to restore their soul: behold, Lord, and look; for she has become dishonored.


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LAMED. All you that pass by the way, turn, and see if there is sorrow likened to my sorrow, which has happened to me. The Lord who spoke by me has afflicted me in the day of His fierce anger.


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MEM. He has sent fire from His lofty habitation, He has brought it into my bones: He has spread a net for my feet, He has turned me back: He has made me desolate and mourning all the day.


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NUN. He has watched over my sins, they are woven about my hands, they have come up on my neck. My strength has failed, for the Lord has laid pains on my hands, I shall not be able to stand.


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SAMECH. The Lord has cut off all my strong men from the midst of me: He has summoned against me a time for crushing my choice men: the Lord has trodden a wine press for the virgin daughter of Judah: for these things I weep.


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AIN. My eye has poured out water, because He that should comfort me, that should restore my soul, has been removed far from me. My sons have been destroyed, because the enemy has prevailed.


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PHE. Zion has spread out her hand, and there is none to comfort her: the Lord has commanded concerning Jacob, his oppressors are round about him: Jerusalem has become among them as a removed woman.


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TSADE. The Lord is righteous, for I have provoked His mouth. Listen, I pray, all you people, and behold my grief: my virgins and my young men have gone into captivity.


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KOPH. I called my lovers, but they deceived me: my priests and my elders failed in the city, for they sought food that they might restore their souls, but did not find it.


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RHECHS. Behold, O Lord; for I am afflicted; my belly is troubled, and my heart is turned within me; for I have been grievously rebellious; abroad the sword has bereaved me, even as death at home.


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CHSEN. Hear, I pray you, for I groan: there is none to comfort me: all my enemies have heard of my afflictions and rejoiced, because You have done it: You have brought on the day, You have called the time: they have become like to me.


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THAU. Let all their wickedness come before Your face, and strip them, as they have made a gleaning for all my sins: for my groans are many, and my heart is grieved.


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<n>God’s Anger With Jerusalem</n> ALEPH. How has the Lord darkened in His wrath the daughter of Zion! He has cast down the glory of Israel from heaven to earth, and has not remembered His footstool.


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BETH. In the day of His wrath the Lord has overwhelmed <i>her</i> as in the sea, <i>and</i> not spared. He has brought down in His fury all the beautiful things of Jacob; He has brought down to the ground the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; He has profaned her kings and her princes.


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GIMEL. He has broken in His fierce anger the whole horn of Israel; He has turned back His right hand from the face of the enemy, and has kindled a flame in Jacob as a fire, and it has devoured all things round about.


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DALETH. He has bent His bow as an opposing enemy; He has strengthened His right hand as an adversary, and has destroyed all the desirable things of my eyes in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion; He has poured forth His anger as fire.


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HE. The Lord has become as an enemy; He has overwhelmed Israel as in the sea, He has overwhelmed her palaces; He has destroyed her strongholds, and has multiplied the afflicted and humbled ones to the daughter of Judah.


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VAU. And He has scattered His tabernacle as a vine, He has marred His feast; the Lord has forgotten the feast and the Sabbath which He appointed in Zion, and in the fury of His wrath has vexed the king, priest, and prince.


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ZAIN. The Lord has rejected His altar, He has cast off His sanctuary, He has broken by the hand of the enemy the wall of her palaces; they have uttered their voice in the house of the Lord as on a feast day.


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HETH. And He has turned to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion; He has stretched out the measuring line, He has not turned back His hand from afflicting her; therefore the bulwark mourned, and the wall was weakened with it.


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TETH. Her gates have sunk into the ground; He has destroyed and broken to pieces her bars, and her king and her prince among the Gentiles. There is no law; indeed, her prophets have seen no vision from the Lord.


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JOD. The elders of the daughter of Zion have sat upon the ground, they have kept silence; they have cast up dust upon their heads; they have girded themselves with sackcloth; they have brought down to the ground the chief virgins in Jerusalem.


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CHAPH. My eyes have failed with tears, my heart is troubled, my glory is cast down to the ground, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; while the infant and suckling swoon in the streets of the city.


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LAMED. They said to their mothers, “Where is grain and wine?” While they fainted like wounded men in the streets of the city, while their souls were poured out into their mother’s bosom.


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MEM. What shall I testify to you, or what shall I compare to you, O daughter of Jerusalem? Who shall save and comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For the cup of your destruction is enlarged—who shall heal you?


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NUN. Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions, and they have not discovered your iniquity, to turn back your captivity; but they have seen for you vain burdens, and worthless visions.


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SAMECH. All that go by the way have clapped their hands at you; they have hissed and shaken their head at the daughter of Jerusalem. “Is this the city,” they say, “the crown of joy of all the earth?”


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AIN. All your enemies have opened their mouth against you; they have hissed and gnashed their teeth, and said, “We have swallowed her up; surely this is the day which we looked for; we have found it, we have seen it.”


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PHE. The Lord has done that which He purposed; He has accomplished His word, even the things which He commanded from the ancient days; He has thrown down, and has not spared, and He has caused the enemy to rejoice over you, He has exalted the horn of him that afflicted you.


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TSADE. Their heart cried to the Lord, “You walls of Zion, pour down tears like torrents day and night: give yourself no rest; let not the apple of your eyes cease.”


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KOPH. Arise, rejoice in the night at the beginning of your watch: pour out your heart as water before the face of the Lord, lift up your hands to Him for the life of your infants, who faint from hunger at the top of all the streets.


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RHECHS. Behold, O Lord, and see for whom You have gathered thus. Shall the women eat the fruit of their womb? The cook has made a gathering: shall the infants nursing at the breasts be slain? Will You slay the priest and prophet in the sanctuary of the Lord?


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CHSEN. The child and old man have lain down in the street; my virgins and my young men have gone into captivity; You have slain them with the sword and with famine; in the day of Your wrath You have mangled them, You have not spared.


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THAU. He has called my sojourners round about to a solemn day, and there was not in the day of the wrath of the Lord any one that escaped, or was left; whereas I have strengthened and multiplied all my enemies.


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<n>God’s Steadfast Love Endures</n> ALEPH. I am the man that sees poverty, through the rod of His wrath upon me.


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ZAIN. I remembered by reason of my poverty, and because of persecution my bitterness and gall shall be remembered;


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HETH. <i>It is</i> <i>through </i>the mercies of the Lord that He has not failed me, because His compassions are not exhausted. Pity us, O Lord, early every month: for we are not brought to an end, because His compassions are not exhausted.


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<n>The Punishment of Zion</n> ALEPH. How will the gold be tarnished, and the fine silver changed! The sacred stones have been poured forth at the top of all the streets.


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BETH. The precious sons of Zion, who were equaled in value with gold, how are they counted as earthen vessels, the works of the hands of the potter!


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GIMEL. Serpents have drawn out the breasts, they nurse their young; <i>but</i> the daughters of my people are incurably cruel, as an ostrich in a desert.


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DALETH. The tongue of the sucking child cleaves to the roof of its mouth for thirst; the little children ask for bread, and there is none to break it for them.


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HE. They that eat delicacies are desolate in the streets; they that used to be nursed in scarlet have clothed themselves with dung.


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VAU. And the iniquity of the daughter of my people has been increased beyond the iniquities of Sodom, <i>the city</i> that was overthrown very suddenly, and none labored against her <i>with their</i> hands.


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ZAIN. Her Nazarites were made purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were purified as with fire, their polishing was superior to sapphire stone.


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HETH. Their countenance has become blacker than smoke; they are not known in the streets: their skin has cleaved to their bones; they are withered, they have become as a stick.


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TETH. The slain with the sword were better than they that were slain with hunger; they have departed, pierced through from lack of the fruits of the field.


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JOD. The hands of tender hearted women have boiled their own children; they became meat for them in the destruction of the daughter of my people.


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CHAPH. The Lord has accomplished His wrath; He has poured out fierce anger, and has kindled a fire in Zion, and it has devoured her foundations.


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LAMED. The kings of the earth, even all that dwell in the world, believed not that an enemy and oppressor would enter through the gates of Jerusalem.


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MEM. For the sins of her prophets, and iniquities of her priests, who shed righteous blood in the midst of her,


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NUN. Her watchmen staggered in the streets, they were defiled with blood in their weakness, they touched their clothing with it.


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SAMECH. Depart from the unclean ones; call them: depart, depart, touch <i>them</i> not: for they are on fire, yea, they stagger. Say among the nations, “They shall no more sojourn <i>there</i>.”


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AIN. The presence of the Lord was their portion; but He will not again look upon them. They did not regard the priests; they did not pity the prophets.


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PHE. While we yet lived our eyes failed, while we looked in vain for our help. We looked to a nation that could not save.


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TSADE We have hunted for our little ones, that they should not walk in our streets. Our time has drawn near, our days are fulfilled, our time has come.


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KOPH. Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of the sky, they flew on the mountains, in the wilderness they laid wait for us.


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RECHS. The breath of our nostrils, our anointed Lord, was taken in their destructive snares, of whom we said, “In His shadow we shall live among the Gentiles.”


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CHSEN. Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwell in the land; yet the cup of the Lord shall pass through to you: you shall be drunken, and pour forth.


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THAU. O daughter of Zion, your iniquity has come to an end; He shall no longer carry you captive: He has visited your iniquities, O daughter of Edom; He has discovered your sins.


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<n>A Prayer for Restoration</n> Remember, O Lord, what has happened to us: behold, and look on our reproach.


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We shall bring in our bread with <i>danger of</i> our lives, because of the sword of the wilderness.


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But You, O Lord, shall dwell forever; Your throne <i>shall endure</i> from generation to generation.


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<n>Ezekiel’s Vision of God</n> Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, that I was in the midst of the captivity by the River Chebar; and the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.


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And the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans, by the River Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was upon me.


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And I looked, and behold, a sweeping wind came from the north, and a great cloud on it, and <i>there was</i> brightness round about it, and gleaming fire, and in the midst of it as it were the appearance of amber in the midst of the fire, and brightness in it.


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And in the midst as it were the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: the likeness of a man was upon them.


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And their legs were straight; and their feet were winged, and <i>there were</i> sparks, like gleaming brass, and their wings were light.


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And the likeness of their faces was the face of a man, and the face of a lion on the right of the four; and the face of a calf on the left of the four; and the face of an eagle to the four.


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And the four had their wings spread out above; each one <i>had</i> two joined to one another, and two covered their bodies.


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And in the midst of the living creatures <i>there was</i> an appearance as of burning coals of fire, as an appearance of lamps turning among the living creatures; and the brightness of fire, and out of the fire came forth lightning.


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And I looked, and behold, the four <i>each had</i> one wheel on the ground near the living creatures.


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And the appearance of the wheels was as the appearance of beryl: and the four had one likeness; and their work was as it were a wheel in a wheel.


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neither did their backs <i>turn</i>. And they were high. And I beheld them, and the backs of the four were full of eyes round about.


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And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures lifted themselves off the earth, the wheels were lifted off.


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Wherever the cloud happened to be, there was the spirit ready to go. The wheels went and were lifted up with them; because the spirit of life was in the wheels.


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When those went, <i>the wheels</i> went; and when those stood, <i>the wheels</i> stood; and when those lifted themselves off the earth, they were lifted off with them, for the spirit of life was in the wheels.


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And the likeness over the heads of the living creatures was as a firmament, as the appearance of crystal, spread out over their wings above.


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And their wings were spread out under the firmament, reaching one to the other; two <i>wings</i> to each, covering their bodies.


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And I heard the sound of their wings when they went, as the sound of much water: and when they stood, their wings were let down.


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that was over their head, there was as the appearance of a sapphire stone, <i>and</i> the likeness of a throne upon it. And upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as an appearance of a man above.


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And I saw as it were the resemblance of amber from the appearance of the loins and upwards, and from the appearance of the loins and under I saw an appearance of fire, and the brightness thereof round about.


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As the appearance of the rainbow when it is in the cloud in days of rain, so was the form of brightness round about.


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<n>The Vision of the Scroll</n> This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And I saw and fell on my face, and heard the voice of One speaking. And He said to me, “Son of man, stand upon your feet, and I will speak to you.”


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And the Spirit came upon me, and took me up, and raised me, and set me on my feet. And I heard Him speaking to me.


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And He said to me, “Son of Man, I send you forth to the house of Israel, to them that provoke Me; who have provoked Me, they and their fathers to this day.


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Whether then indeed they shall hear or fear (for they are a provoking house), yet they shall know that you are a prophet in the midst of them.


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“And you, son of man, do not fear them, nor be dismayed at their face (for they will madden and will rise up against you round about, and you dwell in the midst of scorpions), do not be afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their countenance, for they are a provoking house.


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And you shall speak My words to them, whether they will hear or fear; for they are a provoking house.


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And you, son of man, hear Him that speaks to you; be not provoking, as the provoking house: open your mouth, and eat what I give you.”


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And He unrolled it before me. And in it the front and the back were written <i>upon.</i> And there was written <i>in it</i> lamentations, and mournful songs, and woe.


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your mouth shall eat, and your belly shall be filled with this scroll that is given to you.” So I ate it; and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.


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And He said to me, “Son of man, go your way, and go to the house of Israel, and speak My words to them.


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neither to many nations of other speech and other tongues, nor of harsh language, whose words you would not understand; although if I <i>had</i> sent you to such, they would have listened to you.


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But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you; for they will not listen to Me; for all the house of Israel are stubborn and hard-hearted.


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And behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and I will strengthen your power against their power.


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And it shall be continually stronger than a rock—do not be afraid of them, neither be dismayed at their faces, because they are a provoking house.”


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And He said to me, “Son of man, receive into your heart all the words that I have spoken to you, and hear <i>them</i> with your ears.


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And go your way, go in to the captivity, to the children of your people, and you shall speak to them, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord’; whether they will hear, <i>or </i> whether they will refuse.”


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<n>Ezekiel at the River Chebar</n> Then the Spirit took me up, and I heard behind me the voice <i>as</i> of a great earthquake, <i>saying</i>, “Blessed <i>be</i> the glory of the Lord from His place.”


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And I perceived the sound of the wings of the living creatures clapping one to the other, and the sound of the wheels was near them, and the sound of the earthquake.


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And the Spirit lifted me, and took me up, and I went in the impulse of my spirit; and the hand of the Lord was mighty upon me.


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Then I passed through the air and came into the captivity, and went round <i>to</i> those that dwelt by the River Chebar who were there; and I sat there seven days, conversant in the midst of them.


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I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel; and you shall hear a word from My mouth, and shall warn them from Me.


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When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die’; and you have not warned him, to give warning to the wicked, to turn from his ways, that he should live; that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at your hand.


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But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, and from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, and you shall deliver your soul.


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And when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits a trespass, and I shall bring punishment before him, he shall die, because you did not warn him: he shall even die in his sins, because his righteousness shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at your hand.


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But if you warn the righteous not to sin, and he does not sin, the righteous shall surely live, because you have warned him; and you shall deliver your own soul.”


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And the hand of the Lord came upon me; and He said to me, “Arise, and go forth into the plain, and there shall you be spoken to.”


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And I arose, and went forth to the plain. And behold, the glory of the Lord stood there, according to the vision, and according to the glory of the Lord, which I saw by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face.


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Then the Spirit came upon me, and set me on my feet, and spoke to me, and said to me, “Go in, and shut yourself up in the midst of your house.


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And you, son of man, behold, bonds are prepared for you, and they shall bind you with them, and you shall not come forth of the midst of them.


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Also I will bind your tongue, and you shall be dumb, and shall not be to them a reprover; because they are a provoking house.


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But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord’: He that hears, let him hear; and he that is disobedient, let him be disobedient; for they are a provoking house.”


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<n>The Siege of Jerusalem Portrayed</n> “And you, son of man, take a brick, and set it before your face, and portray on it the city, <i>even</i> Jerusalem.


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And you shall besiege it, and build works against it, and throw up a mound round about it, and pitch camps against it, and set up engines round about.


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And take to yourself an iron pan, and you shall set it <i>for</i> an iron wall between you and the city. And you shall set your face against it, and it shall be in a siege, and you shall besiege it. This is a sign to the children of Israel.


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“And you shall lie upon your left side, and lay the iniquities of the house of Israel upon it, according to the number of the hundred and fifty days <i>during</i> which you shall lie upon it; and you shall bear their iniquities.


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For I have appointed you their iniquities for a number of days, for a hundred and ninety days: so you shall bear the iniquities of the house of Israel.


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And you shall accomplish this, and <i>then</i> you shall lie on your right side, and shall bear the iniquities of the house of Judah for forty days: I have appointed you a day for a year.


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So you shall set your face to the siege of Jerusalem, and shall strengthen your arm, and shall prophesy against it.


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And behold, I have prepared bonds for you, and you may not turn from your one side to the other, until the days of your siege shall be accomplished.


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“Take also wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and grain; and you shall cast them into one earthen vessel, and shall make them into loaves for yourself; and you shall eat them a hundred and ninety days, according to the number of the days which you sleep on your side.


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And you shall drink water by measure, even from time to time you shall drink the sixth part of a hin.


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And you shall eat them <i>as</i> a barley cake; you shall bake them before their eyes in man's dung.


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And you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Thus shall the children of Israel eat unclean things among the Gentiles.’”


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Then I said, “By no means, Lord God of Israel! Surely my soul has not been defiled with uncleanness, nor have I eaten that which has died of itself, or was torn by beasts from my birth until now; neither has any corrupt flesh entered into my mouth.”


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And He said to me, “Behold, I have given you dung of oxen instead of man's dung, and you shall prepare your loaves upon it.”


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And He said to me, “Son of man, behold, I break the support of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight and in poverty, and shall drink water by measure, and in a state of ruin;


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that they may want bread and water; and a man and his brother shall be brought to ruin, and they shall pine away in their iniquities.”


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<n>A Sword Against Jerusalem</n> “And you, son of man, take a sword sharper than a barber's razor; you shall procure it for yourself, and shall bring it upon your head, and upon your beard; and you shall take a pair of scales, and shall separate the hair.


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A fourth part you shall burn in the fire in the midst of the city, at the fulfillment of the days of the siege. And you shall take a fourth part, and burn it up in the midst of it. And a fourth part you shall cut with a sword round about it. And a fourth part you shall scatter to the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them.


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And you shall take of these again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them up with fire. From there shall come forth fire, and you shall say to the whole house of Israel,


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‘Thus says the Lord: This is Jerusalem: I have set her and the countries round about her in the midst of the nations.’


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And you shall declare My ordinances to the lawless one from out of the nations; and My statutes <i>to the sinful one</i> of the countries round about her, because they have rejected My ordinances, and have not walked in My statutes.


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Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Because your occasion <i>for sin has been taken</i> from the nations round about you, and you have not walked in My statutes, nor kept My ordinances, no, you have not even done according to the ordinances of the nations round about you; therefore thus says the Lord:


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‘Behold, I am against you, and I will execute judgment in the midst of you in the sight of the nations.


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And I will do in you things which I have not done, and the like of which I will not do again, for all your abominations.


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Therefore the fathers shall eat <i>their </i>children in the midst of you, and children shall eat <i>their </i>fathers; and I will execute judgments in you, and I will scatter all that are left of you to the four winds.


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Therefore, <i>as</i> I live, says the Lord; surely, because you have defiled My holy things with all your abominations, I also will reject you; My eye shall not spare, and I will have no mercy.


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A fourth part of you shall be cut off by pestilence, and a fourth part of you shall be consumed in the midst of you with famine; and <i>as for another</i> fourth part of you, I will scatter them to all the winds; and a fourth part of you shall fall by the sword round about you, and I will draw out a sword after them.


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And My wrath and My anger shall be accomplished upon them: and you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken in My jealousy, when I have accomplished My anger upon them.


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And I will make you desolate, and your daughters round about you, in the sight of everyone that passes through.


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And you shall be mourned over and miserable among the nations round about you, when I have executed judgments in you in the vengeance of My wrath. I, the Lord, have spoken.


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And when I have sent against them shafts of famine, then they shall be consumed, and I will break the strength of your bread.


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So I will send forth against you famine and evil beasts, and I will take vengeance upon you; and pestilence and blood shall pass through upon you; and I will bring a sword upon you round about. I, the Lord, have spoken.’”


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and you shall say, ‘You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord; Thus says the Lord to the mountains, and to the hills, and to the valleys, and to the forests: “Behold, I bring a sword upon you, and your high places shall be utterly destroyed.


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And your altars shall be broken to pieces, and your consecrated plats; and I will cast down your slain <i>men</i> before your idols.


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and in all your habitations; the cities shall be made desolate, and the high places utterly laid waste, that your altars may be destroyed, and your idols be broken to pieces, and your works be abolished.


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When there are <i>some</i> of you escaping from the sword among the Gentiles, and when you are scattered in the countries,


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then those of you that escape among the nations where they were carried captive shall remember Me; (I have sworn <i>an oath</i> against their heart that goes a-whoring from Me, and their eyes that go a-whoring after their practices) and they shall mourn over themselves for all their abominations.


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Thus says the Lord: “Clap with <i>your </i>hand, and stamp with <i>your</i> foot and say, ‘Aha, aha!’ For all the abominations of the house of Israel; they shall fall by the sword, and by pestilence, and by famine.


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He that is near shall fall by the sword; and he that is far off shall die by the pestilence; and he that is in the siege shall be consumed with famine; and I will accomplish My anger upon them.


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Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when your slain are in the midst of your idols round about your altars, on every high hill, and under <i>every</i> shady tree, where they offered a sweet savor to all their idols.


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And I will stretch out My hand against them, and I will make the land desolate and ruined from the wilderness of Diblah, in all their habitations; <i>and</i> you shall know that I am the Lord.”


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<n>Judgment on Israel is Near</n> Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Also, you, son of man, say,


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Thus says the Lord: ‘An end has come to the land of Israel, the end has come on the four corners of the land.


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Now the end <i>has come</i> upon you, and I will send <i>judgment</i> upon you: and I will take vengeance on your ways, and will recompense all your abominations upon you.


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My eye shall not spare, nor will I have any mercy, for I will recompense your way upon you, and your abominations shall be in the midst of you; and you shall know that I am the Lord.’


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the inhabitant of the land: the time has come, the day has drawn near, not with tumult, nor with pangs.


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Now I will pour out My anger upon you near at hand, and I will accomplish My wrath on you: and I will judge you for your ways, and recompense all your abominations upon you.


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My eye shall not spare, nor will I have any mercy: for I will recompense your ways upon you, and your abominations shall be in the midst of you; and you shall know that I am the Lord that strikes <i>you</i>.


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pride has sprung up, and will break the staff of the wicked one, and <i>that</i> not with tumult, nor with haste.


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For the buyer shall never again return to the seller, neither shall a man cleave with the eye <i>of hope</i> to his life.


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<i>There shall be</i> war with the sword without, and famine and pestilence within: he that is in the field shall die by the sword, and famine and pestilence shall destroy them that are in the city.


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“But they that escape among them shall be delivered, and shall be upon the mountains, and I will slay all <i>the rest</i>, everyone for his iniquities.


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And they shall gird themselves with sackcloth, and amazement shall cover them; and shame shall be upon them, <i>even</i> upon every face, and baldness upon every head.


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Their silver shall be cast forth in the streets, and their gold shall be despised: their souls shall not be satisfied, and their bellies shall not be filled; for it was the punishment of their iniquities.


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“<i>As for</i> their choice ornaments, they employed them for pride, and they made of them images of their abominations; therefore have I made them uncleanness to them.


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And I will deliver them into the hands of strangers to make them a prey, and to the pests of the earth for a spoil; and they shall profane them.


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And I will turn away My face from them, and they shall defile My secret place, and shall go in to them unguardedly, and profane them.


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“And they shall work uncleanness: because the land is full of strange nations, and the city is full of iniquity.


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And <i>though</i> propitiation shall come, and <i>one</i> shall seek peace, yet there shall be none.


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There shall be woe upon woe, and there shall be message upon message; and a vision shall be sought from a prophet, but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders.


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The prince shall clothe himself with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be made feeble. I will do to them according to their ways, and according to their judgments will I punish them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.”


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<n>Abominations in the Temple</n> And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the fifth month, on the fifth <i>day</i> of the month, I was sitting in the house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me. And the hand of the Lord came upon me.


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And I looked, and behold, the likeness of a man: from his loins and downwards <i>there was</i> fire, and from his loins upwards <i>there was</i> as the appearance of amber.


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And He stretched forth the likeness of a hand, and took me by the crown of my head. And the Spirit lifted me up between the earth and sky, and brought me to Jerusalem in a vision of God, to the porch of the gate that looks to the north, where was the pillar of the Purchaser.


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And behold, the glory of the Lord God of Israel was there, according to the vision which I saw in the plain.


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And He said to me, “Son of man, lift up your eyes toward the north.” So I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and behold<i>, I looked</i> from the north toward the eastern gate.


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And He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what these <i>people </i>do? They commit great abominations here, so that I should keep away from My sanctuary; and you shall see even greater iniquities.”


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So I went in and looked, and I beheld vain abominations, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon them round about.


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And seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and Jechoniah the son of Shaphan stood in their presence in the midst of them, and each one held his censer in his hand; and the smoke of the incense went up.


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And He said to me, “You have seen, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel do, each one of them in their secret chamber; because they have said, ‘The Lord does not see; the Lord has forsaken the earth.’”


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And He brought me in to the porch of the house of the Lord that looks to the north; and behold <i>there were </i>women sitting there lamenting for Tammuz.


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And He said to me, “Son of man, you have seen; but you shall yet see <i>evil</i> practices <i>even </i>greater then these.”


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And He brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord, and at the entrance of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty men, with their back parts toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces <i>turned</i> the opposite way; and these were worshipping the sun.


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And He said to me, “Son of man, you have seen this. <i>Is it</i> a trivial thing to the house of Judah to practice the iniquities which they have practiced here? For they have filled the land with iniquity; and behold, these are as scorners.


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<n>The Slaughter of the Idolaters</n> Then He called out in my ears with a loud voice, saying, “The judgment of the city has drawn near.” And each had the weapons of destruction in his hand.


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And behold, six men came from the way of the high gate that looks toward the north, and each one's axe was in his hand; and there was one man in the midst of them clothed with a long robe down to his feet, and a sapphire belt was on his loins. And they came in and stood near the bronze altar.


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And the glory of the God of Israel that was upon them went up from the cherubim to the porch of the house. And He called the man that was clothed with the long robe, who had the belt on his loins;


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and said to him, “Go through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men that groan and that grieve for all the iniquities that are done in the midst of them.”


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And He said to the first in my hearing, “Go after him into the city, and strike: and let not your eyes spare, neither have mercy.


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Utterly slay old man and youth, and virgin and infants and women: but do not go near any on whom is the mark: begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elder men who were within in the house.


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And it came to pass as they were striking, that I fell upon my face and cried out, and said, “Alas, O Lord! Will You destroy the remnant of Israel, in pouring out Your wrath upon Jerusalem?”


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Then He said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah has become exceedingly great: for the land is filled with many nations, and the city is filled with iniquity and uncleanness; because they have said, ‘The Lord has forsaken the earth, the Lord does not see.’


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Therefore My eye shall not spare, neither will I have any mercy: I have recompensed their ways upon their heads.”


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And behold, the man clothed with the long robe, and girded with the belt about his loins, answered and said, “I have done as You have commanded me.”


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<n>The Glory Departs from the Temple</n> Then I looked, and behold, over the firmament that was above the head of the cherubim <i>there was</i> a likeness of a throne over them, as a sapphire stone.


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And He said to the man clothed with the <i>long</i> robe, “Go in between the wheels that are under the cherubim, and fill your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter <i>them</i> over the city.” And he went in my sight.


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And the cherubim stood on the right hand of the house, as the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court.


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Then the glory of the Lord departed from the cherubim to the porch of the house; and the cloud filled the house, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the Lord.


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And the sound of the wings of the Cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, as the voice of Almighty God speaking.


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And it came to pass, when He gave a charge to the man clothed with the sacred robe, saying, “Take fire from between the wheels from between the cherubim,” that he went in, and stood near the wheels.


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And he stretched forth his hand into the midst of the fire that was between the cherubim, and he took <i>of the fire,</i> and put <i>it</i> into the hands of the man clothed with the sacred robe. And he took <i>it</i>, and went out.


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And I saw, and behold, four wheels stood by the cherubim, one wheel by each cherub: and the appearance of the wheels was as the appearance of a carbuncle stone.


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And <i>as for</i> their appearance, <i>there was</i> one likeness to the four, as if there should be a wheel in the midst of a wheel.


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When they went, they went on their four sides; they did not turn when they went, for whichever way the first head looked, they went; and they did not turn as they went.


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And their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about the four wheels.


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And when the cherubim went, the wheels went, and they were close to them. And when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, their wheels turned not.


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When they stood, <i>the wheels</i> stood; and when they mounted up, <i>the wheels</i> mounted up with them, because the spirit of life was in them.


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And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight. When they went forth, the wheels were also beside them, and they stood at the entrance of the front gate of the house of the Lord; and the glory of the God of Israel was upon them above.


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This is the living creature which I saw under the God of Israel by the River Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim.


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Each one <i>had</i> four faces, and each one <i>had</i> eight wings; and under their wings was the likeness of men's hands.


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And <i>as for</i> the likeness of their faces, these are the <i>same</i> faces which I saw under the glory of the God of Israel by the River Chebar: and they went each straight forward.


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<n>Judgment on Wicked Counselors</n> Moreover the Spirit took me up, and brought me to the front gate of the house of the Lord, that looks eastward. And behold, at the entrance of the gate were about twenty-five men; and I saw in the midst of them Jechoniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, the leaders of the people.


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And the Lord said to me, “Son of man, these are the men that devise vanities, and take evil counsel in this city;


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And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said to me, “Say; Thus says the Lord: ‘Thus have you said, O house of Israel: and I know the devices of your spirit.


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Therefore thus says the Lord: “Your dead whom you have smitten in the midst of it, these are the flesh, and this <i>city</i> is the caldron; but I will bring you forth out of the midst of it.


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And I will bring you forth out of the midst of it, and will deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you.


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You shall fall by the sword; I will judge you on the mountains of Israel; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”’”


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And it came to pass, while I was prophesying, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. And I fell upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, “Alas, alas, O Lord! Will you utterly destroy the remnant of Israel?”


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“Son of man, your brothers, and the men of your captivity, and all the house of Israel have come to the full, to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem said, ‘Keep far away from the Lord: the land is given to us for an inheritance.’


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Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord: I will cast them off among the nations, and will disperse them into every land, yet will I be to them for a little sanctuary in the countries which they shall enter.


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Therefore say, “Thus says the Lord: I will also take them from the heathen, and gather them out of the lands in which I have scattered them, and will give them the land of Israel.


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And they shall enter in there, and shall remove all the abominations from it, and all its iniquities from it.


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And I will give them another heart, and will put a new spirit within them; and will extract the heart of stone from their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh;


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that they may walk in My commandments, and keep My ordinances, and do them: and they shall be to Me a people, and I will be to them a God.


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And as for the heart <i>set upon</i> their abominations and their iniquities, as their heart went <i>after them</i>, I have recompensed their ways on their heads, says the Lord.”’”


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Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.


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And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood on the mountain which was in front of the city.


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And the Spirit took me up, and brought me to the land of the Chaldeans, to the captivity, in a vision by the Spirit of God: and I went up after the vision which I saw.


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“Son of man, you dwell in the midst of the iniquities of those who have eyes to see, and do not see; and have ears to hear, and do not hear; because they are a provoking house.


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You therefore, son of man, prepare yourself baggage for going into captivity by day in their sight; and you shall be led into captivity from your place into another place in their sight; that they may see that they are a provoking house.


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And you shall carry forth your baggage, baggage for captivity, by day before their eyes; and you shall go forth at evening, as a captive goes forth, in their sight.


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You shall be lifted up on <i>men's</i> shoulders, and shall go forth in secret; you shall cover your face, and shall not see the ground, because I have made you a sign to the house of Israel.”


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And so I did according to all that He commanded me; and I carried forth my baggage for captivity by day, and in the evening I dug through the wall for myself, and I went out secretly; I was taken up on <i>men's </i>shoulders before them.


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Say to them, Thus says the Lord God, the Prince and the Ruler in Israel, even to all the house of Israel who are in the midst of them:


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say, ‘I am performing signs: as I have done, so shall it be to him; they shall go into banishment and captivity.


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And the prince in the midst of them shall be borne upon shoulders, and shall go forth in secret through the wall, and shall dig, so that he may go forth thereby; he shall cover his face, so that he may not be seen by <i>anyone</i>, and he himself shall not see the ground.


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And I will spread out My net upon him, and he shall be caught in My snare, and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; but he shall not see it, though he shall die there.


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And I will scatter to every wind all his assistants round about him, and all that help him; and I will draw out a sword after them;


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And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have scattered them among the nations; and I will disperse them into the countries.


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And I will leave among them <i>a few</i> men in number <i>spared </i>from the sword, and from famine, and pestilence; that they may declare all their iniquities among the nations where they have gone; and they shall know that I am the Lord.’”


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And you shall say to the people of the land, ‘Thus says the Lord to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, on the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread in scarcity, and shall drink their water in desolation, that the land may be desolate with all that it contains, for all that dwell in it are ungodly.


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And their inhabited cities shall be laid utterly waste, and the land shall be desolate; and you shall know that I am the Lord.’”


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“Son of man, what is your parable on the land of Israel, that you say, ‘The days are long, <i>and </i>the vision has perished?’


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Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: I will even set aside this parable, and the house of Israel shall by no means use this parable <i>again</i>; for you shall say to them, “The days are at hand, and the fulfillment of every vision.


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For there shall no more be any false vision, nor anyone prophesying flatteries in the midst of the children of Israel.


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For I the Lord will speak My words; I will speak and perform <i>them</i>, and will delay no more, for in your days, O provoking house, I will speak the word, and will perform <i>it</i>, says the Lord.”’”


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“Son of man, behold, the provoking house of Israel boldly say, ‘The vision which this man sees is for many days, and he prophesies for times afar off.’


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Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: Henceforth none of My words shall linger, which I shall speak: I will speak and do, says the Lord.’”


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“Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, and you shall prophesy, and shall say to them, Hear the word of the Lord:


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They have not continued steadfast, and they have gathered flocks against the house of Israel, they that say,


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“In the day of the Lord,” have not stood, seeing false <i>visions,</i> prophesying vanities, who say, “The Lord says,” and the Lord has not sent them, and they began <i>to try</i> to confirm the word.


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‘And therefore say, Thus says the Lord: “Because your words are false, and your prophecies are vain, therefore behold, I am against you, says the Lord.


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And I will stretch forth My hand against the prophets that see false <i>visions</i>, and those that utter vanities. They shall not partake of the instruction of My people, neither shall they be written in the roll of the house of Israel, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel; and they shall know that I am the Lord.


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Because they have caused My people to err, saying, ‘Peace’; and there is no peace; and one builds a wall, and they plaster it—it shall fall.


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Say to them that plaster <i>it</i>, ‘It shall fall’; and there shall be a flooding rain; and I will send great stones upon their joinings, and they shall fall; and there shall be a sweeping wind, and it shall be broken.


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And lo! The wall has fallen; and will they not say to you, ‘Where is your plaster with which you plastered <i>it?’</i>


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Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘I will even cause to burst forth a sweeping blast with fury, and there shall be a flooding rain in My wrath; and in <i>My</i> fury I will bring on great hailstones for complete destruction.


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And I will break down the wall which you have plastered, and it shall fall; and I will lay it on the ground, and its foundations shall be discovered, and it shall fall; and you shall be consumed with rebukes; and you shall know that I am the Lord.


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And I will accomplish My wrath upon the wall, and upon them that plaster it; it shall fall: and I said to you, “The wall is not, nor they that plaster it,”


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even the prophets of Israel, who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see <i>visions of</i> peace for her, and there is no peace, says the Lord.’”


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“And you, son of man, set your face firmly against the daughters of your people, that prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy against them.


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And you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord: Woe to the <i>women</i> that sew pillows under every elbow, and make handkerchiefs on the head of every stature to pervert souls! The souls of My people are perverted, and they have saved souls alive.


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And they have dishonored Me before My people for a handful of barley, and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls which should not die, and to save alive the souls which should not live, while you speak to a people hearing vain speeches.


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‘Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against your pillows, whereby you there confound souls, and I will tear them away from your arms, and will set at liberty their souls which you pervert, to scatter them.


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And I will tear your handkerchiefs, and will rescue My people out of your hands, and they shall no longer be in your hands to be confounded; and you shall know that I am the Lord.


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Because you have perverted the heart of the righteous, whereas I did not pervert him, and <i>that</i> in order to strengthen the hands of the wicked, that he should not at all turn from his evil way and live:


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therefore you shall not see false <i>visions</i>, and you shall no more utter prophecies; but I will deliver My people out of your hand; and you shall know that I am the Lord.’”


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<n>God’s Judgments Justified</n> And there came to me men of the people of Israel, of the elders, and sat before me.


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“Son of man, these men have conceived their devices in their hearts, and have set before their faces the punishment of their iniquities: shall I indeed answer them?


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Therefore speak to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: Any man of the house of Israel, who shall conceive his devices in his heart, and shall set the punishment of his iniquity before his face, and shall come to the prophet; I the Lord will answer him <i>according to the things</i> in which his mind is entangled,


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that he should turn aside the house of Israel, according to their hearts that are estranged from Me in their thoughts.’”


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“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: Be converted, and turn from your <i>evil </i>practices, and from all your sins, and turn your faces back again.


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For any man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, who shall separate himself from Me, and conceive his imaginations in his heart, and set before his face the punishment of his iniquity, and come to the prophet to inquire of him concerning Me; I the Lord will answer him, <i>according to the things</i> in which he is entangled.


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And I will set My face against that man, and will make him desolate and ruined, and will cut him off from the midst of My people; and you shall know that I am the Lord.


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And if a prophet should cause to err and should speak, I the Lord have caused that prophet to err, and I will stretch out My hand upon him, and will utterly destroy him from the midst of My people Israel.


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And they shall bear their iniquity according to the trespass of him that asks; and it shall be in like manner to the prophet according to the trespass,


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that the house of Israel may not go astray from Me, and that they may no more defile themselves with any of their transgressions; so shall they be My people, and I will be their God,’” says the Lord.


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“Son of man, if a land shall sin against Me by committing a trespass, then will I stretch out My hand upon it, and will break its staff of bread, and will send forth famine upon it, and cut off man and beast from it.


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And though these three men should be in the midst of it, Noah, Daniel, and Job, they <i>alone</i> would be delivered by their righteousness,” says the Lord.


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“If again I bring evil beasts upon the land, and take vengeance upon it, and it is ruined, and there be no one to pass through for fear of the wild beasts;


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and <i>if</i> these three men should be in the midst of it, <i>as</i> I live, says the Lord, neither sons nor daughters shall be saved, but these only shall be saved, and the land shall be destroyed.


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“Or again if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, ‘Let the sword go through the land’; and I cut off from them man and beast;


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though these three men were in the midst of it, as I live, says the Lord, they shall not deliver sons or daughters, but they only shall be saved themselves.


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“Or <i>if</i> again I send pestilence upon that land, and pour out My wrath upon it in blood, to destroy from off it man and beast; and should Noah, Daniel, and Job be in the midst of it,


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<i>as</i> I live, says the Lord, there shall be left <i>them</i> neither sons nor daughters; <i>only</i> they by their righteousness shall deliver their souls.


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“Thus says the Lord: And if I even send upon Jerusalem My four severe judgments—the sword, famine, evil beasts, and pestilence, to destroy from out of it <i>both </i>man and beast;


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yet behold, <i>there shall be</i> men left in it, those that escaped, who <i>shall </i>lead forth of it sons and daughters—behold, they <i>shall</i> go forth to you, and you shall see their ways and their thoughts, and you shall mourn over the evils which I have brought upon Jerusalem, <i>even</i> all the evils which I have brought upon it.


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And they shall comfort you, because you shall see their ways and their thoughts; and you shall know that I have not done in vain all that I have done in it,” says the Lord.


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“And you, son of man—of all the wood, of the branches that are among the trees of the forest, what shall be made of the wood of the vine?


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Will they take wood from it to make <i>it fit</i> for work? Will they take a peg from it to hang any vessel upon it?


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It is only given to the fire to be consumed; the fire consumes that which is yearly ruined of it, and it is utterly gone. Will it be useful for <i>any </i>work?


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Not even while it is yet whole will it be <i>useful</i> for <i>any</i> work; if the fire shall have utterly consumed it, will it still be <i>fit </i>for work?


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Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord: As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given up to the fire to be consumed, so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem.


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And I will set My face against them; they shall go forth of the fire, and <i>yet</i> fire shall devour them; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have set My face against them.


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and you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord to Jerusalem: Your root and your birth are of the land of Canaan: your father was an Amorite, and your mother a Hittite.


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And <i>as for</i> your birth in the day in which you were born, you did not bind your breasts, and you were not washed in water, neither were you salted with salt, neither were you swathed in swaddling-bands.


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Nor did My eye pity you, to do for you one of all these things, to feel at all for you; but you were cast out on the face of the field, because of the deformity of your person, in the day in which you were born.


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‘And I passed by to you, and saw you polluted in your blood; and I said to you, “<i>Let there be</i> life out of your blood;


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increase”; I have made you as the springing grass of the field. So you increased and grew, and entered into great cities: your breasts were set, and your hair grew, whereas you were naked and bare.


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And I passed by you and saw you, and behold, <i>it was</i> your time and a time of resting; and I spread My wings over you, and covered your shame, and swore <i>an oath</i> to you; and I entered into covenant with you, says the Lord, and you became Mine.


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And I clothed you with embroidered <i>garments</i>, and clothed you beneath with purple, and girded you with fine linen, and clothed you with silk,


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So you were adorned with gold and silver; and your clothing was of fine linen, and silk, and embroidered work; you ate fine flour and oil and honey, and became extremely beautiful.


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And your name went forth among the nations because of your beauty; because it was perfected with elegance, <i>and</i> in the comeliness which I put upon you, says the Lord.


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‘But you trusted in your beauty, and went a-whoring because of your fame, and poured out your fornication on every passer by.


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And you took of your garments, and made for yourself idols of needlework, and went a-whoring after them; therefore you shall never come in, nor shall <i>the like</i> take place.


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And you took your fair ornaments of My gold and of My silver, of what I gave you, and you made for yourself male images, and you committed harlotry with them.


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And you took your embroidered garments and covered them, and you set before them My oil and My incense.


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And <i>you took</i> My bread which I gave you, (<i>indeed,</i> I fed you with fine flour and oil and honey) and set them before them for a sweet-smelling savor; yes, it was so, says the Lord.


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And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you bore, and sacrificed <i>these</i> to them to be destroyed. You went a-whoring as <i>if that were</i> a small thing,


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This is beyond all your fornication, and you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, <i>and</i> lived, <i>though</i> defiled in your blood.


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that you built yourself a house of fornication, and made a public place for yourself in every street;


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and on the head of every road you set up your fornications, and defiled your beauty, and opened your feet to every passer by, and multiplied your fornication.


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And you went a-whoring after the children of Egypt your neighbors, great of flesh; and went a-whoring, often to provoke Me to anger.


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And if I stretch out My hand against you, then will I abolish your statutes, and deliver <i>you</i> up to the will of those that hate you, <i>even to</i> the daughters of the Philistines that turned you aside from the way in which you sinned.


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And you went a-whoring to the daughters of Assyria, and not even then were you satisfied; indeed, you went a-whoring, and were not satisfied.


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And you multiplied your covenants with the land of the Chaldeans; and not even with these were you satisfied.


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Why should I make a covenant with your daughter, says the Lord, while you do all these things, the works of a harlot? And you have gone a-whoring in a threefold degree with your daughters.


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‘You have built a house of harlotry at the head of every road, and have set up your high place in every street; and you became as a harlot gathering payments.


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She has even given rewards to all that went a-whoring after her, and you have given rewards to all your lovers, yea, you loaded them with rewards, that they should come to you from every side for your fornication.


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And there has happened in you perverseness in your fornication beyond <i>other </i>women, and they have committed fornication with you, in that you give payments over and above, and payments were not given to you; and <i>thus </i>perverseness happened in you.


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Thus says the Lord: “Because you have poured forth your money, therefore your shame shall be discovered in your harlotry with your lovers, and <i>with</i> regard to all the imaginations of your iniquities, and for the blood of your children which you have given to them.


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Therefore, behold, I <i>will</i> gather all your lovers with whom you have consorted, and all whom you have loved, with all whom you hated; and I will gather them against you round about, and will expose your wickedness to them, and they shall see all your shame.


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And I will be avenged on you with the vengeance of an adulteress, and I will bring upon you blood of fury and jealousy.


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And I will deliver you into their hands, and they shall break down your house of harlotry, and destroy your high place; and they shall strip you of your garments, and shall take your proud ornaments, and leave you naked and bare.


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And they shall bring multitudes upon you, and they shall stone you with stones, and pierce you with their swords.


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And they shall burn your houses with fire, and shall execute vengeance on you in the sight of many women; and I will turn you back from harlotry, and I will no more give <i>you</i> rewards.


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So will I slacken My fury against you, and My jealousy shall be removed from you, and I will rest, and be angry no more.


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Because you did not remember the days of your youth, and you grieved Me in all these things; therefore, behold, I have recompensed your ways upon your head, says the Lord; for thus have you wrought ungodliness above all your <i>other</i> iniquities.


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‘Like mother, like daughter: you are she that has rejected her husband and her children; and the sisters of your sisters have rejected their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite, and <i>your</i> father an Amorite.


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Your elder sister who dwells on your left hand is Samaria, she and her daughters; and your younger sister, that dwells on your right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.


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Yet notwithstanding you have not walked in their ways, neither have you done according to their iniquities within a little, but you have exceeded them in all your ways.


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<i>As</i> I live, says the Lord, this Sodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done.


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Moreover this was the sin of your sister Sodom—pride. She and her daughters lived in pleasure, in fullness of bread <i>and</i> in abundance; this belonged to her and her daughters, and they did not help the hand of the poor and needy.


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Also Samaria has not sinned according to half of your sins; but you have multiplied your iniquities beyond them, and you have justified your sisters in all your iniquities which you have committed.


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You therefore bear your punishment, for that you have corrupted your sisters by your sins which you have committed beyond them; and you have made them <i>appear</i> more righteous than yourself: you therefore be ashamed, and bear your dishonor, in that you have justified your sisters.


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“And I will turn their captivity, <i>even</i> the captivity of Sodom and her daughters; and I will turn the captivity of Samaria and her daughters; and I will turn your captivity in the midst of them;


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that you may bear your punishment, and be dishonored for all that you have done in provoking Me to anger.


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And your sister Sodom and her daughters shall be restored as they were at the beginning, and you and your daughters shall be restored as you were at the beginning.


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before your wickedness was discovered, even now you are the reproach of the daughters of Syria, and of all that are round about her, <i>even</i> of the daughters of the Philistines that compass you round about.


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<n>An Everlasting Covenant</n> “Thus says the Lord: I will even do to you as you have done, as you have dealt shamefully in these things to transgress My covenant.


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And I will remember My covenant, <i>made</i> with you in the days of your infancy, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.


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Then you shall remember your ways, and you shall be utterly dishonored when you receive your elder sisters with your younger ones, and I will give them to you for building up, but not by your covenant.


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that you may remember, and be ashamed, and may no more be able to open your mouth for your shame, when I am reconciled to you for all that you have done, says the Lord.”’”


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and you shall say, Thus says the Lord: ‘A great eagle with large wings, spreading them out very far, with many claws, which has the design of entering into Lebanon—and he took the choice <i>branches</i> of the cedar;


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he cropped off the ends of the tender twigs, and brought them into the land of Canaan; he laid them up in a walled city.


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And he took of the seed of the land, and sowed it in a field planted by much water; he set it in a conspicuous place.


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And it sprang up, and became a weak and little vine, so that its branches appeared <i>on</i> it, and its roots were under it: and it became a vine, and put forth shoots, and sent forth its branches.


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“And there was another great eagle, with great wings and many claws. And behold, this vine bent itself round toward him, and its roots <i>were turned</i> towards him, and it sent forth its branches towards him, that <i>he</i> might water it together with the growth of its plantation.


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It thrives in a fair field by much water, to produce shoots and bear fruit, that it might become a great vine.


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“Therefore say, Thus says the Lord: ‘Shall it prosper? Shall not the roots of its tender stem and its fruit be blighted? Yea, all its early shoots shall be dried up, and <i>that</i> not by a mighty arm, nor by many people, to tear it up from its roots.


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And behold, it thrives; shall it prosper? Shall it not wither as soon as the east wind touches it? It shall be withered together with the growth of its shoots.”’”


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“Son of man, say now to the provoking house, ‘Do you not know you what these things were?’ Say <i>to them</i>, ‘Whenever the king of Babylon shall come against Jerusalem, then he shall take her king and her princes, and shall take them home to Babylon.


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And he shall take of the royal seed, and shall make a covenant with him, and shall bind him with an oath; and he shall take the princes of the land,


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that it may become a weak kingdom, so as never to lift itself up, that he may keep his covenant, and establish it.


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And <i>if</i> he shall revolt from him, to send his messengers into Egypt, that <i>they</i> may give him horses and much people; shall he prosper? Shall he that acts as an adversary be preserved? And shall he that transgresses the covenant be preserved?


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<i>As</i> I live, says the Lord, verily in <i>the</i> place where the king is that made him king, who dishonored My oath, and who broke My covenant, shall he die with him in the midst of Babylon.


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And Pharaoh shall make war upon him not with a large force or great multitude, in throwing up a mound, and in building of forts, to cut off souls.


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Whereas he has profaned the oath so as to break the covenant, when behold, I engage his hand, and he has done all these things to him, he shall not escape.’


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Therefore say, Thus says the Lord: ‘<i>As</i> I live, surely My oath which he has profaned, and My covenant which he has transgressed, I will recompense it upon his own head.


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In every battle of his they shall fall by the sword, and I will scatter <i>his</i> remnant to every wind, and you shall know that I the Lord have spoken it.’


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<n>Israel Exalted at Last</n> “For thus says the Lord: I will even take of the choice <i>branches</i> of the cedar from the top <i>thereof</i>, I will crop off their hearts, and I will plant it on a high mountain;


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and I will hang it on a lofty mountain of Israel: yes, I will plant it, and it shall put forth shoots, and shall bear fruit, and it shall be a great cedar. And every bird shall rest beneath it, even every fowl shall rest under its shadow; its branches shall be restored.


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And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord, who brings low the high tree, and who exalts the low tree, and who withers the green tree, and causes the dry tree to flourish. I, the Lord, have spoken, and will do <i>it</i>.”


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“Son of man, what do you mean by this parable concerning the children of Israel, saying, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth have been set on edge?’


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For all souls are Mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son, they are Mine: the soul that sins, it shall die.


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who shall not eat upon the mountains, and shall not at all lift up his eyes to the devices of the house of Israel, and shall not defile his neighbor's wife, and shall not draw near to her that is removed,


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and shall not oppress any man, <i>but</i> shall return the pledge of the debtor, and shall be guilty of no plunder, shall give his bread to the hungry, and clothe the naked;


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and shall not lend his money upon usury, and shall not receive usurious increase, and shall turn back his hand from injustice, shall execute righteous judgment between a man and his neighbor,


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and has walked in My commandments and kept My ordinances, to do them—the righteous man shall surely live, says the Lord.


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who has not walked in the way of his righteous father, but has even eaten upon the mountains, and has defiled his neighbor's wife,


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and has oppressed the poor and needy, and has committed robbery, and not restored a pledge, and has set his eyes upon idols, has worked iniquities,


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has lent upon usury, and taken usurious increase; he shall by no means live: he has done all these iniquities; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.


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“And if he has a son, and <i>the son</i> should see all his father's sins which he has done, and fear, and does not do according to them,


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and <i>if he</i> has not eaten on the mountains, and has not set his eyes on the devices of the house of Israel, and has not defiled his neighbor's wife,


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and has not oppressed a man, and has not retained the pledge, nor committed robbery, has given his bread to the hungry, and has clothed the naked,


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and has turned back his hand from unrighteousness, has not received interest or usurious increase, has worked righteousness, and walked in My ordinances; he shall not die for the iniquities of his father, <i>and </i>he shall surely live.


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But if his father should grievously afflict or plunder, he has wrought enmity in the midst of My people, and shall die in his iniquity.


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“But you will say, ‘Why has not the son borne the iniquity of the father?’ Because the son has wrought judgment and mercy, has kept all My statues, and done them, he shall surely live.


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But the soul that sins shall die; and the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, nor shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the iniquity of the transgressor shall be upon him.


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“And if the transgressor shall turn away from all his iniquities which he has committed, and keep all My commandments, and do justice and mercy, he shall surely live, and shall no means die.


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None of his trespasses which he has committed shall be remembered; in his righteousness which he has done he shall live.


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Shall I in any way desire the death of the sinner, says he Lord, as I <i>desire</i> that he should turn from <i>his</i> evil way, and live?


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“But when the righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, according to all the transgressions which the transgressor has done, none of his righteousness which he has wrought shall be at all remembered; in his trespass in which he has trespassed, and in his sins in which he has sinned, in them shall he die.


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“Yet you have said, ‘The way of the Lord is not straight.’ Hear now, all the house of Israel: will not My way be straight? Is your way straight?


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When the righteous turns away from his righteousness and commits a trespass, and dies in the trespass he has committed, he shall <i>even</i> die in it.


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And when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and shall do judgment and justice, he has kept his soul,


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and has turned away from all his ungodliness which he has committed: he shall surely live, he shall not die.


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Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ Is not My way right, O house of Israel? Is not your way wrong?


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“I will judge you, O house of Israel, says the Lord, each one according to his way: be converted, and turn from all your ungodliness, and the punishment for iniquity shall not befall you.


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Cast away from yourselves all your ungodliness in which you have sinned against Me; and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit: for why should you die, O house of Israel?


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and say, ‘Why has your mother become a whelp in the midst of lions?’ In the midst of lions she has multiplied her whelps.


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And the nations heard a report of him; he was caught in their pit, and they brought him into the land of Egypt in chains.


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And she saw that he was driven away from her, <i>and</i> her hope for him perished, and she took another of her whelps; she made him a lion.


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And he went up and down in the midst of lions, he became a lion, and learned to take prey, he devoured men.


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And he prowled in his boldness and laid waste their cities, and made the land desolate, and the fullness of it, by the voice of his roaring.


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Then the nations set against him from the surrounding regions, and they spread their nets upon him; he was taken in their pit.


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And they put him in chains and in a cage, <i>and</i> he came to the king of Babylon; and he cast him into prison, that his voice should not be heard on the mountains of Israel.


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“Your mother was as a vine and as a blossom on a pomegranate tree, planted by water; her fruit and her shoot abounded by reason of much water.


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And she became a rod for a tribe of princes, and was elevated in her bulk in the midst of <i>other</i> trees, and she saw her bulk in the multitude of her branches.


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But she was broken down in wrath, she was cast upon the ground, and the east wind dried up her choice <i>branches; </i>vengeance came upon them, and the rod of her strength was withered; fire consumed it.


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And fire has gone out of a rod of her choice <i>boughs,</i> and has devoured her; and there was no rod of strength in her. Her race has become a parable of lamentation, and it shall be for a lamentation.”


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<n>Israel’s Continuing Rebellion</n> And it came to pass in the seventh year, on the fifteenth day of the month, there came men of the elders of the house of Israel to inquire of the Lord, and they sat before me.


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“Son of man, speak to the elders of the house of Israel, and you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord: ‘Have you come to inquire of Me? <i>As</i> I live, I will not be inquired of by you,’ says the Lord.


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Shall I utterly take vengeance on them, son of man? Testify to them of the iniquities of their fathers,


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and you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord: ‘From the day that I chose the house of Israel, and became known to the descendants of the house of Jacob, and was known to them in the land of Egypt, and helped them with My hand, saying, “I am the Lord your God”;


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in that day I helped them with My hand, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into the land which I prepared for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, it is abundant beyond every land.


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And I said to them, “Let everyone cast away the abominations of his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the devices of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”


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But they revolted against Me, and would not listen to Me: they would not cast away the abominations of their eyes, and would not forsake the devices of Egypt. Then I said that I would pour out My wrath upon them, to accomplish My wrath upon them in the midst of Egypt.


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But I acted <i>so</i> that My name should not be at all profaned in the sight of the Gentiles, in the midst of whom they are, among whom I was made known to them in their sight, to bring them out of the land of Egypt.


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And I gave them My commandments, and made known to them My ordinances, which, <i>if</i> a man shall do, he shall live by them.


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And I gave them My Sabbaths, that they should be for a sign between Me and them, that they should know that I am the Lord that sanctifies them.


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And I said to the house of Israel in the wilderness, ‘Walk in My commandments’: but they did not walk <i>in them</i>, and they rejected My ordinances, which, <i>if</i> a man shall do, he shall live by them; and they grievously profaned My Sabbaths. And I said that I would pour out My wrath upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.


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But I acted <i>so</i> that My name should not be at all profaned before the Gentiles, before whose eyes I brought them out.


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But I lifted up My hand against them in the wilderness once for all, that I would not bring them into the land which I gave them, a land flowing with milk and honey, it is sweeter than all lands;


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because they rejected My ordinances, and did not walk in My commandments, but profaned My Sabbaths, and went after the imaginations of their hearts.


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Yet My eyes spared them, so as <i>not </i>to destroy them utterly, and I did not make an end of them in the wilderness.


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“And I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Do not walk in the customs of your fathers, and do not keep their ordinances, and have no fellowship with their practices, nor defile yourselves <i>with them</i>.


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and sanctify My Sabbaths, and let them be for a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.’


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But they provoked Me, and their children did not walk in My commandments, and they took no heed to My ordinances, to do them, which, <i>if</i> a man shall do, he shall live by them, and they profaned My Sabbaths. Then I said that I would pour out My wrath upon them in the wilderness, to accomplish My anger upon them.


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But I acted so that My name might not be at all profaned before the Gentiles; and I brought them out in their sight.


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I lifted up My hand against them in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the Gentiles, <i>and</i> disperse them in the countries;


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because they did not keep My ordinances, and rejected My commandments, and profaned My Sabbaths, and their eyes went after the imaginations of their fathers.


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So I gave them commandments <i>that were</i> not good, and ordinances in which they should not live.


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And I will defile them by their <i>own</i> decrees, when I pass through upon everyone that opens the womb, that I may destroy them.


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“Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord: ‘In this too have your fathers provoked Me, in their trespasses in which they have transgressed against Me.


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Whereas I brought them into the land concerning which I lifted up My hand to give it to them; and they looked upon every high hill, and every shady tree, and they sacrificed there to their gods, and offered there sweet-smelling savors, and there they poured out their drink offerings.’


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And I said to them, ‘What is Bamah, that you go in there?’ And they called its name Bamah, until this day.


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Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord: ‘Do you pollute yourselves with the iniquities of your fathers, and do you go a-whoring after their abominations,


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and <i>do you pollute yourselves</i> with the firstfruits of your gifts, in the offerings wherewith you pollute yourselves in all your imaginations, until this day; and shall I answer you, O house of Israel? <i>As</i> I live, says the Lord, I will not answer you, neither shall this thing come upon your spirit.


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And it shall not be as you say, “We will be as the nations, and as the tribes of the earth, to worship stocks and stones.”


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<n>God Will Restore Israel</n> “Therefore, <i>as</i> I live, says the Lord, I will reign over you with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with outpoured wrath.


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I will bring you out from the nations, and will take you out of the lands in which you were dispersed, with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with outpoured wrath.


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And I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, and will plead with you there face to face.


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As I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I judge you, says the Lord.


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And I will separate from among you the ungodly and the revolters; for I will lead them forth out of their place of sojourning, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and you shall know that I am the Lord, <i>even</i> the Lord.


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And <i>as for</i> you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord, <i>even</i> the Lord: Put away each one his <i>evil</i> practices, and hereafter if you hearken to Me, then shall you no more profane My holy name by your gifts and by devices.


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For upon My holy mountain, on the high mountain, says the Lord, <i>even</i> the Lord, there shall all the house of Israel serve Me forever. And there will I accept <i>you</i>, and there will I have respect to your firstfruits, and the firstfruits of your offerings, in all your holy things.


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I will accept you with a sweet-smelling savor, when I bring you out from the nations, and take you out of the countries in which you have been dispersed; and I will be sanctified among you in the sight of the nations.


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And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have brought you into the land of Israel, into the land concerning which I lifted up My hand to give it to your fathers.


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And there you shall remember your ways, and your devices in which you defiled yourselves; and you shall bewail yourselves for all your wickedness.


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And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have done thus to you, that My name may not be profaned in your evil ways, and in your corrupt devices, says the Lord.”


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“Son of man, set your face against Thaman, and look toward Darom, and prophesy against the chief forest of Negev,


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and you shall say to the forest of Negev, ‘Hear the word of the Lord; thus says the Lord: “Behold, I <i>will</i> kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour in you every green tree, and every dry tree. The flame that is kindled shall not be quenched, and every face shall be scorched with it from the south to the north.


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“Prophesy, son of man, set your face steadfastly toward Jerusalem, and look toward their holy places, and you shall prophesy against the land of Israel,


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and you shall say to the land of Israel, Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I am against you, and I will draw forth My sword out of its sheath, and I will destroy out of you the transgressor and the unrighteous.


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Because I will destroy out of you the unrighteous and the transgressor, <i>therefore</i> so shall My sword come forth out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north;


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and all flesh shall know that I the Lord have drawn forth My sword out of its sheath: it shall not return anymore.’


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<n>The Drawn Sword of God</n> “And you, son of man, groan with the breaking of your loins; you shall even groan heavily in their sight.


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And it shall come to pass, if they shall say to you, ‘Why do you groan?’ that you shall say, ‘For the report; because it comes: and every heart shall break, and all hands shall become feeble, and all flesh and every spirit shall faint, and all thighs shall be defiled with moisture: behold, it comes, says the Lord.’”


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“Son of man, prophesy, and you shall say, Thus says the Lord: ‘Say, Sword, sword, be sharpened and rage,


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that you may slay victims; be sharpened, that you may be bright, ready for slaughter, slay, set at nought, despise every tree.’


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And He made it ready for His hand to hold. The sword is sharpened, it is ready to put into the hand of the slayer.


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Cry out and howl, son of man, for this <i>sword</i> has come upon My people, this <i>sword has come</i> upon all the princes of Israel: they shall be as strangers: <i>judgment</i> with the sword has come upon My people; therefore clap your hands, for sentence has been passed;


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“And you, son of man, prophesy, and clap your hands, and take a second sword: the third sword is <i>the sword</i> of the slain, the great sword of the slain; and you shall strike them with amazement, lest the heart should faint,


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and the weak ones be multiplied at every gate—they are given up to the slaughter of the sword; it is well fitted for slaughter, it is well fitted for glittering.


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“And you, son of man, appoint for yourself two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may enter in: the two shall go forth from one country; and <i>there shall be</i> a force at the top of the way of the city, you shall set <i>it</i> at the top of the road,


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that the sword may enter in upon Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and upon Judah, and upon Jerusalem in the midst thereof.


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For the king of Babylon shall stand on the old road, at the head of the two roads, to use divination, to make bright the arrow, and to inquire of the graven images, and to examine <i>the victims. </i>


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On his right was the divination against Jerusalem, to cast a mound, to open the mouth in shouting, to lift up the voice with crying, to cast a mound against her gates, to cast up a heap, and to build forts.


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And he was to them as one using divination before them, and he himself recounting his iniquities, that they might be borne in mind.


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“Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Because you have caused your iniquities to be remembered, in the discovery of your wickedness, so that your sins should be seen, in all your wickedness and in your <i>evil</i> practices; because you have caused remembrance <i>of them</i>, in these shall you be taken.’


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And you, O profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day, and whose end, has come in a sea of iniquity, thus says the Lord:


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‘You have taken off the turban and put on the crown, it shall not have such <i>another</i> after it: you have abased that which was high, and exalted that which was low.


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Injustice, injustice, injustice, will I make it; woe to it. Such shall it be until he comes to whom it belongs; and I will deliver <i>it</i> to him.’


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“And you, son of man, prophesy, and you shall say, Thus says the Lord, concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach: and you shall say, ‘O sword, sword, drawn for slaughter, and drawn for destruction, awake, that you may gleam.


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While you are seeing vain <i>visions</i>, and while you are prophesying falsehoods, to bring yourself upon the necks of ungodly transgressors, the day has come, <i>even</i> an end, in a season of iniquity.


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And I will pour out My wrath upon you, I will blow upon you with the fire of My wrath, and I will deliver you into the hands of barbarians skilled in working destruction.


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You shall be fuel for fire; your blood shall be in the midst of your land; there shall be no remembrance at all of you: for I the Lord have spoken <i>it</i>.’”


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And you shall say, Thus says the Lord God: ‘O city that sheds blood in the midst of her, so that her time should come, and that forms devices against herself, to defile herself;


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in their blood which you have shed, you have transgressed; and in your devices which you have formed, you have polluted yourself; and you have brought near your days, and have brought on the time of your years; therefore have I made you a reproach to the Gentiles, and a mockery to all countries,


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to those near you, and to those far away; and they shall mock you, <i>you that are</i> notoriously unclean, and abundant in iniquities.


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“Behold, the princes of the house of Israel have conspired in you each one with his kindred, that they might shed blood.


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In you they have reviled father and mother; and in you they have behaved unjustly toward the stranger; they have oppressed the orphan and widow.


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<i>There are</i> robbers in you, to shed blood in you; and in you they have eaten upon the mountains; they have wrought ungodliness in the midst of you.


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In you they have uncovered their father's shame; and in you they have humbled her that was set apart for uncleanness.


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They have dealt unlawfully each one with his neighbor's wife; and each one in ungodliness has defiled his daughter-in-law: and in you they have humbled each one his sister, the daughter of his father.


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In you they have received gifts to shed blood; they have received in you interest and usurious increase; and by oppression you have brought your wickedness to the full, and have forgotten Me, says the Lord.


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“And if I shall smite My hand at <i>your iniquities</i> which you have accomplished, which you have wrought, and at your blood that has been shed in the midst of you,


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shall your heart endure? Shall your hands be strong in the days which I bring upon you? I the Lord have spoken, and will do <i>it</i>.


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And I will scatter you among the nations, and disperse you in the countries, and your uncleanness shall be removed out of you.


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And I will give heritages in you in the sight of the nations, and you shall know that I am the Lord.’”


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“Son of man, behold, the house of Israel has become to Me <i>as it were</i> mixed with brass, and iron, and tin, and lead; they are mixed up in the midst of the silver.


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Therefore say, Thus says the Lord God: ‘Because you have become one mixture, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.


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As silver, brass, iron, tin, and lead are gathered into the midst of the furnace, to blow fire into it, that they may be melted: so will I take <i>you</i> in My wrath, and I will gather and melt you.


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As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so shall you be melted in the midst thereof; and you shall know that I, the Lord, have poured out My wrath upon you.’”


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“Son of man, say to her: ‘You are the land that is not rained upon, neither has rain come upon you in the day of wrath;


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whose princes in the midst of her are as roaring lions seizing prey, devouring souls by oppression, and taking bribes; and your widows are multiplied in the midst of you.


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Her priests also have set at nought My law, and profaned My holy things: they have not distinguished between the holy and profane, nor have they distinguished between the unclean and the clean, and have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I was profaned in the midst of them.


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Her princes in the midst of her are as wolves ravening to shed blood, that they may get dishonest gain.


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And her prophets that daub them shall fall, that see vanities, that prophesy falsehoods, saying, “Thus says the Lord,” when the Lord has not spoken;


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<i>and </i>who sorely oppress the people of the land with injustice, and commit robbery; oppressing the poor and needy, and not dealing justly with the stranger.


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And I sought from among them a man behaving uprightly, and standing before Me perfectly in the time of wrath, so that I should not utterly destroy her, but I found no one.


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So I have poured out My wrath upon her in the fury of My anger, to accomplish <i>it</i>. I have recompensed their ways on their own heads,” says the Lord God.


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and they went a-whoring in Egypt in their youth. There their breasts fell, <i>and </i>there they lost their virginity.


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And their names were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister: and they were Mine, and bore sons and daughters. And <i>as for</i> their names, Samaria was Oholah, and Jerusalem was Oholibah.


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“And Oholah departed from Me and played the harlot, and doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians that were her neighbors,


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clothed with purple, princes and captains; <i>they were</i> young men and choice, all horsemen riding on horses.


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And she bestowed her fornication upon them; all were choice sons of the Assyrians: and on whomsoever she doted herself, with them she defiled herself in all <i>their</i> devices.


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And she did not forsake her fornication with the Egyptians: for in her youth they committed fornication with her, and they deflowered her, and poured out their fornication upon her.


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Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the children of the Assyrians, on whom she doted.


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They uncovered her shame; they took her sons and daughters, and slew her with the sword; and she became a byword among women; and they wrought vengeance in her for the sake of the daughters.


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“Now her sister Oholibah saw <i>it</i>, and she indulged in her fondness more corruptly than she, and in her fornication more than the fornication of her sister.


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She doted upon the sons of the Assyrian, princes and captains, her neighbors, clothed with fine linen, horsemen riding on horses; <i>they were</i> all choice young men.


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And she increased her fornication, and she saw men painted on the wall, likenesses of the Chaldeans painted with a pencil,


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having various belts on their loins, having also richly dyed <i>turbans</i> upon their heads; all had a princely appearance, the likeness of the children of the Chaldeans, of their native land.


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And she doted upon them as soon as she saw them, and sent forth messengers to them into the land of the Chaldeans.


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And the sons of Babylon came to her, into the bed of rest, and they defiled her in her fornication, and she was defiled by them, and her soul was alienated from them.


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And she exposed her fornication, and exposed her shame. And My soul was alienated from her, even as My soul was alienated from her sister.


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And you multiplied your fornication, so as to call to remembrance the days of your youth, in which you committed harlotry in Egypt,


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and you doted upon the Chaldeans, whose flesh is as the flesh of donkeys, and their members <i>as</i> the members of horses.


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And you looked upon the iniquity of your youth, <i>the things</i> which you did in Egypt in your lodgings, where were the breasts of your youth.


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“Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I <i>will</i> stir up your lovers against you, from whom your soul is alienated, and I will bring them upon you round about,


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the children of Babylon, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, and all the sons of the Assyrians with them; choice young men, governors and captains, all princes and renowned, riding on horses.


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And they all shall come upon you from the north, chariots and wheels, with a multitude of nations, shields and targets; and <i>the enemy</i> shall set a watch against you round about;and I will set judgment before them, and they shall take vengeance on you with their judgements.


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And I will bring upon you My jealousy, and they shall deal with you in great wrath. They shall take away your nose and your ears, and shall cast down your remnant with the sword. They shall take your sons and your daughters, and fire shall devour your remnant.


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So I will turn back your ungodliness from you, and your fornication from the land of Egypt; and you shall not lift up your eyes upon them, and shall no more remember Egypt.


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Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I <i>will </i>deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, from whom your soul is alienated.


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And they shall deal with you in hatred, and shall take all <i>the fruits</i> of your labors and your toils, and you shall be naked and bare; and the shame of your fornication shall be exposed. And your ungodliness and your fornication


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has brought this upon you, in that you played the harlot with the nations, and defiled yourself with their devices.


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“Thus says the Lord: Drink your sister's cup, deep and large and full, to cause complete drunkenness.


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drink it, and I will take away her feasts and her new moons; for I have spoken <i>it</i>, says the Lord.


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Therefore thus says the Lord: Because you have forgotten Me, and have cast Me behind your back, therefore receive <i>the reward</i> of your ungodliness and your fornication.’”


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And the Lord said to me, “Son of man, will you not judge Oholah and Oholibah, and declare to them their iniquities?


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For they have committed adultery, and blood was on their hands, they committed adultery with their devices, and they passed through the fire to them their children which they bore to Me.


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And when they sacrificed their children to their idols, they also went into My sanctuary to profane it; and whereas they did thus in the midst of My house,


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and whereas they did thus to the men that came from afar, to whom they sent messengers, and as soon as they came, immediately you washed yourself, and painted your eyes and adorned yourself with ornaments,


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and sat on a prepared bed, and before it <i>there was</i> a table set out, and <i>as for</i> My incense and My oil, they rejoiced in them,


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and they raised a sound of music, and <i>that</i> with men coming from the wilderness out of a multitude of men, and they put bracelets on their hands, and a crown of glory on their heads.


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Therefore I said, ‘Do they not commit adultery with these? And has she also gone a-whoring <i>after </i>the manner of a harlot?’


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And they went in to her, as <i>men</i> go in to a harlot; so they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, to work iniquity.


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And they are just men, and shall take vengeance on them with the judgment of an adulteress and the judgment of blood, for they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.


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“Thus says the Lord God: Bring up a multitude upon them, and send trouble and plunder into the midst of them.


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And stone them with the stones of a multitude, and pierce them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and shall burn up their houses.


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And I will remove ungodliness out of the land, and all the women shall be instructed, and shall not do according to their ungodliness.


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And your ungodliness shall be recompensed upon you, and you shall bear the guilt of your devices, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”


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<n>Parable of the Boiling Pot</n> And the word of the Lord came to me, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth <i>day</i> of the month, saying,


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“Son of man, write down the name of the day, this very day, on which the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem, <i>even</i> from this day.


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And speak a parable to the provoking house, and you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord: ‘Set on the caldron, and pour water into it,


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<i>which are</i> taken from choice cattle, and burn the bones under them; her bones are boiled and cooked in the midst of her.


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“Therefore thus says the Lord: O bloody city, the caldron in which there is scum, and the scum has not gone out of, she has brought it forth piece by piece, no lot has fallen upon it.


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For her blood is in the midst of her; I have set it upon a smooth rock; I have not poured it out upon the earth, so that the earth should cover it;


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that My wrath should come up for complete vengeance to be taken; I set her blood upon a smooth rock, so as not to cover it.


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and I will multiply the wood, and kindle the fire, that the flesh may be consumed, and the liquor boiled away;


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and that <i>it</i> may stand upon the coals, that her brass may be thoroughly heated, and be melted in the midst of her filthiness, and her scum may be consumed,


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Her scum shall become shameful, because you defiled yourself; and what if you shall be purged no more until I have accomplished My wrath?


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I the Lord have spoken; and it shall come, and I will do <i>it</i>; I will not delay, neither will I have any mercy: I will judge you,” says the Lord, “according to your ways, and according to your devices. Therefore will I judge you according to your bloodshed, and according to your devices will I judge you, you unclean, notorious, and abundantly provoking one.’”


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“Son of man, behold I take from you the desire of your eyes by violence. You shall by no means lament, neither shall you weep.


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You shall groan for blood, and have mourning upon your loins; your hair shall not be braided upon you, and your sandals <i>shall be</i> on your feet; you shall by no means be comforted by their lips, and you shall not eat the bread of men.”


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So I spoke to the people in the morning, as He commanded me in the evening, and I did in the morning as it was commanded me.


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‘Say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord: Behold, I <i>will</i> profane My sanctuary, the boast of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and for which your souls are concerned; and your sons and your daughters, whom you have left, shall fall by the sword.


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And you shall do as I have done: you shall not be comforted at their mouth, and you shall not eat the bread of men.


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And your hair <i>shall be</i> upon your head, and your shoes on your feet; neither shall you lament or weep, but you shall pine away in your iniquities, and shall comfort everyone his brother.


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And Ezekiel shall be for a sign to you: according to all that I have done shall you do, when these things shall come; and you shall know that I am the Lord.’”


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“And you, son of man, <i>shall it</i> not <i>be</i> in the day when I take their strength from them, the pride of their boasting, the desires of their eyes, and the pride of their soul, their sons and their daughters,


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In that day your mouth shall be opened to him that escapes; you shall speak, and shall be no longer dumb; and you shall be for a sign to them, and they shall know that I am the Lord.”


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and you shall say to the children of Ammon: Hear the word of the Lord; thus says the Lord: ‘Forasmuch as you have rejoiced against My sanctuary, because it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, because it was laid waste, and against the house of Judah, because they went into captivity;


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therefore, behold, I <i>will</i> deliver you to the children of Kedem for an inheritance, and they shall lodge in you with all their belongings, and they shall pitch their tents in you; they shall eat your fruits, and they shall drink your milk.


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And I will give up the city of Ammon for camels' pastures, and the children of Ammon for a pasture of sheep; and you shall know that I am the Lord.


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For thus says the Lord: Because you have clapped your hands, and stamped with your foot, and heartily rejoiced against the land of Israel;


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therefore I will stretch out My hand against you, and I will make you a spoil to the nations; and I will utterly destroy you from among the peoples, and I will completely cut you off from out of the countries; and you shall know that I am the Lord.’”


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<n>Moab</n> “Thus says the Lord; Because Moab has said, ‘Behold, are not the houses of Israel and Judah like all the <i>other</i> nations?’


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Therefore, behold, I will weaken the shoulder of Moab from his frontier cities, <i>even</i> the choice land, the house of Beth Jeshimoth above the fountain of the city, by the seaside.


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I have given him the children of Kedem in addition to the children of Ammon for an inheritance, that there may be no remembrance of the children of Ammon.


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<n>Edom</n> “Thus says the Lord: Because of what the Edomites have done in taking vengeance on the house of Judah, and <i>because they</i> have remembered injuries, and have exacted full recompense;


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therefore thus says the Lord: I will also stretch out My hand upon Edom, and will utterly destroy out of it <i>both </i>man and beast, and I will make it desolate; and they that are pursued out of Teman shall fall by the sword.


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And I will execute My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel; and they shall deal in Edom according to My anger and according to My wrath, and they shall know My vengeance,” says the Lord.


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<n>Philistia</n> “Thus says the Lord: Because the Philistines have wrought revengefully, and raised up vengeance rejoicing from their heart to destroy <i>the Israelites</i> to a man;


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therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I <i>will</i> stretch out My hand upon the Philistines, and will utterly destroy the Cretans, and will cut off the remnant that dwell by the seacoast.


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And I will execute great vengeance upon them, and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have brought My vengeance upon them.”


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<n>Judgment on Tyre</n> And it came to pass in the eleventh year, on the first <i>day</i> of the month, <i>that</i> the word of the Lord came to me, saying,


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“Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, ‘Aha, she is crushed—the nations are destroyed; she has turned to me; she that was full is made desolate.’


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Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and I will bring up many nations against you, as the sea comes up with its waves.


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And they shall cast down the walls of Tyre, and shall cast down your towers: and I will scrape her dust from off her, and make her a bare rock.


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She shall be in the midst of the sea a place for repairing nets, for I have spoken <i>it</i>,’ says the Lord; ‘and it shall be a spoil for the nations.


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And her daughters <i>which are</i> in the field shall be slain with the sword, and they shall know that I am the Lord.’”


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For thus says the Lord: “Behold, I <i>will</i> bring up against you, O Tyre, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the north: he is a king of kings, with horses, and chariots, and horsemen, and a concourse of very many nations.


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He shall slay your daughters that are in the field with the sword, and shall set a watch against you, and build forts around you, and carry a rampart round against you, and set up warlike works, and array his spears against you.


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By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover you, and by reason of the sound of his horsemen and the wheels of his chariots your walls shall be shaken, when he enters into your gates, as one entering into a city from the plain.


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With the hoofs of his horses they shall trample all your streets. He shall slay your people with the sword, and shall bring down to the ground the support of your strength.


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And he shall prey upon your power, and plunder your substance, and shall cast down your walls, and break down your pleasant houses; and he shall cast your stones and your timber and your dust into the midst of your sea.


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And he shall destroy the multitude of your musicians, and the sound of your psalteries shall be heard no more.


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And I will make you a bare rock. You shall be a place to spread nets upon; you shall be built no more; for I the Lord have spoken <i>it</i>,” says the Lord.


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For thus says the Lord God to Tyre: “Shall not the isles shake at the sound of your fall, while the wounded are groaning, while they have drawn a sword in the midst of you?


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And all the princes of the nations of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and shall take off their crowns from their heads, and shall take off their embroidered garments; they shall be utterly amazed; they shall sit upon the ground, and fear their <i>own</i> destruction, and shall groan over you.


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And they shall take up a lamentation for you, and shall say to you, ‘How are you destroyed from out of the sea, O renowned city, that brought her terror upon all her inhabitants!’


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For thus says the Lord God: “When I shall make the city desolate, as the cities that shall not be inhabited, when I have brought the deep up upon you,


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and great waters shall cover you, and I shall bring you down to them that go down to the pit, to the people of old time, and shall cause you to dwell in the depths of the earth, as in everlasting desolation, with them that go down to the pit, that you may not be inhabited, nor stand upon the land of life;


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and you shall say to Tyre that dwells at the entrance of the sea, to the merchant of the nations coming from many islands, Thus says the Lord to Tyre: ‘You have said, “I have clothed myself with my beauty.”


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Cedar in Senir was employed for you in building; boards of cypress timber were taken out of Lebanon, and wood to make your masts of fir.


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They made your oars <i>of wood</i> out of the land of Bashan; your sacred utensils they made of ivory, your shady houses of wood from the isles of Kittim.


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Fine linen with embroidery from Egypt supplied the couch, to put honor upon you, and to clothe you with blue and purple from the isles of Elishah; and they became your coverings.


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And your princes were the inhabitants of Sidon, and the Aradians were your rowers. Your wise men, O Tyre, who were in you, these were your pilots.


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The elders of the Biblians, and their wise men, who were in you, these helped your counsel; and all the ships of the sea and their rowers traded for you to the utmost west.


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“Persians and Lydians and Libyans were in your army. Your warriors hung in you shields and helmets; these gave <i>you</i> your glory.


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The sons of the Aradians and your army were upon the walls; there were guards in your towers. They hung their quivers on your battlements round about; these completed your beauty.


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“The Carthaginians were your merchants because of the abundance of all your strength; they furnished your market with silver, gold, iron, tin and lead.


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Greece, both the whole <i>world</i>, and the adjacent coasts, these traded with you in the persons of men, and they gave <i>as</i> your merchandise vessels of brass.


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The sons of the Dedan were your merchants; from the islands they multiplied your merchandise, <i>even</i> the elephants' tusks: and to them that came to you payed you back,


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<i>even</i> men <i>as</i> your merchandise, from the multitude of your trading <i>population</i>, myrrh and embroidered works from Tarshish. Ramoth also and Chorchor furnished your market.


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Judah and the children of Israel, these were your merchants; in the sale of grain and ointments and cassia; and they gave the best honey and oil and resin, to your trading <i>population</i>.


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<i>The people of</i> Damascus were your merchants by reason of the abundance of all your power; wine out of Helbon, and wool from Miletus; and they brought wine into your market.


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Out of Uzal <i>came</i> wrought iron, and there is the sound of wheels among your trading <i>population</i>.


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Arabia and all the princes of Kedar, these were your traders with you, <i>bringing</i> camels, lambs, and rams, in which they trade with you.


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The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, these were your merchants, with choice spices, and precious stones; and they brought gold to your market.


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Ships were your merchants, in abundance, with your trading <i>population</i>; and you were filled and very heavily loaded in the heart of the sea.


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The rowers have brought you into great waters. The south wind has broken you in the heart of the sea.


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“Your forces and your gain, and that of your traders and your rowers, and your pilots and your counselors, and they that traffic with you, and all your warriors that are in you; and all your company in the midst of you shall perish in the heart of the sea, in the day of your fall.


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and all the rowers and the mariners shall come down from the ships, and the pilots of the sea shall stand on the land.


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And they shall wail over you with their voice, and cry bitterly, and put earth on their heads, and spread ashes under them.


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‘How large a reward have you gained from the sea?’ You have filled nations out of your abundance; and out of your mixed merchandise you have enriched all the kings of the earth.


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Now are you broken in the sea, your traders are in the deep water, and all your company in the midst of you; all your rowers have fallen.


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All the inhabitants of the islands have mourned over you, and their kings have been utterly amazed, and their countenance has wept.


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Merchants from the nations have hissed at you; you are utterly destroyed, and shall not be any more forever.’”


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“And you, son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord: ‘Because your heart has been exalted, and you have said, “I am God, I have inhabited the dwelling of God in the heart of the sea”; yet you are a man and not God, though you have set your heart as the heart of God.


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Have you gained power for yourself by your <i>own</i> knowledge or your <i>own</i> prudence, and <i>gathered</i> gold and silver in your treasures?


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By your abundant knowledge and your traffic you have multiplied your power; your heart has been lifted up by your power.


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because of this, behold, I <i>will</i> bring on you strange plagues from the nations; and they shall draw their swords against you, and against the beauty of your knowledge,


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and they shall bring down your beauty to destruction. And they shall bring you down; and you shall die the death of the slain in the heart of the sea.


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You shall perish by the hands of strangers among the multitude of the uncircumcised, for I have spoken it,’” says the Lord.


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“Son of man, take up a lamentation for the prince of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord God: ‘You were a seal of resemblance, and a crown of beauty.


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You were in the delight of the paradise of God; you were adorned with every precious stone—the sardius, topaz, emerald, carbuncle, sapphire, jasper, silver, gold, ligure, agate, amethyst, chrysolite, beryl and onyx; and you have filled your treasures and your stores in you with gold.


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From the day that you were created you <i>were</i> with the cherub; I set you on the holy mount of God; you were in the midst of the stones of fire.


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You were faultless in your days, from the day that you were created, until iniquity was found in you.


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Of the abundance of your merchandise you have filled your storehouses with iniquity, and have sinned. Therefore you have been cast down wounded from the mount of God, and the cherub has brought you out of the midst of the stones of fire.


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Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; your knowledge has been corrupted by your beauty: because of the multitude of your sins I have cast you to the ground, I have caused you to be put to open shame before kings.


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Because of the multitude of your sins and the iniquities of your merchandise, I have profaned your sacred things; and I will bring fire out of the midst of you, this shall devour you; and I will make you <i>to be</i> ashes upon your land before all that see you.


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And all that know you among the nations shall groan over you. You have gone to destruction, and you shall not exist any longer.’”


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and say, Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I am against you, O Sidon; and I will be glorified in you; and you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have wrought judgments in you, and I will be sanctified in you.


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Blood and death <i>shall be</i> in your streets; and <i>men</i> wounded with swords shall fall in you and on every side of you; and they shall know that I am the Lord.’


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“And there shall no more be in the house of Israel a thorn of bitterness and a pricking briar proceeding from them that are round about them, who dishonored them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.”


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Thus says the Lord God: “I will also gather Israel from the nations, among whom they have been scattered, and I will be sanctified among them, and before the peoples and nations; and they shall dwell upon their land, which I gave to My servant Jacob.


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Yes, they shall dwell upon it safely, and they shall build houses, and plant vineyards, and dwell securely, when I shall execute judgment on all that have dishonored them, <i>even</i> on those <i>that are</i> round about them; and they shall know that I am the Lord their God, and the God of their fathers.”


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<n>Proclamation Against Egypt</n> In the twelfth year, in the tenth month, on the first <i>day</i> of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,


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“Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all of Egypt,


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and say, Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I am against you O Pharaoh, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his rivers, that says, “The rivers are mine, and I made them.”


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And I will put hooks in your jaws, and I will cause the fish of your river to stick to your sides, and I will bring you up out of the midst of your river;


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and I will quickly cast you down, and all the fish of your river. You shall fall on the face of the plain, and shall by no means be gathered, and shall not be brought together; I have given you for food to the wild beasts of the earth and to the birds of the sky.


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And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord, because you have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.


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When they took hold of you with their hand, you broke <i>them;</i> and when every hand was clapped against them, and when they leaned on you, you utterly broke them, and crushed the loins of them all.


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“Therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I <i>will</i> bring a sword upon you, and will cut off from you both man and beast;


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and the land of Egypt shall be ruined and desolate; and they shall know that I am the Lord; because you say, “The rivers are mine, and I made them.”


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Therefore, behold, I am against you, and against all your rivers, and I will give up the land of Egypt to desolation, and the sword, and destruction, from Migdol and Syene even to the borders of the Ethiopians.


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Man’s foot shall not pass through it, nor the foot of beast, and it shall be uninhabited for forty years.


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And I will cause her land to be utterly destroyed in the midst of a land that is desolate, and her cities shall be <i>desolate</i> forty years in the midst of cities that are desolate; and I will disperse Egypt among the nations, and will utterly scatter them into the countries.


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“Thus says the Lord: After forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations among whom they have been scattered;


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and I will turn the captivity of the Egyptians, and will cause them to dwell in the land of Pathros, in the land from where they were taken;


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and it shall be a lowly kingdom beyond all <i>other</i> kingdoms; it shall no longer be exalted above the nations; and I will make them few in number, that they may not be great among the nations.


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And they shall no more be to the house of Israel a confidence bringing iniquity to remembrance, when they follow after them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.’”


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<n>Babylonia Will Plunder Egypt</n> And it came to pass in the twenty-seventh year, on the first <i>day</i> of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,


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“Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre; every head was bald, and every shoulder rubbed raw; yet there was no reward to him or to his army <i>serving</i> against Tyre, nor for the service which they served against it.


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Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I <i>will</i> give to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon the land of Egypt, and he shall take its plunder, and seize the spoils, and <i>it</i> shall be a reward for his army.


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In return for his service in which he served against Tyre, I have given him the land of Egypt. Thus says the Lord God:


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In that day shall a horn spring forth for all the house of Israel, and I will give you an open mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.”


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And the sword shall come upon the Egyptians, and there shall be tumult in Ethiopia, and in Egypt <i>men</i> shall fall down slain together, and her foundations shall fall.


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Persians, Cretans, Lydians, Libyans and all the mixed multitude, and they of the children of My covenant, shall fall by the sword therein.


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“And the supports of Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her strength shall come down from Migdol to Syene; they shall fall by the sword in it, says the Lord.


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And it shall be made desolate in the midst of desolate countries, and their cities shall be <i>desolate </i>in the midst of desolate cities;


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and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall send fire upon Egypt, and <i>when</i> all that help her shall be broken.


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In that day shall messengers go forth hasting to destroy Ethiopia utterly, and there shall be tumult among them in the day of Egypt; for behold, it comes.


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“Thus says the Lord God: I will also destroy the multitude of the Egyptians by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,


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his <i>hand</i> and his people's; <i>they are</i> plagues sent forth from the nations to destroy the land; and they all shall unsheathe their swords against Egypt, and the land shall be filled with the slain.


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And I will make their rivers desolate, and will destroy the land and its fulness by the hands of strangers: I the Lord have spoken.


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“For thus says the Lord God: I will also destroy the nobles from Memphis, and the princes of Memphis out of the land of Egypt; and they shall be no more.


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And I will destroy the land of Pathros, and will send fire upon Tanis, and will execute vengeance on Noph.


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And I will pour out My wrath upon Sin, the strength of Egypt, and I will destroy the multitude of Memphis.


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And I will send fire upon Egypt; and Syene shall be greatly troubled; and there shall be a breaking in Noph, and waters shall be poured out.


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The youths of Heliopolis and Pi Beseth shall fall by the sword, and the women shall go into captivity.


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And the day shallbe darkened in Tahpanhes, when I have broken there the scepters of Egypt; and the pride of her strength shall perish there, and a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall be taken prisoners.


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<n>Proclamation Against Pharaoh</n> And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh <i>day</i> of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,


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“Son of man, I have broken the arms of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and behold, it has not been bound up to be healed, to have a plaster put upon it, <i>or</i> to be strengthened to lay hold of the sword.


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Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and I will break his strong and outstretched arms, and I will strike down his sword from out of his hand.


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And I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations, and will utterly scatter them among the countries.


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And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put My sword into his hand, and he shall bring it upon Egypt, and shall take her plunder and seize her spoils.


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Yea, I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh shall fail; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have put My sword into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out over the land of Egypt.


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And I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations, and utterly scatter them among the countries; and they all shall know that I am the Lord.”


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<n>The Lofty Cedar</n> And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first <i>day</i> of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,


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“Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude: ‘To whom have you compared yourself in your haughtiness?


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Behold, the Assyrian was a cypress in Lebanon, and was fair in shoots, and high in stature; his top reached to the midst of the clouds.


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The water nourished him, the depth made him grow tall; she led her rivers round about his plants, and she sent forth her streams to all the trees of the field.


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Therefore was his stature exalted above all the trees of the field, and his branches spread far by the help of much water.


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All the birds of the sky made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches all the wild beasts of the field bred; the whole multitude of nations dwelt under his shadow.


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And he was fair in his height by reason of the multitude of his branches, for his roots were amidst much water.


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And such cypresses <i>as these</i> were in the paradise of God; and there were no pines like his shoots, and there were no firs like his branches; no tree in the paradise of God was like him in his beauty,


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“Therefore thus says the Lord: Because you have grown great, and have set your top in the midst of the clouds, and I saw when he was exalted;


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therefore I delivered him into the hands of the prince of the nations, and he wrought his destruction.


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And ravaging strangers from the nations have destroyed him, and have cast him down upon the mountains. His branches fell in all the valleys, and his boughs were broken in every field of the land; and all the people of the nations have gone down from their shelter, and have laid him low.


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All the birds of the sky have settled on his fallen trunk, and all the wild beasts of the field came upon his boughs,


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in order that none of the trees by the water should exalt themselves by reason of their size; whereas they set their top in the midst of the clouds, yet they did not continue in their high state in their place, all that drank water, all were consigned to death, to the depth of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit.


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“Thus says the Lord God: In the day in which he went down to Hades, the deep mourned for him; and I kept back her floods, and restrained her abundance of water; and Lebanon mourned for him, <i>and </i>all the trees of the field fainted for him.


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At the sound of his fall the nations quaked, when I brought him down to Hades with them that go down to the pit. And all the trees of Eden comforted him in the heart, and the choice <i>plants</i> of Lebanon, all that drink water.


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For they went down to hell with him among the slain with the sword; and his descendants, <i>even</i> those that dwelt under his shadow, perished in the midst of their life.


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To whom are you compared? Descend, and be debased with the trees of Eden to the depth of the earth. You shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with those that are slain by the sword. Thus shall Pharaoh be, and the multitude of his army,’ says the Lord God.”


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<n>Lamentation for Pharaoh and Egypt</n> And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the tenth month, on the first <i>day</i> of the month, <i>that </i>the word of the Lord came to me, saying,


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“Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him: ‘You have become like a lion among the nations, and as a serpent that is in the sea; and you made assaults with your rivers, and troubled the waters with your feet, and trampled your rivers.


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Thus says the Lord: I will also cast over you the nets of many nations, and will bring you up with My hook;


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and I will stretch you upon the earth. The fields shall be covered <i>with you</i>, and I will cause all the birds of the sky to settle upon you, and I will fill <i>with you</i> all the wild beasts of the earth.


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And the land shall be drenched with your dung, because of your multitude upon the mountains; I will fill the valleys with you.


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And I will veil the heavens when you are extinguished, and will darken the stars thereof; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.


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All the <i>bodies</i> that give light in the sky shall be darkened over you, and I will bring darkness upon the earth, says the Lord God.


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And I will provoke to anger the heart of many people, when I shall lead you captive among the nations, to a land which you have not known.


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And many nations shall mourn over you, and their kings shall be utterly amazed, when My sword flies in their faces, as they wait for their <i>own</i> fall from the day of your fall.


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with the swords of mighty men; and I will cast down your strength; <i>they are</i> all destroying ones from the nations, and they shall destroy the pride of Egypt, and all her strength shall be crushed.


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And I will destroy all her cattle from <i>beside</i> the great water; and the foot of man shall not trouble it anymore, and the step of cattle shall no more trample it.


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when I shall give up Egypt to destruction, and the land shall be made desolate with the fullness thereof; when I shall scatter all that dwell in it, and they shall know that I am the Lord.


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There is a lamentation, and you shall utter it; and the daughters of the nations shall utter it, <i>even</i> for Egypt, and they shall mourn for it over all the strength thereof,’ says the Lord God.”


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<n>Dirge over Egypt</n> And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the first month, on the fifteenth <i>day</i> of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,


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“Son of man, lament over the strength of Egypt, for the nations shall bring down her daughters dead to the depth of the earth, to them that go down to the pit.


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They shall fall with him in the midst of them <i>that are</i> slain with the sword, and all his strength shall perish. The giants also shall say to you,


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‘Go down to the depths of the pit; to whom are you superior?’ Yea, go down, and lie with the uncircumcised, in the midst of them <i>that are</i> slain with the sword.


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and their graves are in the depth of the pit, and his company is set around about his tomb. All the slain that fell by the sword, who had caused the fear of them <i>to be</i> upon the land of the living.


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There is Elam and all his multitude round about his tomb; all the slain that fell by the sword, and the uncircumcised that go down to the deep of the earth, who caused their fear to be upon the land of the living, and they have received their punishment with them that go down to the pit,


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“There were laid Meshech and Tubal, and all his strength round about his tomb. All his slain men, all the uncircumcised, slain with the sword, who caused their fear to be in the land of the living.


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And they are laid with the giants that fell of old, who went down to Hades with <i>their</i> weapons of war: and they laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities were upon their bones, because they terrified all men during their life.


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“There are laid the princes of Assyria, who yielded their strength to a wound of the sword; these are laid with the slain, with them that go down to the pit.


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There are the princes of the north, <i>even</i> all the captains of Assyria, who go down slain <i>to the pit</i>; they lie uncircumcised among the slain with the sword together with their terror and their strength, and they have received their punishment with them that go down to the pit.


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For I have caused his fear to be upon the land of the living, yet he shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain with the sword, <i>even</i> Pharaoh, and all his multitude with him,” says the Lord God.


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“Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and you shall say to them, ‘On whatsoever land I shall bring a sword, and the people of the land take a man from their territory, and set him for their watchman,


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and he shall see the sword coming upon the land, and blow the trumpet, and sound an alarm to the people;


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and he that hears the sound of the trumpet shall hear, and <i>yet</i> does not take warning, and the sword shall come upon him, and overtake him, his blood shall be upon his <i>own</i> head.


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Because he heard the sound of the trumpet, and did not take warning, his blood shall be upon him. But the other, because he took warning, has delivered his soul.


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But if the watchman sees the sword coming, and does not sound the trumpet, and the people do not watch; and the sword comes, and takes a soul from among them, that <i>soul </i>is taken because of its iniquity; but the blood <i>thereof</i> will I require at the watchman' hand.


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And you, son of man, I have set you <i>as</i> a watchman for the house of Israel, and you shall hear a word from My mouth.


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When I say to the sinner, ‘You shall surely die’; <i>if</i> you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, the wicked himself shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at your hand.


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But if you forewarn the wicked of his way, to turn from it, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his ungodliness; but you have delivered your own soul.


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“And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel: ‘Thus have you spoken, saying, “Our errors, and our iniquities weigh upon us, and we pine away in them, and how then shall we live?”


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Say to them, “Thus says the Lord: ‘<i>As</i> I live, I do not desire the death of the ungodly, but that the ungodly should turn from his way and live: turn heartily from your way; for why will you die, O house of Israel?


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“Say to the children of your people, ‘The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him, in the day in which he errs; and the iniquity of the ungodly shall not harm him, in the day in which he turns from his iniquity, but the righteous <i>that errs</i> shall not be able to deliver himself.’


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When I say to the righteous, ‘<i>You shall live</i>,’<i> and</i> he trusts in his righteousness, and shall commit iniquity, none of his righteousness shall be remembered; in his unrighteousness which he has wrought, in it shall he die.


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And when I say to the ungodly, ‘You shall surely die,’ and he shall turn from his sin, and do judgment and justice,


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and return the pledge, and repay that which he has robbed, <i>and</i> walk in the ordinances of life, so as to do no wrong; he shall surely live, and shall not die.


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None of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered, because he has wrought judgment and righteousness; by them shall he live.


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Yet the children of your people will say, ‘The way of the Lord is not straight’; when their way is not straight.


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When the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and shall commit iniquities, then shall he die in them.


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And when the sinner turns from his iniquity, and shall do judgment and righteousness, he shall live by them.


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And this is that which you said, ‘The way of the Lord is <i>not</i> straight.’ I will judge you, O house of Israel, everyone for his ways.”


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<n>The Fall of Jerusalem</n> And it came to pass in the tenth year of our captivity, in the twelfth month, on the fifth <i>day</i> of the month, <i>that</i> one that had escaped from Jerusalem came to me, saying, “The city has been taken.”


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Now the hand of the Lord had come upon me in the evening, before he came; and He opened my mouth, when he came to me in the morning. And my mouth was open, it was no longer kept closed.


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“Son of man, those that inhabit the desolate <i>places</i> on the land of Israel say, ‘Abraham was <i>only </i>one, and he possessed the land; and we are more numerous; to us the land is given for a possession.’


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Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: ‘<i>As</i> I live, surely those that are in the desolate places shall fall by the sword, and those that are in the open plain shall be given for food to the wild beasts of the field, and those that are in the fortified <i>cities</i> and those that are in the caves I will slay with pestilence.’


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And I will make the land desolate, and the pride of her strength shall perish; and the mountains of Israel shall be made desolate by reason of no man passing through.


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And they shall know that I am the Lord; and I will make their land desolate, and it shall be made desolate because of all their abominations which they have done.


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“And <i>as for</i> you, son of man, the children of your people are they that speak concerning you by the walls, and in the porches of the houses, and they talk one to another, saying, ‘Let us come together, and let us hear the <i>words</i> that proceed from the Lord.’


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They approach you as a people that come together, and sit before you, and hear your words, but they will not do them; for <i>there is</i> falsehood in their mouth, and their heart <i>goes </i>after their pollutions.


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And you are to them as a sound of a sweet, well-tuned psaltery, and they will hear your words, but they will not do them.


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But whenever it shall come <i>to pass</i>, they will say, ‘Behold, it is come’; and they shall know that there was a prophet in the midst of them.”


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“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: ‘O shepherds of Israel, do shepherds feed themselves? Do not the shepherds feed the sheep?


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Behold, you feed on the milk, and clothe yourselves with the wool, and slay the fat, but you do not feed My sheep!


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The weak one you have not strengthened, and the sick you have not cherished, and the bruised you have not bound up, and the stray one you have not turned back, and the lost you have not sought; and the strong you have wearied with labor.


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And My sheep were scattered, because there were no shepherds, and they became meat to all the wild beasts of the field.


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And My sheep were scattered on every mountain, and on every high hill; they were scattered on the face of the earth, and there was none to seek them out, nor to bring them back.


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“<i>As</i> I live, says the Lord God, surely because My sheep became a prey, and My sheep became meat to all the wild beasts of the field, because there were no shepherds, and the shepherds did not seek out My sheep, and the shepherds fed themselves, but did not feed My sheep,


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thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require My sheep at their hands, and will turn them back, that they shall not feed My sheep, and the shepherds shall no longer feed them; and I will deliver My sheep out of their mouth, and they shall no longer be meat for them.’


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As the shepherd seeks his flock, in the day when there is darkness and clouds, in the midst of the sheep that are separated, so will I seek out My sheep, and I will bring them back from every place where they were scattered in the day of clouds and darkness.


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And I will bring them out from the Gentiles, and will gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land, and will feed them upon the mountains of Israel, and in the valleys, and in every inhabited place of the land.


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I will feed them in a good pasture, on a high mountain of Israel; and their folds shall be there, and they shall lie down, and there shall they rest in perfect prosperity, and they shall feed in a fat pasture on the mountains of Israel.


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I will feed My sheep, and I will cause them to rest; and they shall know that I am the Lord”; thus says the Lord God.


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“I will seek that which is lost, and I will recover the stray one, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen the fainting, and will guard the strong, and will feed them with judgment.


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“And <i>as for</i> you, you sheep, thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I will distinguish between sheep and sheep, <i>and between</i> rams and goats.


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And <i>is it</i> not enough for you that you fed on the good pasture, that you trampled with your feet the remnant of your pasture? And <i>that</i> you drank the standing water, <i>and that</i> you disturbed the residue with your feet?


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So My sheep fed on that which you had trampled on with your feet; and they drank the water that had been disturbed by your feet.


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‘Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will separate between the strong sheep and the weak sheep.


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You thrusted with your sides and shoulders, and pushed with your horns, and you cruelly treated all the sick.


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Therefore I will save My sheep, and they shall no longer be for a prey; and I will judge between ram and ram.


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And I will raise up one shepherd over them, and he shall tend them, <i>even</i> My servant David, and he shall be their shepherd;


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and I the Lord will be to them a God, and David a prince in the midst of them; I the Lord have spoken it.


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“And I will make with David a covenant of peace, and I will utterly destroy evil beasts from off the land; and they shall dwell in the wilderness, and sleep in the forests.


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And the trees that are in the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her strength, and they shall dwell in the confidence of peace on their land, and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken their yoke; and I will deliver them out of the hand of those that enslaved them.


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And they shall no more be a spoil to the nations, and the wild beasts of the land shall no more at all devour them; and they shall dwell safely, and there shall be none to make them afraid.


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And I will raise up for them a plant of peace, and they shall no more perish with hunger upon the land, and they shall no more bear the reproach off the nations.


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And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, and they My people. “O house of Israel,” says the Lord God,


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and say to it, Thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I am against you, O Mount Seir, and I will stretch out My hand against you, and I will make you a waste, and you shall be made desolate.


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And I will cause desolation in your cities, and you shall be desolate, and you shall know that I am the Lord.


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Because you have been a perpetual enemy, and have lied in wait craftily for the house of Israel, with the hand of enemies with a sword, in the time of injustice, at the last:


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Therefore, as I live, says the Lord God, verily you have sinned, even to bloodshed, therefore blood shall pursue you.


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And I will make Mount Seir a waste, and desolate, and I will destroy from off of it both men and cattle;


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and I will fill your hills and your valleys with the slain, and in all your plains there shall fall in you men slain with the sword.


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I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities shall not be inhabited anymore; and you shall know that I am the Lord.


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“Because you said, ‘The two nations and the two countries shall be mine, and I shall inherit them’; whereas the Lord is there.


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Therefore, <i>as</i> I live, says the Lord, I will even deal with you according to your enmity, and I will be made known to you when I shall judge you;


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and you shall know that I am the Lord. I have heard the voice of your blasphemies, whereas you have said, ‘The desert mountains of Israel are given to us for food’;


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You shall be desolate, O Mount Seir, and all of Edom; and it shall be utterly consumed; and you shall know that I am the Lord their God.’”


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<n>Blessing on Israel</n> “And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say to the mountains of Israel, ‘Hear the word of the Lord:


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Thus says the Lord God: “Because the enemy has said against you, ‘Aha, the old waste places have become a possession for us’;


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therefore prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God: ‘Because you have been dishonored, and hated by those round about you, that you might be a possession to the remainder of the nations, and you became a byword, and a reproach to the nations.


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Therefore, you mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord to the mountains, and to the hills, and to the streams, and to the valleys, and to <i>the places</i> that have been made desolate and destroyed, and to the cities that have been deserted, and have become a spoil and a trampling to the nations that were left round about;


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therefore, thus says the Lord: “Surely in the fire of My wrath have I spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, because they have appropriated My land to themselves for a possession with joy, disregarding the lives <i>of its inhabitants</i>, to destroy <i>it</i> by plunder.”


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Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains, and to the hills, and to the valleys, and to the forests, Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and in My wrath, because you have borne the reproaches of the heathen;


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therefore I will lift up My hand against the nations that are round about you; they shall bear their reproach.


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“But your grapes and your fruits, O mountains of Israel, shall My people eat; for they are hoping to come.


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and I will multiply men upon you, <i>even</i> all the house of Israel to the last; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the desolate land shall be built upon.


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And I will multiply men and cattle upon you, and I will cause you to dwell as at the beginning, and I will treat you well, as in your former <i>times</i>; and you shall know that I am the Lord.


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And I will increase men upon you, <i>even</i> My people Israel; and they shall inherit you, and you shall be to them for a possession; and you shall no more be bereaved of them.”


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Thus says the Lord God: “Because they said to you, ‘You devour men, and have been bereaved of your nation’;


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therefore you shall no more devour men, and you shall no more bereave your nation, says the Lord God.


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And there shall no more be heard against you the reproach of the nations, and you shall no more bear the revilings of the peoples, says the Lord God.”


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“Son of man, the house of Israel dwelt upon their land, and defiled it by their way, and with their idols, and with their uncleannesses; and their way was before Me like the uncleanness of a removed woman.


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and I dispersed them among the nations, and utterly scattered them through the countries. I judged them according to their way and according to their sin.


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And they went in among the nations, among which they went, and they profaned My holy name, while it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and they came forth out of His land.’


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But I spared them for the sake of My holy name, which the house of Israel profaned among the nations, among whom they went.


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“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord: I do not do this, O house of Israel, for your sakes, but because of My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations, among whom you went.


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And I will sanctify My great name, which was profaned among the nations, which you profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, when I am sanctified among you before their eyes.


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And I will take you out from the nations, and will gather you out of all the lands, and will bring you into your own land;


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and I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be purged from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols, and I will cleanse you.


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And I will give you a new heart, and will put a new spirit in you: and I will take away the heart of stone out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.


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And I will put My Spirit in you, and will cause you to walk in My ordinances, and to keep My judgments, and do <i>them</i>.


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And you shall dwell upon the land which I gave to your fathers; and you shall be My people, and I shall be your God.


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And I will save you from all your uncleannesses; and I will call for the grain, and multiply it, and will not bring famine upon you.


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And I will multiply the fruit of the trees, and the produce of the field, that you may not bear the reproach of famine among the nations.


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And you shall remember your evil ways and your practices that were not good, and you shall be hateful in your own sight for your transgressions and for your abominations.


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Not for your sakes do I do <i>this</i>,” says the Lord God, “<i>as</i> it is known to you; be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel!”


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“Thus says the Lord God: In the day in which I shall cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will also cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste <i>places</i> shall be built upon;


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and the desolate land shall be cultivated, whereas it was desolate in the eyes of everyone that passed by.


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And they shall say, ‘That desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are inhabited.’


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And the nations, as many as shall have been left round about you, shall know that I the Lord have built the ruined <i>cities </i>and planted what was desolate. I the Lord have spoken, and will do <i>it</i>.”


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“Thus says the Lord God: Yet <i>for</i> this will I be sought by the house of Israel, to establish them; I will multiply them, <i>even</i> men as sheep;


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as holy sheep, as the sheep of Jerusalem in her feasts; thus shall the desert cities be full of flocks of men. And they shall know that I <i>am</i> the Lord.”


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<n>The Valley of Dry Bones</n> And the hand of the Lord came upon me, and the Lord brought me forth by the Spirit, and set me in the midst of the plain, and it was full of human bones.


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And He led me round about them every way. And behold, <i>there were</i> very many on the face of the plain, and they were very dry.


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And He said to me, “Son of man, will these bones live?” And I said, “O Lord God, <i>only </i>You know this!”


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And He said to me, “Prophesy upon these bones, and you shall say to them, ‘You dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.


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and I will lay sinews upon you, and I will bring up flesh upon you, and spread skin upon you, and I will put My Spirit into you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”’”


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So I prophesied as <i>the Lord</i> commanded me. And it came to pass while I was prophesying, that behold, <i>there was</i> a rattling, and the bones approached each one to his joint.


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And I looked, and behold, sinews and flesh grew upon them, and skin covered them over; but there was not breath in them.


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And He said to me, “Prophesy to the wind; prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus says the Lord: ‘Come from the four winds, <i>O breath, </i>and breathe upon these dead, that they may live.’”


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So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath entered into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, a very great congregation.


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And the Lord spoke to me, saying, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. And they say, ‘Our bones have become dry, our hope has perished, we are quite spent.’


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Therefore prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I <i>will</i> open your tombs, and will bring you up out of your tombs, and I will bring you into the land of Israel.


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And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, that I may bring up My people from <i>their </i>graves.


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And I will put My Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you upon your own land; and you shall know that I <i>am</i> the Lord; I have spoken, and will do <i>it</i>,’” says the Lord.


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“Son of man, take for yourself a rod, and write upon it, ‘Judah, and the children of Israel his adherents’; and you shall take for yourself another rod, and you shall inscribe it for ‘Joseph, the rod of Ephraim, and all the children of Israel that belong to him.’


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And you shall join them together for yourself, so as that they should bind themselves into one stick; and they shall be in your hand.


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“And it shall come to pass, when the children of your people shall say to you, ‘Will you not tell us what you mean by these things?’


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Then shall you say to them, Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will take the tribe of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel that belong to him, and I will add them to the tribe of Judah, and they shall become one rod in the hand of Judah.’


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And you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I <i>will</i> take the whole house of Israel out of the midst of the nations, among whom they have gone, and I will gather them from all that are round about them, and I will bring them into the land of Israel.


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And I will make them a nation in My land, even on the mountains of Israel; and they shall have one prince; and they shall be two nations no longer, neither shall they be divided anymore into two kingdoms;


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that they may no more defile themselves with their idols; and I will deliver them from all their transgressions whereby they have sinned, and I will cleanse them; and they shall be My people, and I the Lord shall be their God.


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“And My servant David <i>shall be</i> a prince in the midst of them. There shall be one shepherd of <i>them</i> all; for they shall walk in My ordinances, and keep My judgments, and do them.


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And they shall dwell in their land, which I have given to My servant Jacob, where their fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell upon it; and David My servant <i>shall be their</i> prince forever.


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And I will make with them a covenant of peace; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will establish My sanctuary in the midst of them forever.


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And the nations shall know that I am the Lord that sanctifies them, when My sanctuary is in the midst of them forever.”


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“Son of man, set your face against Gog, and the land of Magog, Rosh, prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,


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and say to him, Thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I am against you O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshach and Tubal;


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and I will gather you, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all wearing breastplates, with a great multitude, shields and helmets and swords;


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Gomer, and all belonging to him; the house of Togarmah, from the end of the north, and all belonging to him; and many nations with you.


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“Prepare yourselves and be ready, you and all your multitude that is assembled with you, and you shall be to Me for a guard.


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He shall be prepared after many days, and he shall come at the end of years, and shall come to a land that is brought back from the sword, when <i>the people</i> have been gathered from many nations against the land of Israel, which was entirely desolate; and he has come forth out of the nations, and they shall all dwell securely.


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And you shall go up as rain, and shall arrive as a cloud to cover the land, and there shall be you, and all that are about you, and many nations with you.


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“Thus says the Lord God: It shall also come to pass in that day, that thoughts shall rise up into your heart, and you shall devise an evil plan.


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And you shall say, ‘I will go up to the rejected land; I will come upon them that are at ease in tranquility, and dwelling in peace, all inhabiting a land in which there is no wall, nor bars, nor have they doors;


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to seize plunder, and to take their spoil; to turn my hands against the desolate land that is <i>now</i> inhabited, and against a nation that is gathered from many nations, that have acquired property, dwelling in the midst of the land.’


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Sheba, Dedan, and Carthaginian merchants, and all their villages shall say to you, ‘You have come for plunder to take a prey, and to get spoils; you have gathered your multitude to take silver and gold, to carry off property, to take spoils.’


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“Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog, Thus says the Lord: ‘Will you not arise in that day, when my people Israel are dwelling securely,


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and come out of your place from the farthest north, and many nations with you? All of them mounted on horses, a great gathering, and a large force?


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And you shall come up upon My people Israel as a cloud to cover the land; it shall come to pass in the last days, that I will bring you up upon My land, that all the nations may know Me, when I am sanctified in you before them.’


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Thus says the Lord God, to Gog: ‘You are <i>the one</i> concerning whom I spoke in former times, by the hand of My servants the prophets of Israel, in those days and years, that I would bring you up against them.’


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<n>Judgment on Gog</n> “And it shall come to pass in that day, in the day when Gog shall come against the Land of Israel,” says the Lord God,


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“that My wrath and My jealousy shall arise, I have spoken in the fire of My anger, verily in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;


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and the fish of the sea shall quake at the presence of the Lord, and the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the field, and all the reptiles that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are on the face of the earth; and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the valleys shall fall, and every wall on the land shall fall.


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And I will summon against it even every fear, says the Lord; the sword of <i>every</i> man shall be against his brother.


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And I will judge him with pestilence, and blood, and sweeping rain, and hailstones; and I will rain upon him fire and brimstone, and upon all that are with him, and upon many nations with him.


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And I will be magnified, and sanctified, and glorified; and I will be known in the presence of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord.”


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<n>Gog’s Armies Destroyed</n> “And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal;


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and I will assemble you, and guide you, and raise you up on the extremity of the north, and I will bring you up upon the mountains of Israel.


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And I will destroy the bow out of your left hand, and your arrows out of your right hand, and I will cast you down on the mountains of Israel;


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and you and all that belong to you shall fall, and the nations that are with you shall be given to multitudes of birds, <i>even</i> to every fowl, and I have given you to all the wild beasts of the field to be devoured.


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And I will send a fire upon Gog, and the islands shall be securely inhabited; and they shall know that I am the Lord.


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And My holy name shall be known in the midst of My people Israel; and My holy name shall no more be profaned: and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy <i>One</i> in Israel.


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Behold it is come, and you shall know that it shall be, says the Lord God; this is the day concerning which I have spoken.


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“And they that inhabit the cities of Israel shall come forth, and make a fire with the arms, the shields and the spears, and bows and arrows, and javelins, and lances, and they shall keep the fire burning with them for seven years.


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And they shall not take any wood out of the field, neither shall they cut any out of the forests, but they shall burn the weapons with fire, and they shall plunder those that plundered them, and spoil those that spoiled them,” says the Lord.


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<n>The Burial of Gog</n> “And it shall come to pass, <i>that</i> in that day I will give to Gog a place of renown, a tomb in Israel, the burial place of them that approach the sea. And they shall build round about the outlet of the valley, and there they shall bury Gog and all his multitude. And <i>the place</i> shall then be called the Valley of Haman Gog.


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And the house of Israel shall bury them, that the land may be cleansed in the space of seven months.


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Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a <i>place</i> of renown in the day in which it was glorified, says the Lord.


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And they shall appoint men continually to go over the land, to bury them that have been left on the face of the earth, to cleanse it after the space of seven months, and they shall seek <i>them</i> out.


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And everyone that goes through the land, and sees a man's bone, shall set up a marker by it, until the buriers shall have buried it in the valley, the burial place of Gog.


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“And you, son of man, say, Thus says the Lord: Say to every winged bird, and to all the wild beasts of the field, ‘Gather yourselves, and come; gather yourselves from all <i>places</i> round about to My sacrifice, which I have made for you, <i>even</i> a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, and you shall eat flesh, and drink blood.


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You shall eat the flesh of mighty men, and you shall drink the blood of princes of the earth, rams, and calves and goats; they are all fatted calves.


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And you shall eat fat till you are full, and shall drink wine till you are drunk, of My sacrifice which I have prepared for you.


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And you shall be filled at My table, <i>eating</i> horse and rider, and mighty man, and every warrior,’ says the Lord.


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<n>Israel Restored to the Land</n> “And I will set My glory among you, and all the nations shall see My judgment which I have wrought, and My hand which I have brought upon them.


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And all the nations shall know that the house of Israel was led captive because of their sins, because they rebelled against Me, and I turned away My face from them, and delivered them into the hands of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword.


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According to their uncleannesses and according to their transgressions did I deal with them, and I turned away My face from them.


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“Therefore thus says the Lord God: Now will I turn back captivity in Jacob, and will have mercy on the house of Israel, and I will be jealous for the sake of My holy name.


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And they shall bear their reproach, and the iniquity which they committed when they dwelt upon their land in peace. Yet there shall be none to terrify <i>them</i>


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when I have brought them back from the nations, and gathered them out of the countries of the nations; and I will be sanctified among them in the presence of the nations.


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And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, when I have been manifested to them among the nations.


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And I will no more turn away My face from them, because I have poured out My wrath upon the house of Israel,” says the Lord God.


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<n>The Vision of the New Temple</n> And it came to pass in the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, in the first month, on the tenth <i>day</i> of the month, in the fourteenth year after the taking of the city, in that day the hand of the Lord was upon me, and brought me


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in a vision of God into the land of Israel, and set me on a very high mountain, and upon it <i>there was</i> as it were the frame of a city before <i>me</i>.


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And He brought me in there, and behold, <i>there was</i> a man, and the appearance of him was as the appearance of shining brass, and in his hand was a builder's line, and a measuring reed; and he stood at the gate.


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And the man said to me, “Look with your eyes at him whom you have seen, son of man, and hear with your ears, and lay up in your heart all things that I show you; for you have come in here that I might show you, and you shall show all things that you see to the house of Israel.”


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And behold, a wall round about the house outside, and in the man's hand was a reed, the measure <i>of it was</i> six cubits by the cubit, and a span. And he measured across the front wall; the breadth was equal to the reed, and the length of it equal to the reed.


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<n>The Eastern Gateway of the Temple</n> And he entered by seven steps into the gate that looks eastward, and he measured across the porch of the gate equal to the reed.


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And the chamber was equal in length to the reed, and equal in breadth to the reed; and the porch between the chambers <i>was </i>six cubits; and the second chamber equal in breadth to the reed, and equal in length to the reed, and the porch <i>was </i>five cubits.


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And the porch of the gateway <i>near the porch of the gate</i> <i>was </i>eight cubits; and the posts there of two cubits; and the porch of the gate was inward.


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And the chambers of the gate of the chamber in front <i>were</i> three on one side and three on the other, and <i>there was</i> one measure to the three: <i>there was</i> one measure to the porches on this side and on that.


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And he measured the breadth of the door of the gateway, ten cubits; and the breadth of the gateway <i>was </i>thirteen cubits.


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And the space before the chambers was narrowed to a cubit in front of the chambers on this side and on that side; and the chamber was six cubits this way, and six cubits that way.


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And he measured the gate from the wall of one chamber to the wall of the other chamber. The breadth was twenty-five cubits, the one gate over against the other gate.


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And the open space of the porch of the gate outside was twenty cubits to the chambers round about the gate.


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And the open space of the gate outside to the open space of the porch of the gate within was fifty cubits.


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And <i>there were</i> secret windows to the chambers, and to the porches within the gate of the court round about, and in the same manner windows to the porches round about within. And on the porch <i>there were</i> palm trees on this side and on that side.


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<n>The Outer Court</n> And he brought me into the inner court, and behold, <i>there were</i> chambers, and peristyles round about the court; thirty chambers within the ranges of columns.


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And the porches were behind the gates; according to the length of the gates, was the lower peristyle.


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And he measured the breadth of the court, from the open space of the outer gate inwards to the open space of the gate looking outwards: a hundred cubits <i>was the distance to the place</i> of the gate looking eastward. And he brought me to the north.


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<n>The Northern Gateway</n> And behold, a gate looking northwards <i>belonging to</i> the outer court, and he measured it, both the length of it and the breadth;


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and the chambers, three on this side and three on that; and the posts, and the porches, and the palm trees thereof: and they were according to the measures of the gate that looks eastward: the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth thereof was twenty-five cubits.


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And its windows, and its porches, and its palm-trees, were according to <i>the dimensions of</i> the gate looking eastward; and they went up to it by seven steps; and the porches were within.


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And <i>there was</i> a gate to the inner court looking toward the north gate, after the manner of the gate looking toward the east; and he measured the court from gate to gate, a hundred cubits.


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<n>The Southern Gateway</n> And he brought me to the south side, and behold, a gate looking southwards: and he measured it, and its chambers, and its posts, and its porches, according to these dimensions.


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And its windows and its porches round about were according to the windows of the porch: the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth thereof was twenty-five cubits.


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And it had seven steps, and porches within. And it <i>had</i> palm trees on the posts, one on one side, and one on the other side.


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And <i>there was</i> a gate opposite the gate of the inner court southward. And he measured the court from gate to gate, a hundred cubits in breadth southward.


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<n>Gateways of the Inner Court</n> And he brought me into the inner court of the south gate; and he measured the gate according to these measures;


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and the chambers, and the posts, and the porches, according to these measures; and <i>there were</i> windows to it and to the porches round about: its length was fifty cubits, and <i>its</i> breadth <i>was </i>twenty-five cubits,


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from the porch to the outer court: and <i>there were</i> palm trees to the post <i>thereof</i>, and eight steps.


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And he brought me in at the gate that looks eastward, and he measured it according to these measures:


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and the chambers, and the posts, and the porches according to these measures: and <i>there were</i> windows to it, and porches round about: the length of it was fifty cubits, and the breadth of it <i>was </i>twenty-five cubits.


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And <i>there were</i> porches <i>opening</i> into the inner court, and palm trees on the posts on this side and on that side; and it <i>had</i> eight steps.


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and the chambers, and the posts, and the porches; and it <i>had</i> windows round about, and <i>it had </i>its porches: the length of it was fifty cubits, and the breadth <i>was </i>twenty-five cubits.


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And its porches were toward the inner court; and <i>there were</i> palm trees to the posts on this side and on that side; and it <i>had</i> eight steps.


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And behind the drain for the burnt offerings at the north <i>gate</i>, two tables eastward behind the second gate; and <i>behind</i> the porch of the gate <i>were </i>two tables eastward.


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Four on one side and four on the other side behind the gate; <i>and </i>upon them they kill the victims, in front of the eight tables of sacrifices.


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And <i>there were</i> four tables of hewn stone for burnt offerings, the breadth <i>of them was</i> a cubit and a half, and the length <i>of them</i> two cubits <i>and</i> a half, and <i>their</i> height was a cubit: on them they shall place the instruments with which they slay there the burnt offerings and the victims.


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And they shall have within a border of hewn stone round about of a span broad, and over the tables above <i>were </i>screens for covering <i>them</i> from the wet and from the heat.


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And he brought me into the inner court, and behold, <i>there were</i> two chambers in the inner court, one behind the gate looking to the north, turning southward, and one behind the southern gate, but which looks to the north.


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And he said to me, This chamber that looks to the south, is for the priests that keep the charge of the house.


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And the chamber that looks to the north is for the priests that keep the charge of the altar; they are the sons of Zadok, those of the tribe of Levi who draw near to the Lord, to serve Him.


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And he measured the court, its length <i>was</i> a hundred cubits, and the breadth a hundred cubits, on its four sides; and the altar in front of the house.


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And he brought me into the porch of the house, and he measured the post of the porch, the breadth was five cubits on one side and five cubits on the other side; and the breadth of the door <i>was</i> fourteen cubits, and the sidepieces of the door of the porch <i>were</i> three cubits on one side, and three cubits on the other side.


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And the length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the breadth twelve cubits; and they went up to it by ten steps; and <i>there were</i> pillars to the porch, one on this side and one on that side.


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<n>Dimensions of the Sanctuary</n> And he brought me into the temple, the porch of which he measured, six cubits the breadth on one side, and six cubits the breadth of the porch on the other side.


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And the breadth of the gateway was ten cubits, and the sidepieces of the gateway were five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side. And he measured the length of it, forty cubits, and the breadth <i>was </i>twenty cubits.


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And he went into the inner court, and measured the post of the door, two cubits; and the door, six cubits; and the sidepieces of the door, seven cubits on one side, and seven cubits on the other side.


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And he measured the length of the doors, forty cubits; and the breadth, twenty cubits, in front of the temple. And he said, This is the Holy of Holies.


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And he measured the wall of the house, six cubits: and the breadth of <i>each</i> side <i>was </i>four cubits round about.


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And the sides were twice ninety, side against side; and <i>there was</i> a space in the wall of the house at the sides round about, that they should be for those that take hold of them to see, that they should not at all touch the walls of the house.


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And the breadth of the upper side <i>was made</i> according to the projection out of the wall, against the upper one round about the house, that it might be enlarged above, and that <i>men</i> might go up to the upper chambers from those below, and from the ground sills to the third story.


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And as for the height of the house round about, <i>each</i> space between the sides was equal to a reed of six cubits;


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and the breadth of the wall of each side without was five cubits; and the spaces that were left between the sides of the house,


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And the doors of the chambers were toward the space left by the one door that looked northward, and <i>there was</i> one door southward; and the breadth of the remaining open space <i>was</i> five cubits in extent round about.


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And the partition <i>wall</i> in front of the remaining space, toward the west, was seventy cubits in breadth; the breadth of the partition wall was five cubits round about, and the length of it <i>was </i>ninety cubits.


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And he measured in front of the house a length of a hundred cubits, and the remaining spaces and the partitions; and the walls thereof were in length a hundred cubits.


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And the breadth in front of the house, and the remaining <i>spaces</i> before <i>it were</i> a hundred cubits.


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And he measured the length of the partition in front of the space left by the back parts of that house; and the <i>spaces</i> left on this side and on that side were in length a hundred cubits: and the temple and the corners and the outer porch were ceiled.


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And the windows were latticed, <i>giving</i> light round about to the three <i>stories,</i> so as to look through. And the house and the parts adjoining were planked round about, and <i>so was</i> the floor, and from the floor up to the windows, and the window <i>shutters</i> folded back in three parts for one to look through.


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And almost all the way to the inner, and close to the outer <i>side</i>, and upon all the wall round about within and without,


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were carved cherubim and palm trees between the cherubim, <i>and each</i> cherub <i>had</i> two faces.


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The face of a man was toward one palm tree on this side and on that side, and the face of a lion toward another palm tree on this side and on that side; the house was carved all round.


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And the holy place and the temple opened on four sides; in front of the holy places the appearance was as the look of


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a wooden altar, the height of it three cubits, and the length two cubits, and the breadth two cubits; and it had horns, and the base of it and the sides of it were of wood. And he said to me, This is the table, which is before the face of the Lord.


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And the temple <i>had</i> two doors, and the sanctuary <i>had</i> two doors, with two turning leaves <i>each</i>;


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And <i>there was</i> carved work upon them, and cherubim on the doors of the temple, and palm trees according to the carving of the sanctuary; and <i>there were</i> stout planks in front of the porch outside.


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And <i>there were</i> secret windows; and he measured from side to side, to the roofing of the porch; and the sides of the house were closely planked.


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<n>The Chambers for the Priests</n> And he brought me into the inner court eastward, opposite the northern gate. And he brought me in, and behold, five chambers near the vacant space, and near the northern partition,


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ornamented accordingly as the gates of the inner court, and arranged accordingly as the peristyles of the outer court, <i>with three </i>porches fronting one another.


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And in front of the chambers was a walk ten cubits in breadth, the length <i>reaching</i> to a hundred cubits; and their doors were northward.


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And the upper walks were in like manner: for the peristyle projected from it, <i>even</i> from the range of columns below, and <i>there was</i> a space between; so <i>were there</i> a peristyle and a space between, and so <i>were there</i> two porches.


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For they were triple, and they had not pillars like the pillars of the outer ones; therefore they projected from the lower ones and the middle ones from the ground.


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And <i>there was</i> light outside, corresponding to the chambers of the outer court looking toward the front of the northern chambers; the length <i>of them was</i> fifty cubits.


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For the length of the chambers looking toward the inner court was fifty cubits, and these are the ones that front the others; the whole was a hundred cubits.


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And <i>there were</i> doors of these chambers for an outlet toward the east, so that one should go through them out of the outer court,


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by the opening of the walk at the corner; and the south parts were toward the south, toward the remaining space, and toward the partition, and <i>so were</i> the chambers.


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And the walk was in front of them, according to the measures of the chambers toward the north, both according to the length of them, and according to the breadth of them, and according to all their openings, and according to all their turnings, and according to their lights, and according to their doors.


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<i>So were the measures</i> of the chambers toward the south, and according to the doors at the entrance of the walk, as it were the distance of a reed for light, and eastward as one went in by them.


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And he said to me, “The chambers toward the north, and the chambers toward the south, in front of the empty spaces, these are the chambers of the sanctuary, in which the priests, the sons of Zadok, who draw near to the Lord, shall eat the most holy things: and there shall they lay the most holy things, and the meat offering, and the sin offerings, and the trespass offerings; because the place is holy.


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None shall go in there except the priests, <i>and</i> they shall not go forth into the holy place into the outer court, that they that draw near <i>to God</i> may be continually holy, and may not touch their garments in which they minister, <i>with defilement</i>, for they are holy; and they shall put on other garments whenever they come in contact with the people.”


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<n>Outer Dimensions of the Temple</n> So the measurement of the house within was accomplished. And he brought me forth by the way of the gate that looks eastward, and measured the plan of the house round about in order.


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And he stood behind the gate looking eastward, and measured five hundred <i>cubits</i> with the measuring reed.


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An he turned to the north and measured in front of the north <i>side</i> five hundred cubits with the measuring reed.


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And he turned to the west, and measured in front of the west side, five hundred <i>cubits</i> with the measuring reed.


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And he turned to the south, and measured in front of the south side, five hundred <i>cubits</i> by the measuring reed.


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The <i>four sides he measured</i> by the same reed, and he marked out the house and the circumference of the parts round about, <i>a space</i> of five hundred <i>cubits</i> eastward, and a breadth of five hundred cubits, to make a division between the sanctuary and the outer wall, that <i>belonged to</i> the design of the house.


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<n>The Divine Glory Returns to the Temple</n> Moreover he brought me to the gate looking eastward, and led me forth.


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And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came by the eastern way; and <i>there was</i> a voice of an army, as the sound of many redoubling <i>their shouts</i>, and the earth shone like light from the glory round about.


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And the vision which I saw was like the vision which I saw when I went in to anoint the city. And the vision of the chariot which I saw was like the vision which I saw at the River Chebar; and I fell upon my face.


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And the Spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court. And behold, the house of the Lord was full of glory.


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And I stood, and behold, <i>there was</i> a voice out of the house of one speaking to me, and a man stood near me,


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and he said to me, “Son of man, you have seen the place of My throne, and the place of the soles of My feet, in which My name shall dwell in the midst of the house of Israel forever; and the house of Israel shall no more profane My holy name, they and their princes, by their fornication, or by the murders of <i>their </i>princes in the midst of them;


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when they set My doorway by their doorway, and My thresholds near to their thresholds; and they made My wall as it were joining Myself and them, and they profaned My holy name with their iniquities which they have done; and I destroyed them in My wrath and with slaughter.


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And now let them put away from Me their fornication, and the murders of their princes, and I will dwell in the midst of them forever.


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“And you, son of man, show the temple to the house of Israel, that they may cease from their sins; and <i>show</i> its aspect and the arrangement of it.


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And they shall bear their punishment for all the things that they have done. And you shall describe the house, and its entrances, and the plans, and all its ordinances, and you shall make known to them all the regulations of it, and describe <i>them</i> before them. And they shall keep all My commandments, and all My ordinances, and do them.


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And you shall show the plan of the house on the top of the mountain: all its limits round about <i>shall be</i> most holy.


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“And these are the measures of the altar by the cubit of a cubit and a span, the cavity <i>shall be</i> a cubit deep, and a cubit shall be the breadth, and the border on the rim of it round about shall be a span: and this <i>shall be</i> the height of the altar


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from the bottom at the commencement of the hollow part to this great mercy seat, from beneath was two cubits, and the breadth was a cubit; and from the little mercy seat to the great mercy seat <i>there were </i>four cubits, and the breadth was a cubit.


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And the altar <i>shall be</i> of the length of twelve cubits, by twelve cubits <i>in breadth</i>, square upon its four sides.


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And the mercy seat <i>shall be</i> fourteen cubits in length, by fourteen cubits in breadth on its four sides; and <i>there shall be</i> a border to it carried round about it of half a cubit; and the rim of it <i>shall be</i> a cubit round about; and the steps thereof looking eastward.’


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<n>Consecrating the Altar</n> And He said to me, “Son of man, thus says the Lord God of Israel: These are the ordinances of the altar in the day of its being made, to offer upon it burnt offerings, and to pour blood upon it.


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And you shall appoint to the priests the Levites of the descendants of Zadok, that draw near to Me, says the Lord God, to minister to Me, a calf of the heard for a sin offering.


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And they shall take of its blood, and shall put <i>it</i> on the four horns of the altar, and upon the four corners of the propitiatory, and upon the base round about, and they shall make atonement for it.


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And they shall take the calf of the sin offering, and it shall be consumed by fire in the separate place of the house, outside the sanctuary.


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And on the second day they shall take two kids of the goats without blemish for a sin offering; and they shall make atonement for the altar, as they made atonement with the calf.


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And after they have finished the atonement, they shall bring an unblemished calf of the herd, and an unblemished ram of the flock.


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And you shall offer <i>them</i> before the Lord, and the priests shall sprinkle salt upon them, and shall offer them up <i>as </i>burnt offerings to the Lord.


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Seven day shall you offer a kid daily for a sin offering, and a calf of the herd, and a ram out of the flock; they shall sacrifice them unblemished for seven days.


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And they shall make atonement for the altar, and shall purge it; and they shall consecrate themselves.


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And it shall come to pass from the eighth day and onward, <i>that</i> the priests shall offer your burnt offerings on the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you,” says the Lord.


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<n>The Closed Gate</n> Then he brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary that looks eastward; and it was shut.


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And the Lord said to me, “This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no one shall pass through it; for the Lord God of Israel shall enter by it, and it shall be shut.


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For the prince, he shall sit in it, to eat bread before the Lord; he shall go in by the way of the porch of the gate, and shall go forth by the way of the same.”


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<n>Admission to the Temple</n> And He brought me in by the way of the gate that looks northward, in front of the house: and I looked, and behold, the house was full of the glory of the Lord. And I fell upon my face.


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And the Lord said to me, “Son of man, attend with your heart, and see with <i>your</i> eyes, and hear with your ears all that I say to you, according to all the ordinances of the house of the Lord, and all the regulations thereof; and you shall attend well to the entrance of the house, according to all its outlets, in all the holy things.


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And you shall say to the provoking house, to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: ‘Let it suffice you <i>to have committed</i> all your iniquities, O house of Israel!


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That you have brought in aliens, uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary, and to profane it, when you offered bread, flesh, and blood; and you transgressed My covenant by all your iniquities;


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Therefore thus says the Lord God: No alien, uncircumcised in heart or uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into My sanctuary, of all the children of strangers that are in the midst of the house of Israel.


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<n>Laws Governing Priests</n> “But as for the Levites who departed far from Me when Israel went astray from Me after their imaginations, they shall even bear their iniquity.


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Yet they shall minister in My sanctuary, <i>being</i> porters at the gates of the house, and serving the house; they shall slay the victims and the burnt offerings for the people, and they shall stand before the people to minister to them.


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Because they ministered to them before their idols, and it became to the house of Israel a punishment of iniquity; therefore have I lifted up My hand against them, says the Lord God.


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And they shall not draw near to Me, to minister to Me in the priests' office, nor to approach the holy things of the children of Israel, nor <i>to approach</i> My Holy of Holies; but they shall bear their reproach for the error in which they erred.


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They shall bring them to keep the charges of the house, for all the service of it, and for all that they shall do.


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“The priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charges of My sanctuary when the house of Israel when astray from Me, these shall draw near to Me to minister to Me, and shall stand before My face, to offer sacrifice to Me, the fat and the blood, says the Lord God.


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These shall enter into My sanctuary, and these shall approach My table, to minister to Me, and they shall keep My commandments.


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And it shall come to pass when they enter the gates of the inner court, <i>that</i> they shall put on linen robes; and they shall not put on woolen garments when they minister at the gate of the inner court.


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And they shall have linen turbans upon their heads, and shall have linen trousers on their bodies; and they shall not tightly gird themselves.


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And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall take off their robes, in which they minister; and they shall lay them up in the chambers of the sanctuary, and shall put on other robes, and they shall not sanctify the people with their robes.


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And they shall not shave their heads, nor shall they pluck off their hair; they shall carefully cover their heads.


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Neither shall they take to themselves a widow for a wife, or one that is put away, but a virgin of the descendants of Israel. But if there should happen to be a priest's widow, they shall take <i>her</i>.


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And they shall teach My people <i>to distinguish</i> between holy and profane, and they shall make known to them <i>the difference</i> between unclean and clean.


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And these shall attend at a judgment of blood to decide it. They shall rightly observe My ordinances, and judge My judgments, and keep My statutes and My commandments in all My feasts; and they shall hallow My Sabbaths.


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And they shall not go in to the dead body of a man to defile themselves. Only <i>a priest</i> may defile himself for a father, or for a mother, or for a son, or for a daughter, or for a brother, or for his sister, who has not been married.


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And on whatsoever day they shall enter into the inner court to minister in the holy place, they shall bring a propitiation, says the Lord God.


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“And it shall be to them for an inheritance. I am their inheritance: and no possession shall be given them among the children of Israel; for I am their possession.


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And these shall eat the meat offerings, and the sin offerings, and the trespass offerings; and every special offering in Israel shall be theirs.


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<i>And</i> the firstfruits of all things, and the firstborn of all <i>animals</i> and all offerings, of all your firstfruits there shall be <i>a share</i> for the priests; and you shall give your earliest produce to the priest, to bring your blessings upon your houses.


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<n>The Holy District</n> “And when you measure you land for inheritance, you shall set apart the firstfruits to the Lord, a holy space of the land, in length twenty-five thousand <i>reeds</i>, and in breadth twenty thousand; it shall be holy in all its borders round about.


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And there shall be a sanctuary out of this, five hundred <i>reeds in length,</i> by five hundred in breadth, a square round about; and <i>there shall be</i> a vacant space <i>beyond</i> this of fifty cubits round about.


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And out of this measurement shall you measure the length, twenty-five thousand, and the breadth twenty thousand; and in it shall be the Holy of Holies.


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Of the land shall be <i>a portion</i> for the priests that minister in the holy place, and it shall be for them that draw near to minister to the Lord: and it shall be to them a place for houses set apart for their sacred office;


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the length <i>shall be</i> twenty-five thousand, and the breadth twenty thousand. And the Levites that attend the house, they shall have cities to dwell in for a possession.


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“And you shall appoint <i>for</i> the possession of the city five thousand in breadth, and in length twenty-five thousand; after the manner of the firstfruits of the holy portion, they shall be for all the house of Israel.


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“And the prince <i>shall have a portion</i> out of this, and out of this <i>there shall be a portion</i> for the firstfruits of the sanctuary, <i>and</i> for the possession of the city, in front of the firstfruits of the sanctuary, and in front of the possession of the city westward, and from the western parts eastward. And the length <i>shall be</i> equal to one of the parts of the western borders, and the length <i>shall be</i> to the eastern borders of the land.


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And he shall have it for a possession in Israel. And the princes of Israel shall no more oppress My people; but the house of Israel shall inherit the land according to their tribes.”


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<n>Laws Governing the Prince</n> “Thus says the Lord God: Let it suffice you, you princes of Israel; remove injustice and misery, execute judgment and justice; take away oppression from My people, says the Lord God.


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And in like manner there shall be one bath as a measure of capacity; the tenth of the homer <i>shall be</i> the bath, and the tenth of the homer shall be in fair proportion to the homer.


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And the weights <i>shall be</i> twenty gerahs, your pound shall be five shekels, fifteen shekels and fifty shekels.


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And these are the firstfruits which you shall offer: a sixth part of a homer of wheat, and the sixth part of it <i>shall consist</i> of an ephah of a homer of barley.


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And <i>you shall give as</i> the appointed measure of oil one bath of oil out of ten baths; for ten baths are a homer.


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And one sheep from the flock out of ten, as an oblation from all the tribes of Israel, for sacrifices, and for burnt offerings, and for peace offerings, to make atonement for you, says the Lord God.


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And through the prince shall be <i>offered</i> the burnt offerings and the meat offerings, and the drink offerings in the feasts, and at the new moons, and on the Sabbaths; and in all the feasts of the house of Israel; he shall offer the sin offerings, and the meat offerings, and the burnt offerings, and the peace offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.


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<n>Keeping the Feasts</n> “Thus says the Lord God: In the first month, on the first <i>day</i> of the month, you shall take a calf without blemish out of the herd, to make atonement for the holy place.


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And the priest shall take of the blood of the atonement, and put it on the thresholds of the house, and upon the four corners of the temple, and upon the altar, and upon the thresholds of the gate of the inner court.


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And thus shall you do in the seventh month: on the first <i>day</i> of the month you shall take a rate from each one; and you shall make atonement for the house.


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“And in the first <i>month</i>, on the fourteenth <i>day</i> of the month, you shall have the Feast of Passover; seven days shall you eat unleavened bread.


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And the prince shall offer it that day a calf for a sin offering for himself, and the house, and for all the people of the land.


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And for the seven days of the feast he shall offer as burnt offerings to the Lord seven calves and seven rams without blemish daily for the seven days; and a kid of the goats daily for a sin offering, and a meat offering.


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And in the seventh month, on the fifteenth <i>day</i> of the month, you shall sacrifice in the feast in the same way seven days, as <i>they sacrificed</i> the sin offerings, and the burnt offerings, and the freewill offering, and the oil.”


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<n>The Manner of Worship</n> “Thus says the Lord God: The gate that is in the inner court, that looks eastward, shall be shut the six working days; <i>but</i> let it be opened on the Sabbath day, and it shall be opened on the day of the new moon.


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And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of the inner gate, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate, and the priests shall prepare his burnt offerings and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the entrance of the gate. Then shall he come forth; but the gate shall not be shut till evening.


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And the people of the land shall worship at the entrance of that gate, both on the Sabbaths and at the new moons, before the Lord.


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And the prince shall offer burnt offerings to the Lord on the Sabbath day, six lambs without blemish, and a ram without blemish;


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and a freewill offering, a meat offering for the ram, and a meat offering for the lambs, the gift of his hand, and a hin of oil for the meat offering.


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And on the day of the new moon a calf without blemish, and six lambs, and there shall be a ram without blemish;


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and a meat offering for the ram, and there shall be a meat offering for the calf as a freewill offering, and for the lambs, according as his hand can furnish, and <i>there shall be</i> a hin of oil for the cake.


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And when the prince goes in, he shall go in by the way of the porch of the gate, and he shall go forth by the way of the gate.


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“And whenever the people of the land shall go in before the Lord at the feasts, he that goes in by the way of the north gate to worship shall go forth by the way of the south gate; and he that goes in by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the gate by which he entered, but he shall go forth opposite it.


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And the prince shall enter with them in the midst of them when they go in; and when they go forth, he shall go forth.


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And in the feasts and in the general assemblies the freewill oblation shall be a meat offering for the calf, and a meat offering for the ram, and for the lambs, as his hand can furnish, and a hin of oil for the meat offering.


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“And if the prince should prepare <i>as</i> a thanksgiving a whole burnt peace offering to the Lord, and should open for himself the gate looking eastward, and offer his burnt offering, and his peace offerings, as he does on the Sabbath day; then shall he go out, and shall shut the doors after he has gone out.


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And he shall prepare daily as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb of a year old without blemish; in the morning shall he prepare it.


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And he shall prepare a freewill offering for it in the morning, the sixth part of a measure <i>of flour</i>, and a third part of a hin of oil to mix <i>with </i>the fine flour, <i>as</i> a freewill offering to the Lord, a perpetual ordinance.


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You shall prepare the lamb, and the freewill offering, and the oil in the morning, <i>for</i> a perpetual whole burnt sacrifice.


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“Thus says the Lord God: If the prince shall give a gift to one of his sons out of his inheritance, this shall be to his sons a possession <i>as</i> an inheritance.


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But if he give a gift to one of his servants, then it shall belong to him until the year of release; and <i>then</i> he shall restore <i>it</i> to the prince; but of the inheritance of his sons <i>the possession</i> shall continue to them.


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And the prince shall by no means take of the inheritance of the people, to oppress them: he shall give an inheritance to his sons out of his <i>own</i> possession; that My people be not scattered, everyone from his possession.”


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And he brought me into the entrance of the <i>place</i> behind the gate, into the chamber of the sanctuary belonging to the priests, that looks toward the north. And behold, there was a place set apart.


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And he said to me, “This is the place where the priests shall boil the trespass offerings and the sin offerings, and there shall they bake the meat offering always; so as not to carry <i>them</i> out into the outer court, to sanctify the people.”


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And he brought me into the outer court, and led me round upon the four sides of the court; and behold, there was a court on <i>each of</i> the sides of the court,


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on <i>every</i> side a court, <i>even</i> a court for all the four <i>sides</i>, and <i>each</i> little court belonging to the court was in length forty cubits, and <i>in</i> breadth thirty cubits, <i>there was</i> one measure to the four.


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And <i>there were</i> chambers in them round about, round about the four, and cooking-places formed under the chambers round about.


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And he said to me, “These are the cooks' houses, where they that serve the house shall boil the sacrifices of the people.”


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<n>Water Flowing from the Temple</n> And he brought me to the entrance of the house. and behold, water issued from under the porch eastward, for the front of the house looked eastward; and the water came down from the right side, from the south to the altar.


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And he brought me out by the way of the northern gate, and he led me round by the way outside to the gate of the court that looks eastward. And behold, water came down from the right side,


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in <i>the direction</i> in which a man went forth opposite; and <i>there was</i> a measuring line in his hand, and he measured a thousand <i>cubits</i> with the measure;


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and he passed through the water; <i>it was</i> water of a fountain. And <i>again</i> he measured a thousand, and passed through the water; and the water was up to his thighs. And <i>again</i> he measured a thousand; and he passed through water up to the loins.


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And <i>again</i> he measured a thousand; and he could not pass through, for <i>the water</i> rose as of a torrent which <i>men</i> cannot pass over.


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And he said to me, “Have you seen <i>this</i>, son of man?” Then he brought me, and led me back to the brink of the river


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as I returned. And behold, on the brink of the river <i>there were</i> very many trees on this side and on that side.


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And he said to me, “This is the water that goes forth to Galilee that lies eastward, and it is gone down to Arabia, and has reached as far as to the sea to the outlet of the water; and it shall heal the waters.


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And it shall come to pass, <i>that </i>every animal of living <i>and</i> moving creatures, all on which the river shall come, shall live; and there shall be there very many fish; for this water shall go there, and it shall heal <i>them,</i> and they shall live: everything on which the river shall come shall live.


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And fishermen shall stand there from En Gedi to En Eglaim; it shall be a place to spread out nets upon; it shall be distinct; and its fish <i>shall be</i> as the fish of the great sea, a very great multitude.


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But at the outlet of the water, and the turn of it, and where it overflows <i>its banks</i>, they shall not heal at all; they are given to salt.


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And every fruit tree shall grow by the river, <i>even</i> on the bank of it on this side and on that side. They shall not decay upon it, neither shall their fruit fail. They shall bring forth the firstfruit of their early crop, for these their waters come forth of the sanctuary; and their fruit shall be for meat, and their foliage for health.”


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<n>Borders of the Land</n> “Thus says the Lord God: You shall inherit these borders of the land; <i>they are</i> given by lot to the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.


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And you shall inherit it, each according to his brother's portion, <i>even the land</i> concerning which I lifted up My hand to give <i>it</i> to your fathers; and this land shall fall to you by lot.


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And these are the borders of the land that lies northward, from the Great Sea that comes down, and divides the entrance of Emaseldam;


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Hamath, Berothah, between the coasts of Damascus and the coasts of Emathi, the habitation of Saunan, which <i>places </i>are above the coasts of Auranitis.


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These are the borders from the sea, from the habitations of Enan, the coasts of Damascus, and the northern <i>coasts</i>.


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And the eastern coasts between Loranitis and Damascus, and the land of Gilead, and the land of Israel, the Jordan divides to the sea that is east of the city of palm trees. These are the eastern <i>coasts</i>.


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And the southern and southwestern <i>coasts are</i> from Tamar and the city of palm trees, to the water of Meribah Kadesh, reaching forth to the Great Sea. This part is the south and southwest.


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This part of the great sea forms a border, till <i>one comes</i> opposite the entrance of Hamath, <i>even</i> as far as the entrance thereof. These are the parts west of Hamath.


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You shall cast the lot upon it, for yourselves and the strangers that sojourn in the midst of you, who have begotten children in the midst of you; and they shall be to you as natives among the children of Israel; they shall eat with you in <i>their</i> inheritance in the midst of the tribes of Israel.


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And they shall be in the tribe of proselytes among the proselytes that are with them. There shall you give them an inheritance,” says the Lord God.


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<n>Division of the Land</n> “And these are the names of the tribes from the northern corner, on the side of the decent that draws a line to the entrance of Hamath the palace of Elam, the border of Damascus northward on the side of Hamath the palace; and they shall have the eastern parts as far as the sea, for Dan, one <i>portion.</i>


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And from the borders of Manasseh, from the eastern parts as far as the west coasts, for Ephraim, one.


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“And from the borders of Judah, from the eastern parts shall be the offering of firstfruits, in the breadth twenty-five thousand <i>reeds</i>, and in length as one of the portions <i>measured</i> from the east even to the western parts; and the sanctuary shall be in the midst of them.


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“<i>As for</i> the firstfruits which they shall offer to the Lord, <i>it shall be</i> in length twenty-five thousand, and in breadth twenty-five thousand.


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Out of this shall be the firstfruits of the holy things to the priests, northward twenty-five thousand, and toward the west, ten thousand, and southward twenty-five thousand. And the mountain of the sanctuary shall be in the midst of it,


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for the priests, for the consecrated sons of Zadok, who keep the charges of the house, who erred not in the error of the children of Israel, as the Levites erred.


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And the firstfruits shall be given to them out of the firstfruits of the land, <i>even</i> a most holy portion from the borders of the Levites.


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“And the Levites <i>shall have</i> the <i>part</i> next to the borders of the priests, in length twenty-five thousand, and in breadth ten thousand: the whole length <i>shall be</i> twenty-five thousand, and the breadth twenty thousand.


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No <i>part</i> of it shall be sold, nor measured <i>as for sale</i>, neither shall the firstfruits of the land be taken away; for they are holy to the Lord.


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“But <i>concerning</i> the five thousand that remain in the breadth in the twenty-five thousand, they shall be a suburb to the city for dwelling, and for a space before it; and the city shall be in the midst thereof.


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And these <i>shall be</i> its dimensions: from the northern side four thousand and five hundred, and from the southern side four thousand and five hundred, and from the eastern side four thousand and five hundred, and from the western side <i>they shall measure</i> four thousand five hundred.


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And there shall be a space to the city northward two hundred and fifty, and southward two hundred and fifty, and eastward two hundred and fifty, and westward two hundred and fifty.


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And the remainder of the length that is next to the firstfruits of the holy <i>portion shall be</i> ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward; and they shall be the firstfruits of the sanctuary; and the fruits thereof shall be for bread to them that labor for the city.


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The whole offering <i>shall be</i> a square of twenty-five thousand by twenty-five thousand: you shall separate <i>again part</i> of it, the firstfruits of the sanctuary, from the possession of the city.


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“And the prince <i>shall have</i> the remainder on this side and on that side from the firstfruits of the sanctuary, and <i>there shall be</i> a possession of the city, for twenty-five thousand cubits in length, to the eastern and western borders, for twenty-five thousand to the western borders, next to the portions of the prince; and the firstfruits of the holy things and the sanctuary of the house <i>shall be</i> in the midst of it.


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And there shall be <i>a portion taken</i> from the Levites, from the possession of the city in the midst of the princes between the borders of Judah and the borders of Benjamin, and it shall be <i>the portion</i> of the princes.


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And <i>as for</i> the rest of the tribes, from the eastern parts as far as the western, Benjamin <i>shall have</i> one <i>portion</i>.


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And from the borders of Gad, from the eastern parts to the southwestern parts; his coasts shall even be from Tamar, and the water of Meribah Kadesh, for an inheritance, unto the Great Sea.


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This is the land, which you shall divide by lot to the tribes of Israel, and these are their portions,” says the Lord God.


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And the gates of the city <i>shall be</i> after the names of the tribes of Israel: three gates northward; the gate of Reuben, one, and the gate of Judah, one, and the gate of Levi, one.


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And eastward four thousand and five hundred: and three gates; the gate of Joseph, one, and the gate of Benjamin, one, and the gate of Dan, one.


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And southward, four thousand and five hundred by measure; and three gates: the gate of Simeon, one, and the gate of Issachar, one, and the gate of Zebulun, one.


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And westward, four thousand and five hundred by measure; <i>and</i> three gates: the gate of Gad, one, and the gate of Asher, one, and the gate of Naphtali, one.


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The circumference, eighteen thousand <i>measures</i>. And the name of the city, from the day that it shall be finished, shall be THE LORD IS THERE.”


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In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and besieged it.


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And the Lord gave into his hand Jehoiakim king of Judah, and part of the vessels of the house of God: and he brought them into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.


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And the king told Ashpenaz his chief eunuch, to bring in <i>some</i> of the captive children of Israel, and of the descendants of the kingdom, and of the princes;


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young men in whom was no blemish, and beautiful in appearance, and skilled in all wisdom, and possessing knowledge, and acquainted with prudence, and who had ability to stand in the house before the king, and <i>the king gave commandment</i> to teach them the knowledge and language of the Chaldeans.


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And the king appointed them a daily portion from the king's table, and from the wine which he drank; and <i>gave orders</i> to nourish them three years, and <i>that</i> afterwards they should stand before the king.


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And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: to Daniel, Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, Shadrach; and to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abed-Nego.


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And Daniel purposed in his heart, that he would not defile himself with the king's table, nor with the wine of his drink: and he intreated the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.


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And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who has appointed your meat and your drink, lest he see your countenances gloomy, in comparison with the young men your equals; also shall you endanger my head to the king.”


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And Daniel said to Melzar, whom the chief of the eunuchs had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, <i>and</i> Azariah,


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“Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat, and water to drink.


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And let our countenances be seen by you, and the countenances of the children that eat <i>at</i> the king's table; and deal with your servants according as you shall see.”


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And at the end of the ten days their countenances appeared fairer and stouter in flesh than the children that ate at the king's table.


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And <i>as for</i> these four children, God gave them understanding and prudence in all learning and wisdom. And Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.


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And at the end of the days, <i>after</i> which the king had given orders to bring them in, then the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.


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And the king spoke with them; and there were not found out of them all any like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: and they stood before the king.


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And in every matter of wisdom and knowledge wherein the king questioned them, he found them ten times wiser than all the enchanters and sorcerers that were in all his kingdom.


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<n>Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream</n> In the second year of <i>his</i> reign Nebuchadnezzar dreamed a dream, and his spirit was amazed, and his sleep departed from him.


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And the king gave orders to call the enchanters, and the magicians, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, to declare to the king his dreams. And they came and stood before the king.


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And the Chaldeans spoke to the king in the Syrian language, <i>saying</i>, “O king, live forever: tell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation.”


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The king answered the Chaldeans <i>and said,</i> “The thing has departed from me: if you do not make known to me the dream and the interpretation, you shall be destroyed, and your houses shall be spoiled.


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But if you make known to me the dream, and the interpretation thereof, you shall receive from me gifts and presents and much honor: only tell me the dream, and its interpretation.”


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They answered the second time, and said, “Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will declare the interpretation.”


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And the king answered and said, “I know very well that you are trying to gain time, because you see that the thing has gone from me.


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If then you do not tell me the dream, I know that you have conspired to utter before me a false and corrupt tale, until the time has past: now tell me my dream, and I shall know that you will also declare to me its interpretation.”


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The Chaldeans answered before the king and said, “There is no man upon the earth, who shall be able to make known the king's matter: forasmuch as no great king or ruler asks such a question of an enchanter, magician, or Chaldean.


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For the question which the king asks is difficult, and there is no one else who shall answer it before the king, but the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”


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So the decree went forth, and they began to destroy the wise men; and they sought Daniel and his companions to destroy <i>them</i>.


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<n>God Reveals Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream</n> Then Daniel answered <i>with</i> counsel and prudence to Arioch the captain of the royal guard, who was gone forth to kill the wise men of Babylon, <i>saying</i>,


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“Why has this shameless command proceeded from the king?” So Arioch made known the matter to Daniel.


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And Daniel intreated the king to give him time, and that he might declare to the king its interpretation.


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So Daniel went into his house, and made known the matter to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his friends.


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And they sought mercies from the God of heaven concerning this mystery; that Daniel and his friends might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.


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Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a night vision; and Daniel blessed the God of heaven, and said,


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“May the name of God be blessed from everlasting to everlasting; for wisdom and understanding are His.


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And He changes times and seasons; He appoints kings, and removes <i>them</i>, giving wisdom to the wise, and prudence to them that have understanding.


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I give thanks to You, and praise <i>You</i>, O God of my fathers, for You have given me wisdom and power, and have made known to me the things which we asked of You; and You have made known to me the king's vision.”


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<n>Daniel Explains the Dream</n> And Daniel came to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon, and said to him; “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon, but bring me in before the king, and I will declare the interpretation to the king.”


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Then Arioch immediately brought Daniel in before the king, and said to him, “I have found a man of the children of the captivity of Judah who will declare the interpretation to the king.”


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And the king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Can you declare to me the dream which I saw, and its interpretation?”


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And Daniel answered before the king, and said, “The mystery of which the king asks is not <i>in the power</i> of the wise men, magicians, enchanters, <i>or</i> soothsayers to declare to the king.


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But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what things must come to pass in the last days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed are as follows:


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O king: your thoughts upon your bed arose <i>as to</i> what must come to pass hereafter: and He that reveals mysteries has made known to you what must come to pass.


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Moreover, this mystery has not been revealed to me by reason of wisdom which is in me beyond all <i>others</i> living, but for the sake of making known the interpretation to the king, that you might know the thoughts of your heart.


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“You, O king, were watching; and behold, an image. And the image was great, and its appearance <i>was </i>excellent, standing before your face; and its form was awesome.


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<i>It was</i> an image, the head of which was of fine gold, its hands and breast and arms of silver, <i>its</i> belly and thighs of brass,


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You saw until a stone was cut out of a mountain without hands, and it struck the image upon its feet of iron and clay, and utterly reduced them to powder.


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Then once for all the clay, the iron, the brass, the silver, and the gold were ground into powder, and became as chaff from the summer threshing floor. And the violence of the wind carried them away, and no place was found for them. And the stone which had struck the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.


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You, O king, are a king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given a powerful and strong and honorable kingdom,


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in every place where the children of men dwell: and He has given into your hand the wild beasts of the field, and the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea, and He has made you ruler over them all.


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You are this head of gold. And after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours, and a third kingdom which is the brass, which shall have dominion over all the earth;


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and a fourth kingdom, which shall be strong as iron; as iron beats to powder and subdues all things, so shall it beat to powder and subdue.


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And whereas you saw the feet and the toes, partly of clay, and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet there shall be in it of the strength of iron, as you saw the iron mixed with the clay.


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And <i>whereas</i> the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, part of the kingdom shall be strong, and <i>part</i> of it shall be broken.


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Whereas you saw the iron mixed with the clay, they shall be mingled with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave together, as the iron does not mix itself with clay.


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And in the days of those kings the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and His kingdom shall not be left to another people, <i>but</i> it shall beat to pieces and grind to powder all <i>other</i> kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.


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Whereas you saw that a stone was cut out of a mountain without hands, and it beat to pieces the clay, the iron, the brass, the silver, and the gold; the great God has made known to the king what must happen hereafter: and the dream is true, and its interpretation is sure.”


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<n>Daniel and His Friends Promoted</n> Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and gave orders to offer to him gifts and incense.


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And the king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly your God is a God of gods, and Lord of kings, who reveals mysteries; for you have been able to reveal this mystery.”


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And the king promoted Daniel, and gave him great and abundant gifts, and set him over the whole province of Babylon, and <i>made him</i> chief satrap over all the wise men of Babylon.


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And Daniel asked of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel was in the king's palace.


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<n>The Image of Gold</n> In the eighteenth year Nebuchadnezzar the king made a golden image, its height was sixty cubits, <i>and </i>its breadth <i>was </i>six cubits. And he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.


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And he sent forth to gather the governors, and the captains, and the heads of provinces, chiefs, and princes, and those who were in authority, and all the rulers of districts, to come to the dedication of the image.


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So the heads of provinces, the governors, the captains, the chiefs, the great princes, those who were in authority, and all the rulers of districts, were gathered to the dedication of the image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image.


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at what hour you shall hear the sound of the trumpet, pipe, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and every kind of music, you shall fall down and worship the golden image which King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.


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And whosoever shall not fall down and worship, in the same hour he shall be cast into the burning fiery furnace.”


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And it came to pass when the nations heard the sound of the trumpet, pipe, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the nations, tribes, and languages fell down and worshipped the golden image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.


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<n>Daniel’s Friends Disobey the King</n> Then <i>certain</i> Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews to the king, <i>saying</i>,


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You, O king, have made a decree that every man who shall hear the sound of the trumpet, pipe, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of music,


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There are <i>certain</i> Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon--Shadrach, Meshach, <i>and</i> Abed-Nego, who have not obeyed your decree, O king: they do not serve your gods, and they do not worship the golden image which you have set up.”


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Then Nebuchadnezzar, in wrath and anger, commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. And they were brought before the king.


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And Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, <i>and</i> Abed-Nego, that you do not serve my gods, and that you do not worship the golden image which I have set up?


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Now then, if you are ready, whenever you shall hear the sound of the trumpet, pipe, harp, sackbut, psaltery, harmony, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the golden image which I have made, <i>fine;</i> but if you will not worship, in the same hour you shall be cast into the burning fiery furnace; and who is the god that shall deliver you out of my hand?”


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Then Shadrach, Meshach <i>and</i> Abed-Nego answered and said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “We have no need to answer you concerning this matter.


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For our God whom we serve is in the heavens, <i>and He is </i>able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He shall rescue us from your hands, O king.


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But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we <i>will</i> not serve your gods, neither <i>will we </i>worship the image which you have set up.”


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<n>The Fiery Furnace</n> Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath, and the expression of his face was changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. And he gave orders to heat the furnace seven times <i>more than usual</i>, until it should burn to the uttermost.


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And he commanded mighty men to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and to cast <i>them</i> into the burning fiery furnace.


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Then those men were bound with their coats, caps, and trousers, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace,


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Then these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell bound into the midst of the burning furnace, and walked in the midst of the flame, singing praises to God, and blessing the Lord.


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Then Nebuchadnezzar heard them singing praises. And he wondered, and rose up in haste, and said to his nobles, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?” And they said to the king, “Yes, O king.”


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And the king said, “But I see four men loose, and walking in the midst of the fire, and there has no harm happened to them; and the appearance of the fourth is like the Son of God.”


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<n>Nebuchadnezzar Praises God</n> Then Nebuchadnezzar drew near to the door of the burning fiery furnace, and said, “Shadrach, Meshach, <i>and</i> Abed-Nego, you servants of the Most High God, proceed forth, and come here.” So Shadrach, Meshach, <i>and</i> Abed-Nego came forth out of the midst of the fire.


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Then were assembled the satraps, and captains, and heads of provinces, and the royal princes; and they saw the men, <i>and perceived</i> that the fire had not had power against their bodies, and the hair of their head was not burned, and their coats were not scorched, nor was the smell of fire upon them.


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And King Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, <i>and</i> Abed-Nego, who has sent His angel, and delivered His servants, because they trusted in Him; and they have changed the king's word, and delivered their bodies to be burned, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.


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Therefore I publish a decree: Every people, tribe, <i>or</i> language that shall speak reproachfully against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, <i>and</i> Abed-Nego shall be destroyed, and their houses shall be plundered, because there is no other God who shall be able to deliver thus.”


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Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, <i>and</i> Abed-Nego, in the province of Babylon, and advanced them, and gave them authority to rule over all the Jews who were in his kingdom.


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<n>Nebchadnezzar’s Second Dream</n> King Nebuchadnezzar, to all nations, tribes, and tongues that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you.


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It seemed good to me to declare to you the signs and wonders which the Most High God has worked for me,


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how great and mighty <i>they are</i>; His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His power to all generations.


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I saw a vision and it terrified me, and I was troubled on my bed, and the visions of my head troubled me.


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And I made a decree to bring in before me all the wise men of Babylon, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream.


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So the enchanters, magicians, soothsayers, <i>and</i> Chaldeans came in, and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known to me its interpretation;


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until Daniel came, whose name is Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, who has within him the Holy Spirit of God, to whom I said,


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“O Belteshazzar, chief of the enchanters, of whom I know that the Holy Spirit of God is in you, and no mystery is too hard for you, hear the vision of my dream which I had, and tell me the interpretation of it.


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The tree grew large and strong, and its height reached to the sky, and its extent to the extremity of the whole earth;


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its leaves were fair, and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all; and under it the wild beasts of the field took shelter, and the birds of the sky lodged in the branches of it, and all flesh was fed by it.


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“I beheld in the night vision upon my bed, and behold, a watcher and a holy one came down from heaven and cried aloud, and thus he said,


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‘Cut down the tree, and pluck off its branches, and shake off its leaves, and scatter its fruit—let the wild beasts be removed from under it, and the birds from its branches.


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Only leave the stump of its roots in the earth, and <i>bind it</i> with an iron and brass band; and it shall lie in the outer grass, and in the dew of heaven, and its portion <i>shall be</i> with the wild beasts in the grass of the field.


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His heart shall be changed from that of a man, and the heart of a wild beast shall be given to him; and seven times shall pass over him.


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This decision is by the decree of the watcher, and the demand is a word of the holy ones; that the living may known that the Lord is Most High <i>over</i> the kingdom of men, and He will give it to whomever He will, and sets it over the lowest of men.’


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This is the vision which I, King Nebuchadnezzar saw. Now you, Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation, for none of the wise men of my kingdom are able to show me its interpretation—but you, Daniel, are able, for the Holy Spirit of God is in you.”


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<n>Daniel Explains the Second Dream</n> Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was amazed about one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. And Belteshazzar answered and said, “<i>My</i> lord, let the dream concern those that hate you, and the interpretation of it to your enemies.


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The tree which you saw, which grew large and strong, whose height reached to the heavens, and its extent to all <i>parts of </i>the earth,


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and whose leaves were flourishing, and its fruit abundant, (and it was food for all; under it the wild beasts lodged, and the birds of the sky took shelter in its branches)


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is you, O king; for you have grown great and powerful, and your greatness has increased and reached to the heavens, and your dominion to the ends of the earth.


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“And whereas the king saw a watcher and a holy one coming down from heaven, and he said, ‘Strip the tree, and destroy it; only leave the stump of its roots in the ground, and <i>bind it</i> with a band of iron and brass; and it shall lie in the outer grass, and in the dew of heaven, and its portion shall be with wild beasts, until seven times have passed over it.’


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This is the interpretation of it, O king, and it is a decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king:


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and they shall drive you forth from men, and your dwelling shall be with the wild beasts, and they shall feed you with grass like an ox, and you shall have your lodging under the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High is Lord of the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.


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“And whereas they said, ‘Leave the stumps of the roots of the tree’; your kingdom shall be <i>assured</i> to you, from the time that you realize the power of the heavens.


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Therefore, O king, let my counsel please you, and atone for your sins by alms, and <i>your</i> iniquities by compassion on the poor; <i>perhaps</i> God will be longsuffering toward your trespasses.”


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the king spoke, saying, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for a royal residence, by the might of my power, for the honor of my glory?”


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While the word was yet in the king's mouth, there came a voice from heaven, <i>saying</i>, “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken, ‘The kingdom has departed from you.’


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And they <i>shall</i> drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the wild beasts of the field, and they shall feed you with grass like an ox. And seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High is Lord of the kingdom of men, and He shall give it to whomever He chooses.”


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In the same hour the word was fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar. And he was driven forth from men, and he ate grass like an ox, and his body was bathed with the dew of heaven, until his hair had grown like the <i>hair </i>of a lion, and his nails as birds' <i>claws</i>.


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<n>Nebuchadnezzar Praises God</n> And at the end of the time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised Him that lives forever, and gave <i>Him</i> glory; for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom <i>endures</i> to all generations.


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All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and He does according to His will in the host of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and there is none who shall withstand His power, and say to Him, “What have You done?”


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At the same time my reason returned to me, and I came to the honor of my kingdom; and my <i>natural</i> form returned to me, and my princes and my nobles sought me, and I was established in my kingdom, and more abundant majesty was added to me.


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Now therefore, I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and greatly exalt and glorify the King of heaven; for all His works are true, and His paths are judgment: and all that walk in pride He is able to abase.


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<n>Belshazzar’s Feast</n> Belshazzar the king made a great feast for his thousand nobles, and <i>there was</i> wine before the thousand.


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And Belshazzar, drinking, gave orders as he tasted the wine, that they should bring the gold and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had brought forth from the temple in Jerusalem; that the king, and his nobles, and his mistresses, and his concubines, should drink out of them.


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So the gold and silver vessels were brought which <i>Nebuchadnezzar</i> had taken out of the temple of God in Jerusalem; and the king, and his nobles, and his mistresses, and his concubines drank out of them.


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They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of iron, and of wood, and of stone.


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<n>The Writing on the Wall</n> In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote in front of the lamp on the plaster of the wall of the king's house. And the king saw the knuckles of the hand that wrote.


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Then the king's countenance changed, and his thoughts troubled him, and the joints of his hips were loosed, and his knees knocked one another.


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And the king cried aloud to bring in the magicians, Chaldeans, <i>and</i> soothsayers. And he said to the wise men of Babylon, “Whosoever shall read this writing, and make known to me the interpretation, shall be clothed with scarlet, and <i>there shall be</i> a golden chain upon his neck, and he shall be the third ruler in my kingdom.”


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Then all the king's wise men came in, but they could not read the writing, nor make known its interpretation to the king.


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And King Belshazzar was troubled, and his countenance changed upon him, and his nobles were troubled with him.


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Then the queen came into the banquet house, and said, “O king, live forever. Let not your thoughts trouble you, and let not your countenance be changed.


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There is a man in your kingdom, in whom is the Spirit of God; and in the days of your father watchfulness and understanding were found in him; and King Nebuchadnezzar your father made him chief of the enchanters, magicians, Chaldeans, <i>and</i> soothsayers.


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For <i>there is</i> an excellent spirit in him, and sense and understanding <i>is </i>in him, interpreting dreams <i>as he does</i>, and answering hard <i>questions,</i> and solving riddles. <i>It is</i> Daniel, and the king gave him the name of Belteshazzar. Now then let him be called, and he shall tell you the interpretation of the writing.”


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<n>The Writing on the Wall Explained</n> Then Daniel was brought in before the king, and the king said to Daniel, “Are you Daniel, of the children of the captivity of Judah, which my father the king brought <i>from Judah</i>?


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I have heard about you, that the Spirit of God is in you, and <i>that</i> watchfulness and understanding and excellent wisdom have been found in you.


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And now, the wise men, magicians, <i>and</i> soothsayers have come in before me, to read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation, but they could not tell it to me.


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And I have heard about you, that you are able to make <i>known</i> interpretations. Now then, if you are able to read the writing, and to make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple, and there shall be a golden chain upon your neck, and you shall be third ruler in my kingdom.”


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And Daniel said before the king, “Let your gifts be to yourself, and give the presents of your house to another; but I will read the writing, and will make known to you its interpretation.


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O king, the Most High God gave to your father Nebuchadnezzar a kingdom, and majesty, and honor, and glory.


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And by reason of the majesty which He gave to him, all nations, tribes, <i>and</i> languages trembled and feared before him. Whomever he wished, he executed; whomever he wished, he exalted; and whomever he wished, he abased.


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But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was emboldened to act proudly, he was deposed from his royal throne, and <i>his</i> honor was taken from him.


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And he was driven forth from men. And a heart was given to him after the nature of wild beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. And they fed him with grass like an ox, and his body was bathed with the dew of heaven, until he knew that the Most High God is Lord of the kingdom of men, and will give it to whomever He chooses.


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And you accordingly, his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart before God: do you not know all this?


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And you have exalted yourself against the Lord God of heaven; and they have brought before you the vessels of His house, and you, your nobles, your mistresses, and your concubines have drunk wine out of them; and you have praised the gods of gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor know: and the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified.


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Therefore from His presence has been sent forth the finger of a hand, and He has ordered the writing.


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Then Belshazzar commanded, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put the golden chain about his neck, and proclaimed concerning him that he was the third ruler in the kingdom.


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<n>The Plot Against Daniel</n> And it pleased Darius, and he set over the kingdom a hundred and twenty satraps, to be in all his kingdom;


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and over them three governors (of whom one was Daniel) for the satraps to give account to them, that the king should not be troubled.


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And Daniel was over them, for <i>there was</i> an excellent spirit in him; and the king set him over all his kingdom.


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Then the governors and satraps sought to find occasion against Daniel; but they found against him no occasion, nor trespass, nor error, because he was faithful.


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And the governors said, “We shall not find occasion against Daniel, except in the ordinances of his God.”


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All who preside over your kingdom, captains and satraps, chiefs and local governors, have taken counsel together, to establish by a royal statute, and to confirm a decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, except for you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions.


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Now then, O king, establish the decree, and publish a writ, that the decree of the Persians and Medes may not be changed.”


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<n>Daniel in the Lion’s Den</n> And when Daniel knew that the decree was ordered, he went into his house. And his windows were opened in his chambers toward Jerusalem, and three times in the day he knelt upon his knees, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he did before.


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And they came and said to the king, “O king, have you not made a decree, that if any man shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, except for you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” And the king said, “The word is true, and the decree of the Medes and Persians shall not pass.”


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Then they answered and said before the king, “Daniel of the sons of the captivity of Judah, has not submitted to your decree; and three times in the day he makes his requests of his God.”


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Then the king, when he heard these words, was greatly grieved for Daniel, and he set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he exerted himself till evening to deliver him.


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Then those men said to the king, “Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is that we must not change any decree or statute which the king shall make.”


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Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. But the king said to Daniel, “Your God, whom you serve continually, He shall deliver you.”


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And they brought a stone, and put it on the mouth of the den; and the king sealed <i>it</i> with his ring, and with the ring of his nobles; that the case might not be altered with regard to Daniel.


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<n>Daniel Saved from the Lions</n> And the king departed to his house, and lay down fasting, and they brought him no food; and his sleep departed from him. But God shut the mouths of the lions, and they did not molest Daniel.


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And when he drew near to the den, he cried out with a loud voice <i>and said</i>, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lion's mouth?”


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My God has sent His angel, and stopped the lions' mouths, and they have not hurt me: for uprightness was found in me before Him; and moreover before you, O king, I have committed no trespass.”


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Then the king was very glad for him, and he commanded to bring Daniel out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no injury was found on him, because he believed in his God.


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<n>Darius Honors God</n> And the king commanded, and they brought the men that had accused Daniel, and they were cast into the den of lions, they, their children, and their wives. And they did not reach the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them, and utterly broke to pieces all their bones.


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Then King Darius wrote to all nations, tribes, <i>and</i> languages, who dwell in all the earth, <i>saying,</i> “Peace be multiplied to you.


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This decree has been set forth by me in every dominion of my kingdom, that <i>men must</i> tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; for He is the living and eternal God, and His kingdom shall not be destroyed, and His dominion is forever.


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He helps and delivers, and works signs and wonders in the heaven and on the earth, who has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”


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<n>Vision of the Four Beasts</n> In the first year of Belteshazzar, king of the Chaldeans Daniel had a dream, and visions of his head upon his bed: and he wrote down the dream.


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The first <i>was</i> as a lioness, and her wings as an eagle's; I beheld until her wings were plucked, and she was lifted off from the earth, and she stood on human feet, and a man's heart was given to her.


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And behold, the second beast was like a bear, and it supported itself on one side, and there were three ribs in its mouth, between its teeth. And thus they said to it, “Arise, devour much flesh.”


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After this one I looked, and behold, another wild beast as a leopard, and it had four wings of a bird upon it. And the wild beast had four heads, and power was given to it.


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After this one I looked, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and exceedingly strong, and its teeth were of iron; devouring and crushing to atoms, and it trampled the remainder with its feet. And it was altogether different from the beasts that were before it; and it <i>had</i> ten horns.


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I noticed his horns, and behold, another one came up in the midst of them, a little horn, and before it three of the former horns were rooted out. And behold, <i>there were</i> eyes as the eyes of a man in this horn, and a mouth speaking great things.


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<n>Vision of the Ancient of Days</n> I beheld until the thrones were set, and the Ancient of Days sat; and His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was as pure wool; His throne was a flame of fire, <i>and</i> His wheels burning fire.


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A stream of fire rushed forth before Him. Thousands <i>upon </i>thousands ministered to Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand attended to Him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.


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I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which that horn spoke, until the wild beast was slain and destroyed, and his body given to be burned with fire.


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And the dominion of the rest of the wild beasts was taken away; but a prolonging of life was given to them for an appointed time.


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I beheld in the night vision, and behold, <i>One </i>like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven, and He came to the Ancient of Days, and was brought near to Him.


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And to Him was given the dominion, and the honor, and the kingdom; and all nations, tribes, and languages, shall serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom shall not be destroyed.


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<n>Daniel’s Visions Interpreted</n> <i>As for</i> me, Daniel, my spirit in my body trembled, and the visions of my head troubled me.


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And I drew near to one of them that stood by, and I sought to learn from him the truth of all these things. And he told me the truth, and made known to me the interpretation of the things.


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which shall be taken away; and the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess it forever and ever.”


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Then I inquired carefully concerning the fourth beast; for it was different from the other beasts, exceedingly dreadful. Its teeth were of iron, and its claws of brass, devouring, and utterly breaking to pieces, and it trampled the remainder with its feet.


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And concerning its ten horns that were on its head, and the other that came up, and rooted up <i>some</i> of the former <i>ones</i>, which had eyes, and a mouth speaking great things, and his appearance was greater than the others.


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until the Ancient of Days came, and He gave judgment to the saints of the Most High; and the time was fulfilled, and the saints possessed the kingdom.


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And he said, “The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom on the earth, which shall excel <i>beyond</i> all <i>other</i> kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and trample and destroy it.


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And his ten horns are ten kings <i>that</i> shall arise: and after them shall arise another, who shall exceed all the former ones in wickedness and he shall subdue three kings.


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And he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change times and law. And <i>power</i> shall be given into his hand for a time, times and half a time.


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“But the court shall be seated, and they shall remove <i>his</i> dominion to abolish it, and to destroy it utterly.


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And the kingdom and the power and the greatness of the kings that are under the whole heaven were given to the saints of the Most High; and His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all powers shall serve and obey Him.”


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This is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly troubled me, and my countenance was changed: but I kept the matter in my heart.


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<n>Vision of a Ram and a Goat</n> In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar, a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after that which appeared to me at the first.


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And I was in Susa the palace, which is in the land of Elam, and I was on the <i>bank of the </i>Ulai.


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And I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, a ram standing in front of the Ulai; and he had two horns; and one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last.


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And I saw the ram butting westward, northward, and southward; and no beast could stand before him, and there was none that could deliver out of his hand; and he did according to his will, and became great.


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And as I was considering <i>the ram</i>, behold, a male goat came from the southwest on the face of the whole earth, and he did not touch the earth. And the goat <i>had</i> a horn between his eyes.


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And he came to the ram that had the <i>two </i>horns, which I had seen standing in front of the Ulai, and he ran at him with the violence of his strength.


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And I saw him coming up close to the ram, and he was exceedingly enraged against him, and he attacked the ram, and broke both his horns: and there was no strength in the ram to withstand him, but he cast him on the ground, and trampled on him; and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.


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And the male goat grew exceedingly great. And when he was strong, his great horn was broken; and four other <i>horns</i> rose up in its place toward the four winds of heaven.


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And out of one of them came forth one strong horn, and it grew very great toward the south, and toward the host.


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And it magnified itself to the host of heaven; and there fell to the earth <i>some</i> of the host of heaven and of the stars, and they trampled on them.


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And <i>this shall be</i> until the Chief Captain has delivered the captivity: and by reason of <i>the horn</i> the sacrifice was disturbed, and he prospered; and the holy place shall be made desolate.


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And a sin offering was given for the sacrifice, and righteousness was cast down to the ground; and he did all this, and prospered.


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And I heard one saint speaking, and a saint said to a certain one speaking, “How long shall the vision continue, <i>even</i> the removal of the sacrifice, and the bringing in of the sin of desolation; and <i>how long</i> shall the sanctuary and host be trampled?”


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And he said to him, “Evening and morning <i>there shall be</i> two thousand three hundred days; and <i>then</i> the sanctuary shall be cleansed.”


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<n>Gabriel Interprets the Vision</n> And it came to pass, as I, Daniel, saw the vision, and sought to understand it, that behold, there stood before me <i>one</i> having the appearance of a man.


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And I heard the voice of a man between <i>the banks of</i> the Ulai; and he called, and said, “Gabriel, cause this man to understand the vision.”


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And he came and stood near where I stood. And when he came, I was struck with awe, and fell upon my face. But he said to me, “Understand, son of man, for the vision is yet for an appointed time.”


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And while he spoke with me, I fell upon my face to the earth. And he touched me, and set me on my feet.


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And he said, “Behold, I will make known to you the things that shall come to pass at the end of the wrath: for the vision <i>is</i> yet for an appointed time.


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The male goat is the king of the Greeks: and the great horn which was between his eyes, he is the first king.


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And <i>as for</i> the one that was broken, in whose place there stood up four horns, four kings shall arise out of his nation, but not in their <i>own</i> strength.


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<n>The King of Fierce Countenance</n> “And at the latter time of their kingdom, when their sins are coming to the full, a king of fierce countenance shall arise, who understands riddles;


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and his power <i>shall be</i> great, and he shall destroy fearfully, and shall prosper and thrive, and shall destroy <i>the </i>mighty men, and the holy people.


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And the yoke of his chain shall prosper: <i>there is</i> underhanded treachery in his hand, and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by deceit he shall destroy many, and shall stand up for the destruction of many, and shall crush them like eggs in his hand.


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And the vision of the evening and morning that was mentioned is true: seal up the vision; for <i>it is</i> for many days.”


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And I, Daniel, fell asleep, and was sick. Then I arose, and did the king's business; and I was astonished by the vision, and there was none that understood <i>it</i>.


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<n>Daniel’s Prayer for the People</n> In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who reigned over the kingdom of the Chaldeans,


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I, Daniel understood by the books the number of years which was the word of the Lord to the prophet Jeremiah, <i>the</i> seventy years for the accomplishment of the desolation of Jerusalem.


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And I set my face toward the Lord God, to seek <i>Him</i> diligently by prayer and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth.


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And I prayed to the Lord my God, and confessed, and said, “O Lord, the great and wonderful God, keeping Your covenant and Your mercy to them that love You, and to them that keep Your commandments; we have sinned;


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we have committed iniquity, we have transgressed, and we have departed and turned aside from Your commandments and from Your judgments.


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We have not obeyed Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, and our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.


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To you, O Lord, <i>belongs</i> righteousness, and to us confusion of face, as it is this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, to them that are near, and to them that are far off in all the earth, wherever You have scattered them, for the sin which they have committed.


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In you, O Lord, is our righteousness, and to us <i>belongs</i> confusion of face, and to our kings, and to our princes, and to our fathers, forasmuch as we have sinned.


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To you, O Lord our God, <i>belong</i> compassion and forgiveness, whereas we have departed <i>from You.</i>


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Neither have we heeded the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by the hands of His servants the prophets.


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Moreover, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and have refused to heed Your voice; so the curse has come upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against Him.


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And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us, and against our judges who judged us, <i>by</i> bringing upon us great evils, such as have not happened under the whole heaven, according to what has happened in Jerusalem.


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As it is written in the Law of Moses, all these evils have come upon us: yet we have not sought after the Lord our God, that we might turn away from our iniquities, and have understanding in all Your truth.


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The Lord also has watched, and brought these evils upon us: for the Lord our God is righteous in all His work which He has executed, but we have not heeded His voice.


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And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made to Yourself a name, as <i>it is</i> this day; we have sinned, we have transgressed.


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“O Lord, Your mercy is over all: let Your wrath turn away, I pray, and Your anger from Your city Jerusalem, <i>even</i> Your holy mountain; for we have sinned, and because of our iniquities, and those of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach among all that are round about us.


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And now, O lord our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and cause Your face to shine on Your desolate sanctuary, for Your <i>name’s</i> sake, O Lord.


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Incline Your ear, O my God, and hear; open Your eyes and behold our desolation, and that of the city which is called by Your name; for we do not bring our pitiful case before You on <i>the grounds of</i> our righteousness, but <i>because of</i> Your manifold compassions, O Lord.


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O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, attend! Do not delay, O my God, for Your own sake; for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”


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<n>The Seventy Weeks Prophecy</n> And while I was yet speaking, and praying, and confessing my sins and the sins of my people Israel, and bringing my pitiful case before the Lord my God concerning the holy mountain;


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yes, while I was yet speaking in prayer, behold the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, <i>came</i> flying, and he touched me about the hour of the evening sacrifice.


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And he instructed me, and spoke with me, and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to impart to you understanding.


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At the beginning of your supplication the word came forth, and I have come to tell you; for you are a man greatly beloved. Therefore consider the matter, <i>and </i>understand the vision:


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“Seventy weeks have been determined upon your people, and upon the holy city, for sin to be ended, to seal up transgressions, to blot out iniquities, to make atonement for iniquities, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.


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And you shall know and understand, that from the going forth of the command for the answer and for the building of Jerusalem, until Christ the Prince, <i>there shall be</i> seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks; and then <i>the time</i> shall return, and the street shall be built, and the wall, and the times shall be exhausted.


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And after the sixty-two weeks, the Anointed One shall be killed, and there is no judgment in Him. And He shall destroy the city and the sanctuary with the prince that is to come. They shall be cut off with a flood, and to the end of the war which is rapidly completed He shall appoint <i>the city</i> to desolations.


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And one week shall establish the covenant with many. And in the midst of the week my sacrifice and drink offering shall be taken away: and on the temple <i>shall be</i> the abomination of desolations; and at the end of the time an end shall be put to the desolation.”


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<n>Vision of the Glorious Man</n> In the third year of Cyrus king of the Persians a thing was revealed to Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, and great power and understanding in the vision was given to him.


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I ate no pleasant bread, and no flesh or wine entered into my mouth, neither did I anoint myself with oil, until three whole weeks were accomplished.


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And I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen, and his waist was girded with gold of Ophaz.


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And his body was like beryl, and his face was as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his legs as the appearance of shining brass, and the voice of his words as the voice of a multitude.


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And I, Daniel alone saw the vision: and the men that were with me did not see the vision; but a great amazement fell upon them, and they fled in fear.


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So I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there was no strength left in me, and my glory was turned into corruption, and I retained no strength.


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Yet I heard the voice of his words; and when I heard him I was cut <i>to the heart</i>, and <i>I fell with</i> my face to the earth.


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<n>Prophecies Concerning Persia and Greece</n> And behold, a hand touched me, and it raised me on my knees.


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And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words which I speak to you, and stand upright, for I am now sent to you.” And when he had spoken to me this word, I stood trembling.


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And he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel: for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to afflict yourself before the Lord your God, your words were heard, and I have come because of your words.


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But the prince of the kingdom of the Persians withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the princes, came to help me; and I left him there with the prince of the kingdom of the Persians.


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And I have come to inform you of all that shall befall your people in the last days, for the vision <i>refers</i> to <i>many </i>days yet <i>to come</i>.”


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And when he had spoken with me according to these words, I turned my face to the ground, and was cut <i>to the heart</i>.


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And behold, as it were the likeness of a son of man touched my lips; and I opened my mouth, and spoke, and said to him that stood before me, “O <i>my</i> lord, at the sight of you my insides were turned within me, and I had no strength.


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And how shall your servant be able, O <i>my</i> lord, to speak with this my lord? And as for me, from now on strength will not remain in me, and there is no breath left in me.”


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and said to me, “Do not fear, man greatly beloved: peace be to you, gird yourself like a man, and be strong.” And when he had spoken with me, I received strength, and said, “Let my lord speak; for you have strengthened me.”


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And he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? And now I will return to fight with the prince of the Persians: and I was going in, and the prince of the Greeks came.


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But I will tell you that which is ordained in the Scripture of Truth; and there is no one that holds with me in these matters but Michael your prince.”


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And now I will tell you the truth. Behold, there shall yet rise up three kings in Persia: and the fourth shall be far more richer than all. And after that he is master of his wealth, he shall rise up against all the kingdoms of the Greeks.


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And there shall rise up a mighty king, and he shall be lord of a great empire, and shall do according to his will.


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And when his kingdom shall stand up, it shall be broken, and shall be divided to the four winds of heaven; but not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled over; for his kingdom shall be plucked up, and <i>given</i> to others beside these.


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<n>Warring Kings of North and South</n> “And the king of the south shall be strong; and one of their princes shall prevail against him, and shall obtain a great dominion.


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And after his years they shall associate; and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north, to make agreements with him, but she shall not retain power of arm; neither shall his descendants stand: and she shall be delivered up, and they that brought her, and the maiden, and he that strengthened her in these times.


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<i>But</i> out of the flower of her root there shall arise <i>one in</i> his place, and shall come against the host, and shall enter into the strongholds of the king of the north, and shall fight against them, and prevail.


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Yea, he shall carry with a body of captives into Egypt their gods with their molten <i>images, and</i> all their precious vessels of silver and gold; and he shall last longer than the king of the north.


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And his sons shall gather a multitude among many. And one shall certainly come, and overflow, and pass through, and he shall rest, and collect his strength.


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“And the king of the south shall be greatly enraged, and shall come forth, and shall war with the king of the north, and he shall raise a great multitude; but the multitude shall be delivered into his hand.


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And he shall take the multitude, and his heart shall be exalted; and he shall cast down many thousands; but he shall not prevail.


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For the king of the north shall return, and bring a multitude greater than the former, and at the end of the times of years an invading army shall come with a great force, and with much substance.


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“And in those times many shall rise up against the king of the south; and the children of the spoilers of your people shall exalt themselves to establish the vision; and they shall fail.


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And the king of the north shall come in, and cast up a mound, and take strong cities; and the arms of the king of the south shall withstand, and his chosen ones shall rise up, but there shall be no strength to stand.


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And he that comes in against him shall do according to his will, and there is no one to stand before him; and he shall stand in the land of beauty, and it shall be consumed by his hand.


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And he shall set his face to come in with the force of his whole kingdom, and shall cause everything to prosper with him, and he shall give him the daughter of women to corrupt her, but she shall not continue, neither be on his side.


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And he shall turn his face to the islands, and shall take many, and cause princes to cease from their reproach: nevertheless his own reproach shall return to him.


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Then he shall turn back his face to the strength of his own land, but he shall become weak, and fall, and not be found.


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“And there shall arise out of his root one that shall cause a plant of the kingdom to pass over his place, earning kingly glory, and yet in those days shall he be broken, yet not openly, nor in war.


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<i>One</i> shall stand on his place, <i>who</i> has been set at nought, and they have not put upon him the honor of the kingdom: but he shall come in prosperously, and obtain the kingdom by deceitful ways.


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And the arms of him that overflows shall be washed away as with a flood from before him, and shall be broken, and <i>so shall be</i> the head of the covenant.


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And because of the leagues made with him he shall work deceit; and he shall come up, and overpower them with a small nation.


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And he shall enter with prosperity, and <i>that</i> into fertile districts; and he shall do what his fathers and his fathers' fathers have not done; he shall scatter among them plunder, and spoils, and wealth; and he shall devise plans against Egypt, even for a time.


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And his strength and his heart shall be stirred up against the king of the south with a great force; and the king of the south shall engage in war with a great and very strong force; but <i>his forces</i> shall not stand, for they shall devise plans against him.


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And they shall eat his provisions, and shall crush him, and he shall carry away armies as with a flood, and many shall fall down slain.


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And <i>as for</i> both the kings, their hearts <i>are set</i> upon evil, and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper; for yet the end is for a <i>fixed</i> time.


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And he shall return to his land with much substance; and his heart <i>shall be</i> against the holy covenant; and he shall perform <i>great deeds</i>, and return to his own land.


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<n>The Northern King’s Blasphemies</n> “At the <i>set</i> time he shall return, and shall come into the south, but the last <i>expedition</i> shall <i>not</i> be as the first.


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For the Cyprians issuing forth shall come against him, and he shall be brought low, and shall return, and shall be incensed against the holy covenant: and he shall do <i>thus</i>, and shall return, and have intelligence with them that have forsaken the holy covenant.


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And seeds shall spring up out of him, and they shall profane the sanctuary of strength, and they shall remove the perpetual <i>sacrifice</i>, and make the abomination of desolation.


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And the transgressors shall bring about a covenant by deceitful ways; but a people knowing their God shall prevail, and do <i>valiantly.</i>


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And the intelligent of the people shall understand much; yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, and by captivity, and by the spoil of <i>many</i> days.


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And when they are weak they shall be helped with a little help, but many shall attach themselves to them with treachery.


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And <i>some</i> of them that understand shall fall, to try them as with fire, and to test <i>them</i>, and that they may be manifested at the time of the end, for the matter <i>is</i> yet for an <i>appointed</i> time.


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“And he shall do according to his will, and the king shall exalt and magnify himself against every god, and shall speak great swelling words, and shall prosper until the indignation shall be accomplished; for it is coming to an end.


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And he shall not regard any gods of his fathers, nor the desire of women, neither shall he regard any deity: for he shall magnify himself above all.


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And he shall honor the god of fortresses in his place: and a god whom his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold, and silver, and precious stones, and desirable things.


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And he shall do <i>thus</i> in the strong places of refuge with a strange god, and shall increase his glory; and he shall subject many to them, and shall distribute the land in gifts.


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<n>The Northern King’s Conquests</n> “And at the end of the time he shall conflict with the king of the south. And the king of the north shall come against him with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and they shall enter into the land, and he shall break in pieces, and pass on.


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And he shall enter into the land of beauty, and many shall fail. But these shall escape out of his hand, Edom, Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.


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And he shall have the mastery over the secret <i>treasures</i> of gold and silver, and over all the desirable <i>possessions</i> of Egypt, and of the Libyans and Ethiopians in their strongholds.


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But rumors and anxieties out of the east and from the north shall trouble him; and he shall come with great wrath to destroy many.


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And he shall pitch the tabernacle of his palace between the seas in the holy mountain of beauty; <i>but</i> he shall come to his portion, and there is none to deliver him.”


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<n>Prophecy of the End Time</n> “And at that time Michael the great prince shall stand up, that stands over the children of your people, and there shall be a time of tribulation, such tribulation as has not been from the time that there was a nation on the earth until that time. At that time your people shall be delivered, everyone that is written in the book.


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And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to reproach and everlasting shame.


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And the wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and the many righteous as the stars forever and ever.


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And you, Daniel, close the words, and seal the book to the time of the end; until many are taught, and knowledge is increased.”


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And I Daniel, saw, and behold, two others stood, on one side of the bank of the river, and the other on the other side of the bank of the river.


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And <i>one</i> said to the man clothed in linen, who was over the water of the river, “When <i>will be</i> the end of the wonders which you have mentioned?”


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And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was over the water of the river, and he lifted up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him that lives forever, that <i>it should be</i> for a time, times and half a time. When the dispersion is ended, they shall know all these things.


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And I heard, but I did not understand. And I said, “O Lord, what <i>will be</i> the end of these things?”


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Many must be tested, and thoroughly whitened, and tried with fire, and sanctified; but the transgressors shall transgress: and none of the transgressors shall understand, but the wise shall understand.


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And from the time of the removal of the perpetual sacrifice, when the abomination of desolation shall be set up, <i>there shall be</i> a thousand two hundred and ninety days.


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But you, go <i>your</i> way, and rest; for <i>there are</i> yet days and seasons to the fulfillment of the end; and you shall stand in your inheritance at the end of the days.”


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The word of the Lord which came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel.


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The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of fornication, and children of fornication: for the land will surely go a-whoring in departing from the Lord.”


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And the Lord said to him, “Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little <i>while </i>and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel on the house of Judah, and will make to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.


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And she conceived again, and bore a daughter. And He said to him, “Call her name Unpitied: for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, but will surely set Myself in array against them.


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But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them with bow, nor with sword, nor by war, nor by horses, nor by horsemen.”


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And He said, “Call his name, Not my people; for you are not My people, and I am not your <i>God</i>.


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Yet the number of the children of Israel was as the sand of the sea, which shall not be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, <i>that</i> in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ even they shall be called the sons of the living God.


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And the children of Judah shall be gathered, and the children of Israel together, and shall appoint themselves one head, and shall come up out of the land: for great <i>shall be</i> the day of Jezreel.”


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<n>God’s Unfaithful People</n> “Plead with your mother; plead. For she is not My wife, and I am not her husband: and I will remove her fornication out of My presence, and her adultery from between her breasts;


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that I may strip her naked, and make her again as she was at the day of her birth; and I will make her desolate, and make her as a dry land, and will kill her with thirst.


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And their mother went a-whoring; she that bore them disgraced <i>them</i>, for she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, and my garments, and my linen clothes, my oil and my necessaries.’


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“Therefore, behold, I hedge up her way with thorns, and I will stop the ways, and she shall not find her path.


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And she shall follow after her lovers, and shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: and she shall say, ‘I will go, and return to my former husband; for it was better with me <i>before </i>than it is now.’


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And she did not know that I gave her her grain, and wine, and oil, and multiplied silver to her: but she made silver and gold <i>images</i> for Baal.


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“Therefore I will return, and take away My grain in its season, and My wine in its time; and I will take away My wool and My linen clothes, so that she shall not cover her nakedness.


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And now I will expose her uncleanness before her lovers, and no one shall by any means deliver her out of My hand.


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And I will take away all her gladness, her feasts, and her festivals at the new moon, and her Sabbaths, and all her solemn assemblies.


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And I will utterly destroy her vines, and her fig trees, all things of which she said, ‘These are my hire which my lovers have given me’; and I will make them a testimony, and the wild beasts of the field, and the birds of the sky, and the reptiles of the earth shall devour them.


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And I will recompense on her the days of Baalam, wherein she sacrificed to them, and put on her earrings, and her necklaces, and went after her lovers, and forgot Me,” says the Lord.


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<n>God’s Mercy on His People</n> “Therefore, behold, I <i>will</i> cause her to err, and will make her as desolate, and will speak comfortably to her.


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And I will giver her possessions from there, and the valley of Achor to open her understanding; and she shall be afflicted there according to the days of her infancy, and according to the days of her coming up out of the land of Egypt.


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And it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord, <i>that</i> she shall call Me, ‘My husband,’ and shall no longer call me ‘Baalam.’


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And I will take away the names of Baalam out of her mouth, and their names shall be remembered no more at all.


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And I will make for them in that day a covenant with the wild beasts of the field, and with the birds of the sky, and with the reptiles of the earth: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle from off the earth, and will cause you to dwell safely.


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And I will betroth you to Myself forever; yes, I will betroth you to Myself in righteousness, and in judgment, and in mercy, and in tender compassions;


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“And it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord, I will hearken to the heaven, and it shall hearken to the earth;


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and the earth shall hearken to the grain, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hearken to Jezreel.


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And I will sow her to Me on the earth; and will love her that was not loved, and will say to that which was not My people, ‘You are My people’; and they shall say, ‘You are the Lord my God.’”


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<n>Further Assurance of God’s Redeeming Love</n> And the Lord said to me, “Go yet, and love a woman that loves evil things, an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, and they have respect to strange gods, and love cakes of dried grapes.”


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So I hired <i>her</i> to myself for fifteen <i>pieces</i> of silver, and a homer of barley, and a flagon of wine.


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And I said to her, “You shall wait for me many days; and you shall not commit fornication, neither shall you be for <i>another</i> man; and I <i>will be</i> for you.”


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For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an altar, and without a priesthood, and without manifestations.


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And afterward shall the children of Israel return, and shall seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall be amazed at the Lord and at His goodness in the latter days.


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<n>God Accuses Israel</n> Hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel: for the Lord <i>has</i> a controversy with the inhabitants of the land: “There is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.


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Cursing, and lying, and murder, and theft, and adultery bound in the land, and they mingle blood with blood.


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Therefore shall the land mourn, and shall be diminished with all that dwell in it, with the wild beasts of the field, and the reptiles of the earth, and with the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea shall fail:


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that neither anyone may plead, nor any one reprove <i>another</i>; but My people are as a priest spoken against.


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Therefore they shall fall by day, and the prophet with you shall fall; I have compared your mother unto night.


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My people are as if they had no knowledge: because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you, that you shall not minister as priest unto Me: and <i>as</i> you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.


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And the priest shall be as the people: and I will avenge on them their ways, and I will recompense to them their counsels.


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And they shall eat, and shall not be satisfied: they have played the harlot, and shall by no means prosper: because they have stopped listening to the Lord.


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<n>The Idolatry of Israel</n> “The heart of My people has gladly engaged in fornication and wine and strong drink.


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They asked counsel by <i>means of</i> signs, and their staff informs them; they have gone astray in a spirit of harlotry, and have played the harlot and turned from their God.


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They have sacrificed on the tops of the mountains, and on the hills they have sacrificed under the oak and poplar, and under the shady tree, because the shade was good; therefore your daughters shall play the harlot, and your daughters-in-law shall commit adultery.


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And I will not visit upon your daughters when they shall commit fornication, nor your daughters-in-law when they shall commit adultery; for they themselves mingled themselves with harlots, and sacrificed with polluted ones, and the people that did not understand entangled themselves with a harlot.


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“But you, O Israel, do not be ignorant, and do not go to Gilgal, O <i>men of </i>Judah, and do not go up to the house of On, and do not swear by the living Lord.


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He has chosen the Canaanites: they have grievously played the harlot: they have loved dishonor through her insolence.


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<n>Impending Judgment on Israel and Judah</n> “Hear these things, you priests; and attend, O house of Israel; and give ear, O house of the king; for the controversy is with you, because you have been a snare in Mizpah, and as a net spread on Tabor,


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I know Ephraim, and Israel is not far from Me: for now Ephraim has played the harlot, Israel is defiled.


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They have not framed their counsels to return to their God, for the spirit of fornication is in them, and they have not known the Lord.


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And the pride of Israel shall be brought low before his face; and Israel and Ephraim shall fall in their iniquities; and Judah also shall fall with them.


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They shall go with sheep and calves diligently to seek the Lord; but they shall not find Him, for He has withdrawn Himself from them.


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For they have forsaken the Lord; for strange children have been born to them: now shall the cankerworm devour them and their heritage.


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“Blow the trumpet on the hills, sound aloud on the heights: proclaim in the house of On, ‘Benjamin is amazed.’


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Ephraim has come to nought in the days of reproof: in the tribes of Israel I have shown faithful <i>dealings</i>.


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The princes of Judah have become as those that removed the landmarks; I will pour out upon them My fury as water.


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Ephraim altogether prevailed against his adversary, he trod judgment under foot, for he began to go after vanities.


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And Ephraim saw his disease, and Judah his pain; then Ephraim went to the Assyrians, and sent ambassadors to King Jareb, but he could not heal you, and your pain shall by no means cease from you.


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For I am as a panther to Ephraim, and as a lion to the house of Judah. And I will tear, and go away; and I will take, and there shall be none to deliver.


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I will go and return to My place, until they are brought to nought, and <i>then</i> shall they seek My face.”


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<n>A Call to Repentance</n> “In their affliction they will seek Me early, saying, ‘Let us go, and return to the Lord our God; for He has torn, and will heal us; He will smite, and bind us up.


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After two days He will heal us: in the third day we shall arise, and live before Him, and shall know <i>Him.</i>


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Let us follow on to know the Lord: we shall find Him ready as the morning, and He will come to us as the early and latter rain to the earth.’


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“What shall I do to you, Ephraim? What shall I do to you, Judah? For your mercy is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew that goes away.


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Therefore have I mown down your prophets; I have slain them with the word of My mouth; and My judgment shall go forth as the light.


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And your strength <i>is that</i> of a robber: the priests have hid the way, they have murdered <i>the people of</i> Shechem; for they have wrought iniquity in the house of Israel.


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I have seen horrible <i>things</i> there, <i>even</i> the fornication of Ephraim. Israel and Judah are defiled;


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“When I have healed Israel, then shall the iniquity of Ephraim be revealed, and the wickedness of Samaria; for they have wrought falsehood. And a thief shall come in to him, <i>even</i> a robber spoiling in his way;


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that they may concert together as <i>men</i> singing in their heart. I remember all their wickedness; now have their own counsels compassed them about; they came before My face.


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“They are all adulterers, as an oven glowing with a flame for hot baking, on account of the kneading of the dough, until it is leavened.


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<i>In</i> the days of our kings, the princes began to be inflamed with wine. He stretched out his hand with pestilent fellows.


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Therefore their hearts are inflamed as an oven, while they rage all the night. Ephraim is satisfied with sleep; the morning has come; he is burnt up as a flame of fire.


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They are all heated like an oven, and have devoured their judges. All their kings are fallen; there was not one among them that called on Me.


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Strangers devoured his strength, but he did not know <i>it</i>; yes, gray hairs came upon him, yet he did not know <i>it</i>.


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And the pride of Israel shall be brought down before his face; yet they have not returned to the Lord their God, neither have they diligently sought Him for all this.


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<n>Futile Reliance on the Nations</n> “And Ephraim was as a silly dove, not having a heart: he called to Egypt, and they went to the Assyrians.


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Whenever they shall go, I will cast My net upon them; I will bring them down as the birds of the sky, I will chasten them with the rumor of their <i>coming</i> affliction.


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“Woe to them! For they have started aside from Me: they are cowards; for they have sinned against Me; yet I redeemed them, but they spoke falsehoods against Me.


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They turned aside to that which is not, they became as a bent bow. Their princes shall fall by the sword, by reason of the unbridled state of their tongue. This is their setting at nought in the land of Egypt.


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<n>Israel’s Apostasy</n> “<i>He shall come</i> into their midst as the land, as an eagle against the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed My covenant, and have sinned against My law.


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They have made kings for themselves, but not by Me: they have ruled, but they did not make it known to Me: <i>of</i> their silver and their gold they have made images to themselves, that they might be destroyed.


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Cast off your calf, O Samaria; My anger is kindled against them: how long will they be unable to purge themselves in Israel?


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“For they sowed blighted <i>seed</i>, and their destruction shall await them, a sheaf of corn that avails not to make meal; and even if it should produce it, strangers shall devour it.


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For they have gone up to the Assyrians; Ephraim has been strengthened against himself; they loved gifts.


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Therefore shall they be delivered to the nations. Now I will receive them, and they shall cease a little to anoint a king and princes.


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I will write down a multitude <i>of commands</i> for him; but his statutes are accounted strange things, <i>even</i> the beloved altars.


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For if they should offer a sacrifice, and eat flesh, the Lord will not accept them. Now will He remember their iniquities, and will take vengeance on their sins; they have returned to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things among the Assyrians.


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And Israel has forgotten Him that made him, and they have built palaces, and Judah has multiplied walled cities, but I will send fire on his cities, and it shall devour their foundations.”


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<n>Punishment for Israel’s Sin</n> Do not rejoice, O Israel, neither make merry, as <i>other</i> nations. For you have played the harlot against your God; you have loved gifts upon every threshing floor.


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They did not dwell in the Lord's land: Ephraim dwelt in Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things among the Assyrians.


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They have not offered wine to the Lord, neither have their sacrifices been sweet to Him, <i>but</i> as the bread of mourning to them; all that eat them shall be defiled; for their bread for their soul shall not enter into the house of the Lord.


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Therefore, behold, they go forth from the trouble of Egypt, and Memphis shall receive them, and Machmas shall bury them. <i>As for</i> their silver, destruction shall inherit it; thorns <i>shall be</i> in their tents.


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The days of vengeance have come, the days of your recompense have come; and Israel shall be afflicted as the prophet that is mad, as a man deranged. By reason of the multitude of your iniquities your madness has abounded.


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The watchman of Ephraim <i>was</i> with God. The prophet is a crooked snare in all his ways: they have established madness in the house of God.


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They have corrupted themselves according to the days of the hill. He will remember their iniquities, He will take vengeance on their sins.


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“I found Israel as grapes in the wilderness, and I saw their fathers as an early watchman in a fig tree. They went in to Baal Peor, and were shamefully estranged, and the abominable became as the beloved.


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Ephraim has flown away as a bird; their glories from the birth, and the travail, and the conception.


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For even if they should rear their children, yet shall they be utterly bereaved. Therefore also there is woe to them, <i>though</i> My flesh is of them.


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Ephraim, <i>even</i> as I saw, gave their children for a prey; yes, Ephraim <i>was ready</i> to bring out his children to slaughter.”


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“All their wickedness is in Gilgal. For there I hated them; because of the wickedness of their practices, I will cast them out of My house, I will not love them anymore; all their princes are disobedient.


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Ephraim is sick, he is dried up at his roots, he shall by no means bear fruit any longer. For even if they should beget <i>children</i>, I will kill the desired <i>fruit</i> of their womb.”


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God shall reject them, because they have not obeyed Him, and they shall be wanderers among the nations.


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<n>Israel’s Sin and Captivity</n> Israel is a vine with choice branches, her fruit is abundant: according to the multitude of her fruits she has multiplied <i>her</i> altars; according to the wealth of his land, he has set up pillars.


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They have divided their hearts; now shall they be utterly destroyed: he shall dig down their altars, their pillars shall mourn.


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And what should a king do for us, speaking false professions <i>as his</i> words? He will make a covenant: judgment shall spring up as a weed on the soil of the field.


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The inhabitants of Samaria shall dwell near the calf of the house of On; for the people of it mourned for it. And as they provoked Him, they shall rejoice at His glory, because He has departed from them.


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And having bound it for the Assyrians, they carried it away as presents to King Jareb. Ephraim shall receive a gift, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.


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And the altars of On, the sins of Israel shall be taken away. Thorns and thistles shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, “Cover us”; and to the hills, “Fall on us.”


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“From the time the hills <i>existed</i> Israel has sinned. There they stood. War <i>waged</i> against the children of iniquity,


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to chastise them. The nations shall be gathered against them, when they are chastened for their two sins,


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Ephraim is a heifer taught to love victory, but I will come upon the fairest part of her neck: I will Mount Ephraim; I will pass over Judah in silence; Jacob shall prevail against him.”


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Sow to yourselves for righteousness, gather in for the fruit of life: light for yourselves the light of knowledge; seek the Lord till the fruits of righteousness come upon you.


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“For have you passed over ungodliness in silence, and reaped the sins of it? You have eaten false fruit; for you has trusted in your sins, in the abundance of your power.


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Therefore shall destruction rise up among your people, and all your strong places shall be ruined. As a prince Solomon <i>departed</i> out of the house of Jeroboam, in the days of battle they dashed the mother to the ground upon the children,


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<n>God’s Compassion Despite Israel’s Ingratitude</n> “Early in the morning were they cast off, the king of Israel has been cast off: for Israel is a child, and I loved him, and out of Egypt have I called his children.


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As I called them, so they departed from My presence; they sacrificed to Baalam, and burnt incense to graven images.


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When men were destroyed, I drew them with the bands of My love: and I will be to them as a man smiting <i>another</i> on his cheek: and I will have regard for him, <i>and </i>I will prevail with him.


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“Ephraim dwelt in Egypt; and <i>as for</i> the Assyrian, he was his king, because he would not return.


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And in his cities he did not prevail with the sword, and he ceased <i>to war</i> with his hands; and they shall eat <i>of the fruit</i> of their own devices.


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And his people <i>shall</i> cleave fondly to their habitation; but God shall be angry with his precious things, and shall not at all exalt him.


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“How shall I deal with you, O Ephraim? <i>How</i> shall I protect you, O Israel? What shall I do with you? I will make you as Admah, and as Zeboiim; My heart is turned at once, My repentance is powerfully excited.


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I will not act according to the fury of My wrath, I will not abandon Ephraim to be utterly destroyed: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in your midst; and I will not enter into the city.”


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I will go after the Lord: He shall utter <i>His voice</i> as a lion. For He shall roar, and the children of the waters shall be amazed.


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“They shall be amazed <i>and fly</i> as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of the Assyrians: and I will restore them to their houses,” says the Lord.


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<n>God’s Anger with Judah’s Sin</n> “Ephraim has compassed Me with falsehood, and the house of Israel and Judah with ungodliness; <i>but</i> now God knows them, and they shall be called God's holy people.


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“But Ephraim is an evil spirit, he has chased the east wind all the day. He has multiplied empty and vain things, and made a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil has gone in the way of traffic into Egypt.


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And the Lord <i>has</i> a controversy with Judah, in order to punish Jacob: according to His ways and according to His practices will He recompense him.


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And he prevailed with the Angel and was strong. They wept, and entreated Me: they found Me in the house of On, and there <i>a word</i> was spoken to them.


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You therefore shall return to your God. Keep mercy and judgment, and draw near to your God continually.


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And Ephraim said, ‘Nevertheless I am rich, I have found refreshment for myself.’ None of his labors shall be found <i>available</i> to him, by reason of the sins which he has committed.


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“But I the Lord your God brought you up out of the land of Egypt. I will yet cause you to dwell in tents, according to the days of the feast.


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And I will speak to the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and by the means of the prophets I was represented.”


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If Gilead does not exist, then the chiefs in Gilead when they sacrificed were false, and their altars were as heaps on the ground of the field.


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And the Lord brought Israel out of the land of Egypt by a prophet, and by a prophet was he preserved.


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Ephraim was angry and excited, therefore his blood shall be poured out upon him, and the Lord shall recompense to him his reproach.


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<n>Relentless Judgment on Israel</n> According to the word of Ephraim he adopted ordinances for himself in Israel; and he established them for Baal, and died.


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And now they have sinned increasingly, and have made for themselves a molten image of their silver, according to the fashion of idols, the work of stonecutters accomplished for them. They say, “Sacrifice men, for the calves have come to an end.”


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Therefore shall they be as a morning cloud, and as the early dew that passes away, as chaff blown away from the threshing floor, and as a vapor from tears.


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“But I am the Lord your God that establishes the heavens, and creates the earth, whose hands have framed the whole host of heaven. But I did not show them to you, that you should go after them; and I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and you shall know no God but Me; and there is no Saviour beside Me.


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According to their pastures, so they were completely filled; and their hearts were exalted; therefore they forgot Me.


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I will meet them by the way of the Assyrians, as a female bear excited, and I will tear open their rib cage, and the lions' cubs in the thicket shall devour them there; the wild beasts of the field shall tear them to pieces.


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Where is this your king? Let him even save you in all your cities. Let him judge you, of whom you said, ‘Give me a king and a prince.’


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Pains as of a woman in travail shall come upon him: he is your wise son, because he shall not stay in the destruction of <i>your</i> children.


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I will deliver <i>them</i> out of the power of Hades, and will redeem them from death. O death, where is your punishment? O Hades, where is your sting? Comfort is hidden from My eyes.”


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Though he will cause a division among <i>his</i> brothers, the Lord shall bring upon him an east wind from the desert, and shall dry up his veins <i>and</i> quite drain his fountains. He shall dry up his land, and <i>spoil</i> all his precious vessels.


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Samaria shall be utterly destroyed, for she has resisted her God; they shall fall by the sword, and their sucklings shall be dashed against the ground, and their women and children ripped up.


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<n>Israel Restored at Last</n> Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God; for the people have fallen through your iniquities.


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Take with you words, and turn to the Lord your God. Speak to Him, that you may not receive <i>the reward of</i> unrighteousness, but that you may receive good things; and we will render in return the fruit of our lips.


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Assyria shall never save us; we will not mount on horseback; we will no longer say to the works of our hands, Our gods. He who is in you shall pity the orphan.


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His branches shall spread, and he shall be as a fruitful olive, and his smell shall be as <i>the smell</i> of Lebanon.


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They shall return, and dwell under his shadow: they shall live and be satisfied with grain, and he shall flower like a vine. His memorial shall be to Ephraim as the wine of Lebanon.


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“What <i>has</i> he to do anymore with idols? I have afflicted him, and I will strengthen him. I am as a leafy juniper tree. From Me is your fruit found.”


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Who is wise, and will understand these things? Or prudent, and will know them? For the ways of the Lord are straight, and the righteous shall walk in them; but the ungodly shall fall therein.


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<n>Lament over the Ruin of the City</n> Hear these <i>words</i>, you elders, and hear, you that inhabit the land. Have such things happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers?


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Tell your children concerning them, and <i>let</i> your children <i>tell</i> their children, and their children another generation.


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What the caterpillar has left, the locust has eaten, and what the locust has left, the palmerworm has eaten, and what the palmerworm has left, the cankerworm has eaten.


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Awake, you drunkards, from your wine, and weep: mourn, all you that drink wine to drunkenness: for joy and gladness are removed from your mouth.


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For a strong and innumerable nation has come up against My land, their teeth are <i>like</i> lion’s teeth, and their back teeth <i>as </i>those of a <i>lion’s</i> whelp.


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He has ruined My vine, and utterly broken My fig trees: he has utterly searched <i>My vine</i>, and cast it down; he has peeled its branches.


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The grain offering and drink offering are removed from the house of the Lord: mourn, you priests that serve at the altar of the Lord.


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For the plains languish: let the land mourn, for the grain languishes; the wine is dried up, the oil becomes scarce;


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the farmers are consumed: mourn your property on account of the wheat and barley; for the harvest has perished from off the field.


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The vine is dried up, and the fig trees have become few; the pomegranate, and palm tree, and apple, and all the trees of the field have dried up: for the sons of men have abolished joy.”


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<n>A Call to Repentance and Prayer</n> Gird yourselves <i>with sackcloth</i>, and lament, you priests: mourn, you that serve at the altar: go in, sleep in sackcloth, you that minister to God: for the grain offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God.


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Sanctify a fast, proclaim a solemn service, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of your God, and cry earnestly to the Lord,


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Alas, Alas, Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, and it will come as trouble upon trouble.


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<i>Your</i> food has been destroyed before your eyes, joy and gladness from out of the house of your God.


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The heifers have started at their mangers, the treasures are abolished, the wine presses are broken down; for the grain is withered.


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What shall we store up for ourselves? The herds of cattle have mourned, because they had no pasture; and the flocks of sheep have been utterly destroyed.


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To You, O Lord, will I cry; for fire has devoured the fair places of the wilderness, and a flame has burnt up all the trees of the field.


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And the cattle of the field have looked up to You; for the fountains of waters have been dried up, and fire has devoured the fair places of the wilderness.


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<n>The Day of the Lord</n> Sound the trumpet in Zion, make a proclamation in My holy mountain, and let all the inhabitants of the land be confounded; for the day of the Lord is near;


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for a day of darkness and gloominess is near, a day of cloud and mist; a numerous and strong people shall be spread upon the mountains as the morning; there has not been one like it from the beginning, and after it there shall not be again, even to the years of many generations.


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Before them is a consuming fire, and behind them is a flame kindled; the land before them is as a paradise of delight, and behind them a desolate plain, and none of them shall escape.


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As the sound of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, and as the sound of a flame of fire devouring stubble, and as a numerous and strong people setting themselves in array for battle.


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As warriors shall they run, and as men of war shall they mount on the walls; and each shall move in his <i>right</i> path, and they shall not turn aside from their tracks;


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and not one shall stand aloof from his brother: they shall go on weighed down with their arms, and they fall upon their weapons, yet shall they in no way be destroyed.


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They shall seize upon the city, and run upon the walls, and go up upon the houses, and enter in through the windows as thieves.


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Before them the earth shall be confounded, and the sky shall be shaken: the sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their light.


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And the Lord shall utter His voice before His army, for His camp is very great; for the execution of His words is mighty; for the day of the Lord is great, very glorious, and who shall be able to <i>resist</i> it?


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“Now therefore,” says the Lord your God, “turn to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with lamentation.”


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And rend your hearts, and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God: for He is merciful and compassionate, long suffering, and plenteous in mercy, and relenting of evil.


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Who knows if He will return and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him, even a grain offering and a drink offering to the Lord your God?


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Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the infants at the breast; let the bridegroom go forth out of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.


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Between the porch and the altar let the priests that minister to the Lord weep, and say, “Spare Your people, O Lord, and do not give Your heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them, lest they should say among the heathen, ‘Where is their God?’”


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And the Lord answered and said to His people, “Behold, I will send you grain, and wine, and oil, and you shall be satisfied with them: and I will no longer make you a reproach among the Gentiles.


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And I will chase away from you the northern <i>adversary</i>, and will drive him away into a dry land, and I will sink his face in the former sea, and his back parts in the latter sea, and his stench shall come up, and his foul odor will rise, because he has worked great things.”


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Be of good courage, you beasts of the plain, for the plains of the wilderness have budded, for the trees have borne their fruit, the fig tree and the vine have yielded their strength.


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Rejoice then and be glad, you children of Zion, in the Lord your God; for He has given you food fully, and He will rain on you the early and the latter rain, as before.


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“And I will recompense you for the years which the locust, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, and the cankerworm have eaten, even My great army, which I sent against you.


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And you shall eat abundantly, and be satisfied, and shall praise the name of the Lord your God <i>for the things</i> which He has wrought wonderfully with you, and My people shall not be put to shame.


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And you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and <i>that</i> I am the Lord your God, and <i>that</i> there is none else beside Me; and My people shall no more be ashamed forever.


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<n>God’s Spirit Poured Out</n> “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.


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The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.


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And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved: for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall the saved one be as the Lord has said, and they that have glad tidings preached to them, whom the Lord has called.


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“For behold, in those days and at that time, when I shall have turned the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,


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I will also gather all the Gentiles, and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for My people and My heritage Israel, who have been dispersed among the Gentiles; and <i>these Gentiles</i> have divided My land,


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and cast lots over My people, and have given <i>their</i> boys to harlots, and sold <i>their</i> girls for wine, and have drunk.


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“And what have you to do with Me, O Tyre, and Sidon, and all Galilee of the Gentiles? Do you render Me a recompense? Or do you bear malice against Me? Quickly and speedily will I return your recompense on your own heads;


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because you have taken My silver and My gold, and you have brought My choice ornaments into your temples;


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and you have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem to the children of the Greeks, that you might expel them from their coasts.


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Therefore, behold, I <i>will</i> raise them up out of the place where you have sold them, and I will return your recompense on your own heads.


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And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them into captivity to a distant nation; for the Lord has spoken <i>it</i>.”


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<n>Judgment in the Valley of Jehoshaphat</n> Proclaim these things among the Gentiles; declare war, arouse the warriors, draw near and go up, all you men of war.


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Gather yourselves together, and go in, all you nations round about, and gather yourselves there; let the timid become a warrior.


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Let them be aroused, let all the nations go up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there will I sit to judge all the Gentiles round about.


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Bring forth the sickles, for the vintage is come: go in, tread <i>the grapes</i>, for the press is full: cause the vats to overflow; for their wickedness is multiplied.


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Noises have resounded in the valley of judgment, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of judgment.


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And the Lord shall cry out of Zion, and shall utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the heaven and the earth shall be shaken, but the Lord shall spare His people, and shall strengthen the children of Israel.


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And you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who dwells in Zion My holy mountain: and Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall not pass through her anymore.


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<n>The Glorious Future of Judah</n> And it shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the fountains of Judah shall flow with water, and a fountain shall go forth of the house of the Lord, and water the Valley of Flags.


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Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate plain, because of the wrongs of the children of Judah, because they have shed righteous blood in their land.


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And I will make inquisition for their blood, and will by no means leave it unavenged: and the Lord shall dwell in Zion.


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<n>Judgment on Israel’s Neighbors</n> The words of Amos, which came <i>to him</i> in Accarim out of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.


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And he said, “The Lord has spoken out of Zion, and has uttered His voice out of Jerusalem, and the pastures of the shepherds have mourned, and the top of Carmel is dried up.”


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And the Lord said, “For three sins of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away from it, because they sawed with iron saws the women with child of the Gileadites.


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And I will send a fire on the house of Hazael, and it shall devour the foundations of the son of Ader.


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And I will break to pieces the bars of Damascus, and will destroy the inhabitants out of the plain of On, and will cut in pieces a tribe out of the men of Harrhan; and the famous people of Syria shall be led captive,” says the Lord.


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Thus says the Lord; “For three sins of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away from them, because they took prisoners the captivity of Solomon, to shut <i>them</i> up into Edom.


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And I will destroy the inhabitants out of Ashdod, and a tribe shall be cut off from Ashkelon, and I will stretch out My hand upon Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,” says the Lord.


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Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Tyre, and for four, I will not turn away from it, because they shut up the prisoners of Solomon into Edom, and did not remember the covenant of brothers.


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Thus says the Lord: “For three sins of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away from them, because they pursued their brother with the sword, and destroyed the mother upon the earth, and summoned up his anger for a testimony, and kept up his fury to the end.


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Thus says the Lord: “For three sins of the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away from him, because they ripped up the women with child of the Gileadites, that they might widen their coasts.


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And I will kindle a fire on the walls of Rabbah, and it shall devour her foundations with shouting in the day of war, and she shall be shaken in the days of her destruction:


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Thus says the Lord: “For three sins of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away from it, because they burnt the bones of the king of Edom to lime.


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But I will send forth a fire on Moab, and it shall devour the foundations of its cities, and Moab shall perish in weakness, with a shout, and with the sound of a trumpet.


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<n>Judgment on Judah</n> Thus says the Lord: “For three sins of the children of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away from him, because they have rejected the law of the Lord, and have not kept His commandments, and their vain <i>idols</i> which they made, which their fathers followed, caused them to err.


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<n>Judgment on Israel</n> Thus says the Lord: “For three sins of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away from him, because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for sandals,


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in which to tread on the dust of the earth, and they have smitten upon the heads of the poor, and have perverted the way of the lowly; and a son and his father have gone into the same maid, that they might profane the name of their God.


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And binding their clothes with cords, they have made them curtains near the altar, and they have drunk wine gained by extortion in the house of their God.


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“Nevertheless I cut off the Amorite from before them, whose height was as the height of a cedar, and he was strong as an oak; and I dried up his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.


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And I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and led you about in the desert forty years, that you should inherit the land of the Amorites.


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And I took of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for consecration. Are not these things so, you sons of Israel?” says the Lord.


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“But you gave the consecrated ones wine to drink, and you commanded the prophets, saying, ‘Do not prophesy.’


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And flight shall perish from the runner, and the strong shall not hold fast his strength, and the warrior shall not save his life;


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and the archer shall not withstand, and he that is swift of foot shall by no means escape; and the horseman shall not save his life.


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And the strong shall find no confidence in power: the naked shall flee away in that day,” says the Lord.


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<n>Authority of the Prophet’s Message</n> Hear this word, O house of Israel, which the Lord has spoken concerning you, and against the whole family whom I brought up out of the land of Egypt, saying,


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“You especially have I known out of all the families of the earth: therefore will I take vengeance upon you for all your sins.


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Will a lion roar out of his thicket if he has no prey? Will a young <i>lion</i> utter his voice at all out of his lair, if he has taken nothing?


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Will a bird fall on the earth without a fowler? Will a snare be taken up from the earth without having taken anything?


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Shall the trumpet sound in the city, and the people not be alarmed? Shall there be evil in a city which the Lord has not wrought?


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A lion shall roar, and who will not be alarmed? The Lord God has spoken, and who will not prophesy?”


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“Proclaim it to the regions among the Assyrians, and to the regions of Egypt, and say, ‘Gather yourselves to the mountain of Samaria, and behold many wonderful things in the midst of it, and the oppression that is in it.’


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And she did not know the things that would come against her,” says the Lord, “even those that store up wrong and misery in their countries.


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Therefore thus says the Lord God: “O Tyre, your land shall be made desolate round about <i>you</i>; and he shall bring down your strength out of you, and your countries shall be spoiled.


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Thus says the Lord: ‘As when a shepherd rescues from the mouth of a lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so shall be drawn forth the children of Israel who dwell in Samaria in the presence of <i>a foreign</i> tribe, and in Damascus.’


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“For in the day that I punish Israel for their transgressions, I will also take vengeance on the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar shall be broken down, and they shall fall upon the ground.


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I will crush and smite the winter house upon the summer house, and the ivory houses shall be destroyed, and many other houses also,” says the Lord.


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Hear this word, you heifers of the land of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, that oppress the poor and trample on the needy, which say to their masters, Give us, that we may drink.


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The Lord swears by His holiness, that behold, the days come upon you, when they shall take you with weapons, and fiery destroyers shall cast those with you into boiling caldrons.


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“And you shall be brought forth naked in the presence of each other, and you shall be cast forth onto Mount Harmon,” says the Lord.


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“You went into Bethel and sinned, and you multiplied sin at Gilgal; and you brought your grain offerings in the morning, and your tithes every third day.


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And they read the law outdoors, and called for public professions: proclaim aloud that the children of Israel have loved these things,” says the Lord.


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<n>Israel Did Not Accept Correction</n> “And your teeth shall be idle in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your places; yet you did not return to Me,” says the Lord.


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“Also I withheld from you the rain three months before the harvest, and I will rain upon one city, and on another city I will not rain; one part shall be rained upon, and the part on which I shall not rain shall be dried up.


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And <i>the inhabitants of </i>two or three cities shall be gathered to one city to drink water, and they shall not be satisfied; yet you have not returned to Me,” says the Lord.


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“I blasted you with parching, and with blight; you multiplied your gardens, your vineyards, and your fig trees, and the cankerworm devoured your olive trees; yet still you did not return to Me,” says the Lord.


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“I sent pestilence among you by the way of Egypt, and slew your young men with the sword, together with your horses that were taken captive; and in My wrath against you I set fire to your camps; yet not even thus did you return to Me,” says the Lord.


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“I overthrew you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you became as a brand plucked out of the fire; yet not even then did you return to Me,” says the Lord.


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“Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel: because I will do thus to you, prepare to call on your God, O Israel.


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For behold, I am He that strengthens the thunder, and creates the wind, and proclaims His Messiah unto men, forming the morning and the darkness, and mounting on the high places of the earth; The Lord God Almighty is His name.”


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<n>A Lament for Israel’s Sin</n> Hear this word of the Lord, even a lamentation, which I take up against you. The house of Israel has fallen; it shall not rise again.


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Therefore thus says the Lord God: “The city out of which there went forth a thousand, <i>in it</i> there shall be left a hundred, and <i>in that</i> out of which there went forth a hundred, there shall be left ten to the house of Israel.”


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But do not seek Bethel, and do not go into Gilgal, and do not cross over to the Well of the Oath; for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall be as that which is not.”


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But seek the Lord, and you shall live; lest the house of Joseph blaze as fire, and it devour him, and there shall be none to quench it for the house of Israel.


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<i>It is He</i> that executes judgment in the heights <i>above</i>, and He has established justice on the earth;


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who makes all things, and changes <i>them</i>, and turns darkness into the morning, and darkens the day into night; who calls for the water of the sea, and pours it out on the face of the earth: the Lord is His name;


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Therefore because they have smitten the poor with their fists, and you have received of them choice gifts, you have built polished houses, but you shall not dwell in them; you have planted desirable vineyards, but you shall not drink the wine of them.


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For I know your many transgressions, and your sins are great, trampling on the just, taking bribes, and turning aside <i>the judgment of</i> the poor in the gates.


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Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord God Almighty shall be with you, as you have said,


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“We have hated evil, and loved good”; restore judgment in the gates, so that the Lord God Almighty may have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.


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Therefore thus says the Lord God Almighty: “In all the streets <i>shall be</i> lamentations, and in all the ways shall it be said, ‘Woe, woe!’ The farmer shall be called to mourning and lamentation, and to them that are skilled in complaining.


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And <i>there shall be</i> lamentation in all the ways, because I will pass through the midst of you,” says the Lord.


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<n>The Day of the Lord</n> Woe to you that desire the day of the Lord! What is this day of the Lord to you? Seeing that it is darkness, and not light.


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As if a man should flee from the face of a lion, and a bear should meet him; and he should spring into his house, and lean his hands upon the wall, and a serpent should bite him.


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“I hate, I reject your feasts, and I will not smell your grain offerings in your general assemblies.


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Even if you should bring Me your whole burnt sacrifices and grain offerings, I will not accept them, neither will I have respect to your grand peace offerings.


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Yea, you took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Rephan, the images of them which you made for yourselves.


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<n>Warnings to Zion and Samaria</n> Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and that trust in the mountain of Samaria; they have gathered <i>the harvest of</i> the heads of the nations, and they have gone in themselves.


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O house of Israel, pass by all of you, and see; and pass by from there to Hamath; and from there descend to Gath of the Philistines, the chief of all these kingdoms, see if their coasts are greater than your coasts.


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who sleep upon beds of ivory, and live delicately on their couches, and eat kids out of the flocks, and calves out of the midst of the stalls;


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who excel in the sound of musical instruments; they have regarded them as abiding, not as fleeting <i>pleasures</i>;


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who drink strained wine, and anoint themselves with the best ointment, and have suffered nothing on occasion of the calamity of Joseph.


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Therefore now shall they depart into captivity from the dominion of princes, and the neighing of horses shall be cut off from Ephraim.


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For the Lord has sworn by Himself, saying, “Because I abhor all the pride of Jacob, I do also hate his countries, and I will cut off his city with all who inhabit it.


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But a remnant shall be left behind, and their relations shall take them, and shall strenuously endeavor to carry forth their bones from the house; and one shall say to the heads of the house, ‘Is there yet <i>anyone</i> else with you?’ And he shall say, ‘No one else.’ And <i>the other</i> shall say, ‘Be silent, that you name not the name of the Lord.’


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For, behold, the Lord commands, and He will smite the great house with breaches, and the little house with clefts.


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“Will horses run upon rocks? Will they refrain from neighing at mares? For you have turned judgment into poison, and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness.


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For behold, O house of Israel, I will raise up against you a nation,” says the Lord of hosts, “and they shall afflict you so that you shall not enter into Hamath, and as it were to the valley of the Arabah.”


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<n>Locusts, Fire, and a Plumb Line</n> Thus has the Lord God showed me; and behold, a swarm of locusts coming from the east. And behold, one caterpillar, King Gog.


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And it came to pass when he had finished devouring the grass of the land, that I said, “Lord God, be merciful; who shall raise up Jacob? For he is small in number.


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Thus has the Lord showed me; and behold, the Lord called for judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and devoured the Lord’s portion.


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Then I said, “O Lord, cease, I pray: who shall raise up Jacob? For he is small in number. Relent, O Lord, of this.”


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Thus the Lord showed me; and behold, He stood upon a wall <i>made</i> with a plumb line, and in His hand was a plumb line.


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And the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A plumb line.” And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I appoint a plumb line in the midst of My people Israel; I will not pass by them anymore.


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And the joyful altars shall be abolished, and the sacrifices of Israel shall be set aside; and I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”


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<n>Amaziah Complains to the King</n> Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos is forming conspiracies against you in the midst of the house of Israel: the land will be utterly unable to bear all his words.


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For thus says Amos, ‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall be led away captive from his land.’”


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And Amaziah said to Amos, “Go, seer, remove yourself to the land of Judah, and live there, and you shall prophesy there:


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but you shall no longer prophesy at Bethel—for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is the royal house.”


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And Amos answered, and said to Amaziah, “I was not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet; but I was a sheepbreeder, and a gatherer of sycamore fruits.


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And the Lord took me from the sheep, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, and prophesy to My people Israel.’


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And now hear the word of the Lord: “You say, ‘Do not prophesy to Israel, and do not raise a tumult against the house of Jacob.’


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Therefore thus says the Lord; ‘Your wife shall be a harlot in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be measured with the line; and you shall die in an unclean land; and Israel shall be led captive out of his land. Thus has the Lord God showed me.’”


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And He said, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A fowler’s basket. And the Lord said to me, “The end has come upon My people Israel; I will not pass by them anymore.


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And the ceilings of the temple shall howl in that day,” says the Lord God. “<i>There shall be</i> many a fallen one in every place; I will bring silence upon <i>them</i>.


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Now hear this, you that oppress the poor in the morning, and drive the needy ones by tyranny from the earth,


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saying, “When will the month pass away, and we shall sell, and the sabbath, and we shall open the treasure, to make the measure small, and to enlarge the weight, and make the balance unfair?


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That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for shoes; and we will trade in every kind of fruit.”


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And shall not the land be troubled for these things, and shall not everyone who dwells in it mourn? Whereas destruction shall come up as a river, and shall descend as the river of Egypt.


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“And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the Lord God, “that the sun shall go down at noon, and the light shall be darkened on the earth by day;


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and I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth on all loins, and baldness on every head; and I will make them as the mourning of a beloved <i>friend</i>, and those with them as a day of grief.


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“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that I will send forth a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord.


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And the waters shall be troubled from sea to sea, and from the north to the east shall <i>men</i> run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, and they shall not find it.


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they who swear by the propitiation of Samaria, and who say, ‘Your god, O Dan, lives’; and, ‘Your god, O Beersheba, lives’; and they shall fall, and shall not rise again.”


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<n>The Destruction of Israel</n> I saw the Lord standing on the altar. And He said, “Strike the mercy seat, and the porch shall be shaken; and cut through into the heads of all; and I will slay the remnant of them with the sword: he who flees shall not escape, and he who escapes shall not be delivered.


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Though they hid themselves in hell, from there shall My hand drag them forth; and though they go up to heaven, from there will I bring them down.


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If they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, from there will I search them out and take them; and if they should go down from My presence into the depths of the sea, there will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them.


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And if they should go into captivity before the face of their enemies, there will I command the sword, and it shall slay them; and I will set My eyes against them for evil, and not for good.”


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And the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, is He that takes hold of the land, and causes it to shake, and all that inhabit it shall mourn; and its destruction shall go up as a river, and shall descend as the river of Egypt.


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<i>It is He</i> that builds His ascent up to the sky, and establishes His promise on the earth; who calls the water of the sea, and pours it out on the face of the earth; the Lord Almighty is His name.


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“Are not you to Me as the sons of the Ethiopians, O children of Israel?” says the Lord. “Did I not bring Israel up out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Cappadocia, and the Syrians out of the deep?


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Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the kingdom of sinners, and I will cut it off from the face of the earth; only I will not utterly cut off the house of Jacob,” says the Lord.


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“For I <i>will</i> give commandment, and sift the house of Israel among all the Gentiles, as <i>grain</i> is sifted in a sieve, and yet a fragment shall by no means fall upon the earth.


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All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, who say, ‘Calamities shall certainly not draw near, nor come upon us.’


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<n>Israel Will Be Restored</n> “In that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and will rebuild the ruins of it, and will set up the parts thereof that have been broken down, and will build it up as in the ancient days:


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that the remnant of men, and all the Gentiles upon whom My name is called, may earnestly seek Me,” says the Lord who does all these things.


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“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when the harvest shall overtake the vintage, and the grapes shall ripen at seed time; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall be planted.


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And I will turn the captivity of My people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities, and shall inhabit <i>them</i>; and they shall plant vineyards, and shall drink the wine from them; and they shall form gardens, and eat the fruit of them.


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And I will plant them on their land, and they shall no more be plucked up from the land which I have given them,” says the Lord God Almighty.


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<n>The Coming Judgment on Edom</n> The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord God to Edom: I have heard a report from the Lord, and He has sent forth a message to the nations.


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Behold, I have made you small among the Gentiles: you are greatly dishonored. The pride of your heart has elated you, dwelling <i>as you do</i> in the holes of the rocks, <i>as one that</i> exalts his habitation, saying in his heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’


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If you should mount up as the eagle, and if you should make your nest among the stars, from there will I bring you down,” says the Lord.


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“If thieves came in to you, or robbers by night, where would you have been cast away? Would they not have stolen just enough for themselves? And if grape-gatherers went in to you, would they not leave a gleaning?


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They sent you to your coasts: all the men of your covenant have withstood you; your allies have prevailed against you, they have set snares under you: they have no understanding.


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In that day,” says the Lord, “I will destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau.


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And your warriors from Teman shall be dismayed, to the end that man may be cut off from the mount of Esau.


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<n>Edom Mistreated His Brother</n> “Because of the slaughter and the sin <i>committed against</i> your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever.


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From the day that you stood in opposition <i>to him</i>, in the days when foreigners were taking captive his forces, and strangers entered into his gates, and cast lots on Jerusalem, you also were as one of them.


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And you should not have looked on the day of your brother in the day of strangers; nor should you have rejoiced against the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither should you have boasted in the day of their affliction.


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Neither should you have gone into the gates of the people in the day of their troubles; nor yet should you have looked upon their gathering in the day of their destruction, nor should you have attacked their host in the day of their perishing.


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Neither should you have stood at the opening of their passages, to destroy utterly those of them that were escaping; neither should you have shut up his fugitives in the day of affliction.


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“For the day of the Lord is near upon all the Gentiles; as you have done, so shall it be done to you; your recompense shall be returned on your own head.


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For as you have drunk upon My holy mountain, so shall all the nations drink wine; they shall drink, and go down, and be as if they were not.


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But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance, and there shall be a sanctuary; and the house of Jacob shall take for an inheritance those that took them for an inheritance.


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And the house of Jacob shall be fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau <i>shall be</i> for stubble; and <i>Israel</i> shall flame forth against them, and shall devour them, and there shall not be a corn field <i>left</i> to the house of Esau; because the Lord has spoken.


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And those <i>that dwell</i> in the south shall inherit the mount of Esau, and they in the plain the Philistines: and they shall inherit the mount of Ephraim, and the plain of Samaria, and Benjamin, and the land of Gilead.


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And this <i>shall be</i> the domain of the captivity of the children of Israel, the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath; and the captives of Jerusalem <i>shall inherit</i> as far as Ephratha; they shall inherit the cities of the south.


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And they that escape shall come up from Mount Zion, to take vengeance on the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.


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“Arise, and go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach in it; for the cry of its wickedness has come up before Me.”


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But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. And he went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish: and he paid his fare, and went up into it, to sail with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.


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<n>The Storm at Sea</n> And the Lord raised up a wind on the sea; and there was a great storm on the sea, and the ship was in danger of being broken.


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And the sailors were alarmed, and cried everyone to his god. And they threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, that it might lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the hold of the ship, and was asleep, and was snoring.


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And the shipmaster came to him, and said to him, “Why do you snore? Arise, and call upon your God, that God may save us, and we not perish.”


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And each man said to his neighbor, “Come, let us cast lots, and find out for whose sake this mischief is upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.


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And they said to him, “Tell us, what is your occupation, and where do you come from, and of what country and of what people are you?”


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And he said to them, “I am a servant of the Lord; and I worship the Lord God of heaven, who made the sea, and the dry land.”


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<n>Jonah Cast into the Sea</n> Then the men feared exceedingly, and said to him, “What is this that you have done?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the face of the Lord, because he had told them.


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And they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may be calm to us?” (For the sea rose, and lifted its waves exceedingly.)


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And Jonah said to them, “Take me up, and cast me into the sea, and the sea shall be calm for you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.”


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And the men tried hard to return to the land, and were not able: for the sea rose and grew more and more tempestuous against them.


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And they cried to the Lord, and said, “Forbid it, O Lord: do not let us perish for the sake of this man’s life, and do not bring righteous blood upon us: for You, O Lord, have done as You willed.”


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<n>Jonah’s Prayer and Deliverance</n> Now the Lord had commanded a great whale to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights.


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and said, “I cried in my affliction to the Lord my God, and He heard me, even to my cry out of the belly of hell: You heard my voice.


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For You have cast me into the depths of the heart of the sea, and the floods compassed me: all Your billows and Your waves have passed upon me.


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Water was poured around me, <i>even </i>to <i>my</i> soul. The lowest deep compassed me, my head went down


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to the clefts of the mountains; I went down into the earth, whose bars are the everlasting barriers. Yet, O Lord my God, let my ruined life be restored.


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When my soul was failing me, I remembered the Lord; and may my prayer come to You into Your holy temple.


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But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of praise and thanksgiving: all that I have vowed I will pay to You, the Lord of my salvation.”


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“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach in it according to the former preaching which I spoke to you of.”


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And Jonah arose, and went to Nineveh, as the Lord had spoken. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, of about three days’ journey.


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And Jonah began to enter into the city about a day’s journey, and he preached, and said, “Yet three days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.”


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<n>The People of Nineveh Believe</n> And the men of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.


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And the word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from off his throne, and took off his robe, and put on sackcloth, and sat on ashes.


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And proclamation was made, and it was commanded in Nineveh by the king and by his great men, saying, “Let not men, or cattle, or oxen, or sheep, taste any thing, nor feed, nor drink water.”


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So men and cattle were clothed with sackcloth, and cried earnestly to God; and they turned everyone from their evil way, and from the iniquity that was in their hands, saying,


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And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil ways; and God relented of the evil which He had said He would do to them; and He did not do it.


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And he prayed to the Lord, and said, “O Lord, were not these my words when I was yet in my land? Therefore I made haste to flee to Tarshish; because I knew that You are merciful and compassionate, longsuffering, and abundant in lovingkindness, and relents from doing harm.


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And Jonah went out from the city, and sat over against the city; and he made for himself there a booth, and he sat under it, until he should perceive what would become of the city.


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And the Lord God commanded a gourd, and it came up over the head of Jonah, to be a shadow over his head, to shade him from his calamities. And Jonah rejoiced with great joy for the gourd.


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And it came to pass at the rising of the sun, that God commanded a burning east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, and he fainted, and despaired of his life, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”


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And God said to Jonah, “Are you very much grieved for the gourd?” And he said, “I am very much grieved, even to death.”


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And the Lord said, “You had pity on the gourd, for which you have not suffered, neither did you rear it; which came up before night, and perished before another night:


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and shall not I spare Nineveh, that great city, in which dwell more than twelve myriads of human beings, who do not know their right hand or their left hand, and also much cattle?”


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And the word of the Lord came to Micah the son of Moresheth, in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, concerning what he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem.


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<n>The Coming Judgment on Israel</n> Hear <i>these</i> words, you people; and let the earth give heed, and all that are in it: and the Lord God shall be among you for a testimony, the Lord out of His holy habitation.


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For behold, the Lord comes forth out of His place, and will come down, and will go upon the high places of the earth.


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And the mountains shall be shaken under Him, and the valleys shall melt like wax before the fire, and as water rushing down a steep place.


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All these <i>calamities</i> are for the transgression of Jacob, and for the sin of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what is the sin of the house of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?


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“Therefore I will make Samaria as a storehouse of the fruits of the field, and as a planting of a vineyard; and I will utterly demolish her stones, and I will expose her foundations.


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And they shall cut in pieces all the graven images, and all that she has hired they shall burn with fire, and I will utterly destroy all her idols, because she has gathered of the hires of fornication, and of the hires of fornication has she amassed <i>wealth</i>.”


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<n>Mourning for Israel and Judah</n> Therefore shall she lament and wail, she shall go barefooted, and <i>being</i> naked she shall make lamentation as <i>that</i> of serpents, and mourning as of the daughters of sirens.


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For her plague has become grievous; for it has come even to Judah; and has reached to the gate of My people, even to Jerusalem.


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You that are in Gath, do not exalt yourselves, and you Enakim, do not rebuild from <i>the ruins of</i> the house in derision: sprinkle dust <i>in the place of</i> your laughter.


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The inhabitant of Shaphir, fairly inhabiting her cities, did not come forth to mourn for the house next to her: she shall receive of you the stroke of grief.


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Who has begun <i>to act</i> for good to her that dwells in sorrow? For calamities have come down from the Lord upon the gates of Jerusalem,


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even a sound of chariots and horsemen; the inhabitants of Lachish, she is the leader of sin to the daughter of Zion: for in you were found the transgressions of Israel.


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Therefore shall he cause men to be sent forth as far as the inheritance of Gath, even vain houses; they have become vanity to the kings of Israel;


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until they bring the heirs, O inhabitant of Lachish. The inheritance shall reach to Adullam, even the glory of the daughter of Israel.


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Shave your hair, and make yourself bald for your delicate children; increase your widowhood as an eagle; for <i>your people</i> have gone into captivity from you.


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<n>Woe to Evildoers</n> They meditated troubles, and wrought wickedness on their beds, and they put it in execution with the daylight; for they have not lifted up their hands to God.


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And they desired fields, and plundered orphans, and oppressed families, and spoiled a man and his house, even a man and his inheritance.


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Therefore thus says the Lord: “Behold, I devise disasters against this family, out of which you shall not lift up your necks, neither shall you walk upright speedily, for the time is evil.


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In that day shall a parable be taken up against you, and a plaintive lamentation shall be uttered, saying, ‘We are thoroughly miserable’; the portion of my people has been measured out with a line, and there was none to hinder him so as to turn him back; your fields have been divided.


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Do not weep with tears in the assembly of the Lord, neither let <i>any</i> weep for these things; for He shall not remove the reproaches,


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who says, “The house of Jacob has provoked the Spirit of the Lord”; are not these his practices? Are not the Lord’s words right with him? And have they not proceeded correctly?


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“Even before time My people withstood him as an enemy against his peace; they have stripped off his skin to remove hope in the conflict of war.


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The leaders of My people shall be cast forth from their luxurious houses; they are rejected because of their evil practices; draw near to the everlasting mountains.


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Arise, and depart; for this is not your rest because of uncleanness: you have been utterly destroyed;


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you have fled, no one pursues <i>you</i>: <i>your</i> spirit has framed falsehood, it has dropped on you for wine and strong drink. But it shall come to pass, that out of the dropping of this people,


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“Jacob shall be completely gathered with all <i>his people</i>: I will surely receive the remnant of Israel; I will cause them to return together, as sheep in trouble, as a flock in the midst of their fold: they shall rush forth from among men through the breach made before them:


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they have broken through, and passed the gate, and gone out by it, and their king has gone out before them, and the Lord shall lead them.”


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<n>Wicked Rulers and Prophets</n> And He shall say, “Hear now these words, you heads of the house of Jacob, and you remnant of the house of Israel: is it not for you to know judgment?”


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even as they devoured the flesh of My people, and stripped their skins off them, and broke their bones, and divided <i>them</i> as flesh for the caldron, and as meat for the pot,


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thus they shall cry to the Lord, but He shall not listen to them; and He shall turn away His face from them at that time, because they have done wickedly in their practices against themselves.


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Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets that lead My people astray, that bite with their teeth, and proclaim peace to them; and <i>when</i> nothing was put into their mouth, they raised up war against them:


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“Therefore there shall be night to you instead of a vision, and there shall be to you darkness instead of prophecy; and the sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be dark upon them.


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And the seers of night visions shall be ashamed, and the prophets shall be laughed to scorn; and all the people shall speak against them, because there shall be none to listen to them.”


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Surely I will strengthen myself with the Spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and of power, to declare to Jacob his transgressions, and to Israel his sins.


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Hear now these words, you chiefs of the house of Jacob, and the remnant of the house of Israel, who hate judgment, and pervert all righteousness;


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Their heads have judged for gifts, and their priests have answered for hire, and her prophets have divined for silver; and yet they have rested on the Lord, saying, “Is not the Lord among us? No evil shall come upon us.” Therefore on your account Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall be as a storehouse of fruits, and the mountain of the house as a grove of the forest.


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<n>The Lord’s Reign in Zion</n> And at the last days the mountain of the Lord shall be manifest, established on the tops of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and the peoples shall hasten to it.


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And many nations shall go, and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and they shall show us His way, and we will walk in His paths”; for out of Zion shall go forth a law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.


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And He shall judge among many peoples, and shall rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plow shares, and their spears into sickles; and nation shall no more lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn to war any more.


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And everyone shall rest under his vine, and everyone under his fig tree; and no one shall alarm them; for the mouth of the Lord Almighty has spoken these <i>words</i>.


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For all other nations shall walk everyone in his own way, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.


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“In that day,” says the Lord, “I will gather her that is bruised, and will receive her that is cast out, and those whom I rejected.


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And I will make her that was bruised a remnant, and her that was rejected a mighty nation: and the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion from now on, even forever.


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And you, dark tower of the flock, daughter of Zion, on you the dominion shall come and enter in, even the first kingdom from Babylon to the daughter of Jerusalem.”


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And now, why have you known calamities? Is there no king in you? Or has your counsel perished that pangs as of a woman in labor have seized upon you?


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Be in pain, and strengthen yourself, and draw near, O daughter of Zion, as a woman in labor: for now you shall go forth out of the city, and you shall dwell in the plain, and you shall reach even to Babylon. There shall the Lord your God deliver you, and there shall He redeem you out of the hand of your enemies.


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And now have many nations gathered against you, saying, “We will rejoice, and our eyes shall look upon Zion.”


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But they know not the thought of the Lord, and have not understood His counsel, for He has gathered them as sheaves of the floor.


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Arise, and thresh them, O daughter of Zion: for I will make your horns iron, and I will make your hoofs brass: and you shall utterly destroy many nations, and shall consecrate their abundance to the Lord, and their strength to the Lord of all the earth.


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Now shall the daughter <i>of Zion</i> be completely hedged in; he has laid siege against us; they shall smite the tribes of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.


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<n>The Coming Messiah</n> “And you, Bethlehem, house of Ephratha, are few in number to be reckoned among the thousands of Judah; yet out of you shall one come forth to Me, to be a ruler of Israel; and His goings forth were from the beginning, even from eternity.”


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Therefore shall He appoint them to wait till the time of her that labors. She shall bring forth, and then the remnant of their brothers shall return to the children of Israel.


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And the Lord shall stand, and see, and feed His flock with power, and they shall dwell in the glory of the name of the Lord their God; for now shall they be magnified to the ends of the earth.


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And she shall have peace when the Assyrian shall come into your land, and when he shall come up upon your country; and there shall be raised up against him seven shepherds, and eight attacks of men.


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And they shall tend the Assyrian with a sword, and the land of Nimrod with her trench, and He shall deliver you from the Assyrian, when he shall come upon your land, and when he shall invade your coasts.


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And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many peoples, as dew falling from the Lord, and as lambs on the grass; that none may assemble nor resist among the sons of men.


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And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many nations, as a lion in the forest among cattle, and as a lion’s whelp among the flocks of sheep, even as when he goes through, and selects, and carries off <i>his prey</i>, and there is none to deliver.


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Your hand shall be lifted up against them that afflict you, and all your enemies shall be utterly destroyed.


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“And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the Lord, “that I will utterly destroy the horses out of the midst of you, and destroy your chariots;


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and I will utterly destroy your sorceries out of your hands; and there shall be no soothsayers in you.


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And I will utterly destroy your graven images, and your statues out of the midst of you; and you shall never any more worship the works of your hands.


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<n>God Pleads with Israel</n> Hear now a word: the Lord God has said, “Arise, plead with the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.”


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Hear, O you mountains, the controversy of the Lord, and you valleys; even the foundations of the earth: for the Lord has a controversy with His people, and will plead with Israel.


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“O My people, what have I done to you? Or wherein have I grieved you? Or wherein have I troubled you? Answer Me.


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For I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, and sent before you Moses, and Aaron, and Miriam.


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O My people, remember now, what counsel Balak king of Moab took against you, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, from the reeds to Gilgal; that the righteousness of the Lord might be known.”


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With what shall I reach the Lord, and lay hold of my God Most High? Shall I reach Him by burnt offerings, by calves of a year old?


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Will the Lord accept thousands of rams, or ten thousands of fat goats? Should I give my firstborn for ungodliness, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?


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Has it not been told you, O man, what is good? Or what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and love mercy, and be ready to walk with the Lord your God?


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<n>Punishment for Israel’s Injustice</n> The Lord’s voice shall be proclaimed in the city, and He shall save those that fear His name. Hear, O tribe; and who shall order the city?


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<i>Is there</i> not fire, and the house of the wicked heaping up wicked treasures, and that with the pride of unrighteousness?


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whereby they have accumulated their ungodly wealth, and they that dwell in the city have uttered falsehoods, and their tongue has been exalted in their mouth?


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You shall eat, and shall not be satisfied; and there shall be darkness upon you; and he shall depart from you, and you shall not escape; and all that shall escape shall be delivered over to the sword.


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You shall sow, but you shall not reap; you shall press the olive, but you shall not anoint yourself with oil; and <i>shall make</i> wine, but you shall drink no wine; and the ordinances of My people shall be utterly abolished.


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For you have kept the statues of Omri, and done all the works of the house of Ahab; and you have walked in their ways, that I might deliver you to utter destruction, and those that inhabit the city to hissing: and you shall bear the reproach of nations.”


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<n>Sorrow for israel’s Sins</n> Woe is me! For I have become as one gathering straw in harvest, and as <i>one gathering</i> grape-gleanings in the vintage, when there is no cluster for me to eat the first-ripe fruit: alas my soul!


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For the godly has perished from the earth; and there is none upright among men; they all quarrel even to blood. They grievously afflict everyone his neighbor.


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They prepare their hands for mischief, the prince asks a <i>reward</i>, and the judge speaks flattering words; it is the desire of their soul;


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therefore I will take away their goods as a devouring moth, and as one who acts by a <i>rigid</i> rule in a day of visitation. Woe, woe, your times of vengeance have come; now shall be their lamentations.


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Do not trust in friends, nor confide in guides; beware of your wife, so as not to commit anything to her.


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For the son dishonors his father, the daughter will rise up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law: those in his house <i>shall be</i> all a man’s enemies.


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<n>Israel’s Confession and Comfort</n> Do not rejoice against me, mine enemy; for I have fallen, yet shall arise; for though I should sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light to me.


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I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him, until He make good my cause. He also shall maintain my right, and shall bring me out to the light, and I shall behold His righteousness.


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And she that is my enemy shall see it, and shall clothe herself with shame, who says, “Where is the Lord your God?” My eyes shall look upon her; now shall she be for trampling as mire in the ways.


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<i>It is</i> the day of brick-making; that day shall be your utter destruction, and that day shall utterly abolish your ordinances.


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And your cities shall be leveled, and parted among the Assyrians; and your strong cities shall be parted from Tyre to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.


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And the land shall be utterly desolate together with them that inhabit it, because of the fruit of their doings.


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<n>God Will Forgive Israel</n> Tend your people with your rod, the sheep of your inheritance, those that inhabit by themselves the thicket in the midst of Carmel; they shall feed in the land of Bashan, and in the land of Gilead, as in the days of old.


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The nations shall see and be ashamed; and at all their might they shall lay their hands upon their mouth, their ears shall be deafened.


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They shall lick the dust as serpents crawling on the earth, they shall be confounded in their holes; they shall be amazed at the Lord our God, and will be afraid of you.


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Who is a God like You, canceling iniquities, and passing over the sins of the remnant of His inheritance? And He has not kept His anger for a testimony, for He delights in mercy.


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He will return and have mercy upon us; He will sink our iniquities, and they shall be cast into the depth of the sea, even all our sins.


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He shall give blessings truly to Jacob, and mercy to Abraham, as You swore to our fathers, according to the former days.


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<n>The Consuming Wrath of God</n> God is jealous, and the Lord avenges; the Lord avenges with wrath; the Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries, and He cuts off His enemies.


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The Lord is longsuffering, and His power is great, and the Lord will not hold any guiltless. His way is in destruction and in the whirlwind, and the clouds are the dust of His feet.


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He threatens the sea, and dries it up, and exhausts all the rivers: the land of Bashan and Carmel are brought low, and the flourishing <i>trees</i> of Lebanon have come to nought.


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The mountains quake at Him, and the hills are shaken, and the earth recoils at His presence, even the world, and all that dwell in it.


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Who shall stand before His anger? And who shall withstand in the anger of His wrath? His wrath brings kingdoms to nothing, and the rocks are thrown down by Him.


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The Lord is good to them that wait on Him in the day of affliction; and He knows them that reverence Him.


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But with an overrunning flood He will make an utter end: darkness shall pursue those that rise up against <i>Him</i> and His enemies.


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What do you devise against the Lord? He will make a complete end: He will not take vengeance by affliction twice at the same time.


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For <i>the enemy</i> shall be laid bare even to the foundation, and shall be devoured as twisted yew, and as stubble fully dry.


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<n>Good News for Judah</n> Thus says the Lord who rules over many waters: “Even thus shall they be sent away, and the report of you shall not be heard any more.


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“And the Lord shall give a command concerning you; your name shall be fruitful no longer: I will utterly destroy the graven <i>images</i> out of the house of your god, and the molten <i>images</i>: I will make your grave; for <i>they are</i> swift.”


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Behold, upon the mountains the feet of him that brings good news, and proclaims peace! O Judah, keep your feasts, pay your vows; for they shall no more pass through you to your decay.


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<n>The Overthrow of Nineveh</n> It is all over with him, he has been removed, one who has been delivered from affliction has come up panting into your presence; watch the way, strengthen your loins, be very valiant in your strength.


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For the Lord has turned aside the pride of Jacob, as the pride of Israel; for they have utterly rejected them, and have destroyed their branches.


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<i>They have destroyed</i> the arms of their power from among men, their mighty men sporting with fire; the reins of their chariots <i>shall be destroyed</i> in the day of his preparation, and the horsemen shall be thrown into confusion


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in the ways, and the chariots shall clash together, and shall be entangled in each other in the broad ways; their appearance is as lamps of fire, and as gleaming lightning.


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And their mighty men shall bethink themselves and flee by day; and they shall be weak as they go; and they shall hasten to her walls, and shall prepare their defenses.


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and the foundation has been exposed; and she has gone up, and her maid servants were led <i>away</i> as doves moaning in their hearts.


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And as for Nineveh, her waters shall be as a pool of water. And they fled, and did not stand, and there was none to look back.


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They plundered the silver, they plundered the gold, and there was no end of their adorning; they were loaded <i>with it</i> upon all their pleasant vessels.


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<i>There is</i> thrusting forth, and shaking, and tumult, and heart breaking, and loosing of knees, and pangs on all loins; and the faces of all are as the blackening of a pot.


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Where is the dwelling place of the lions, and the feeding place of the young lions? Where did the lion go, that the lion’s cub should enter in there, and there was none to scare <i>him</i> away?


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The lion seized enough prey for his cubs, and strangled for his <i>young</i> lions, and filled his lair with prey, and his dwelling place with spoil.


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“Behold, I am against you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will burn up your multitude in the smoke, and the sword shall devour your lions; and I will utterly destroy your prey from off the land, and your deeds shall be heard of no more.”


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<n>Nineveh’s Complete Ruin</n> O city of blood, wholly false, full of unrighteousness; the prey shall not be handled.


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The noise of whips, and the noise of the rumbling of wheels, and of the pursuing horse, and of the bounding chariot,


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and of the mounting rider, and of the glittering sword, and of the gleaming arms, and of a multitude of slain, and of heavy falling; and there was no end to her nations, but they shall be weak in their bodies,


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because of the abundance of her fornication: she is a fair harlot, and well-favored, skilled in sorcery, that sells the nations by her fornication, and peoples by her sorceries.


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“Behold, I am against you,” says the Lord God Almighty, “and I will uncover your skirts in your presence, and I will show the nations your shame, and the kingdoms your disgrace.


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And I will cast abominable filth upon you according to your unclean ways, and will make you a public spectacle.


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And it shall be that everyone that sees you shall go down from you, and shall say, ‘Wretched Nineveh!’ Who shall lament for her? Where shall I seek comfort for her?”


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Prepare a portion, tune the chord, prepare a portion for Ammon: she that dwells among the rivers, water is round about her, whose dominion is the sea, and whose walls are water.


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And Ethiopia is her strength, and Egypt; and there was no limit of the flight <i>of her enemies</i>; and the Libyans became her helpers.


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Yet she shall go as a prisoner into captivity, and they shall dash her infants against the ground at the top of all her ways; and they shall cast lots upon all her glorious <i>possessions</i>, and all her nobles shall be bound in chains.


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And you will be drunk, and shall be overlooked; and you will seek strength for yourself because of your enemies.


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All your strongholds are as fig trees having watchers. If they be shaken, they shall fall into the mouth of the eater.


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Behold, your people within you are as women; the gates of your land shall surely be opened to your enemies. The fire shall devour your bars.


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Draw your water for a siege, and well secure your strongholds; enter into the clay, and thus be trodden in the chaff, make <i>the fortifications</i> stronger than brick.


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There the fire shall devour you; the sword shall utterly destroy you, it shall devour you as the locust, and you shall be pressed down as a palmerworm.


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You have multiplied your merchandise beyond the stars of heaven: the palmerworm has attacked it, and has flown away.


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Your mixed <i>multitude</i> has suddenly departed as the grasshopper, as the locust perched on a hedge in a frosty day; the sun arises, and it flies off, and does not know its place: woe to them!


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Your shepherds have slumbered, the Assyrian king has laid low your mighty men. Your people departed to the mountains, and there was none to receive them.


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There is no healing for your bruise; your wound is uncurable. All that hear the report of you shall clap their hands against you; for upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually?”


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<n>The Prophet’s Complaint</n> How long, O Lord, shall I cry out, and You will not hear? How long shall I cry out to You, being injured, and You will not save?


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Why have You shown me troubles and grievances to look upon, misery and ungodliness? Judgment is before me, and the judge receives a reward.


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Therefore the law is frustrated, and judgment never goes forth, for the ungodly man prevails over the just; therefore perverse judgment will proceed.


